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Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 09:49:14 +0800
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           Last Friday, in a town hall
           meeting on education in Clarksburg, West
           Virginia, President Clinton made some news on
           the technology front. 

           Answering a question from a parent about how
           to keep children safe on the Net, the president
           talked about the Communications Decency Act's
           travails in federal court. Then he said "we're
           working on" a technological fix, a V-chip for PCs
           that could protect children from harm. Later,
           reporters pressed White House aides on
           whether there was a new V-chip initiative. The
           new chip is out there, they said, somewhere
           "within the industry." 

           From White House transcripts of the event and
           later briefings: 

           Jim Eschenmann: Mr. President, my name is
           Jim Eschenmann. I'm a proud parent of a
           4-year-old preschooler. Your administration, as
           well as the local board of education, has placed
           a large emphasis on connecting every classroom
           to the Internet. What additional measures can
           we take to protect our school students from the
           harmful areas of the Internet while guaranteeing
           full access to post-secondary students and to
           protect the freedom of speech? 

           President Clinton: Well, you know, I signed a
           bill - when I signed the telecommunications bill ...
           I had a provision in there to try to protect against
           young people being exposed to some of the
           harmful things that are on the Internet. Not just
           pornography but, as I'm sure a lot of you know
           because of the events in the news in the last
           couple of years, there are even instructions on
           how to build bombs and things like that. There
           are lot of things on there that we wouldn't want
           our children to see. 

           That provision has been thrown out by a court
           and is still in the courts, I think. So it may be that
           what we have to do is try to develop something
           like the equivalent of what we're developing for
           you for television, like the V-chip, where it's put
           in the hands of the parents or the educators.
           And then if it were in the hands of the educators
           the school board could approve certain
           guidelines. 

           It's technically more difficult with the Internet. As
           you know, there are hundreds of new services
           being added to the Internet every week. It's
           growing at an explosive capacity and we're in
           the process actually of trying to develop an
           Internet II. But I think that is the answer.
           Something like the V-chip for televisions. And
           we're working on it. I think it's a serious potential
           problem myself. 

           But let me say it would be a serious potential
           problem if they were not in the schools. I think
           putting them in the schools, because the kids
           are normally under supervision, you have a far
           less likelihood that the Internet will be abused or
           that the children will be exposed to something
           they shouldn't see during the school hours, in all
           likelihood, than at home. But I do think you need
           guidelines in both places and we're doing our
           best to try to figure out if there's some
           technological fix we can give you on it. 

           Briefing by spokeswoman Ann Lewis (22 May): 

           Q.: Three things that Clinton said - suggesting
           V-chips for the Internet, endorsing year-round
           schooling, and speaking favorably of high school
           competency tests before graduation. Are any of
           those new, or are those things he has said
           before? 

           Ann Lewis: From my understanding, looking at
           the conversations back and forth on the V-chip
           for the Internet, as you know this is a principle
           the president has talked about for a long time,
           which is giving parents the tools they need, and
           it's the principle he referred to when he
           supported the - came out in support of the
           V-chip. He thinks it continues to be an issue. 

           Second, if you go back and look at his speech
           on Net Day, when he gave a radio address and
           we did some talking about the Internet, he
           announced that he had asked the Department of
           Education and Secretary [Richard] Riley to come
           up with a parents' guide to the Internet,
           recognizing that it is a wonderful resource but
           that many families also feel they could use some
           help in ensuring that their children get the most
           out of the Internet. 

           And, third, it's our understanding, and we just
           checked this with people at the White House
           who know much more about technology than all
           of us put together, that there is in fact
           technology being developed that would serve as
           the equivalent of a V-chip for the Internet, and
           we think that's what the president referred to. 

           Q.: Clinton has talked before about giving
           parents ways to protect their children on the
           Internet, but has he ever before suggested the
           idea of a V-chip for the Internet? 

           Lewis: Not that we know of, but we know - as is
           clear, I think, from his wording, he is aware that
           the technology has been developing. 

           Q.: But has he talked about this before? 

           Lewis: We don't think so. We were going to try
           to do a huge Nexis search; that's going to take a
           long time. We don't remember that
           conversation.... 

           Q.: You said the technology is being developed
           - who is developing it? 

           Lewis: I can't, but we can get you more
           information. It's my understanding it's being
           developed within the industry. 

           Q.: That's like the stuff like Kidsitter and all the
           stuff that's already available on the Internet.
           There are a lot of sites. 

           Lewis: There are a lot of sort of monitors you
           can put on that. We think this may be a little
           more advanced, and we're trying to get more
           information. 

           White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry
           and spokesman Barry Toiv (23 May):
           Q.: Mike, yesterday the president endorsed the
           idea of a V-chip for the Internet. Was that the
           first time he did that, and how does the White
           House plan to proceed? 

           Mike McCurry: Did anyone work on that
           yesterday? That was - there is some, I think,
           R&D work, technical work that's being done to
           develop new software. I'm not sure where within
           the government they're doing it.... 

           Q.: Mike, I'm still trying to figure out, was
           yesterday the first time the president endorsed a
           V-chip for the Internet? 

           McCurry: Did you do any yesterday on the
           V-chip question? Barry [Toiv] may have handled
           this up in West Virginia yesterday. 

           Barry Toiv: Well, I'm not sure I have more than
           you got yesterday from Ann Lewis. The
           president has not specifically mentioned the
           V-chip, but this is work that we've been doing
           because he's been concerned, obviously, about
           ways that parents can help - can protect their
           kids with regard to stuff that comes through on
           the Internet. 

           Apparently, it's our understanding that
           technology does exist within the industry. It's
           being developed by the industry. And so I think
           the president was referring to that yesterday. 

           Q.: Is there any procedure that - I mean, is it
           something that - is there any kind of official
           "endorsement" you expect? 

           Toiv: Well, right now - not right at this moment,
           but it's something we're looking at.