Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the slashdot-will-be-the-third-site-censored dept.
An anonymous reader wrote in to say that "CNN is reporting on a federal plan that has been attached to an appropriations bill which would require that public schools and libraries institute censorware or lose government funding. It could be voted on as early as this week. Check out the article."
Hey, Slashdot, how about some actual news. Such as, THE BILL NUMBER!! How else am I supposed to call my senator and complain?
The official/. mantra (I believe begun in earnest during the Hellmouth series): "It's bad, it's bad. Sit here and bitch, don't do anything about it. What would we bitch about?"
-- Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
And who picks the sites to be blocked?
by
Flounder
·
· Score: 4
At either extreme, you are going to have sites blocked that shouldn't be blocked. The extreme left would love to block any religious web sites, anti-abortion groups, the NRA, and sometimes Slashdot. The extreme right would love to see Planned Parenthood, Gun Control, Inc., the Sierra Club, and somes Slashdot.
Here's my idea. Hire some old women about the age of your grandmother. Have them sit next to you while you're on the net. Would you go to sexwithmidgets.com with your grandmother sitting next to you? Neither would I.
It's not censorship. Just think about it. In a public area (libraries, university computer labs, etc), only go to those sites that you would go to sitting next to your grandmother.
--
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
Re:And who picks the sites to be blocked?
by
Flounder
·
· Score: 4
I consider myself extreme left, and I wouldn'y want to see any sites blocked.
Well, I'm as extreme right as you can get. No, Nazi-ism is not the extreme of right wing, anymore than totalitarian-ism is the extreme of left wing.
But I don't believe what I'm going to say. I agree with you. The first amendment is in place to defend speech that others would deem offensive. Without it, what's to stop a government from eliminating it's detractors. Everybody is offended by something. Eventually, if you talk to everybody, you'll find that there's not one thing in this world that somebody isn't offended by. The government's job is not to protect people from offensive speech, it's to protect offensive speech from people.
I'm offended by Jon Katz, as are alot of other people here. That doesn't mean that he doesn't have a right to express his viewpoint. Just because it's there doesn't mean that you have to listen to it. There's another channel to watch, another radio station to listen to, another web site to visit.
--
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
Re:And who picks the sites to be blocked?
by
Snocone
·
· Score: 5
Would you go to sexwithmidgets.com with your grandmother sitting next to you?
Errrrrrrmmmmm...
Actually, MY grandmother ASKED to see where this internet thingy had all the dirty pictures.
The bill number is hr4577, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, TITLE VI--Children's Internet Protection. Check thomas.loc.gov.
It's strange that it's so unspecific. Perhaps necessarily so, since no software can guarantee blocking all illegal images, unless it prevents all access.
(B) CERTIFICATION- A certification under this subparagraph is a certification that the school, school board, or other authority with responsibility for administration of the school--
(i) has selected a technology for its computers with Internet access in order to filter or block Internet access through such computers to--
(I) material that is obscene; and
(II) child pornography; and
(ii) is enforcing a policy to ensure the operation of the technology during any use of such computers by minors.
Why the (ii)? Are adults allowed to see child porn on school computers?
And does it mean "block ALL material that's obscene"? Certainly they couldn't expect that... everyone would be in violation. So do they mean "block SOME obscene images"? "Try to get as much as possible"?
Also note that Playboy doesn't count as obscene or as child porn, so this bill leaves the decision to block sites such as playboy up to the individual libraries. It just says that libraries must block images that everyone has supposedly decided is extremely offensive.
--
If all you slashdotters really do believe in the freedom of speech and do not want the federal government censoring our libraries, then do something about it.
Does it seem tyrannical to anyone else that the federal government taxes states' citizens, then threatens to withhold that tax money if the states don't go along with the federal plan?
They even do it to bypass Constitutional limits on what the Federal government can do. The states are supposed to be in charge of education, but the Fed can get away with this sort of sh*t in that area because the programs are state run and "federally funded".
If my state (Oklahoma) wants to install censorware (and it probably does), then the state legislature can pass the damned tax themselves (with voter approval)!
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, Slashdot, how about some actual news. Such as, THE BILL NUMBER!! How else am I supposed to call my senator and complain?
/. mantra (I believe begun in earnest during the Hellmouth series): "It's bad, it's bad. Sit here and bitch, don't do anything about it. What would we bitch about?"
The official
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Here's my idea. Hire some old women about the age of your grandmother. Have them sit next to you while you're on the net. Would you go to sexwithmidgets.com with your grandmother sitting next to you? Neither would I.
It's not censorship. Just think about it. In a public area (libraries, university computer labs, etc), only go to those sites that you would go to sitting next to your grandmother.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
It's strange that it's so unspecific. Perhaps necessarily so, since no software can guarantee blocking all illegal images, unless it prevents all access.
- (B) CERTIFICATION- A certification under this subparagraph is a certification that the school, school board, or other authority with responsibility for administration of the school--
Why the (ii)? Are adults allowed to see child porn on school computers?- (i) has selected a technology for its computers with Internet access in order to filter or block Internet access through such computers to--
(I) material that is obscene; and
(ii) is enforcing a policy to ensure the operation of the technology during any use of such computers by minors.(II) child pornography; and
And does it mean "block ALL material that's obscene"? Certainly they couldn't expect that... everyone would be in violation. So do they mean "block SOME obscene images"? "Try to get as much as possible"?
Also note that Playboy doesn't count as obscene or as child porn, so this bill leaves the decision to block sites such as playboy up to the individual libraries. It just says that libraries must block images that everyone has supposedly decided is extremely offensive.
--
- 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.
If you send an email, includes links to censorware.org and the winner's of the foil the filter contest.--
lukas
Zambozay! My brain must've been eatin' a sandwich!
Maybe we could get a provision included that any censorware that is used to satisfy this law must make public a list of sites blocked, and why.
They even do it to bypass Constitutional limits on what the Federal government can do. The states are supposed to be in charge of education, but the Fed can get away with this sort of sh*t in that area because the programs are state run and "federally funded".
If my state (Oklahoma) wants to install censorware (and it probably does), then the state legislature can pass the damned tax themselves (with voter approval)!
My mom is not a Karma whore!