SCN: Filters

[Rich Littleton]

I don't think people would go downtown just to use the library computers
if they could afford their own computers.  The fact that so many people
use the library computers is confirmation that there is not enough public
access to computers.

We shouldn't put down the people who are going to a lot of trouble to use
a computer.

Maybe the computer giveaway program should pass out information cards
(about how to get a free computer) to those using the library computers. 


Later,

Rich
______________________________________________________________________


On Mon, 4 Jun 2001, patrick wrote:

> It's too bad these people can't get their own computers at home, as cheap as
> they are, they have to come to the library and hog access. Of course, the
> Seattle Public Library and the King County Library System impose time limits on
> access. I frequently go to the library and I literally see the same people
> hogging the computers. Maybe they have multiple library cards??? Okay, some
> can't afford them, I am sure, but some of them appear to be able to...hmmmm.
> 
> Patrick
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- Steve <steve at advocate.net> wrote:
> > x-no-archive: yes  
> > 
> > =========================  
> > 
> > 
> > (Carl S. Kaplan, NY Times)---In early 1997, the Minneapolis Public 
> > Library began giving its patrons unfettered and unlimited access to 
> > the Internet. The library's First Amendment-inspired policy was 
> > intended to provide a needed service to the community. But Wendy 
> > Adamson, a reference desk librarian at the library's central branch, 
> > said it effectively made her working life a nightmare, and federal 
> > officials appear poised to agree with her.   
> > 
> > Acting on complaints from Adamson and other librarians at the city's 
> > central branch library, the Equal Employment Opportunity 
> > Commission's Minneapolis office ruled last week that the library, by 
> > exposing its staff to sexually explicit images on unrestricted 
> > computer terminals, may have allowed for a hostile work 
> > environment. The blockbuster finding, issued on May 23 following 
> > an investigation by the agency, came in response to complaints 
> > filed a year ago by Adamson and 11 of her colleagues.   
> > 
> > Free speech advocates quickly expressed concern that the 
> > E.E.O.C.'s decision is a dangerous precedent that could pressure 
> > libraries to aggressively monitor patrons' viewing habits or install 
> > filtering software as a means to ward off potential discrimination 
> > suits. But Adamson and Bob Halagan, the lawyer for the librarians, 
> > hailed the commission's finding as a victory for common sense.   
> > 
> > Adamson said the complaints were filed only after she and other 
> > librarians repeatedly notified library officials about their concerns 
> > and detailed what they said were the new policy's negative impact 
> > on staff and patrons.   
> > 
> > "Our downtown library became a club for a large number of men who 
> > were viewing pornography all day," Adamson, who has been a 
> > librarian for over 30 years, said in an interview. "I'd see these men 
> > at the door at 9 a.m. and some of them would still be there at 9 at 
> > night."   
> > 
> > Adamson said that while she was sitting at her workplace and doing 
> > her job, she would look up and see "horrible" stuff on the screens of 
> > nearby terminals. "I'm talking about torture and sex with animals," 
> > she said. It was "really demoralizing and depressing."   
> > 
> > Computer printouts of sexually explicit pictures littered the library, 
> > Adamson said. She said she saw some men at computer terminals 
> > engage in what appeared to her to be masturbation and that 
> > computer users would verbally abuse her when she tried to enforce 
> > time limits.   
> > 
> > The worst part of her day, she said, was watching, helplessly, as 
> > members of the public -- including children -- encountered unwanted 
> > sexual images on terminals. Often, she said, a patron who wanted to 
> > do conventional research would approach a terminal and find that it 
> > was locked onto a sexually explicit site -- owing to a "quicksand" 
> > feature some porn sites use that prevents users from leaving the 
> > site. She said she repeatedly had to calm the patrons and reset the 
> > terminal's browser.   
> > 
> > "We were told [by administrators] to avert our eyes. But we were 
> > surrounded by it," she said, adding that library officials did not 
> > respond to staff complaints about the policy.   
> > 
> > The director of the Minneapolis Public Library, Mary L. Lawson, did 
> > not return telephone calls. The library's spokesperson released a 
> > statement, attributed to Lawson, stating that the library would not 
> > comment on the E.E.O.C.'s finding until it had the opportunity to 
> > consult with its lawyer and trustees.   
> > 
> > The statement noted, however, that last spring the library adopted 
> > revised guidelines for Internet use. Among other things, the new 
> > guidelines include time limits, sign-up procedures requiring 
> > identification, posted notices prohibiting illegal Internet activity and 
> > enforcement procedures.   
> > 
> > The E.E.O.C.'s ruling, called a "determination," is a preliminary 
> > conclusion by the agency that there is reason to believe 
> > discrimination occurred. The commission will next attempt to 
> > resolve the matter through mediation. Adamson said the E.E.O.C. 
> > had privately suggested to the library that it pay each of the 12 
> > employees $75,000 in damages.   
> > 
> > If the agency's mediation efforts fail -- if the library declines to enter 
> > settlement discussions or if the E.E.O.C. is unable to secure an 
> > acceptable settlement -- the matter may be sent to the Department of 
> > Justice for possible prosecution. In addition, the librarians may elect 
> > to directly sue the library in court.   
> > 
> > David Rucker, an enforcement supervisor for the E.E.O.C.'s 
> > Minneapolis office, declined to confirm or deny the E.E.O.C.'s 
> > investigation of the library, citing his office's policy of 
> > confidentiality.   
> > 
> > Jan LaRue, senior director of legal studies for the conservative 
> > Family Research Council, which has consistently lobbied for 
> > governmental regulation of Internet decency, said that the E.E.O.C.'s 
> > finding will make libraries across the country "sit up and take 
> > notice."   
> > 
> > "When libraries face up to the fact that they face a loss of revenues" 
> > from potential discrimination suits, they will begin to restrict 
> > patrons' access to sexually explicit material on the Internet, she 
> > said. LaRue said that she believed nothing less than filtering 
> > software will solve the problem of a library's hostile work 
> > environment.   
> > 
> > "The Minneapolis Public Library's current policy is to tell people, 
> > 'Don't touch the paint,'" LaRue said. "But people still touch the paint. 
> > It's much more effective to keep [sexually explicit images] from 
> > coming up on the screen as much as possible."   
> > 
> > Eugene Volokh, a law professor at U.C.L.A. who has written 
> > extensively about the Internet, free speech and workplace 
> > harassment law, agreed that the E.E.O.C.'s finding would put 
> > pressure on library trustees to adopt filtering. He added, however, 
> > that he disagreed with the government's policy of forcing libraries, 
> > under the threat of discrimination law penalties, to restrict the 
> > freedom of library users to view legally protected but offensive 
> > material.   
> > 
> > Of course, a library that uses filtering software on all its terminals 
> > risks inviting -- and losing -- a First Amendment lawsuit, Volokh said, 
> > alluding to a 1998 federal district court decision declaring that the 
> > filtering policy of a public library in Loudoun County, Va., was 
> > unconstitutional.   
> > 
> > But losing a First Amendment lawsuit will subject a library to 
> > "nominal damages," Volokh said. Losing a Title VII discrimination 
> > lawsuit can result in damages "with lots of zeros in it," he said. 
> > Faced with the choice between two equally hazardous legal 
> > alternatives, library trustees will logically opt to install filters and 
> > ward off harassment suits with potentially massive damages, he 
> > said.   
> > 
> > Ann Beeson, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who 
> > specializes in cyberlaw cases, said that a charge of sexual 
> > harassment is often used as a pretext to justify library filtering. The 
> > Loudoun County library's filtering scheme was cast in the form of 
> > anti-harassment policy, she said. But the judge in that case found 
> > that there was no hard evidence that any librarian was at substantial 
> > risk of harassment from viewing sexual images. Beeson said that, 
> > even today, millions of library patrons use unrestricted Internet 
> > terminals without harming librarians. In any case, she said, there 
> > are better ways to avoid a hostile environment for librarians than the 
> > use of filtering. Acceptable means include the use of blinders or 
> > "privacy screens" on terminals.   
> > 
> > A new law that requires public libraries and schools that receive 
> > federal telecommunications funds to install Internet blocking 
> > software goes into effect in July, 2002. The federal law was 
> > challenged on First Amendment grounds in March by the ACLU and 
> > the American Library Association. Still, Halagan, the librarians' 
> > lawyer in the Minneapolis matter, said that it is a mistake for people 
> > to reduce the Minneapolis controversy to a filtering vs. non-filtering 
> > debate. "As a matter of fact, my clients are split on the subject," he 
> > said.   
> > 
> > "What this determination will do is cause other libraries to think 
> > about what obligations they have [to their employees] and to 
> > balance that with the First Amendment," he said. "The answer could 
> > be separate computers for children, filtering, limiting printer access, 
> > posting notices or working with local police. It's a complex issue." 
> > Halagan said that the Minneapolis library's revised policy, which 
> > went into effect shortly after his clients filed their complaints, has 
> > resulted in a much-improved work climate, but that more needed to 
> > be done.   
> > 
> > For her part, Adamson said that she hopes the ruling will empower 
> > other librarians who feel harassed to speak up.   
> > 
> > "Our experience will be felt by other people in other libraries," she 
> > predicted. She said that when speaking about this subject, she could 
> > not help recalling an incident when she was helping 12-year old girl 
> > with a term paper. She said they were standing by a bookcase, their 
> > backs to a computer terminal. Adamson said that, when she turned 
> > and saw that the user of the nearby computer was looking at a 
> > picture of a "naked woman tied up," she thought up a ruse to escort 
> > the girl to another part of the library so she would not see the 
> > picture. "This happened all the time. It was so stressful."   
> > 
> > 
> > Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  From the Listowner  * * * * * * * * * * * *
> > .	To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to:
> > majordomo at scn.org		In the body of the message, type:
> > unsubscribe scn
> > ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ====
> > * * * * * * *     http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/     * * * * * * *
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 
> a year!  http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  From the Listowner  * * * * * * * * * * * *
> .	To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to:
> majordomo at scn.org		In the body of the message, type:
> unsubscribe scn
> ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ====
> * * * * * * *     http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/     * * * * * * *
> 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  From the Listowner  * * * * * * * * * * * *
.	To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to:
majordomo at scn.org		In the body of the message, type:
unsubscribe scn
==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ====
* * * * * * *     http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/     * * * * * * *