CDT Concerns with .kids top level domain, October 31, 2001

The Honorable Fred Upton
2333 Rayburn Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Edward J. Markey
2108 Rayburn Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

October 31, 2001

Dear Chairman Upton and Congressman Markey:

The Center for Democracy & Technology is writing to voice its questions and concerns about a proposed Congressional mandate for a ".kids" top level domain. This issue is raised by H.R. 2417, the ".kids Domain Name Act." We understand that the legislation is moving away from creation of a ".kids" top level domain, and we are encouraged by this shift. However, we are writing to highlight concerns about the negative effect that such a mandate could have on efforts to effectively protect children, free expression, and the management of the domain name system.

The protection of children online is of paramount concern worldwide. CDT has been a leader in seeking ways to preserve free expression online while assuring that children are safe. CDT was an active participant in the development of GetNetWise, a "one-click-away" resource of information and tools for families seeking to guide their children¹s online experience. CDT has also been active in representing public interest perspectives at ICANN and recently co-authored a major study on public participation in DNS coordination.

Our questions about creation of a ".kids" domain are twofold. First, it is not clear that creating a ".kids" top level domain would effectively protect children online or satisfy the diverse needs of families around the country and the world who wish to control their children¹s online experience. Second, creation of the domain may well have unintended consequences that run counter to US interests in free expression and governance of the Internet.

Each American family is unique in its view of what material is appropriate for children. Throughout the United States, parents have widely varying opinions on what material is appropriate for their children, online or off. Some families greatest concern is about their child¹s exposure to hate speech; others may wish to keep their child from sexually oriented material; still others may want to avoid violent content. What is appropriate for a family in New York may not be right for a family in Peoria. Effective administration of a ".kids" domain would require agreement on a national standard for what is right for children. Given the diversity of values among American families, it may be impossible to create such an all-encompassing standard. Doing so could result in many children gaining access to material that their family believes is not appropriate, or being denied access to material their parents may believe is right for them.
Similarly, it is not possible to establish a single, global standard for child-appropriateness that reflects the diversity of cultures online. The Internet is a global network that is accessed by every country on Earth. The diversity of values represented on the Internet makes it impossible to identify a uniform, "one-size-fits-all" standard of child-appropriateness. Some kinds of content that most Americans find inappropriate for children are acceptable abroad, and vice versa. Such a lack of uniformity in standards seriously challenges any attempt to fairly administer a ".kids" domain.
Forced migration of content to ".kids," or to other new domains, could harm free expression values online. While not proposed today, creation of a ".kids" domain raises the fear that other domains could be mandated in the future that might encourage discrimination against certain content.
A ".kids" domain could provide a tempting place for predators to identify and contact children online. As Congress¹s own Commission on Online Child Protection noted, an Internet domain devoted to children would create a risk that "concentration of children¹s activities in this area could attract predators."
A US Congress mandate to ICANN to create .kids should be avoided, lest other governments attempt to do the same. While the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a U.S.-based organization that manages the DNS system under arrangement with the Department of Commerce, it is designed to serve and be responsive to the global Internet community. A dictum from Congress that ICANN install ".kids" would threaten ICANN¹s international standing and credibility as an international manager. It could also encourage other governments to pressure ICANN to help implement their own policy agendas.

CDT participated as a member of the Children¹s Online Protection Act Commission, established by the Congress to evaluate the accessibility, cost and effectiveness of technologies and methods to protect children, as well as their possible effects on privacy, First Amendment values and law enforcement. The Commission heard the testimony of a wide range of experts on the issues, and concluded that the best way to protect children online was through public education, user empowerment, and aggressive enforcement of existing laws. The findings of the Commission indicate that there are many reasons why the creation of a ".kids" top level domain is not a workable solution to the problem of protecting children online.

We encourage the committee to continue its move away from a mandate for ICANN to create a ".kids" top level domain. We would be happy to work with the committee on this issue and to have the opportunity to discuss this issue with you further.

Sincerely,

Jerry Berman
Executive Director

Alan Davidson
Associate Director