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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