LISNews: Librarian News

Seth Finkelstein writes "The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), requires censorware in
most schools and libraries for adults and minors alike. A new report
from the Free Expression Policy Project at the Brennan Center for
Justice explains the effects of CIPA and then analyzes nearly 100
tests and studies that demonstrate how filters operate as censorship
tools. "Internet Filters: A Public Policy Report" concludes: Although
some may say that the debate is over and that filters are now a fact
of life, it is never too late to rethink bad policy choices. The
report is available at
fepproject.org [PDF]"

jbz writes "Here's PC magazine's review of an internet filter, currently being marketed to parents, that claims to evaluate and block inappropriate websites based on scans of actual content, not listing on a blacklist.

Turner writes ""Web site operators posting sexually explicit information must place official government warning labels on their pages or risk being imprisoned for up to five years, the Bush administration proposed Thursday.A mandatory rating system will "prevent people from inadvertently stumbling across pornographic images on the Internet," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at an event in Alexandria, Va."Story @ CNET The irony ...the irony...."

A Tale Of Bare Boobies from the University of Alabama. A student said he tried to not pay attention as a man scrolled through pictures of naked women and people having sexual intercourse, but he finally complained to one of the library's staff members. Phillips said he was shocked when he was told the library staff had no power to stop the man from looking at pornography. But that's not entirely true, said Louis Pitschmann, dean of UA libraries.

"To say there is no policy is incorrect," Pitschmann said.

In accordance with the principles of the American Library Association, UA library workers cannot monitor or control what people look at on the computers, Pitschmann said.