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Domain: ala.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to ala.org.

Comments · 306

  1. Re:V-chip = censorship????? by GnrcMan · · Score: 1 · on Kermit the Frog to promote V-Chip

    Do I have to spell everything out?! Follow the damn link I supplied to find out what is meant by labeling. Well...you apparently didn't want to before, so I might as well quote that part to you as well...this is at the end of the page:
    This statement, however, does not exclude the adoption of organizational schemes designed as directional aids or to facilitate access to materials.

    I would like to think that people on /. have the brains to extrapolate this sort of thing on their own...but sometimes I wonder.

    GnrcMan

  2. Re:V-chip = censorship????? by GnrcMan · · Score: 2 · on Kermit the Frog to promote V-Chip

    The purpose of the v-chip is to block content. blocked content=censorship.

    Regardless of that, anything which arbitrarily labels content is censorship. The mere act of labeling something is a very real form of censorship.

    Here's what the ALA(American Library Association) has to say about labeling: (full text can be found here)

    Labeling is an attempt to prejudice attitudes and as such, it is a censor's tool.

    They have much more to say on the matter, so I recommend following the link to the full text.

    Generic Man

  3. Re:V-chip = censorship????? by GnrcMan · · Score: 2 · on Kermit the Frog to promote V-Chip

    The purpose of the v-chip is to block content. blocked content=censorship.

    Regardless of that, anything which arbitrarily labels content is censorship. The mere act of labeling something is a very real form of censorship.

    Here's what the ALA(American Library Association) has to say about labeling: (full text can be found here)

    Labeling is an attempt to prejudice attitudes and as such, it is a censor's tool.

    They have much more to say on the matter, so I recommend following the link to the full text.

    Generic Man

  4. This censorship is being voted on NOW in Congress by afniv · · Score: 2 · on Elizabeth Dole Calls for Library Net Filtering
    I've tried notifying Slashdot about this last week. The House of Representatives ALREADY APPROVED this legislation and is waiting on a vote from the Senate.

    Please check out the Thomas Register (where many bills can be viewed). Check specifically H.R. 1501 and the specific Amendment (Title XIV) that:


    (1) IN GENERAL- An elementary school, secondary school, or library that fails to provide the certification required by paragraph (2) or (3), respectively, is not eligible to receive or retain universal service assistance provided under subsection (h)(1)(B).


    ...and this is retroactive, which means that the libraries must refund the discounts received during this past calendar year I believe.

    So if anyone in your library finds information on breats feeding, breast cancer, Dick Simon Trucking, or whatever else, your library will be poor. That's how I view it.

    Please write your congress persons. Check out Vote Smart for a place to start for contact information.

    Also check out the American Libraries Association (ALA). They have a Legislative Issues page which says that a Senate committee even already approved the bill.

    Let's stop this madness and educate the lawmakers that any limits to information should be evaluated by the local communities and NOT be federally mandated, especially on such misinformation.

    ~afniv
    "Man könnte froh sein, wenn die Luft so rein wäre wie das Bier"
  5. This censorship is being voted on NOW in Congress by afniv · · Score: 2 · on Elizabeth Dole Calls for Library Net Filtering
    I've tried notifying Slashdot about this last week. The House of Representatives ALREADY APPROVED this legislation and is waiting on a vote from the Senate.

    Please check out the Thomas Register (where many bills can be viewed). Check specifically H.R. 1501 and the specific Amendment (Title XIV) that:


    (1) IN GENERAL- An elementary school, secondary school, or library that fails to provide the certification required by paragraph (2) or (3), respectively, is not eligible to receive or retain universal service assistance provided under subsection (h)(1)(B).


    ...and this is retroactive, which means that the libraries must refund the discounts received during this past calendar year I believe.

    So if anyone in your library finds information on breats feeding, breast cancer, Dick Simon Trucking, or whatever else, your library will be poor. That's how I view it.

    Please write your congress persons. Check out Vote Smart for a place to start for contact information.

    Also check out the American Libraries Association (ALA). They have a Legislative Issues page which says that a Senate committee even already approved the bill.

    Let's stop this madness and educate the lawmakers that any limits to information should be evaluated by the local communities and NOT be federally mandated, especially on such misinformation.

    ~afniv
    "Man könnte froh sein, wenn die Luft so rein wäre wie das Bier"
  6. Censorship is no remedy by RyanGWU82 · · Score: 1 · on House Might Mandate Net filtering in Libraries

    I had this letter published in my local newspaper two years ago, but it's just as relevant today. Thoughts, anyone?

    (Quad-City Times, Davenport, IA, July 29, 1997, p. 6A)
    Censorship is no remedy

    Re: "Internet is uncensored in Q-C libraries," July 21

    This front-page story suggests that Internet censorship is a panacea that protects children from the millions of pornographic web sites and other ailments of the Internet. This incorrect view is based on a public moral panic, created by an alarmist media. Blocking tools may block indecent web sites, but they also blacklist websites based on ideology alone.

    Current blocking software blocks web sites from the Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression, to Nizkor (a Holocaust remembrance page), to Pathfinder (Time-Warner's news and entertainment site), to the National Organization for Women. These web sites are blocked purely because they contradict the conservative ideology of the software developers. In fact, developers of the popular CyberSitter software are so paranoid that their software blocks access to Peacefire ( http://www.peacefire.org), an anti-censorship alliance tha thas publicly criticized the extent of CyberSitter's filters.

    Because of the overreach of filtering software, the American Library Association ( http://www.ala.org) adopted a resolution on July 2. It stated that "the use of filtering software by libraries to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights (a 1948 ALA document affirming that libraries are forums for the free exchange of information and ideas)." The policies of the public libraries in the area fully comply with the ALA's resolution. In light of these facts, local libraries should be praised, not criticized, for their choice to implement full Internet access.

    Ryan A. Park