Library Lawsuit

[Bob Cherry]

The issues of control and access is a moral, political and policy issue more than it is an engineering issue.

The web should be considered an extension of the library providing yet another means of acquiring knowledge.  Periodicals, books, reference materials and yes, the web all are tools for learning.

If a patron is upset because their child searched out and accessed undesirable material on the net, the odds are that this child has been doing this sort of thing for a while.  First, the child wanted this material.  It didn't just "Pop up" on the screen.  The child had to spend time searching it out, finding the URL, selecting it and requesting a download.  It was not an accident!  Secondly, the same child could enter many public libraries and pull down books off the shelves which contain foul language for a child as well as material mean for adult patrons.

The function of a library is to allow the people (public at large) access to a large and wide array of information on a world of subjects both factual and fiction.  Words can be, and often are, much more explicit than pictures and such.  What kind of engineering is used by libraries to keep a child from reading literary works?  Well, apply the same standards to the web.

The priviledge to use a library is just that -- a priviledge.  Gaining permission to use a libraries systems should also be.  The library sets their rules for the use of their equipment just as they do for books.  You must return a book or, you get fined.  Too many occurances and you can lose your library card.  Apply the same standards to the web.  You abuse it...You lose it!

Oh, and tell the patron that if the child is caught downloading this kind of undesired material again that they will both lose the priviledge.

Geeze.  Sum peeples chillens!
Bob