Miami-Dade Public Library Censorware Frustrations

Seth Finkelstein writes “Michael Froomkin has an account of
frustration
with Miami-Dade public library censorware:
“The branch librarians are sympathetic, especially about the blocked
sites, but they don’t control the filter list or the wireless port
blocking policies. … All that computer stuff is handled by some
distant, faceless, unresponsive central administration. So my requests
for changes to the policy, so far, go unheeded, including written
requests a week ago to unblock a site, and open port 22.””

December 12, 2005 by Uncategorized 2

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2 Responses

  1. shoe says:
    December 12, 2005 at 7:04 pm

    That’s Unfortunate

    Can anyone from the Miami-Dade libraries chime in on what filter they’re using? We had the same problem with Surf Control being spearheaded by the consortium… Although the consortium we’re in sounds like it’s a little more responsive (at least on filter issues, har har) than M-D’s.

    I kind of worked around that… We put in the new Userful computers, and I implemented K12LTSP, and hooked up dansguardian and squidguard. Also, by nature, very restrictive. The beauty of it being that you can modify the restrictiveness, whitelist and blacklist certain sites.Still not a perfect solution, but what is? And at least I control it. I am a control freak.

    In response to the linked blog, I can see exactly why the library blocked download.com. It would be frustrating on a wireless connection, but not all the library patrons are using their own computers. I cleaned more crap off our Windows boxen… And I’m sure the Linux boxes get their fair share of crap, just that they reset on logout and none of it is executable. Unfortunately, this is a case of a few ruining it for many.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous Patron says:
    December 13, 2005 at 2:04 am

    Re:That’s Unfortunate
    They use Websense.

    There are many sites that are blocked by that should not be, including Livejournal. The administration does not have the backbone to stand up for freedom of speech – it’s easier to just deny access than to protect our basic right to information.

    Reply

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