cyberfiltering: just say no

[Shaken Angel]

On Sat, 26 Apr 1997, Jennifer Heise wrote:

> DBurt has dropped the challenge. He says that more and more librarians are
> speaking up in favor of filtering (whether or not we know or care what the
> filter providers think is worthy of filtering).
> 
> I, and I believe others, have dropped out of this fight because it's obvious
> that people like DBurt and Ronnie Morgan think cybercensorship is a Good Thing
> (tm) and none of us are going to convince them otherwise.
> 
> Unfortunately, we're giving the wrong impression by not arguing. "Keep up the
> fight, we're winning" says DBurt. So, for the record: I think cyberfiltering
> is the wrong thing to do on public Internet terminals. Anybody else?

Absolutely, completely, and utterly.  The very idea of cybercensorship
does unpleasant things to my bowels.  The very idea that somewhere someone
thinks they have more of an idea to what I should see than me myself is
absurd and reprehensible.

BTW, I assume (it might have already been brought up on this list; not
sure) that folks are aware that at least one of our blessed unselfish
CyberSuperProtectors (CyberSitter to be precise) blocks out not only nudie
sites and goat porn but *also* leftist/progressive sites without any
"obscene" content whatsoever?  Like the National Organization of Women and
such.  Give folks an inch and they'll take powers that you never
originally meant to accord them and by then it will be far far too late.

I am not a librarian, by the way.  But I am slowly (intertia being so hard
to overcome) making the preparations to go to library school.  And by gum
I hope by the time I get there that not everyone will be singing the
praises of censorship.

-- john f., miami university library systems