47 USC SEC. 230.
PROTECTION FOR PRIVATE BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF OFFENSIVE MATERIAL.
               
    (a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds the following:
               
        (1) The rapidly developing array of Internet and other
      interactive computer services available to individual Americans
      represent an extraordinary advance in the availability of
      educational and informational resources to our citizens.
                   
        (2) These services offer users a great degree of control 
      over the information that they receive, as well as the 
      potential for even greater control in the future as technology
      develops.
                     
        (3) The Internet and other interactive computer services
      offer a forum for a true diversity of political discourse,
      unique opportunities for cultural development, and myriad
      avenues for intellectual activity.
                   
        (4) The Internet and other interactive computer services 
      have flourished, to the benefit of all Americans, with a 
      minimum of government regulation.
                 
        (5) Increasingly Americans are relying on interactive media
      for a variety of political, educational, cultural, and
      entertainment services.
                 
    (b) POLICY- It is the policy of the United States--
                      
        (1) to promote the continued development of the Internet and
      other interactive computer services and other interactive media;
                   
        (2) to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that
      presently exists for the Internet and other interactive 
      computer services,  unfettered by Federal or State regulation;
                
        (3) to encourage the development of technologies which
      maximize user control over what information is received by
      individuals, families, and schools who use the Internet and
      other interactive computer services;
                
        (4) to remove disincentives for the development and
      utilization of blocking and filtering technologies that empower
      parents to restrict their children's access to objectionable or
      inappropriate online material; and
               
        (5) to ensure vigorous enforcement of Federal criminal laws
      to deter and punish trafficking in obscenity, stalking, and
      harassment by means of computer.
                     
    (c) PROTECTION FOR `GOOD SAMARITAN' BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF OFFENSIVE MATERIAL-
                 
        (1) TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER- No provider or user 
      of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the
      publisher or speaker of any information provided by another
      information content provider.
                 
        (2) CIVIL LIABILITY- No provider or user of an interactive
      computer service shall be held liable on account of--
                  
            (A) any action voluntarily taken in good faith to
          restrict access to or availability of material that the
          provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious,
          filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise
          objectionable, whether or not such material is
          constitutionally protected; or
                   
            (B) any action taken to enable or make available to
          information content providers or others the technical means
          to restrict access to material described in paragraph (1).
                   
    (d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS- 
                     
        (1) NO EFFECT ON CRIMINAL LAW- Nothing in this section shall
      be construed to impair the enforcement of section 223 of this
      Act, chapter 71 (relating to obscenity) or 110 (relating to
      sexual exploitation of children) of title 18, United States
      Code, or any other Federal criminal statute.
                    
        (2) NO EFFECT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW- Nothing in this
      section shall be construed to limit or expand any law 
      pertaining to intellectual property.
                     
        (3) STATE LAW- Nothing in this section shall be construed to
      prevent any State from enforcing any State law that is
      consistent with this section. No cause of action may be brought
      and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law
      that is inconsistent with this section.
                   
        (4) NO EFFECT ON COMMUNICATIONS PRIVACY LAW- Nothing in this
      section shall be construed to limit the application of the
      Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 or any of the
      amendments made by such Act, or any similar State law.
                        
    (e) DEFINITIONS- As used in this section:
                       
        (1) INTERNET- The term `Internet' means the international
      computer network of both Federal and non-Federal interoperable
      packet switched data networks.
                      
        (2) INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE- The term `interactive
      computer service' means any information service, system, or
      access software provider that provides or enables computer
      access by multiple users to a computer server, including
      specifically a service or system that provides access to the
      Internet and such systems operated or services offered by
      libraries or educational institutions.
                      
        (3) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER- The term `information
      content provider' means any person or entity that is
      responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or
      development of information provided through the Internet or any
      other interactive computer service.
                      
        (4) ACCESS SOFTWARE PROVIDER- The term `access software
      provider' means a provider of software (including client or
      server software), or enabling tools that do any one or more of
      the following:
                       
            (A) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content;
                      
            (B) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or
                        
            (C) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search,
          subset, organize, reorganize, or translate content.'.