A Pornographic Website Asking Us to Filter Them

[Donald Barclay]

Here's a new one on me:

The head of our systems office got an email today from the owner of a
pornographic website. She informed us that someone using computers with such
and such IP addresses has repeatedly committed fraud by signing up at her
website under the name "Joe Schmoe" and giving false checking account
numbers.  The IP addresses she listed were for public-access computers in
the Library. The website owner insisted that the Library do something about
the fraud and suggested that we filter her site on our computers.

When our systems head showed me the message, my response was that any
sellers of pornography who want to ban our entire IP range from accessing
their websites won't hear any objection from me. The Library, however,
shouldn't have to be the policeman for any web-based business. The more I
thought about it, though, the more absurd it seemed that a porno site was
asking to be filtered. Oh strange new world that has such creatures in it.

On a more serious note, does anyone know of any law or court cases that have
touched on the idea of a library or computer lab being liable for fraud
committed on public-access computers? I can just see our Library Board of
Directors imploding when some pornography vendor sends us a bill for
pornography fraudulently accessed via the Library's public-access computers
or tries to sue us for the same reason.

I only can imagine what the late Lion of Lake O***** would have had to say
about this one.

Donald A. Barclay
Houston Academy of Medicine-       always the beautiful answer
Texas Medical Center Library           who asks the more beautiful question
donaldb at library.tmc.edu                                   -- e. e. cummings