FW: Staten Island Porn on the Internet

[Burt, David]

 ----------
From: Burt, David
To: 'publib-net at nysernet.org'
Subject: Staten Island Porn on the Internet
Date: Monday, March 03, 1997 8:50AM

Recently the Staten Island Advance ran and "expose'" on pornography on
the Internet at branches of NYPL.  The Advance then ran an editorial
calling for restrictions on access.  The Advance then followed this up
with an article quoting local politicians as saying they would cut off
funding if restrictions were not imposed.

Here is the first article:
          ***********************************************************
          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) 635-0392 
          Fax:           (503) 635-4171 
          E-mail:      dburt at ci.oswego.or.us 




KIDS ACCESSING PORNOGRAPHY IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES
The Staten Island Advance, 2/9/97

Staten Island youngsters are viewing raunchy hard-core pornography on
computers at public libraries across the borough.  Internet web sites
that feature uncensored pornographic images can be viewed by any one of
the New York Public Library's 84 branches.

And library officials say there's little they can -- or will -- do about
it.
Recent visits to branch libraries from St. George to Tottenville
yielded, with very little effort, images of fully nude women and men,
graphic depictions of various sexual acts, both heterosexual and
homosexual - and raw language referring to explicit sexual conduct, all
of which could be printed or downloaded to a computer disk.
There is no charge for kids to get on the Internet because, ironically,
taxpayers are footing the bill.

Gaining access is as easy as clicking on to any number of "search
tools," which quickly scan a network for keywords.
Using a tool called InfoSeek, for example, resulted in more than 23,000
site matches when the keyword "porn" was typed in.
One in particular, dubbed "11 Top Sex Sites by Mr. Porn," narrows the
abundant choice by offering favorites from a personal selection, among
them "slutland", "pornomania", and "pleasure-palace".
Another site, called Teen Sex Wonderland, actually promotes itself as a
"teen fantasy sex playground", blatantly promising "teen-oriented
explicit adult material."
Meanwhile, advertisements for services like the "The Hardcore Channels",
touts "Tens of thousands of Uncensored Hot Video Clips From the World's
Hottest Adult Tapes."

And while some of these services require membership for viewing, most
include guest "previews" and "samples".
Another offers a "simple, step-by-step report that will show you how to
copy pictures directly from the source without paying anything".
Such sites are familiar viewing stops for young library users in the
borough, particularly 12 and 13-year-old boys.

Despite this, Mary Anne Corrier, borough coordinator for the Staten
Island branches of the New York Public Library, said she hasn't received
any complaints from parents.
It's likely that most are simply unaware.
One Great Kills father said he was outraged when he observed two boys
between 12 and 14 years of  age accessing X-rated web sites last
December in the Richmondtown library branch.
"They were taking these [thumbnail] pictures, blowing them up, printing
them out and sticking them in their school bags," he said.
The father said that when he notified the librarian, "she told me there
was nothing she could do. She said she didn't have time to police their
actions."
The computer sites do offer disclaimers, explaining that viewers must be
at least 18 (and in some states 21) years of age to legally access the
site, but the warning comes only after the erotic nature of the site's
contents is described in graphic detail.
For a 12-year-old, such caveats are likely to serve only as enticements.
"It's a problem that all libraries in the country are facing," said
Norman Holman, senior vice president and director of the New York
library branches.
But it's apparently not one that will be addressed any time soon.
"The library takes the position that there are, unfortunately, some web
sites which we collectively may wish children would not access  without
close supervision of their parents," Holman said.

"But in order to make rich resources available to them and adhere to the
libraries' long tradition of avoiding censorship, we've' chosen to make
everything available and rely on responsible use."
Given that many teens frequent the library unescorted by a parent, that
position may presume too much.
Maryam Kubasek, director of communications for the National Coalition
for the Protection of Children and Families, a Cincinnati-based
non-profit group, said her organization has fielded dozens of calls from
concerned parents around the country within the last month alone.
"Parents are concerned that their kids are able to go to the libraries
and download this kind of stuff," she said.  "And for the library folks
to turn their back on this and suggest that it's the parents'
responsibility is simply irresponsible, especially when you consider the
kind of things that are out there, everything from soft porn to
bestiality."
On a recent day at the St. George Library, a 13-year-old was observed
browsing one of the library's five Internet stations.

Tiring of the selection of video games, he typed in the World Wide Web
address for Playboy magazine.
After accessing the site, he scrolled down to the menu that offered a
choice of "Playmate interviews" and "raw data" until he came to
"nudity."
He used the computer mouse to make his choice and within seconds his
Playmate selection appeared on the screen.
Ironically, a second image he had chosen revealed a topless woman clad
in black spotted underwear surrounded by three Dalmatians, a sort of
perverse variation on the popular Disney theme.
The 13-year-old hit the print command, making two copies that promptly
spit out of a nearby printer.
"This is easy to use," declared the seventh-grader.

Asked when he first learned the system, the young teen-ager said he'd
been on the Internet since the fifth grade, and accessing sites like
this
one since the sixth. His friend proclaimed that he even knew where to
find out about "books and videos" on the system.
All of this with a librarian stationed just a few feet away.
Providing access to the Internet is a logical segue for an institution
whose sole function consists of disseminating information, library
officials
say.  The global network contains countless databases of knowledge
ranging from NASA space shots to the latest medical news.
But the fact remains that voung travelers on the information
superhighway are using the public libraries to detour into the raunchier
side of
cyberspace.
The choice of a library's print materials, on the other hand, are
left in large part to the discretion individual librarians.  Those
publications, however, are expected to have some redeeming artistic or
informational
value.  There are no such restrictions in cyberspace.
Nevertheless, Holman said that is not the responsibility of librarians
to Monitor what children are doing on the computers, admitting that
'even if a
librarian were to catch a kid accessing pornographic material he or she
"not be expected" to inform Id to discontinue his or her actions.
"It s difficult for (Librarians) to be consistent with everyone," said
Holman.  "That's one of the reasons we try very  hard to engage parents
or guardians in providing guidance."

Such reasoning is deemed "siIly" by Ms. Kubasek.  "If a child to go into
a convenience and try to buy a Playboy (in most cases) the store owner
would not
sell it to him, whether his parent were out waiting in the car not, and
the same principle should hold true for a librarian."
There is, of course, no denying the natural healthy curiosity of an
adolescent, but there are a host of factors that make accessing
pornography on the Internet a lot more complicated than a kid sneaking a
peak at the latest girlie magazine in the corner store.  For one thing,
the anonymity of the Internet makes it impossible to verify the age of
the user, giving kids free reign to the most explicit materials.
What's more, the interactive nature of the Internet enables users not
only to post pornography but explicit sexual invitations.   The
possibilities abound.   At the very
least there are hundreds of thousands of pornographic images on the
"Net," many of which are readily available at  the library and whose
access is paid for with taxpayers' dollars.
The New York Public Library spent $9 million in 1995 updating services,
funds that helped purchase 1,000 new computers city-wide including 91 on
the  Island - all of which are linked to the Internet.   It is possible
to block pornography on  the system simply by installing any number of
currently available software screeners, as
CyberPatrol, SurfWatch Netnanny.
Ensuring that students do not access cyberporn was in fact an important
component of the school Internet policy adopted by Board of Education in
June and adopted by Staten Island Community School District 31 in
November.
Nine elementary and intermediate schools on Staten Island currently have
limited Internet access, according to Patrick Camerlengo, director of
technology for the district.   He said that five additional schools are
expected to join that list within the next month.

"We've been very cautious with our Internet access because of the
dangers of pornography," Camerlengo said.
Given that it is possible for computer-savvy kids to get around a
filtering device, he added, schools are not relying solely on their use.
"We're also Partnering with parents to educate kids about the Internet,
mandating that kids use the Internet under a teacher's supervision and
ensuring that those students who engage in inappropriate behavior be
held accountable," said Camerlengo.
"We recognize that there is no foolproof way to make the Internet
completely safe," he said.  "But we think our policy recognizes that
what we have to do is show good common sense." ,
The library, too, offers parents an educational pamphlet and training
sessions on. responsible use of the Internet but chooses not 	to install
screeners for concern that it would also block valuable 	information.
"I'm not a technical wizard but
my understanding is that most screening systems are based on keyword
scanning", Holman said.  "These devices don't make subtle distinctions
about the context which a word is used," he said.  "For example, all
information on breast cancer would be blocked if the keyword 'breast'
was programmed".

Holman said he thinks most libraries would find such screening
unacceptable.  "The Internet is an informational resource and its
variety of web sites  have value.  In order to make all of those things
accessible, we choose not to screen the information."

Ms. Kubasek says she and many parents simply find that viewpoint
unacceptable.  "No one is supporting censorship here", she said.  "We're
just asking them to give kids a helping hand."

"I realize that (the libraries) must be willing to be a little more
flexible and work a little harder, but I don't think we want to
sacrifice the well-being of the next generation because we were too lazy
to keep them away from this kind of stuff."