Children's Internet Protection Act

The development of the Internet accelerated the impact of technology on the services and information that schools and libraries provide to students and patrons. By using the Internet, students and library patrons are now able to access a seemingly endless collection of Web sites including information and scenes that range from innocent and scholarly to pornographic. Many educators and others found it disconcerting that Internet content can be seen and left on computer screens for others to view, especially when the depictions were inappropriate for children. Federal legislation in the form of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was the outcome of these concerns.