Republican Congressman John Shimkus of Illinois was the lead sponsor of the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002. He said yesterday:
"Dot kids allows for the voluntary placement of material on a '.kids.us' sub-domain that an independent review board finds appropriate for young children. I hope and firmly believe that this will be a prevalent Internet location for educational, governmental, and other useful information appropriate for young audiences."
Businesses using the domain will be forbidden from linking from their sites to other sites outside the domain. Chat rooms and instant messaging features are banned from sites unless the business running a site can give an undertaking that it will not expose children to paedophiles or other risks.
NeuStar, the .us registry, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) take responsibility for managing and policing the domain. Critics expect that they will struggle to control the approved users of the domain and point to problems presented by security and the interpretation of suitability of material.
Shimkus concluded:
"I have repeatedly said that libraries have children's books sections, why can't the internet have the same type of section devoted to children's interests?"
The legislation was passed by 406 votes for, 2 against in the full House and now goes to the Senate for ratification.