Information Technology Acts
Liriaxis Marie Gonzalez
BIS/220
June 25, 2013
Nnamdi Osakwe

Information Technology Acts
Technology has advanced greatly in the recent years. The internet has made it is easy for people to get any information they want, which in return presents danger to minors. This advance in technology has opened new issues that need to be addressed. Children depend on adults to protect them from any harm and as a result government passed acts to prevent child abuse on the internet. The two acts being discussed in this paper are the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and the Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998.
Children’s Internet Protection Act, 2000
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law which was passed by Congress to prevent children from viewing the offensive or harmful content over the Internet ("FCC", 2013). CIPA regulates the schools and all public libraries. It makes it mandatory to filter all its computers to stop children from accessing sites that are not appropriate. ("FCC", 2013). The (CIPA) was passed in December 2000 and its main priority is to protect children’s innocent eyes from child pornography and other dangers of the internet. CIPA does not require a certain kind of filter system, but rather to make sure schools and libraries have some sort of filters to prevent such activities. There are online predators, inappropriate chat rooms, and sexual content that children are at risk for if this law was not passed. Ultimately, all households, schools, libraries, workplaces, and restaurant have access to the internet and this is a law that needed to be passed.
Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA), 1998
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed in 1998. It specifically addresses children under the age of 13 that navigate thru any sort of internet service. COPPA requires anyone driving a website to have verifiable knowledge and consent from parents of any child 13 and under. Also, the driver has to get the consent of those parents before using any information given to them by the children. Furthermore, whether studying, shopping, surfing or chatting, children are blind to the fact that there are bad people who get their information and use it for all the wrong reasons.
Advances in Information Technology The internet is a worldwide tool that is used for many different reasons. The Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 is a product of advances in information technologies. Regrettably, the internet can be used anywhere and anytime. The wireless fidelity, Bluetooth networks, and ultra wide-band network all give access to internet from any cell phone, computers, laptops, or tablets (Rainer Jr. & Cegielski, 2007). In addition, this creates a problem for minors because there are many online predators looking for ways to transition children into their world of viciousness.
As a result, advance in information technology has created eye openers for every parent around the world. The advance in information technology opened issues that needed to be addressed because Children depend on adults to protect them. The government passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and the Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 as a result of advancement in technology. As a matter of fact, parents should be more cautious as to what their children are using the internet for. Ultimately, the responsibility of a child falls on their parents

References
FCC. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act
Rainer Jr., K. R., & Cegielski, C. G. (2007). Information Systems (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, NJ:
John Wiley & Sons, INC.