Filtering

Minneapolis library out of answers

I\'m posting this one because it is so full of great quotes.
It\'s from Techserver.com

The pictures of child molestation, bestiality and other hardcore pornography were as shocking as they were graphic. But just as shocking was the place they were found - on computers at the downtown Minneapolis Public Library.

\"You\'d think a library would be a safe place, but I won\'t bring my daughter back there.\"

They have heard of related acts of sex and violence that have occurred in the library. They have heard that anyone walking through the library can see pornography on computers.

Some librarians wonder if their rights are being violated. Forty-seven of the approximately 140 downtown library employees signed a public letter of protest saying they feel \"harassed and intimidated by working in a public environment\" where they might \"be exposed to degrading or pornographic pictures.\"

Click on read more for a few more... -- Read More

Voters reject filters for library computers

Bob Cox sent in this St
ory

Voters on Tuesday rejected a measure that would have
required the city to stop funding the Herrick District
Library unless it installs Internet filters on its
computers.
In unofficial results, voters in Holland rejected the
measure, 4,379 to 3,626.
Thousands cast their ballots on an ordinance that has
divided the conservative west Michigan com

Win $100

Jamie at Slashdot.org continues his Must Read Filtering Series with this challenge.

Rules for the $100 offer are as follows. Find a search result URL that shows naked people, for a search on \"chocolate chip cookies\" or \"chocolate chip cookie recipes.\" I\'ll accept any variant that an inexperienced Web-surfer might search for. Your result must appear on one of the first five pages of results returned (typically the first 50 results). I\'ll accept any major search engine. Send me the exact query you used; I will only accept queries I can verify to work as claimed. You aren\'t allowed to put up a cookie page, submit it, then change its content; to prevent this, you have until 11:59 PM EST, Wednesday the 23rd. Only the first person gets the money; order is determined by timestamp of Received: headers at my server. I\'ll mail you a check or donate it to your favorite charity. This offer is made by me personally, not Slashdot, Andover.net, or VA Linux. Notify me at jamie@mccarthy.org.

What\'s So Smart About That...?

In yet another step towards embracing new technologies at the expense of user freedom, some libraries have started issuing so-called smart cards which allow patrons to access the Internet at varying levels, from \"full access\" [i.e. only mildly filtered] to \"restricted access\" [only safe sites]. Chat and newsgroups are never allowed and the viewing of obscene material may result in the loss of Internet privileges. -- Read More

Filtering flap continues in MI

Experiences draw group leaders into library Internet filter fight

The issue of requiring Internet filters at Herrick District Library has polarized the community.

And it\'s brought into the public eye several local people who have never been in the political spotlight before.

Those on the pro-filter side share a common passion -- the fight against pornography.

All say their passion on the issue stems from personal pain.

Filter vote will prolong debate \"I\'m just trying to make this a safe place to live,\" said Irv Bos, vice president of the local chapter of the Mississippi-based American Family Association.

\"I\'m so frustrated the community is bitter about this. I just don\'t understand the hearts and minds of those who criticize us,\" Bos said.

Senate OKs library porn bill

This Story is from the Detroit Free Press. Thanks
to Bob Cox for another submission.

A bill to prevent children from using library computers to
access pornography -- and to discourage sex predators from
preying via computer -- cleared the state Senate on
Thursday.
The Senate also approved a bill to halt the quick
destruction of campaign finance records. Both bills went to
the House.
The library bill passed 37-0 after it exempted college and
private libraries from requiring electronic filters or other
means to block sexually explicit material.
\"We are standing before a whole world of hard-core sexual
predators coming after our kids,\" said Sen. Mike Rogers,
R-Brighton, the bil -- Read More

High-Profile Crusade

A story from MI on The American Family Association.

To some, the American Family Association is one of the greatest protectors of conservative values in this nation. To others, it is a group of mean-spirited censors who deal in half-truths and intimidation.

Either way, the Tupelo, Miss.-based organization has a long history of activism, largely aimed at what it considers the pernicious influence of the media. Its local affiliate, the Holland Area Family Association, has been active for a decade, but its previous local efforts have largely been sound and fury with little results.


Over the years, the group led drives against the sitcom \"Ellen\" for its perceived promotion of homosexuality, radio shock jock Howard Stern, the National Endowment for the Arts and the presence of adult magazines in federal prisons. -- Read More

Protesting the library

From Omaha.com

More than 50 people gathered outside the Council Bluffs
Public Library on Wednesday evening, protesting the board\'s refusal to vote on placing content filters on Internet-connected computers.

The crowd, which included more than a dozen children, listened to presentations by Creighton law professors Michael Fenner and Ed Morse and Pottawattamie County Attorney Rick Crowl. -- Read More

Pro-filter group will pay $1,250 to keep oversized signs

What would a day be without a report from Holland, MI?

A mistake on the size of more than 100 campaign signs that promote Internet filters will cost a Holland group up to $1,250.

The signs, which measure about 11 square feet, went up in yards Saturday, but organizers of the pro-filter campaign were notified Tuesday they exceeded the residential district size limit of 6 square feet.

City officials gave the group two options: remove the signs or pay a $25-per-sign permit fee to temporarily override the city\'s sign ordinance.
Diane Van DerWerff, treasurer of Holland Area Citizens Voting YES! to Protect Our Children committee, said her group intends to keep the signs and pay the fee.

\"I feel so silly,\" Van DerWerff said. \"This was just one of those things.\"

Censorware and Memetic Warfare

Slashdot has an outstanding report on filtering, and how it works. This is a great read whatever your views on filtering are, read it HERE.
Be sure to check out the link to This Report on sites blocked at the University of UT.

Most measures of blocking software effectiveness focus on how much pornography it blocks. We weren\'t able to test that because we couldn\'t look through the 99.4% of unblocked material - over 53 million URLs. Just too much data. But we did learn that, in Utah, 5% of the time, when the software said \"you can\'t look at that,\" it was just plain wrong.

Ninety-five percent accuracy might sound like a nice high figure to base a good meme around. Who could argue with a number like 95%? But consider what this means for the 300 Web sites in question: each of them was blocked from being read by a great many public institutions in the state of Utah.

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