Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 00:11:38 -0400 To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> Subject: Libraries behind on Internet filtering Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"Original URL: http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/aug01/filter26082501a.asp
Libraries behind on Internet filtering
Censorship concerns bring federal lawsuit
By ANNE DAVIS of the Journal Sentinel staff
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Aug. 26, 2001.
Last Updated: Aug. 25, 2001
A new federal law intended to keep kids from viewing pornographic material over the Internet is raising concern among many library officials across the state, even as some of them launch efforts to comply. Quotable "Nobody wants children to be exposed to inappropriate material, but I think there are other ways libraries can do this."
- Lisa Strand, executive director of the Wisconsin Library Association
At issue is the federal Children's Internet Protection Act that was signed into law in December and whether it crosses the line into censorship.
The law requires schools and libraries that receive certain types of federal funding and discounts for technology to place filters on computers with Internet access.
Aimed at protecting minors, the legislation also has the effect of restricting access for adults. In other words, the same filter that will block a teenager doing a search with the word breast also may make it tough for an adult to reach a Web site devoted to breast cancer.
"I think a lot of adult library users should be concerned," said Lisa Strand, executive director of the Wisconsin Library Association, which joined a federal lawsuit that is seeking to overturn the law. "Nobody wants children to be exposed to inappropriate material, but I think there are other ways libraries can do this."
Few libraries report major problems with users accessing pornography, Strand said.
But public schools are generally in favor of the effort, and many local schools already have filters in place, so compliance will not be an issue. Backers of the law contend that easy access to objectionable material on the Internet makes filters essential.
Libraries not complying Although the federal lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Library Association, is attempting to overturn the law, all libraries receiving so-called E-rate funds to upgrade technology were supposed to take steps toward compliance by July 1.
The steps could include holding meetings and developing an Internet use policy if one is not in place.
Very few Wisconsin libraries are yet in compliance; a state survey conducted this spring found that 79% of the state's public libraries did no filtering yet.
Robert Bocher, a consultant with the state Department of Public Instruction, predicted that some Wisconsin libraries will choose to drop the E-rate funds rather than install filters. The DPI oversees public libraries as well as schools in Wisconsin.
That's true for at least one library system in metropolitan Milwaukee - the one that comprises 13 libraries in Ozaukee and Sheboygan counties.
Practical matters made it easy for the Eastern Shores system to back up its philosophical disagreement with the filters. The filters would cost up to $100,000 to install, said director David Weinhold. That compares to E-rate funding of $5,200.
However, some libraries opposed to the effort likely will yield to get the federal money at stake.
"We think our best role is to help people make good use of those (Internet) resources rather than block access to part of them," said Lynn Bellehumeur, director of technology services for the Milwaukee Public Library.
Nevertheless, the library will budget $75,000 next year to install filters. The library's grant from last year was more than $1 million, and over three years, the library has received more than $3 million in federal funds to wire the library for Internet use.
Without the funding, the library would have been forced to use money from its regular budget for the Internet that has gone instead for more computer terminals, Bellehumeur said.
"It would be hard to turn our back on this funding," Bellehumeur said.
One of the few libraries in the Milwaukee area with filters is the U.S.S. Liberty Memorial Public Library in Grafton. When director John Hanson joined the staff last year, he found a staff that was busy fielding requests to turn off filters so users could find what they needed on the Internet on such topics as alternative lifestyles, cults and tobacco.
"That's not really the role of a library to police those kinds of things," John Hanson said.
He has since adjusted the filters so they are more narrowly focused on pornographic content.
'We have a responsibility' Educators say that, despite their drawbacks, filters are an essential way of protecting students as the Internet becomes a critical teaching tool.
"Ever since we've had the Internet, we've always said there is dangerous stuff out there," said John Sklar, director of technology for the West Bend School District in Washington County. "We have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for children. I don't care if they are on the playground or on the computer."
The Milwaukee Public Schools decided to put filters on all student computers several years ago, according to Robert Nelson, director of the district's technology department. Filters are set to block sites that do not coincide with guidelines established by a committee of parents, teachers and administrators, he said.
The district will pay $19,380 this year for ongoing maintenance of its filtering service. Having the filters in place allows students to use the Internet to "focus on what is important" and avoid the distractions of objectionable sites, Nelson said.
Even students like Daniel Jarratt of Grafton, who helps maintain his school's Web site, think filters are a good idea.
"There's stuff I don't want my brother to see," said Jarratt, 16, even though he's aware of the filters' flaws. "I think it's better to have them than not to have them."
Public librarians argue that their mission is different than that of the public schools - that they exist for public access of information and don't need to meet predetermined guidelines.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Aug. 26, 2001.
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