library restores Internet link

This Story from Hudsonville, MI.

The Gary Byker Memorial Library\’s Internet computers, which
had been unplugged since December, will fire up once again
after a city commission decision Wednesday to repeal an
Internet filter ordinance.

The city commission voted 6-1 in favor of an ordinance
submitted by about 80 Hudsonville residents asking that an
ordinance to filter all but one computer be repealed.

This Story from Hudsonville, MI.

The Gary Byker Memorial Library\’s Internet computers, which
had been unplugged since December, will fire up once again
after a city commission decision Wednesday to repeal an
Internet filter ordinance.

The city commission voted 6-1 in favor of an ordinance
submitted by about 80 Hudsonville residents asking that an
ordinance to filter all but one computer be repealed.
Wednesday\’s actions mark the latest chapter in an on-again,
off-again struggle over the use of the Internet at
Hudsonville\’s Gary Byker Memorial Library.

Last December, a group of residents — with help from the
American Family Association of Tupelo, Miss. — submitted a
petition asking that all but one of the library\’s computers
be filtered to eliminate sites they said were inappropriate
for children.

The single computer left unfiltered would have required a
sign — printed in letters at least a half-inch in size —
stating that it provides \”unrestricted access to the
Internet, including materials that are obscene.\”

Under the city charter, the city commission had the option
of either enacting the ordinance requested in the petition
or putting the question on a ballot for the city\’s voters to
decide.

City commissioners reluctantly approved the ordinance but
then immediately pulled the plug on the Internet, saying the
ordinance was likely unconstitutional because the sign over
the unfiltered computer would \”label\” users. City officials
said they feared a lawsuit