[OPLINLIST] E-Rate CIPA compliance information

[Missy Lodge]

To Ohio Public Libraries receiving E-Rate funds:

 

The Schools and Libraries News Brief has issued information and
reminders regarding CIPA compliance.  

"In general, the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires
schools and libraries receiving discounts on Internet Access, Internal
Connections, and/or Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections services
to certify that they are enforcing a policy of Internet safety that
includes measures to block or filter Internet access for both minors and
adults to certain visual depictions.

In the last few rounds of audits, auditors have observed a number of
instances where applicants are not in compliance with CIPA or cannot
successfully document their compliance with CIPA. We are providing the
high-level summary of the requirements of CIPA below to assist
applicants with both compliance and documentation.

CIPA certifications (Form 486 or Form 479)

To receive discounted services, your school or library authority must
certify that:

*	You are in compliance with CIPA, or 
*	You are undertaking actions to comply with CIPA, or 
*	CIPA does not apply because you are receiving discounts for
Telecommunications Services only. 

There are three basic requirements for CIPA: a Technology Protection
Measure, an Internet Safety Policy, and a reasonable public notice and
public hearing on the policy.

 - Technology Protection Measure (filter)

To be in compliance with CIPA, schools and libraries must have a
Technology Protection Measure. This is a specific technology, such as a
filter, that blocks or filters certain Internet material. It must
protect against access to child pornography, visual depictions that are
obscene, or - when Internet access is used by minors - material that may
be harmful to minors. It may be disabled for adults engaged in bona fide
research or other lawful purposes.

 - Internet Safety Policy

Schools and libraries also must have an Internet Safety Policy. 

Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and World Wide
Web 

*	The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail,
chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communication 
*	Unauthorized access including "hacking" and other unlawful
activities by minors online 
*	Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal
information regarding minors 
*	Measures designed to restrict minors' access to material harmful
to minors 

 - Reasonable public notice and hearing

Your proposed Internet Safety Policy, including the Technology
Protection Measure, must be addressed at a public hearing for which you
provide reasonable public notice. For private or parochial schools, the
notice can be provided to the constituent community rather than the
public at large.

Timetable for compliance with CIPA

Funding Year 2001 was the first year that CIPA became effective. For the
purposes of CIPA, your First Funding Year is the first year on or after
FY2001 in which ALL of the following events occur:

*	You apply for funding for discounted services in the categories
of Internet Access, Internal Connections, and/or Basic Maintenance of
Internal Connections. 
*	USAC funds one or more of those funding requests - i.e., USAC
makes a positive commitment on one or more of the FRNs associated with
your funding requests. 
*	You successfully file a Form 486 for one or more of the funded
FRNs. 

In your First Funding Year, you can be undertaking actions to comply
with CIPA. If you are unfamiliar with CIPA or you want more information
on this topic, refer to the "Documentation for 'Undertaking Actions'"
section of the website guidance on CIPA
<http://www.usac.org/sl/applicants/step10/cipa.aspx?WT.mc_id=sl-newsbrie
f-20090605> .

Your Second Funding Year for purposes of CIPA is always the funding year
following your First Funding Year, even if you apply for
Telecommunications Services only or if you don't apply at all. In
general, you must be in compliance with CIPA at the beginning of your
Second Funding Year. The only exception is if you are prevented from
certifying compliance because of state or local procurement rules or
regulations or competitive bidding requirements. In this case you can
request a waiver for your Second Funding Year on Form 486, Item 6b or
6c, or Form 479, Item 6d or 6e. You cannot request a waiver simply
because you aren't yet in compliance or for other reasons.

You must be in compliance with CIPA at the beginning of your Third
Funding Year - no exceptions.

Documentation

You should keep documentation of your compliance with CIPA as part of
your program documentation. Your documentation should demonstrate or
include the following:

*	Evidence of a public notice and hearing. Examples of appropriate
documentation include newspaper announcements of the notice and hearing,
a Board letter or agenda referencing the event, or Board meeting
minutes.
*	Existence of an Internet Safety Policy. Note that your policy
must address the five issues listed above.
*	Proof that a Technology Protection Measure (filter) is in place.
Examples of appropriate documentation include an invoice from a service
provider showing charges for Internet filtering services, a work order
showing when the filter was installed or will be installed, or a system
report detailing various websites or inappropriate activity that has
been filtered."

 

 

Missy Lodge

Head, Library Programs and Development

614.644.6914

800.686.1532 (Ohio only)

614.466.3584 (fax)

http://library.ohio.gov

The State Library of Ohio provides services and resources to assist
state government and libraries in providing the best service to all.

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.oplin.org/mailman/private/oplinlist/attachments/20090609/5d2a17f0/attachment-0001.html