IP: BOARD BLOCKS STUDENT ACCESS AT SCHOOL COMPUTERS TO SOME WEB SITES

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Teachers and students at New York City schools are disturbed that
a broad filtering program on the Board of Education's computer
system is interfering with legitimate class work. The board uses
a filter called I-Gear from Symantec subsidiary Urlabs, and the
program blocks access to major news groups, policy groups, and
scientific and medical organizations. Students at Benjamin
Cardozo High School in Queens were recently assigned to research
the pros and cons of an issue, and received an "Access Denied"
message when trying to visit sites on breast cancer, eating
disorders, child labor, AIDS, and abortion. The city's schools
recently received a federal grant allowing all of them to get
Internet connections, most of which go through the board's server
and are therefore subject to the filter. Many of the schools
have had problems with the filter and have filed complaints with
the New York Civil Liberties Union. The Board of Education says
it is now writing an Internet access policy that will allow
schools to adjust I-Gear in an appropriate manner according to the
ages of students. (New York Times 11/10/99)


_____________________________________________________________________
David Farber
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems
University of Pennsylvania
Home Page: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~farber
Email: farber () cis upenn edu

Home: +1 610 274 8292; Cell and Office: +1 215 327 8756; Fax:  +1 408 490 2720



_____________________________________________________________________
David Farber
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems
University of Pennsylvania
Home Page: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~farber
Email: farber () cis upenn edu

Home: +1 610 274 8292; Cell and Office: +1 215 327 8756; Fax:  +1 408 490 2720



_____________________________________________________________________
David Farber
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems
University of Pennsylvania
Home Page: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~farber
Email: farber () cis upenn edu

Home: +1 610 274 8292; Cell and Office: +1 215 327 8756; Fax:  +1 408 490 2720