ALA’s Objections to Childrens Internet Protection Act Decision
CIPA Decision Response: A statement from ALA President Carla D. Hayden and the ALA Executive Board, July 25, 2003.
Category «Censorship»
Report: The Internet Under Surveillance
The Internet under Surveillance, Obstacles to the free flow of information online, by Vinton G. Cerf (151 pages, pdf) “In this 21st century information age, Internauts have significant responsibilities. They must guard against abusive censorship and counteract misinformation. They must take responsibility for thoughtful use of the Internet and the World Wide Web and all …
Commentary on Supreme Court Internet Filtering Decision
Justices Put Access to Online Information in the Wrong Hands. Also see my posting, Supreme Court Backs Net Filters For Libraries. And, a cartoon is worth a thousand words… (sent by James S. Tyre).
Oregon Net Filter Bill Controversy
The USA Today reported on the status of Oregon House Bill 3101 which would eliminate state funding for libraries that refuse to install net filters for public access use of the Internet. Apparently “legislative counsel said it (the bill) is unconstitutional,” placing at least a temporary hold on this legislative initiative.
CIPA, Net Filtering and the Supreme Court
From Seth Finkelstein’s Infothought blog, this informative posting on Internet software filtering company N2H2’s current 10Q filing which includes the following language: “Free speech and privacy concerns could adversely affect the demand for our Internet filtering solutions.” On a related issue, see my April 10 posting: U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns (MA) dismissed a …
ACLU Report on 9/11
A new 28 page ACLU report (pdf), Freedom Under Fire: Dissent in Post-9/11 America, documents instances of “censorship, surveillance, detention, denial of due process and excessive force” on the part of the government. See the press release here.
Florida Net Filtering Bill Proceeds
On April 23, the Florida House passed HB 415: Relating to Internet Access in County and Municipal Libraries. The related Senate Bill, CS/SB 1250: Relating to Public Libraries/Computers has been referred to the Criminal Justice Committee.
Homeland Security Dept. and New Secrecy Rules
On April 15, the Department of Homeland Security proposed new regulations for Procedures for Handling Critical Infrastructure Information. The rulemaking states: “The Department recognizes that its receipt of information pertaining to the security of critical infrastructure, much of which is not customarily within the public domain, is best encouraged through the assurance that such information …
Lobbying by E-Mail Rejected by Forest Service
According to this article in PC World, “the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service is currently considering a regulation that would let it ignore any public comments on its rule-making process sent to it through Web-based forms.” The agency also intends to ignore comments sent using form letters and postcards that result from lobbying/advocacy efforts. …
Copyright Office Hearing on Anticircumvention Rulemaking
Today the the Copyright Office held a hearing on its Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works. The panel that testified on “compilations of lists of websites blocked by censorware (“filtering software”) applications,” included attorney Jonathan Band (who represents many organizations including the American Association of …
Judge Dismisses DMCA Challenge
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns (MA) dismissed a lawsuit by the ACLU on behalf of Harvard law student and cyber-activist Ben Edelman who argued a first amendment right to create software to decrypt an Internet blocking program by N2H2. The filtering software, used by public and school libraries, is marketed as “CIPA compliant.” Edelman …
Library Filters and Censorship
Censorship Reaches Ridiculous Extremes is a commentary on the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) by prolific writer Kari Lydersen.
