Could we end this filtering/porn discussion, please?

[Robert Hubsher]

I am getting very tired of pressing the delete key.  I would like to see
an end of this discussion on this particular listserv.  Several people
have already pointed out that there is at least one listserv
dedicated to this topic, please migrate your discussion there.  I would
be less inclined to want an end of this discussion if the same people
were not continually returning with their electronic pennies worth.

I'm fairly new to this listserv stuff but I would assume that there is
some form of etiquette which would apply to participation.  Again, I'm
sticking my neck out but the rules of "engagement in dialogue" might
include something about monopolizing the "flow of text".  In a face to
face discussion group people differ to other speakers, in fact, in some
groups you need to be holding the "taking stick" before you can speak.
I realize it is tough to pass around a stick in cyberspace
but perhaps people can consider their input so that they present all
that they might have to say in one extensive e-mail and then restrict
themselves to a couple of responses.  One can always continue the
dialogue with any individual without filling up the incoming e-mail
folder of everyone
on the listserv.

I realize that some people have a great deal to say about this topic and
that they are passionate about what they say.  Bravo.  In a free and
democratic society that right is protected and it is encouraged,
however, several people have now requested that this dialogue be moved
to another
space.  I don't want the dialogue to stop, in fact, I have some things I
would like to add, but, should we ignore the wishes of the people who
are the constituents of this listserv?

Finally, just to show how confused I am here are few of my thoughts
about filtering. Its not that I want the last word its just that this
e-mail thing seems to encourage my fingers to peck across the keyboard
as if I had the talking stick in my hand.

The Internet is not a single work/book, however, it can be seen as a
single collection of works like an encyclopedia or a CD-ROM database.
True there is not a single "editor" or "publisher", however, there is a
decision made to acquire it.  The Internet is not free.  I don't know
about the rest of you out here but I pay an ISP to feed the signal into
my library.

The question for me is not about pornography, for who am I to decide
what is pornography.  Is that not a decision that courts make?  If it is
legally published than it should be available in the library.  If it is
illegal than it should not be available anywhere.  The fact that I
personally can not control who mounts a web page is an interesting
dilemma but should not give me (or my Board) the right to decide what is
a legal publication and what is not.  I do not have the right to censure

people who I believe are behaving illegally, however, I can call the
appropriate authorities who using the properly constituted laws of the
land will act in accordance with those.

I do not like any form of vigilante action, in the sense of people
taking the law into their own hands.  Filtering is form of restraint,
that is it restrains people's ability to access information, restraining
an individual because we feel their actions are inappropriate can result
in a jail term for the restrainer.  Some people may not like what other
people do but that does not give them the right to take the law into
their own hands.

Why do some people feel that do just that when it comes to access to
information in an electronic format?  Format is not and should not be
the issue.  A few centuries ago there were some people who thought that
printing would result in the end of humanity because knowledge would
accessible to those who were not equipped to handle it.  We have
survived and will survive the World Wide Web and the next marvel of
civilization whatever that might be.

Access to information is not the problem.  Children's access to
information is not the problem.  The problem is people who think that
there are those of us who are not capable of making sound decisions
about the information that we have access to or that certain information

will turn us into something less than human.

There are many things people say that trouble me but I will continue
defend their right to say them.  This is a small price to pay for
democracy.

I hope that I have not simply added fuel to the flame.

--
Robert Hubsher, CEO
Cornwall Public Library
45 Second Street, East
P.O. Box 939
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
K6H 5V1

613-932-4796 (voice)
613-932-2715 (fax)
rhubsher at cornwall.library.on.ca