Table 9.1 Examples of Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Public Policy Options for Protecting Children from Inappropriate Sexually Explicit Material on the Internet
	One Illustrative Advantage One Illustrative Disadvantage Vigorous prosecution of existing obscenity laws Would clarify existing uncertainties about the feasibility of obscenity prosecutions Would requires personnel and resources that might be used for other law enforcement activity that may be of higher priority. Imposition of civil liability of dissemination of obscene materials Would enables private parties to take action through the court system when prosecutorial resources are limited. Would generally require some showing of individualized harm, which may be difficult to demonstrate. Required use of age verification systems by commercial suppliers of adultoriented sexually explicit material Currently under review by the Supreme Court; see more discussion in main body of text Required use of "text-only" front page to ensure that first page of Web site is the "warning" page about material inside being for adults only Would reduce inadvertent access to sexually explicit material from adult-oriented commercial Web sites. Would not reduce access for children willing to lie about their ages. Required labeling of material that is obscene for minors Would place a minimal burden on content providers. Would requires positive market response for success (e.g., browsers must be capable of recognizing labels, parents must configure browsers accordingly) Prohibitions on spam containing material that is obscene for minors Would reduce unsolicited emailed advertisements for adult-oriented material Content-based restriction would make regulation more problematic on First Amendment grounds Prohibitions on mousetrapping to Web sites containing material that is obscene for minors Would improve navigational experience for Internet users Regulatory target may be uncertain. Stricter enforcement of record-keeping requirements Would increase costs of compliance with such requirements may reduce number of commercial entities that are unwilling to behave responsibly Requires personnel and resources that might be used for other law enforcement activity that may be of higher priority Streamlined process for handling reports of violations Would facilitates citizen reporting of child pornography; would reduce interagency impediments to cooperation in such prosecutions May increase false alarms and screening effort required Self-regulation (e.g., vigorous enforcement of ISP terms of service) Would likely lead to faster "take down" of material posted in violation of terms of service (which generally includes material that is obscene or child pornography) Requires vigorous monitoring effort on part of ISP