households – Technology Liberation Front

Is There a Relationship Between Online Safety Concerns and Broadband Uptake?

Adam Thierer — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:42:40 +0000

Today I was invited to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to testify at one of the agency’s Broadband Working Group workshops. This particular workshop was on “Broadband Consumer Context,” which focused on “a range of challenges and opportunities as the internet becomes a focal point for commercial transactions, social networking, and a host of activities pertaining to information gathering and exchange.”

I was asked to address the issue of whether there is a relationship between online safety concerns and broadband uptake. In my testimony, I noted that, in my 15 years of research in this area, I have never unearthed any substantive empirical evidence suggesting a correlation between parental concerns about online activity and overall household broadband uptake. I have seen occasional anecdotal news stories discussing the concerns some parents have had about their kids online that led them to reject online connectivity, but these stories have been exceedingly rare (and I haven’t seen any in recent memory).

I also argued that I did not think it at all surprising that such anecdotes are harder to find, or that empirical evidence on this front seems non-existent. I argued that there were four logical explanations for why parental concerns about online safety haven’t “moved the broadband needle” much in the negative direction:

Not every home has children present
Parents use a variety of household media rules to control media & Internet usage
A vibrant marketplace of parental control technologies exists
Likely that most parents believe that the benefits of broadband outweigh the potential downsides

For all the details on each of those, read my entire testimony or check out the presentation embedded below that I made to the FCC today.

Is There a Relationship Between Online Safety Concerns and Broadband Uptake? (Adam Thierer – PFF) http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=19575851&access_key=key-1igiha619z8f15dm6hg5&page=1&version=1&viewMode=

Major Filings in FCC’s “Child Safe Viewing Act” Notice of Inquiry

Adam Thierer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:18:10 +0000

As anyone who has spent time searching for comments on the FCC’s website can tell you, the agency doesn’t exactly have the most user-friendly website. In the interest of making it easier for others to read the comments that came in last week in the agency’s “Child Safe Viewing Act” Notice of Inquiry, I have compiled all the major comments (those over 3 or 4 pages) and provided links to them below the fold.

Again, this proceeding was required under the “Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007,” which Congress passed last year and President Bush signed last December. The goal of the bill and the FCC’s proceeding (MB 09-26) is to study “advanced blocking technologies” that “may be appropriate across a wide variety of distribution platforms, including wired, wireless, and Internet platforms.” I filed 150+ pages worth of comments in this matter last week, and here’s my analysis of why this bill and the FCC’s proceeding are worth monitoring closely.

Comments in FCC “Child Safe Viewing Act” Proceeding

Adam Thierer — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:49:32 +0000

Today I filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in its proceeding examining the marketplace for “advanced blocking technologies.” This proceeding was required under the “Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007,” which Congress passed last year and President Bush signed last December. The goal of the bill and the FCC’s proceeding (MB 09-26) is to study “advanced blocking technologies” that “may be appropriate across a wide variety of distribution platforms, including wired, wireless, and Internet platforms.” My colleagues will no doubt laugh about the fact that I have dropped an absurd 150 pages worth of comments on the FCC in this matter, but I had a lot to say on this topic! Parental controls, child safety, and free speech issues have been the focus of much of my research agenda over the past 10 years.

In my filing, I argue that the FCC should tread carefully in this matter since the agency has no authority over most of the media platforms and technologies described in the Commission’s recent Notice of Inquiry. Moreover, any related mandates or regulatory actions in in this area could diminish future innovation in this field and would violate the First Amendment rights of media creators and consumers alike. The other major conclusions of my filing are as follows:

There exists an unprecedented abundance of parental control tools to help parents decide what constitutes acceptable media content in their homes and in the lives of their children.
There is a trade-off between complexity and convenience for both tools and ratings, and no parental control tool is completely foolproof.
Most homes have no need for parental control technologies because parents rely on other methods or there are no children in the home.
The role of household media rules and methods is underappreciated and those rules have an important bearing on this debate.
Parental control technologies work best in combination with educational efforts and parental involvement.
The search for technological silver-bullets and “universal” solutions represent a quixotic, Holy Grail-like quest and it will destroy innovation in this marketplace.
Enforcement of “household standards” made possible through use of parental controls and other methods negates the need for “community standards”-based content regulation.

My entire filing can be found here and down below in a Scribd reader. All comments in the matter are due tomorrow and then reply comments are due on May 18th.

[FCC FILING] Adam Thierer-PFF Re Child Safe Viewing Act NOI (MB 09-26) http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14264143&access_key=key-2nrvjm96q9cl5vep567l&page=1&version=1&viewMode=

New PFF Study: “Who Needs Parental Controls?”

Adam Thierer — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:05:26 +0000

I’ve got a new PFF paper out today entitled, “Who Needs Parental Controls? Assessing the Relevant Market for Parental Control Technologies.” In this piece, I address the argument made by some media and Internet critics who say that government intervention (perhaps even censorship) may be necessary because parental control technologies are not widely utilized by most Americans. But, as I note in the paper, the question that these critics always fail to ask is: How many homes really need parental control technologies? The answer: Far fewer than you think. Indeed, the relevant universe of potential parental control users is actually quite limited.

I find that the percentage of homes that might need parental control technologies is certainly no greater than the 32% of U.S. households with children in them. Moreover, the relevant universe of potential parental control users is likely much less than that because households with very young children or older teens often have little need for parental control technologies. Finally, some households do not utilize parental control technologies because they rely on alternative methods of controlling media content and access in the home, such as household media rules. Consequently, policymakers should not premise regulatory proposals upon the limited overall “take-up” rate for parental control tools since only a small percentage of homes might actually need or want them.

If you don’t care to read the whole nerdy thing, I’ve created this short video summarizing the major findings of the paper.

http://www.youtube.com/v/a7Fnf3Ztt-U&hl=en&fs=1

And the document is embedded below the fold in a Scribd reader. Who Needs Parental Controls PFF http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=12864194&access_key=key-4p1wl0cam0e5z4oxyfm&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work media paper