IP: ACLU Promises Challenge to Filtering Legisla

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

> ~~ www.cybertelecom.org ~~
>
> ACLU Promises Legal Challenge as Congress Adopts Bill Imposing Internet
> Blocking in Libraries
> http://www.aclu.org/news/2000/n121800a.html
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, December 18, 2000
>
> WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union said that it will soon
> launch a legal challenge to legislation adopted by Congress last week
> that would mandate the use of blocking software on computers in public
> libraries.
>
> "This is the first time since the development of the local, free public
> library in the 19th  century that the federal government has sought to
> require censorship in every single town and hamlet in America," said
> Chris Hansen, ACLU Senior Staff Attorney. "More than 100 years of local
> control of libraries and the strong tradition of allowing adults to
> decide for themselves what they want to read is being casually set
> aside."
>
> The measure, which was included in the year's final spending bill that
> was approved on Friday, was introduced by Senator John McCain, R-AZ. It
> would require libraries and public schools to adopt acceptable use
> policies accompanied by a "safety technology" - i.e., blocking software
> - that would block access to materials deemed "harmful to minors."
>
> Earlier this year, an 18-member commission appointed by Congress
> rejected the idea of mandating the use of blocking software, which is
> notoriously clumsy and inevitably restricts access to valuable,
> protected speech. A wide spectrum of organizations have opposed blocking
> software mandates, including the American Library Association, the
> Society of Professional Journalists, the conservative Free Congress
> Foundation and state chapters of
> the Eagle Forum and the American Family Association.
>
> "There was an Alice in Wonderland quality to this debate," said Marvin
> Johnson, a Legislative Counsel with the ACLU's Washington National
> Office. "With its vote, Congress rejected the advice it asked for from
> the panel it appointed."
>
> The ACLU said that because blocking programs can be so restrictive and
> overreaching, they significantly reduce the amount and diversity of
> speech and information available to individuals. For example, House
> Majority Leader Richard "Dick" Armey, a staunch proponent of Internet
> blocking, found his own web site censored, because it contains the word
> "dick." And a recent report by Peacefire found that several dozen
> websites of candidates for
> Congress had been blocked by censorware.
>
> Over the last five years, the ACLU has successfully challenged a wide
> range of government efforts to censor the Internet, including the
> landmark Supreme Court ruling in Reno v. ACLU and, more specifically, in
> Mainstream Loudoun vs. Board of Trustees of the Loudoun County Library,
> where a federal district court found mandatory use of blocking software
> unconstitutional in April 1998.
>
>
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