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Name a similarity between censorware.org and whitehouse.com?

Answer:They're both run by a dirty squatter to lure people in instead of the real sites.

Name a difference between the two sites mentioned in the beginning?

Well, at least whitehouse.com gives me a hard-on...

Name a similarity between censorware.org and whitehouse.com?

Answer:They're both run by a dirty squatter to lure people in instead of the real sites.

Name a difference between the two sites mentioned in the beginning?

Well, at least whitehouse.com excites me...

Name a similarity between censorware.org and whitehouse.com?

Answer:They're both run by a dirty squatter to lure people in instead of the real sites.

Name a difference between the two sites mentioned in the beginning?

Well, at least whitehouse.com gives me a hard-on...

I think I'll go and see what new has happened on the Censorware front...

What? I didn't expect that. I thought the page had something to do with exposing censorware. Oh well, it's the same as with whitehouse.com... Damn squatters...

Where does this link go.

OH! Seems like someone is a little bitter...

I was wondering where you went, seth! Why are you stuck at -1 though?

I'm missing your diatribe!

Please come back Seth! You're only at -1, you can do it!

Isn't censorware michael's site o' insanity? Where he laments his own fascism?

Michael, you have a lot of nerve posting news stories after what you did to the Censorware Project. I am the world's greatest authority on the subject of anti-censorware, and by failing to obey me completely, you have given me a great insult.

Mr. Sims, if that is your real name, did you know that I am the recipient of a prestigious Pioneer award, given out by the Electronic Frontier Foundation? My work is the finest in the industry, and you had to go and spoil it all. Worse still, you hijacked the domain that I was using for my award-winning writings and used it to write invalid, incorrect, and inhumane things about myself, Seth Finklestein.

Please resign your position at Slashdot immediately, Michael Sims. I know where you live.

What's the deal with michael and Seth Finkelstein?

The slashdot administrator known as "Michael" was responsible for bringing down
censorware.org

I advise you not to pay attention to his words. They are lies.

For the amusement value, take a look at the following proposal I recently sent to Slashdot. I wrote this more for my sense of humor than expecting them to take me up on it. No reply, which wasn't a surprise. I should note, loyalty oath, it's their utter and complete right not to reply.

Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 23:46:09 -0500
From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf[at-sign]sethf.com>
To: malda
Cc: [Three lawyers and two Slashdot editors]
Subject: Proposed Feature - Censorware description, along with testing code

Per: http://slashdot.org/faq/editorial.shtml#ed500
> I want to write an editorial. What should I do? >
> Before you get carried away, mail me a synopsis of your idea (put the
> text 'Proposed Feature' in the subject). That way I can tell you if it
> is something we would consider posting before you bother to write the
> whole thing.

With the upcoming CIPA trial about government-mandated censorware, I'd like to write something about censorware. I think I'm eminently qualified, as I won an EFF 2001 Pioneer Award for my anticensorware work http://sethf.com/pioneer/ , and was the key figure behind exposing what censorware actually blacklists.

I'm particularly interested in pursuing something related to releasing code. One of the things I've discovered is that N2H2's [rest of the paragraph redacted]

I've been hesitant to release this code, since I worry I'll be sued, and would face a lot of bad publicity. In fact, your infamous editor, Michael Sims, just breached confidentiality on Censorware Project legal material and posted a detailed legally sensitive internal message from Censorware Project attorney James Tyre, listing specific past decryptions I've done. All the details of which programs and what I did, in the words of Censorware Project's own lawyer. If you care, it's at http://censorware.org/censorware.org_tyre_revelati on.txt

Anyway, my inspiration is that if you have an editor who does these vengeful actions, my best bet is paradoxically to go straight to the lion's den and *offer you* the story, so it becomes in part your legal problem to publish the actual code. This way any legal threats are both your problem and mine, rather than having situations such as one of your editors releasing damaging legal material about me just as one of the biggest censorware-related trials is about to get underway.

Let me know if you're interested in something along these lines. Of course, I'd be happy to write a standard editorial about my experiences fighting censorware, censorware internals, winning an EFF Pioneer Award for my work, commentary on the technical accuracy of the trial, or so on, whatever might be appealing. But I think it's very productive and unique to do something code-related.

Sincerely,
--
Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf[at-sign]sethf.com

[I realized after writing the above, that someone might be confused as to: "How come you're complaining about Michael Sims releasing damaging legal material, when the information is on your website's Pioneer section?"So I then immediately added the following clarification]

Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 00:03:31 -0500
From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf[at-sign]sethf.com>
Subject: Re: Proposed Feature - Censorware description, along with testing code

On Sun, Mar 24, 2002 at 11:46:09PM -0500, Seth Finkelstein wrote:
> as I won an EFF 2001 Pioneer Award for my anticensorware work
> http://sethf.com/pioneer/

Small note of clarification - I only released all the Pioneer Award nomination material on this page after Michael Sims broke Censorware Project confidentiality, and publicly posted Censorware Project attorney James Tyre's internal message detailing all the decryptions I'd done. At that point, I figured since this information was being publicized in a negative context, I might as well publicize it myself in a positive context. Again, this leads to the idea behind my code/story proposal. better the legal risks be "our" problem than just "my" problem.

Sincerely,
--
Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf[at-sign]sethf.com

Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

yeah, but that censoring hypocritical asshole can't write his e-mail address correctly... mailto:michael@@slashdot.org, come on michael... my friends 4 year old brother knows how to write his own fucking e-mail address

An open letter to Jamie McCarthy

Dear Jamie,
There's a reason people look at you like you're some kind of goddamn freak. We're pretty sure there's other reasons you won't show your face anymore; we've been reading slashdot long enough to remember the pictures the Holland Sentinel published of you with your slicked back greasejob haircut and hawkish little face. I remember thinking "God, I know Internet filters are bad, but the last fucking thing that is going to convince anyone of anything is this guy". You need to wash. You need to exercise. You need to get a haircut, and get a real job. Soon, VA is going to fire you, and you're going to be out in the real world. And that is going to be the shock of a fucking lifetime. You need to prepare.

As much as you delight in finding people despicable enough that you feel tormenting them is your righteous duty, I think it's pretty clear at this point that Michael Sims is not a Nazi. In fact, he knew the truth about you long before anyone else did. You and your friends may run THE CENSORWARE PROJECT, but anyone with a lick of sense now knows that you're personally responsible for writing the Censorware code that's now built into Slashdot. Let's be extremely clear about this: you define Censorware to be "software which is designed to prevent another person from sending or receiving information (usually on the web)". And you've checked mountains of code into CVS to prevent people with dissenting opinions from sending information on the web. It meets your definition, letter for letter. And guess what? Your Censorware is just as effective as every Censorware project you have ever railed against. How effective is that?

How effective is that? That's a great question. It's effective in exactly the same way NetNanny is effective. It stops technically non-proficient people in their tracks. They become victims of a robotic system that no one understands. Get a new account on this cool site, post a comment about how you had a hard time installing Linux, and BAMMO, you and your whole subnet are banned from posting. Congratulations. But it doesn't stop the clever, does it Jamie? How many times have you written articles about how the folks at Peacefire can walk rings around an Internet filter in 10 seconds flat? Well guess what?

I just spent the whole fucking day running circles around your pathetic little Internet filter. How does it feel to be a commercial software developer paid to block people from accessing something and failing?

Your points about Censorware were something you should have listened to. You and your pathetic system are a bleeding failure. Like your opponents, you have frustrated the weak and enraged the strong. Soon, you'll lose your job, and you're going to be sitting on the other side of an oak desk with someone trying to interview you looking at you, and your resume, like this.

And that, as they say, is poetic justice.

--Everybody on Plastic.com

An open letter to Jamie McCarthy

Dear Jamie,
There's a reason people look at you like you're some kind of goddamn freak. We're pretty sure there's other reasons you won't show your face anymore; we've been reading slashdot long enough to remember the pictures the Holland Sentinel published of you with your slicked back greasejob haircut and hawkish little face. I remember thinking "God, I know Internet filters are bad, but the last fucking thing that is going to convince anyone of anything is this guy". You need to wash. You need to exercise. You need to get a haircut, and get a real job. Soon, VA is going to fire you, and you're going to be out in the real world. And that is going to be the shock of a fucking lifetime. You need to prepare.

As much as you delight in finding people despicable enough that you feel tormenting them is your righteous duty, I think it's pretty clear at this point that Michael Sims is not a Nazi. In fact, he knew the truth about you long before anyone else did. You and your friends may run THE CENSORWARE PROJECT, but anyone with a lick of sense now knows that you're personally responsible for writing the Censorware code that's now built into Slashdot. Let's be extremely clear about this: you define Censorware to be "software which is designed to prevent another person from sending or receiving information (usually on the web)". And you've checked mountains of code into CVS to prevent people with dissenting opinions from sending information on the web. It meets your definition, letter for letter. And guess what? Your Censorware is just as effective as every Censorware project you have ever railed against. How effective is that?

How effective is that? That's a great question. It's effective in exactly the same way NetNanny is effective. It stops technically non-proficient people in their tracks. They become victims of a robotic system that no one understands. Get a new account on this cool site, post a comment about how you had a hard time installing Linux, and BAMMO, you and your whole subnet are banned from posting. Congratulations. But it doesn't stop the clever, does it Jamie? How many times have you written articles about how the folks at Peacefire can walk rings around an Internet filter in 10 seconds flat? Well guess what?

I just spent the whole fucking day running circles around your pathetic little Internet filter. How does it feel to be a commercial software developer paid to block people from accessing something and failing?

Your points about Censorware were something you should have listened to. You and your pathetic system are a bleeding failure. Like your opponents, you have frustrated the weak and enraged the strong. Soon, you'll lose your job, and you're going to be sitting on the other side of an oak desk with someone trying to interview you looking at you, and your resume, like this.

And that, as they say, is poetic justice.

--Everybody on Geekizoid

An open letter to Jamie McCarthy

Dear Jamie,
There's a reason people look at you like you're some kind of goddamn freak. We're pretty sure there's other reasons you won't show your face anymore; we've been reading slashdot long enough to remember the pictures the Holland Sentinel published of you with your slicked back greasejob haircut and hawkish little face. I remember thinking "God, I know Internet filters are bad, but the last fucking thing that is going to convince anyone of anything is this guy". You need to wash. You need to exercise. You need to get a haircut, and get a real job. Soon, VA is going to fire you, and you're going to be out in the real world. And that is going to be the shock of a fucking lifetime. You need to prepare.

As much as you delight in finding people despicable enough that you feel tormenting them is your righteous duty, I think it's pretty clear at this point that Michael Sims is not a Nazi. In fact, he knew the truth about you long before anyone else did. You and your friends may run THE CENSORWARE PROJECT, but anyone with a lick of sense now knows that you're personally responsible for writing the Censorware code that's now built into Slashdot. Let's be extremely clear about this: you define Censorware to be "software which is designed to prevent another person from sending or receiving information (usually on the web)". And you've checked mountains of code into CVS to prevent people with dissenting opinions from sending information on the web. It meets your definition, letter for letter. And guess what? Your Censorware is just as effective as every Censorware project you have ever railed against. How effective is that?

How effective is that? That's a great question. It's effective in exactly the same way NetNanny is effective. It stops technically non-proficient people in their tracks. They become victims of a robotic system that no one understands. Get a new account on this cool site, post a comment about how you had a hard time installing Linux, and BAMMO, you and your whole subnet are banned from posting. Congratulations. But it doesn't stop the clever, does it Jamie? How many times have you written articles about how the folks at Peacefire can walk rings around an Internet filter in 10 seconds flat? Well guess what?

I just spent the whole fucking day running circles around your pathetic little Internet filter. How does it feel to be a commercial software developer paid to block people from accessing something and failing?

Your points about Censorware were something you should have listened to. You and your pathetic system are a bleeding failure. Like your opponents, you have frustrated the weak and enraged the strong. Soon, you'll lose your job, and you're going to be sitting on the other side of an oak desk with someone trying to interview you looking at you, and your resume, like this.

And that, as they say, is poetic justice.

--Everybody on K5

An open letter to Jamie McCarthy

Dear Jamie,
There's a reason people look at you like you're some kind of goddamn freak. We're pretty sure there's other reasons you won't show your face anymore; we've been reading slashdot long enough to remember the pictures the Holland Sentinel published of you with your slicked back greasejob haircut and hawkish little face. I remember thinking "God, I know Internet filters are bad, but the last fucking thing that is going to convince anyone of anything is this guy". You need to wash. You need to exercise. You need to get a haircut, and get a real job. Soon, VA is going to fire you, and you're going to be out in the real world. And that is going to be the shock of a fucking lifetime. You need to prepare.

As much as you delight in finding people despicable enough that you feel tormenting them is your righteous duty, I think it's pretty clear at this point that Michael Sims is not a Nazi. In fact, he knew the truth about you long before anyone else did. You and your friends may run THE CENSORWARE PROJECT, but anyone with a lick sense now knows that you're personally responsible for writing the Censorware code that's now built into Slashdot. Let's be extremely clear about this: you define Censorware to be "software which is designed to prevent another person from sending or receiving information (usually on the web)". And you've checked mountains of code into CVS to prevent people with dissenting opinions from sending information on the web. It meets your definition, letter for letter. And guess what? Your Censorware is just as effective as every Censorware project you have ever railed against. How effective is that?

How effective is that? That's a great question. It's effective in exactly the same way NetNanny is effective. It stops technically non-proficient people in their tracks. They become victims of a robotic system that no one understands. Get a new account on this cool site, post a comment about how you had a hard time installing Linux, and BAMMO, you and your whole subnet are banned from posting. Congratulations. But it doesn't stop the clever, does it Jamie? How many times have you written articles about how the folks at Peacefire can walk rings around an Internet filter in 10 seconds flat? Well guess what?

I just spent the whole fucking day running circles around your pathetic little Internet filter. How does it feel to be a commercial software developer paid to block people from accessing something and failing?

Your points about Censorware were something you should have listened to. You and your pathetic system are a bleeding failure. Like your opponents, you have frustrated the weak and enraged the strong. Soon, you'll lose your job, and you're going to be sitting on the other side of an oak desk with someone trying to interview you looking at you, and your resume, like this.

And that, as they say, is poetic justice.

--Everybody on Trolltalk

An open letter to Jamie McCarthy

Dear Jamie,
There's a reason people look at you like you're some kind of goddamn freak. We're pretty sure there's other reasons you won't show your face anymore; we've been reading slashdot long enough to remember the pictures the Holland Sentinel published of you with your slicked back greasejob haircut and hawkish little face. I remember thinking "God, I know Internet filters are bad, but the last fucking thing that is going to convince anyone of anything is this guy". You need to wash. You need to exercise. You need to get a haircut, and get a real job. Soon, VA is going to fire you, and you're going to be out in the real world. And that is going to be the shock of a fucking lifetime. You need to prepare.

As much as you delight in finding people despicable enough that you feel tormenting them is your righteous duty, I think it's pretty clear at this point that Michael Sims is not a Nazi. In fact, he knew the truth about you long before anyone else did. You and your friends may run THE CENSORWARE PROJECT, but anyone with a lick sense now knows that you're personally responsible for writing the Censorware code that's now built into Slashdot. Let's be extremely clear about this: you define Censorware to be "software which is designed to prevent another person from sending or receiving information (usually on the web)". And you've checked mountains of code into CVS to prevent people with dissenting opinions from sending information on the web. It meets your definition, letter for letter. And guess what? Your Censorware is just as effective as every Censorware project you have ever railed against. How effective is that?

How effective is that? That's a great question. It's effective in exactly the same way NetNanny is effective. It stops technically non-proficient people in their tracks. They become victims of a robotic system that no one understands. Get a new account on this cool site, post a comment about how you had a hard time installing Linux, and BAMMO, you and your whole subnet are banned from posting. Congratulations. But it doesn't stop the clever, does it Jamie? How many times have you written articles about how the folks at Peacefire can walk rings around an Internet filter in 10 seconds flat? Well guess what?

I just spent the whole fucking day running circles around your pathetic little Internet filter. How does it feel to be a commercial software developer paid to block people from accessing something and failing?

Your points about Censorware were something you should have listened to. You and your pathetic system are a bleeding failure. Like your opponents, you have frustrated the weak and enraged the strong. Soon, you'll lose your job, and you're going to be sitting on the other side of an oak desk with someone trying to interview you looking at you, and your resume, like this.

And that, as they say, is poetic justice.

--Everyone Else on Slashdot

it's too bad the site is down..

hmmm... i wonder what happened to it, michael.

No no no no no. If you're going to troll, do it properly.

Ager's core assumption is that liberty is a vital attribute of the individual. Even John Stuart Mill did not go so far. JSM was willing to concede the right of the government to take preventative measures, especially in a society so overcome with crime that entire neighbourhoods resemble a different, much more dangerous nation than the rest of the city they are in.

Nice start, get in the misinformation as early as possible. Unfortunately, most of the slashbots do know that JSM was completely pro-privacy.

If you relax for a moment, the belief that individual liberty is a universal right -- an assumption that has by no means been proven fait accompli, you will see that these camera's provide an a priori benefit to society. Criminals cannot wander free in our streets and malls with these around.

Not bad, but no slashbot will ever consider privacy not being vital. Try for a mid-point there.

Let's stop and think about the children for a second. I believe that if we as a free society were to register all known pedophiles in a national database with pictures, this system could ipso facto provide massive benefits for the endangered young of our nation.

Far too obvious. Not a chance anyone will bite that. And paedophiles has an 'a'.

I can not in good faith oppose pro bono publico a system which almost guarantees safety for my children. I do not trust the mettle of anyone who does not agree with this.

And that wrecks the whole thing. Never ever end a troll like that.

Ach, you've really pissed me off now. I'm off to abuse Michael for a while.

They put a link to censorware.net on the front page! Ahah, I'm sure that really pisses off michael.

After having seen a few of my recent posts to this site, you might be forgiven for thinking that I harbour unfriendly feelings towards the sites administrators. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not a bad guy, really. I like these guys.

I want to help them.

I'm going to start today, and the best part about it is you can help me help them. Here's how:

The Get Timothy Lord Laid Appeal

Dear Reader,

I wish to bring to your attention an deplorable situation which cannot be allowed to continue. For too many years, Timothy Lord has been denied womanly affection. Of all the slashdot editors, I feel that he is the least undeserving of feminine attention, and yet, it seems that he suffers the most for the lack of it. His entry on the authors page is as follows:

" If you know (or are) a smart, cute, wonderful single woman who likes aloud reading and laughing, please let me know. Substantial Reward, references available, have own car."

I know we've all read his strangely formal plea, and felt in our souls the aching need he feels in his balls, but have any of us yet responded to this cry for help? I know there must be at least one smart, cute, single woman who reads this page. Unlike Timothy, many of us are blessed with the friendship of women who fit this description. And I know we'd all like to help out.

Timothy is currently the most prolific author of slashdot. He is the only editor who has not abandoned his commitment to the slashdot readers in order to implement lameness filters that don't work and moderate posts "for the good of the readers."

Timothy is slashdot's last honourable man.

Is it right to keep his dick on ice like this? No, I didn't think so. He's a sweet guy. Why are you torturing him? What's wrong with you? Don't you have a heart?!

Despite his sick dreams about Mena Suvari, I feel that Timothy is as perfect a gentleman you could hope to meet. If my instincts aren't recommendation enough, here's an artist's impression of what Tim would look like just after you put your keys on his forehead, prior to making him eat your ass. He cooks, too.

So how can you help?

• Are you an attractive young woman or sufficiently effeminate man. who lives in or near Tennessee? Do you want to make your life mean something? Why not send Tim and email and offer to service him? Don't forget to let us know, so we can all thank and respect you.
• Do you know a woman of such low moral fibre that she would willingly offer herself for sex to a man she's never met? Want to pimp her to Tim? Email Tim, and reply here, so we can give you props, jigga-man.
• Do you have Timothy's email address? I don't. Help us out. I'm guessing timothy@slashdot.org probably works.
• Got some advice for the unloved? Help a brother out. Post it here.
• If all else fails: If we can't put Tim in a warm bed with a willing female, we can at least put him in a seedy motel bed with a disinterested but well-remunerated whore. Help Tim and contribute to the prostitution industry of Tennessee. Pledge your donation below.

Help in any way you can. Time is short. For all I know, Tim has never felt the love of a good woman. I'm pretty sure if you make it to 28 without getting laid at least once, your dick falls off in disgust. Plus, he's contemplating alternative lifestyles.

Your friend,

XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXX XXXX XX X
X X XX XXXX XXXXXXX
X XXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX
X XXX XX XX X
X XXX XX XXXXXXXXXXXX
X X XXX X X
XXX XXX XX XX
XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX

P.S. If this appeal meets with reasonable success, we'll be going ahead with some more ambitious projects. Look forward to seeing The Get CowboyNeal Blowed Appeal and The Get Michael Sims Iced Appeal.

Some unrelated notes: Why is there an indigo girls song on the censorware page? Is Sims trying to tell us he's a lesbian?

I wanted to use these pictures of Nitrozac in this letter, but couldn't think of a good way to include them. Hopefully someone will find a use for them:

• Face like a smashed crab
• Butch like a bull-dyke

Remember, for anti-censorware information, you want to go here and not here, right jellicle?

After having seen a few of my recent posts to this site, you might be forgiven for thinking that I harbour unfriendly feelings towards the sites administrators. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not a bad guy, really. I like these guys.

I want to help them.

I'm going to start today, and the best part about it is you can help me help them. Here's how:

The Get Timothy Lord Laid Appeal

Dear Reader,

I wish to bring to your attention an deplorable situation which cannot be allowed to continue. For too many years, Timothy Lord has been denied womanly affection. Of all the slashdot editors, I feel that he is the least undeserving of feminine attention, and yet, it seems that he suffers the most for the lack of it. His entry on the authors page is as follows:

" If you know (or are) a smart, cute, wonderful single woman who likes aloud reading and laughing, please let me know. Substantial Reward, references available, have own car."

I know we've all read his strangely formal plea, and felt in our souls the aching need he feels in his balls, but have any of us yet responded to this cry for help? I know there must be at least one smart, cute, single woman who reads this page. Unlike Timothy, many of us are blessed with the friendship of women who fit this description. And I know we'd all like to help out.

Timothy is currently the most prolific author of slashdot. He is the only editor who has not abandoned his commitment to the slashdot readers in order to implement lameness filters that don't work and moderate posts "for the good of the readers."

Timothy is slashdot's last honourable man.

Is it right to keep his dick on ice like this? No, I didn't think so. He's a sweet guy. Why are you torturing him? What's wrong with you? Don't you have a heart?!

Despite his sick dreams about Mena Suvari, I feel that Timothy is as perfect a gentleman you could hope to meet. If my instincts aren't recommendation enough, here's an artist's impression of what Tim would look like just after you put your keys on his forehead, prior to making him eat your ass. He cooks, too.

So how can you help?

• Are you an attractive young woman or sufficiently effeminate man. who lives in or near Tennessee? Do you want to make your life mean something? Why not send Tim and email and offer to service him? Don't forget to let us know, so we can all thank and respect you.
• Do you know a woman of such low moral fibre that she would willingly offer herself for sex to a man she's never met? Want to pimp her to Tim? Email Tim, and reply here, so we can give you props, jigga-man.
• Do you have Timothy's email address? I don't. Help us out. I'm guessing timothy@slashdot.org probably works.
• Got some advice for the unloved? Help a brother out. Post it here.
• If all else fails: If we can't put Tim in a warm bed with a willing female, we can at least put him in a seedy motel bed with a disinterested but well-remunerated whore. Help Tim and contribute to the prostitution industry of Tennessee. Pledge your donation below.

Help in any way you can. Time is short. For all I know, Tim has never felt the love of a good woman. I'm pretty sure if you make it to 28 without getting laid at least once, your dick falls off in disgust. Plus, he's contemplating alternative lifestyles.

Your friend,

XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXX XXXX XX X
X X XX XXXX XXXXXXX
X XXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX
X XXX XX XX X
X XXX XX XXXXXXXXXXXX
X X XXX X X
XXX XXX XX XX
XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX

P.S. If this appeal meets with reasonable success, we'll be going ahead with some more ambitious projects. Look forward to seeing The Get CowboyNeal Blowed Appeal and The Get Michael Sims Iced Appeal.

Some unrelated notes: Why is there an indigo girls song on the censorware page? Is Sims trying to tell us he's a lesbian?

I wanted to use these pictures of Nitrozac in this letter, but couldn't think of a good way to include them. Hopefully someone will find a use for them:

• Face like a smashed crab
• Butch like a bull-dyke

After having seen a few of my recent posts to this site, you might be forgiven for thinking that I harbour unfriendly feelings towards the sites administrators. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not a bad guy, really. I like these guys.

I want to help them.

I'm going to start today, and the best part about it is you can help me help them. Here's how:

The Get Timothy Lord Laid Appeal

Dear Reader,

I wish to bring to your attention an deplorable situation which cannot be allowed to continue. For too many years, Timothy Lord has been denied womanly affection. Of all the slashdot editors, I feel that he is the least undeserving of feminine attention, and yet, it seems that he suffers the most for the lack of it. His entry on the authors page is as follows:

" If you know (or are) a smart, cute, wonderful single woman who likes aloud reading and laughing, please let me know. Substantial Reward, references available, have own car."

I know we've all read his strangely formal plea, and felt in our souls the aching need he feels in his balls, but have any of us yet responded to this cry for help? I know there must be at least one smart, cute, single woman who reads this page. Unlike Timothy, many of us are blessed with the friendship of women who fit this description. And I know we'd all like to help out.

Timothy is currently the most prolific author of slashdot. He is the only editor who has not abandoned his commitment to the slashdot readers in order to implement lameness filters that don't work and moderate posts "for the good of the readers."

Timothy is slashdot's last honourable man.

Is it right to keep his dick on ice like this? No, I didn't think so. He's a sweet guy. Why are you torturing him? What's wrong with you? Don't you have a heart?!

Despite his sick dreams about Mena Suvari, I feel that Timothy is as perfect a gentleman you could hope to meet. If my instincts aren't recommendation enough, here's an artist's impression of what Tim would look like just after you put your keys on his forehead, prior to making him eat your ass. He cooks, too.

So how can you help?

• Are you an attractive young woman or sufficiently effeminate man. who lives in or near Tennessee? Do you want to make your life mean something? Why not send Tim and email and offer to service him? Don't forget to let us know, so we can all thank and respect you.
• Do you know a woman of such low moral fibre that she would willingly offer herself for sex to a man she's never met? Want to pimp her to Tim? Email Tim, and reply here, so we can give you props, jigga-man.
• Do you have Timothy's email address? I don't. Help us out. I'm guessing timothy@slashdot.org probably works.
• Got some advice for the unloved? Help a brother out. Post it here.
• If all else fails: If we can't put Tim in a warm bed with a willing female, we can at least put him in a seedy motel bed with a disinterested but well-remunerated whore. Help Tim and contribute to the prostitution industry of Tennessee. Pledge your donation below.

Help in any way you can. Time is short. For all I know, Tim has never felt the love of a good woman. I'm pretty sure if you make it to 28 without getting laid at least once, your dick falls off in disgust. Plus, he's contemplating alternative lifestyles.

Your friend,

XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXX XXXX XX X
X X XX XXXX XXXXXXX
X XXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX
X XXX XX XX X
X XXX XX XXXXXXXXXXXX
X X XXX X X
XXX XXX XX XX
XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX

P.S. If this appeal meets with reasonable success, we'll be going ahead with some more ambitious projects. Look forward to seeing The Get CowboyNeal Blowed Appeal and The Get Michael Sims Iced Appeal.

Some unrelated notes: Why is there an indigo girls song on the censorware page? Is Sims trying to tell us he's a lesbian?

I wanted to use these pictures of Nitrozac in this letter, but couldn't think of a good way to include them. Hopefully someone will find a use for them:

• Face like a smashed crab
• Butch like a bull-dyke

After having seen a few of my recent posts to this site, you might be forgiven for thinking that I harbour unfriendly feelings towards the site administrators. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not a bad guy, really. I like these guys.

I want to help them.

I'm going to start today, and the best part about it is you can help me help them. Here's how:

The Get Timothy Lord Laid Appeal

Dear Reader,

I wish to bring to your attention an deplorable situation which cannot be allowed to continue. For too many years, Timothy Lord has been denied womanly affection. Of all the slashdot editors, I feel that he is the least undeserving of feminine attention, and yet, it seems that he suffers the most for the lack of it. His entry on the authors page is as follows:

" If you know (or are) a smart, cute, wonderful single woman who likes aloud reading and laughing, please let me know. Substantial Reward, references available, have own car."

I know we've all read his strangely formal plea, and felt in our souls the aching need he feels in his balls, but have any of us yet responded to this cry for help? I know there must be at least one smart, cute, single woman who reads this page. Unlike Timothy, many of us are blessed with the friendship of women who fit this description. And I know we'd all like to help out.

Timothy is currently the most prolific author of slashdot. He is the only editor who has not abandoned his commitment to the slashdot readers in order to implement lameness filters that don't work and moderate posts "for the good of the readers."

Timothy is slashdot's last honourable man.

Is it right to keep his dick on ice like this? No, I didn't think so. He's a sweet guy. Why are you torturing him? What's wrong with you? Don't you have a heart?!

Despite his sick dreams about Mena Suvari, I feel that Timothy is as perfect a gentleman you could hope to meet. If my instincts aren't recommendation enough, here's an artist's impression of what Tim would look like just after you put your keys on his forehead, prior to making him eat your ass. He cooks, too.

So how can you help?

• Are you an attractive young woman or sufficiently effeminate man. who lives in or near Tennessee? Do you want to make your life mean something? Why not send Tim and email and offer to service him? Don't forget to let us know, so we can all thank and respect you.
• Do you know a woman of such low moral fibre that she would willingly offer herself for sex to a man she's never met? Want to pimp her to Tim? Email Tim, and reply here, so we can give you props, jigga-man.
• Do you have Timothy's email address? I don't. Help us out. I'm guessing timothy@slashdot.org probably works.
• Got some advice for the unloved? Help a brother out. Post it here.
• If all else fails: If we can't put Tim in a warm bed with a willing female, we can at least put him in a seedy motel bed with a disinterested but well-remunerated whore. Help Tim and contribute to the prostitution industry of Tennessee. Pledge your donation below.

Help in any way you can. Time is short. For all I know, Tim has never felt the love of a good woman. I'm pretty sure if you make it to 28 without getting laid at least once, your dick falls off in disgust. Plus, he's contemplating alternative lifestyles.

Your friend,

XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXX XXXX XX X
X X XX XXXX XXXXXXX
X XXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX
X XXX XX XX X
X XXX XX XXXXXXXXXXXX
X X XXX X X
XXX XXX XX XX
XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX

P.S. If this appeal meets with reasonable success, we'll be going ahead with some more ambitious projects. Look forward to seeing The Get CowboyNeal Blowed Appeal and The Get Michael Sims Iced Appeal.

Some unrelated notes: Why is there an indigo girls song on the censorware page? Is Sims trying to tell us he's a lesbian?

I wanted to use these pictures of Nitrozac in this letter, but couldn't think of a good way to include them. Hopefully someone will find a use for them:

• Face like a smashed crab
• Butch like a bull-dyke

They didn't really have any activism sites pertaining to the internet itself. Why no censorware? Oh, yeah, I guess I get it.

I've heard Censorware gives an example of handling censorship.

If you go to www.censorware.org you'll see what Michael has to say about the incident. After reading this "news" story I would tend to believe Seth's version. There is no real evidence to support Michael's claims for this article. Others have pointed out that the client application does allow you to choose what projects your CPU cycles go towards. If he had any proof that the software did otherwise he should have stated that evidence.

There is a piece on censorware.org that talks about some political campain sites being blocked

And you won't find any censorware reports on censorware.org these days. Michael Sims (yes, that Michael Sims, Slashdot YRO editor) shut-down the censorware.org site, in a failed coup d'etat to control Censorware Project. Some of the material is now on a different site, censorware.NET.

The history is given in my essay below. Michael Sims has taken to abusing his Slashdot editorial position, to downgrade my postings whenever I mention what he did. Maybe this'll slip through. It's worth burning the karma over it.

Note censorware.NET would also like Michael Sims to stop confusing people over the domain names. No luck so far.

Sig: My Latest Censorware Essay:
What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

There is a piece on censorware.org that talks about some political campain sites being blocked

And you won't find any censorware reports on censorware.org these days. Michael Sims (yes, that Michael Sims, Slashdot YRO editor) shut-down the censorware.org site, in a failed coup d'etat to control Censorware Project. Some of the material is now on a different site, censorware.NET.

The history is given in my essay below. Michael Sims has taken to abusing his Slashdot editorial position, to downgrade my postings whenever I mention what he did. Maybe this'll slip through. It's worth burning the karma over it.

Note censorware.NET would also like Michael Sims to stop confusing people over the domain names. No luck so far.

Sig: My Latest Censorware Essay:
What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

Who me, cause trouble? Nah.

I believe, given what Michael Sims (yes, that Michael Sims, Slashdot/YRO editor) did against Censorware Project, this information is important to this discussion. And I'll take any karma hit for it.

The http://censorware.org site has been taken down since the following was posted, more than a month now.

Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2000 16:49:46 EST
To: CYBERIA-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
From: Jonathan Wallace <jw@BWAY.NET>
Subject: The Censorware Project

I've been trying hard to avoid washing dirty laundry in public, but a couple of recent posts have raised the issue and I'd like to give an account of what happened to the Censorware Project (the site at http://censorware.org is now offline). What we have here is the spectacle of a group member who volunteered to act as webmaster effectively closing a group which wants to continue, because the domain happened to be registered in his name.

The Censorware Project was originally an informal collective of six people who collaborated online to fight censorware: Seth Finkelstein, Bennett Haselton, Jamie McCarthy, Mike Sims, Jim Tyre and myself. After Seth left the group, the remaining five continued. Several of us had never met or even spoken on the phone, yet for some time--around two years as I recall--we had a remarkably easy collaboration. There was no funding, no hierarchy, no titles, not even project managers. Someone would suggest a project and take the responsibility for a part of it, others would sign up for other elements, and proceeding this way we got a remarkable amount of work done, including reports on X-Stop, Cyberpatrol, Bess and other products.

Even though two of us were attorneys--Jim and myself--we never incorporated the group or wrote a charter or any contracts among ourselves. Mike Sims was obliging enough to register the domain, just as other members paid for press releases and the other incidental expenses which came along.

Robert Frost said that "nothing gold can stay," and the Censorware Project was no exception. Over the summer, Mike Sims' reaction to a perceived slight was to take the site down for a week, exactly as Seth says in his mail. He sent us mail at the time saying something like "The Censorware Project is over." I replied to him that, given that the group was a collective and we all had an interest in its work product, the domain, and the goodwill it had achieved, the decision was not his to make. Sims did not reply.

Mike put the site back up a week later without explaining, let alone apologizing for, his actions. Given his continuing failure to answer any email from me (and I think from others) and the overall signs that Sims thought the group was exclusively his, I wrote him several emails requesting that he turn the domain over to Jamie or Bennett, as I felt we could no longer trust him to administer it. We also found out during that time that important email from people trying to contact us, including members of the press, was not being answered by Sims, nor being forwarded to other members.

I ultimately became exasperated that my name was listed as a principal on what had now become a "rogue" site I had no control over. Over about a five week period, I wrote Sims several more emails asking him to delete my name from the site if he wasn't going to transfer the domain. Again, I received no reply.

Today, Sims took the Censorware Project site offline again, with a message which says "Due to demands from some of the people who contributed, in however minor a fashion, to this site, it has been taken down." Judging from some email I received from him today, this means me.

Its a sad thing, both because we got some good work done and because some of the other members of the group were eager to continue and in fact have continued working, while deprived of the Censorware Project site, name, email aliases and public recognition. These further efforts are appearing on Bennett Haselton's Peacefire site, www.peacefire.org. (I applaud the work but take no credit as I have not been involved in some time.)

On the page currently at www.censorware.org Sims makes the following request: "If you are interested in volunteering to fight censorware, please contact me." One of the reasons I made this post was so that anyone considering working with Mike can make an informed decision.

• Step 1 - Find out who your representative is in the House of Representatives
• Step 2 - call them, write them, email them -- whatever it takes to let them know that you are against censorware in our libraries.

Even filtering advocates should be appalled at the actual practices of the industry. See peacefire.org for more analysis of filtering software.

Don't forget the wonderful censorware.org site. This is what we recommend to parents. Peacefire has more of a "how dare they lock me out!" mentality.

Censorware has a "Look what doesn't work to protect your children" mentality.

In either case, my husband and I ended up getting a Sunday editorial spot in our local paper on the school library and censorware issue. (It doesn't carry editorials past day one, so there is no link to place here.) This is a case where the technologically literate need to do a few simple things to fight censorware.

1. Write letters to the editor of all local papers. Include facts. Hammer on the facts. Hammer on pages that do get banned, and pages that slip through. censorware.org's review of bess contains excellent ammunition.
2. When discussing censorware with the community, make sure your language and affect are similar to that of a Baptist Sunday School teacher. Show deep concern, explain that these things don't work, express dismay at this abrogation of parental and community responsibility, and do it without frothing at the mouth.
3. Do not use ad hominem arguments. (What would you expect coming from an ignorant slob like that?) Instead, be the voice of sweet reason and responsibility. Explain the wonders that can no longer be seen. Blocks flesh tones? No more Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Uses keywords? No more Testicular cancer. Uses algorithms? No more information on the Brotherhood of Flagellants. If all else fails, use
4. Indignation. How dare anyone decide what your child gets to see? Who appointed them the ultimate decider of your child's upbringing? What standards shall be used?
5. Bring up community standards. Communities are changing so rapidly that the demographic standards obscenity have changed. In many cultures, the pictures of astronauts in shorts at NASA is offensive to modesty. In other cultures, the human body is something to be celebrated. Shall I assume that the female breast is taboo, as in Baptist Illinois, or shall I be like the folk on Pago Pago and forbid the display of female thighs, and the discussion of bodily function between father and son?
6. Finally, if necessary, in public debate, ask how much time they spend watching TV with children, reading the books their children read, and providing other outlets. Remind the audience that the Internet has never been a substitute for parenting. Remind the audience of the evils of using the public library as a babysitter. If parents do not trust their own children, have them watch their children, rather than forcing us to do it for them.

Even filtering advocates should be appalled at the actual practices of the industry. See peacefire.org for more analysis of filtering software.

Don't forget the wonderful censorware.org site. This is what we recommend to parents. Peacefire has more of a "how dare they lock me out!" mentality.

Censorware has a "Look what doesn't work to protect your children" mentality.

In either case, my husband and I ended up getting a Sunday editorial spot in our local paper on the school library and censorware issue. (It doesn't carry editorials past day one, so there is no link to place here.) This is a case where the technologically literate need to do a few simple things to fight censorware.

1. Write letters to the editor of all local papers. Include facts. Hammer on the facts. Hammer on pages that do get banned, and pages that slip through. censorware.org's review of bess contains excellent ammunition.
2. When discussing censorware with the community, make sure your language and affect are similar to that of a Baptist Sunday School teacher. Show deep concern, explain that these things don't work, express dismay at this abrogation of parental and community responsibility, and do it without frothing at the mouth.
3. Do not use ad hominem arguments. (What would you expect coming from an ignorant slob like that?) Instead, be the voice of sweet reason and responsibility. Explain the wonders that can no longer be seen. Blocks flesh tones? No more Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Uses keywords? No more Testicular cancer. Uses algorithms? No more information on the Brotherhood of Flagellants. If all else fails, use
4. Indignation. How dare anyone decide what your child gets to see? Who appointed them the ultimate decider of your child's upbringing? What standards shall be used?
5. Bring up community standards. Communities are changing so rapidly that the demographic standards obscenity have changed. In many cultures, the pictures of astronauts in shorts at NASA is offensive to modesty. In other cultures, the human body is something to be celebrated. Shall I assume that the female breast is taboo, as in Baptist Illinois, or shall I be like the folk on Pago Pago and forbid the display of female thighs, and the discussion of bodily function between father and son?
6. Finally, if necessary, in public debate, ask how much time they spend watching TV with children, reading the books their children read, and providing other outlets. Remind the audience that the Internet has never been a substitute for parenting. Remind the audience of the evils of using the public library as a babysitter. If parents do not trust their own children, have them watch their children, rather than forcing us to do it for them.

I hope these will enlighten:

• W3C's PICS page (How To Do It)
• Censorware.Ørg (critical site, as usual)

"Protect" means different things to different people -- just look at this article from a few months back. Peacefire and censorware.org also have a great deal of discussion about the issues associated with web-filtering.

But I'm conflicted here, since you and I are fellow Censorware Project Members, and I'd hate to see a CWP colleague in jail.

Besides, since IAAL, you'd probably just try to mooch legal services from me, so I guess I'll pass on the opportunity. ;-)

So either Google really is catching up, or Michael needs to change his formula.

But some Feds have recently been getting sneaky - they're going to the people who made these arguments, and asking them things like "So this censorware stuff you said was less restrictive isn't working, and isn't usable in public libraries? Would you be interested in testifying in court as an expert witness?". It looks like they may be trying to overthrow the least-restrictive-means argument, by contending that filters aren't that much less restrictive, and trying to Catch-22 us into letting them censor the net like they tried to before.

Peacefire is the group that was sued for revealing Cyberpatrol's blacklist, but also for publishing the password-cracker that lets you get around Cyberpatrol's restrictions. The EFF archives on filtering are at this link on eff.org, but they're a bit out of date (unless you believe the year is "19100" :-). The Censorware Project is more recent.

A reasonable fraction of the many blatant errors in Cyberpatrol's agenda need to be "explained by incompetence rather than attributed to malice"; classifying everything on the net is an impossibly large job, much of the gruntwork gets done by bots with only minimal accuracy, and there's certainly not enough time for real human attention to most of it. That doesn't excuse their lack of fixing problems they've been notified about, or the biases that do appear to be in that product and in many others. "Hackers" - oh, nooo! keep your kids away from them!

The referenced article has its mistakes as well - the Libertarian Party may occasionally be accused of being Republicans who smoke dope, and some of its members are, but that's pretty much a mischaracterization :-) It'd be much more accurate to classify most of the members as computer geeks who don't do real politics because that involves talking to non-geeky people in a way that's interesting to them and doing a lot of plain boring time-consuming hard work like precinct-walking.

The following is a rant I wrote on Saturday, when I first found out about Mattel being awarded the injunction. Anybody may feel free to copy or reproduce parts of it.

My mirror does not include any of the program files, but only the published analysis, Mattel's complaint, and an English translation of the Swedish copyright law 1960:729. I have no relation to the defendants in this case, and am only an interested third party.

- David Michael Turover(Perpetual Newbie)

(begin rant)

I am not in a good mood right now.

I've just had to troubleshoot NT's braindead permissions scheme, I've taken a test where several of the "correct answers" are wrong, my right wrist is aching(not good for a CS student), and it's barely noon. On my lunch break I crack open Netscape to read the news, and find that a United States federal judge has ordered two cryptology researchers to remove an essay that they had published on a Swedish website.

The two researchers in question are Matthew Skala, a Canadian, and Eddy L. O. Jansson, a Swede. They have reverse-engineered a program called Cyber Patrol, and described in detail the cryptography and computer file formats used by the program.

Cyber Patrol is a product made by Microsystems Software, which is a subsidiary of Mattel. The purpose of the product is to prevent any user of a computer where it is installed from accessing any of a list of several Internet web sites, ostensibly to prevent children from viewing pornography. As part of their report, Skala and Jansson offered a Win32 binary named cphack.exe, a utility which decodes Cyber Patrol's list of blocked URLs(website addresses).

Mattel promptly sued the authors of the report, charging them with copyright violations and ordering them to remove their program, report, and all supporting and related documents and materiel, claiming that the report and software will cost them over $75,000 in lost sales. On Friday March 17th, two days after Mattel's complaint was registered, Judge Edward F. Harrington awarded Mattel a preliminary injunction against the two. Jansson's internet service provider, though in Sweden and not subject to U.S. law, has removed his account and deleted the documents.

Reverse-engineering is the process of examining a product to see how it works. In almost every industry it is not only expected to occur but considered an integral part of the free market. In the software industry, however, products are often sold with "shrinkwrap licenses" that restrict reverse-engineering. A shrinkwrap license is a contract describing terms of use for a product, in which these terms cannot be read until after the product has been purchased, can not be disputed, and must be agreed to for the consumer to use the product which they have already paid for and in most cases cannot return. In most Western countries these shrinkwrap contracts are unenforcable, and in the U.S. their legality is disputed, although the upcoming UCITA bill will make them law.

In most Western countries, including Sweden, reverse-engineering of software is a right explicitly allowed by law that cannot be taken away by a contract(1960:729 26 g). Legal protections against reverse engineering can be obtained; they are called "Patents". Furthermore, an action undertaken in Canada and Sweden should be out of the United States' jurisdiction; However, the U.S. court did not refuse to hear the case as it should have done, and instead granted the injunction by weighing the action under U.S. law.

To make the situation more repugnant, Cyber Patrol doesn't work. And not just Cyber Patrol. It is well known that all content-blocking programs such as Cyber Patrol have a high rate of failure, and a high rate of erroneously blocking acceptable content despite any claims by their marketing departments of being 100% accurate.

This is not the first time Microsystems/Mattel's lawyers have been aggressive. A Microsystems software engineer who was fired from his job for seeking medical attention for his sore wrists has since been sued by Mattel for documenting his experiences. Outrageous lawsuits such as this have been happening often lately, and what is frightening is that in the United States' court culture, they have a good chance of succcess.

Does anyone else remember when libraries were the only place in town with an Internet connection? When the The fount of enlightenment and information.

And now we're going to blanket-install filtering software and have AOL-level fiascoes, filtering breast cancer support groups and who knows what else??

What about a two-tier system compromise; filtered computers for minors, full-access for everyone else, with the ability to get full access for everyone with a permission slip or somesuch.

Does the opposition have a website?

http://censorware.org/

We will definitely do this, and store them on censorware.org for future reference. It's a great idea, one that we thought about in the past but never got up the gumption to actually do.
--
Michael Sims-michael at slashdot.org

As a fellow Michigan resident, I sympathize with what is happening in Holland, which seems to be one of the most hardcore (forgive the wordplay) conservative towns in this mostly Republican state. I am a liberal socialist myself, and I am very disturbed by what is happening in many Michigan public institutions.

My school district, the Saginaw Public Schools, uses a Bess blocking server (you can find Bess' numerous failings catalouged at Censorware). Not only does the NT-based server have about 20% downtime, it also severely slows our shared T1 down. Ordinary web browsing is often barely usable due to overblocking (I wonder what's obscene about kernel.org?), and a quick look at IE3's history (yes, you read that right, the district doesn't allow "unauthorized" software installations) shows that several URLs including XXX are being frequently accessed by some students. Despite numerous complaints on behalf of staff and students, the service still blocks many educational resources. I, for example, can't use babelfish on my Spanish homework (OK, so I workaround that by going to altavista.co.uk, but that's not exactly something students district-wide have thought of.

Worse yet, my local library, where my mother is employed, is considering installing blocking software. As an unpaid computer maintenance volunteer, I have some say on the machines. I've got Netscape on them, but the network is still 100% NT4-based (I hate buearacracy). Does it matter that erotica and graphic violence are included in the pages of the books prominently displayed on the "New Books" shelf? Apparantly not, as there are rumors of state legislation promoting the use of blocking software in Libraries and Schools pending.

I call on other Michiganders out there (particularly those of you who are of voting age ;)) to write your representatives in Lansing and encourage them to do just the opposite: Ban censorship in public libraries and schools! Viva libertad!

Where do you get your information, out of a cereal box? Due to the Tipper Gore's actions, tons of rap and other music has been pulled from chains such as Walmart and K-mart. Other music has been "Sanitized for Your Protection", meaning lyrics have been altered or eliminated, even for adult purchasers. She wrote a whole book about how proud she was of censoring this music, "Raising a PG Child in an X-Rated World" I believe the title was. PMRC describes rap music as a "secondary form of child abuse". See my page at http://censorware.org/pics/primer/ and then tell me whether PMRC is promoting labeling or censorship (there's no distinction between the two, really).

--
Michael Sims-michael at slashdot.org

Good point, but I think the 'effort and cash' is worthwhile and well-spent. As a taxpayer, I will vote in favor of restricted access.

While I agree with your sentiment, the execution of most censorware is inherently flawed. I wouldn't object to using "reactive" censorware (sites are only censored if they've explicitly been determined to be pornographic) in libraries. Unfortunately, all censorware that I've ever heard of is "proactive"-- it censors based on a word list, therefore will inherently censor sites that should not be censored, while still letting by sites that should be. Obviously, the problem with "Reactive" censorware of course is that there's so much out there that it would be virtually impossible to keep up with it all, but the first ammendment doesn't allow for proactive software (See this article by Jonathon Wallace).

The one place where I might find it acceptable to use traditional censorware would be on any computers in the childrens areas, but even then, the librarian would have to be able to override the block on request (except on those sites that they specifically deem obscene). Adults using the computers should not be forced to be censored. Any other solution fails the constitutional challenges stated in the above article.

First off, censorware is unconstitutional in public libraries. Second, it doesn't work, anyway. There is way more porn than can be supressed, while if a useful and relevant site gets blocked, you're pretty much screwed. Third, the censorware companies all have ties to evil organizations trying to impose their false morals on everyone else.

And much more... Censorware.org had a lot of good stuff, last time I checked.

All that is needed to stop this censorware craze is for a library to install the software (as it seems one has already done), and a kid (I'm sure there would be pleanty of volenteers) to try to research something, say breast cancer (maybe one of her friend's mothers has it). She gets blocked

This happens already, with fair frequency. These incidents are the source of a lot of the anecdotes about censorware programs blocking the ACLU or the LPF (under "militant", I am not kidding) or gay-rights sites, not to mention sites with non-entertainment sexual content such as medical info. Some of these are on the Censorware Project and Peacefire.

However, no one seems to much care. It's not as though there aren't plenty of examples of people being blocked - there are lists on the above sites, neatly categorized for the benefit of any Crusading Journalist - but they're mostly ignored, spun by the censorware companies as "minor imperfections". My guess is that if a student did manage to get an egregious problem looked at by the official media, it would be presented as "Teen sues software manufacturer over porno access on Internet".

I thought along similar lines as you, as I believe people should be able to decide what they (and their kids) see. But while well intentioned it will actually achieve something quite different to what you imagine.

Read all of "how I saw the light" to see why something so honourable will become something so bad.

I think there are some solutions, but they are not simple (and they are not yet implemented in IE or NS)