Dallas
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
17
Feb 2002, Metro Section Page 1
The Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000
By Ellena F. Morrison
Computers at libraries in Northeast Tarrant County and across the country allow visitors access to biographies of prominent figures, famous paintings and research from cancer breakthroughs to the kangaroo.
But computers also can take library patrons into some of the seamier and steamier corridors of the Internet.
And how do libraries cull the helpful Web sites from the obscene sites?
Congress' answer is the Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000, which requires libraries that receive federal funding to set up computer-use guidelines and to install Internet filters that block objectionable material.
The American Libraries Association had a quick response - it filed a lawsuit March 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania. The association calls the act unconstitutional and ineffective because smut gets through the filters while useful sites are sometimes blocked.
"Our problem is with a one-size-fits-all mandate by congressmen in Washington," said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the Washington, D.C., office for the American Library Association. "The children are still not protected, and it is unconstitutional because it blocks perfectly acceptable, legal information from adults."
The lawsuit is scheduled to be heard March 25 in Philadelphia, with a decision expected from the three-judge panel as early as April. If the law, signed by President Clinton, is upheld, libraries that receive Internet access at a discount from the federal government, commonly called an e-rate, or other types of federal funding will be required to use filtering software on all computers by July.
Libraries already struggle between providing access to information and protecting children from pornographic material. In Tarrant County, some libraries have installed filters, had parents sign Internet-usage forms or put up signs acknowledging the dangers
of the Web.
The Fort Worth Public Library follows the Texas penal code concerning obscenity, which restricts the display of obscene material near minors. Security guards patrol computer labs to make sure no one is violating the policy. Parents or guardians also must sign cards acknowledging that "their child's choices are their responsibility," said Marsha Anderson, library spokeswoman.
At the Bedford Public Library, a sign tied with red yarn to one of the three computers in the youth section reads, "This computer is for use by youth and their parents only. Please sign in at the youth desk." Adults are not allowed to use those computers, which have filters. Unfiltered computers are available for older users.
"Librarians have always been in a proactive state about the Internet," said Jeanne Green, head of the youth services division at the Bedford library. "It's just another new format. When we moved from records to eight-tracks, we had to develop policy. Same
here."
But the Keller Public Library does not use filters. The responsibility to instill proper computer use in children is left to parents.
"We do not act in the place of the guardian," Keller librarian Carolyn Jacobs said. "But if we see someone doing something wrong,
we ask them to leave."
Most library patrons do not try to sneak a peek at anything offensive, Tarrant County librarians said. In a nationwide survey of 1,000 public libraries by the American Library Association, 50 percent reported receiving complaints about Internet access. Only 7
percent were content- or access-related complaints, which cover pornography, slow access and faulty equipment.
Oregon librarian David Burt disputes those findings. In his report titled Dangerous Access, 2000 Editions: Uncovering Internet
Pornography in America's Libraries, Burt said there were more than 2,000 complaints about pornography in public libraries. And almost 500 of those complaints were because children were accessing pornography, according to the report.
If
libraries do not want to install filters, they have an easy solution, said
Patrick Trueman, director of government affairs with the American Family Association,
a Christian group based in Mississippi concerned with preserving traditional
family values.
"The
libraries can say, 'We are not going to take federal dollars, so we can allow
porn and obscenity on our computers,' " Trueman said. "We only want
to block what is illegal, and that is not asking too much."
Texas
schools and public libraries saved $227.3 million in 2001 by using the e-rate,
which is based on population and need. Often,
libraries that need the e-rate are in poorer communities, where residents might not own home computers, Sheketoff said. Those
libraries cannot afford to stop using the rate because they disagree with Internet filters.
libraries that need the e-rate are in poorer communities, where residents might not own home computers, Sheketoff said. Those
libraries cannot afford to stop using the rate because they disagree with Internet filters.
Filtering
software blocks one nonpornographic site for every five sites with objectionable
material, library association officials
said. If a teen-ager is looking up "breast cancer," sites related to health issues may be blocked.
said. If a teen-ager is looking up "breast cancer," sites related to health issues may be blocked.
"There
is no technology yet that can think and can make the decision to only block
pornography and let everything else through," Sheketoff said. "The
only way to protect children is to educate them."
The
makers of Cybersitter, a filtering software used by the Hurst Public Library,
agreed that with large numbers of inappropriate or
pornographic Web sites added daily, the filter cannot block them all.
pornographic Web sites added daily, the filter cannot block them all.
"Nothing
replaces a parent, but a parent cannot always watch a kid," said Marc
Kanter, vice president of marketing for California-based Solid Oak Software,
the maker of Cybersitter. "At times, it is going to block good sites
and at times it is going to let bad sites through."
Although
filtering software is not perfect, it does reduce the number of potentially
offensive sites viewed by children, said Diana Zuckerman, president of the
National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families in Washington,
D.C.
"I
don't see this as a First Amendment issue. I see this as an issue of how
do we help keep our kids safe, how do we prevent
having them exposed to material that can harm them," she said. "We can't always keep our kids safe, but we can try."
having them exposed to material that can harm them," she said. "We can't always keep our kids safe, but we can try."
By
the numbers
A
survey of 1,015 public libraries by the American Library Association found
that:
* 96.3 percent of libraries surveyed had Internet access, and 30.4 percent had five or more computers;
* 83.2 percent of the libraries had no filters;
* 63.9 percent required parental permission for minors to use the Internet;
* 62.9 percent trained library staff on how to use the Internet;
* 32.4 percent provided preselected sites to patrons.
* 96.3 percent of libraries surveyed had Internet access, and 30.4 percent had five or more computers;
* 83.2 percent of the libraries had no filters;
* 63.9 percent required parental permission for minors to use the Internet;
* 62.9 percent trained library staff on how to use the Internet;
* 32.4 percent provided preselected sites to patrons.
SOURCE:
American Library Association Web page
