OPENING STATEMENT OF SEN. HERB KOHL
HEARING BEFORE THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
ON "CYBERPORN"
JUNE 24, 1995


Thank you Mr. Chairman. I want to commend you for calling a hearing on 
this important issue and focussing attention on the need to protect our 
children.

We are all increasingly and distressingly aware of the dark back alleys 
along the information superhighway. Within the last month, the U.S. 
Attorney in Milwaukee accepted a plea bargain from a man who travelled 
those alleys. He was a convicted pedophile and was using the Internet to 
meet his victims. That man "met" someone he thought was a teenager over 
the Internet. He sent her lewd photos of himself. And then, he travelled 
to Milwaukee from his home in Las Vegas thinking he was going to meet 
her at a hotel. Instead, he met the FBI. 

This story should serve as warning -- the Internet can be used by sick 
people. And it should serve as a lesson -- those people can be caught 
and prosecuted.

However, in dealing with this issue, we face two dangers. On the one 
hand, overzealous defense of freedom of the Internet may lead us to 
ignore the real need to protect our children. On the other hand, our 
concern for our children should not provoke unthinking and reckless 
regulation of an important forum for free speech and vital business 
enterprise.

When the Internet first began expanding into the mainstream, we were 
inundated with stories about the wonders available through this system. 
In the last few months, however, horror stories have dominated the news. 
Yet no one -- absolutely no one -- has conducted a systematic and 
balanced study of the extent of obscenity, pornography or indecency on 
the Internet. And no one can quantify the presence of Internet 
predators. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. 

Despite the lack of hard evidence on this issue, no one can deny that 
there is a problem. And the problem is scaring parents and children 
away. 

Defenders of the Internet rightly point out that it does not produce 
these perverted users any more than the U.S. mail system or the 
telephone created pornography and indecency. The Internet is simply a 
new means of communication and transmission that pornographers have 
begun using. It has unique qualities that make it slightly more 
dangerous for children. 

The Internet is not just a breeding ground for perversion. It is a 
booming, entrepreneurial enterprise -- and fantastic environment where 
ideas can be exchanged around the world in a matter of seconds. So we 
must be careful that the Internet's future is not sanitized beyond 
value. 

I am pleased that in response to this problem, the computer industry is 
taking some initiative. Numerous companies are developing techniques for 
screening or filtering out inappropriate material, and some products are 
already available.

The video game industry should serve as a model for our approach to this 
problem. The video game industry has created a rating system for its 
games that help parents control what their children are exposed to. That 
approach has not yet been perfected. But we should move forward along 
these lines.

Those that profit from the Internet have a responsibility to ensure that 
graphic violence or sexually-explicit material does not find its way 
into children's hands. Many entertainment industries employ some level 
of self-policing -- this industry should be no different. The Senate's 
vote earlier this year during the debate on the telecommunications bill 
indicated that lawmakers are serious about seeing this problem 
addressed. It was a signal, in effect, to those in the industry: either 
make certain that children cannot get easy access to pornography or we 
will do it for you.

On the Internet, preventing the problem and empowering parents through 
screening technology should be our top priority. Every parent in America 
would rest easier knowing that action is being taken to prevent a crime 
against their children, rather than simply devising a solid penalty 
after the fact.

Anyone who purposefully sets out to abuse, hurt or tamper with our 
children must be punished. No amount of "wonders" on the Internet can 
excuse a single person who uses it to go after a child. I am not yet 
entirely certain that Senator Grassley's approach works best, since it 
attempts to penalize not just pornography or obscenity but also 
"indecency." But some legislative action may be needed, as the stories 
you will hear today demonstrate.

Mr. Chairman, we have a careful balancing act to perform. We must 
protect the integrity of the Internet. We must resolve any practical and 
constitutional concerns before we enact legislation. But we also must 
protect our children. This hearing will help us achieve all these goals. 

Thank you.