Censorware in Public Libraries

[Seth Finkelstein]

	Could I ask librarians who are responding please also indicate
WHICH blacklists they use in censorware, if possible? For example,
consider my report "SmartFilter - I've Got A Little List"
http://sethf.com/anticensorware/smartfilter/gotalist.php

	It was strengthened by the fact that I could point to a
public library that at the time was blacklisting whatever SmartFilter
deemed as 'Sex' or 'Extreme' (which turned out to include everything
from Jerry Springer to world-renowned artist H.R Giger). Remember,
just because censorware puts a site on a blacklist does not make it so.

	I've recently been focusing on the fact that despite the PR
name of "filters", censorware programs are dedicated to controlling
what people are allowed to read. To that end, they tend to prohibit
web archives such as the Wayback machine, image search engines,
language-translation sites, and any site having to do with anonymity
or privacy. This is not what people, especially librarians, think of
in the appealing phrases of filtering out toxic material. Rather, it's a
matter of banning and absolute reader control and making sure readers
can't escape the blinder-box.

	My own recommended reading:

"Blacklisting Bytes", Seth Finkelstein and Lee Tien,
http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Censorware/20010306_eff_nrc_paper1.html

Recent material from Jonathan Wallace:
N2H2's financial situation: http://www.spectacle.org/cs/bess1.html
N2H2's Weak AI: http://www.spectacle.org/cs/bess2.html

Peacefire also has released new stuff recently, http://peacefire.org

Recent Seth Finkelstein's Anticensorware Investigations:
BESS's Secret LOOPHOLE: http://sethf.com/anticensorware/bess/loophole.php
BESS vs Google: http://sethf.com/anticensorware/bess/google.php
BESS vs Image Search Engines: http://sethf.com/anticensorware/bess/image.php
The Pre-Slipped Slope - censorware vs the Wayback Machine web archive:
http://sethf.com/anticensorware/general/slip.php

-- 
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  sethf at sethf.com  http://sethf.com
Seth Finkelstein's Infothought list - http://sethf.com/infothought/
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/19/technology/circuits/19HACK.html