CDA

[Burt, David]

Kristine Buchanan wrote:

> Actually, I have seen the discussion revolve around the fact that it
is
>illegal in communities for minor to purchase pornography. Please, pick
a
>stance and stick to it.  If the legality of the material is not the
>issue, then this is purely a moral issue and has no business in our
>libraries.  If the legality of the material is the issue, then
filtering
>infringes upon the rights of adults and has no business in our
libraries.
>Either way, filtering is should not be implemented in a public library
>setting.

I don't think I've been inconsistent in my stances here.
"Moral" vs. "Legal" strikes me as a false dichotomy:
I think it's more about exercising selection and appropriate use of
library resources.
That really isn't a moral issue, it's one of appropriateness. (You don't
have "Hustler" in your local public library... broken record....)


> I am sorry to not be able to cite examples to you about this.  I do
not
>work in a public library.  I work in a university library in which
there
>are no filters.  I am curious as to how "pornography" is filtered
without
>using keywords.  My understanding of filters is that a select list of
>keywords is blocked by the program.

This is one of the main reasons why I'm active in this fight: the
disinformation campaign that spreads these distortions.  Most filters
rely on site selected blocking (paying people to surf for porn) and
keywords.  Most allow you to turn the keyword blocking off (As Sheryl
pointed out, CyberSitter *used* to allow you to turn the keyword
blocking off, then for whatever reasons undid that in their new release)


>>The Cox-Wyden amendment establishes protection for 'Good Samaritan'
>> blocking and screening of offensive material.

> Since the CDA was stuck down as unconstitutional this piont is moot.

The Supreme Court ruling did not address Cox/Wyden.

> I work in a state supported law library that is open to the public.
In
>our litigated literature section we do hve "Hustler", "Playboy",
>Mapplethorpes works and other "pornographic" materials.

Most people draw a distinction between materials which have some
educational or artistic value, like "Playboy" and "Mapplethrope", (which
you *will* find in public libraries), and clearly purient pornography
like "Hustler" or "Deep Throat", (which you will not).  There is a clear
difference, which librarians have no trouble recognizing.


> So far, none of your arguments impress me has having any valid basis
>beyond the fact that a large segment of our population is uncomfortable
>with sexuality and sees any open discourse on it as a threat.  Children
>have been viewing pornographic materials for ages.  It is healthy for
>children to be curious about their bodies and about bodies of the
>opposite sex.  Instead of viewing their accidental discovery of
>pornography as "harmful", I would hope that we, as parents, would view
it
>as a platform upon which to base a discussion concerning sexuality and
>the responsibilities of that sexuality.


Providing access to the Internet means providing the potentiality of
access to materials which do not exist in the library.  This is clearly
not the same as selecting and acquiring materials.  Filtering means
restricting the potentiality of access to materials that do not exist
within the library.  That is no more censorship than is the
non-selection of materials.  Restricting the potentiality of access to
materials that do not exist in the library simply isn't the same as
removal of existing materials.  Further, it is not only illogical to
insist on treating every known web site as though it were a
librarian-selected book-on-the-shelf, it is also extremely unfair to
librarians.  The anti-filterers demand that every librarian defend
"WWW.GIRLIEPICS.COM" as though it were a copy of "The Catcher in the
Rye" they selected.


  ***********************************************************
          David Burt, Information Technology Librarian 
          The Lake Oswego Public Library 
          706 Fourth Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034
          URL:          http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/library/library.htm
          Phone:     (503) 675-2537 
          Fax:           (503) 635-4171 
          E-mail:      dburt at ci.oswego.or.us