LISNews: Librarian News

Seth Finkelstein writes "In response to previous
Miami-Dade Public Library Censorware Frustrations, the library
said it would improve unblocking procedures. The lastest
report from Michael Froomkin is "a good chunk of that statement is now inoperative. ... it represents a grave breach of faith with library patrons. How many other whitelisted sites have been surreptitiously re-blocked?""

kctipton writes "Here in of the nation's most conservative counties, the issue has finally come up that the Lubbock city council wants internet porn totally filtered, with the Mayor Pro Tem sharing an anecdotal story (and I doubt it's true) that "his daughter was recently using a public library computer and noticed the gentleman next to her was looking at a sexually explicit Web site." (If you view the article above you'll see a picture that shows the way that many (but not all) of the terminals at the library's four branches are secluded below eye level.)

"Instead of filters, Lubbock libraries require parental approval if children under the age of 17 want to use the Internet."

So, with this sort of arrangement, why demand filters? Politics is my guess, knowing what I know about this town. The article goes on to explain why the Lubbock libraries don't filter, why many libraries don't filter, and how filtering has been shown to not be as effective as some people want it to be."

From The AP: Internet providers told Congress on Tuesday they're doing all they can to combat online child pornography, but they were told to expect legislation.

Several providers voiced skepticism about creating new laws that would force them to retain data about their users' online activity.

Any such measure would be costly, easily circumvented and would ``fall far short of its intended goal,'' AOL chief counsel John Ryan told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing.

Lawmakers, however, said more must be done to stop the availability of child porn on the Web and chat rooms where pedophiles troll for young victims.

News From Australia where they say will be six months before families can obtain a free filter to block offensive material on home computers.

The technology is, however, available at cost price from internet service providers under an existing child protection scheme.
Details of the Howard Government's $116 million attempt to make all internet-enabled home and library computers child-friendly remain patchy.

It is likely parents and library staff will select accredited filtering software from a central site.