On May 21, 2002, the House voted 406-to-2 to pass the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002 sponsored by Illinois Republican Representative John Shimkus. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said he intended to introduce a similar bill in the Senate, co-sponsored by Senator John Ensign (R-NV).
The bill, which would establish a kid-friendly Internet zone within the .us top-level domain, would require all Web sites with a ".kids.us" address to certify that they contain no sexually explicit content, no hate speech and no violence or other material unsuitable for children 12 years old or younger. Such Web sites would be prohibited from linking to other sites, running chatrooms or instant messenging unless they could certify them pedophile-free.
