Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Trial Begins Over Library Censorship

Posted by timothy on from the it-starts-with-a-smidgeon dept.

Justen writes: "CBS has a story on the Philadelphia trial over the Children's Internet Protection Act, signed by President Clinton in 2000. This is the first challenge to come to trial, challenging the act which aimed to censor pornography and other "inappropriate" websites in libraries and other government-subsidized public Internet access-points. The big shocker? The challenge has the support of a large number (3,000) of libraries, librarians, and library patrons."

2 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. Is anyone surprised? by adr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is anyone surprised that the challenge has broad support from libraries and librarians? I've worked in libraries pretty much solidly since 1994, and I've never never ever met any librarian who thought that censorware was a good idea.

    The reason? Censorware is simply too broad. There exists many cases where censorware companies blocked not only obscene material but also perfectly legitimate constitutionally-protected material like sites on women's rights and birth control. And as for pornography, what happens when someone is doing legitimate research on porn or needs to access material commonly described as porn? The last library I worked at stocks Playboys (and yes, this is one time when the old saw about "buying playboys for the articles" actually is actually true). You had to ask for them at the front desk, but they were there.

    Anyway, bottom line -- this is Yet Another Totally Unconstitutional Load of Bull-Plop that even the lizards on the current Supreme Court will probably strike down. Hopefully.

  2. the CIPA by Vodak · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's simplistic to claim that this argument boils down to Republicans attempting to carve away at our first amendment rights to fit their own morality.

    The internet holds a vast amount of pornography that is so crude it can not be placed on news stands. Of that number there is a percentage of this content that is and was illegal well before the popularity of the Internet came acrossed the country.

    A large problem for these public places not that normal pornography would be acessable to minors, but that the illegal type would be availble to everyone.

    If JohnDoe access child porn from a library and the police arrest him on his way home from the library can the library be sued for letting him access it? Normal people would say of course not. But the court system is fill of libal cases that Slashdot readers think are too stupid to goto trial.. and every case costs money.

    Of course this is just my wonderings about the subject.