I don't know what point you mean to make, precisely. As I pointed out, if someone's being a jerk, you can ban them. It doesn't require that filtering software be put in on taxpayer expense so that the government can play nanny to otherwise responsible adults.
You may be perfectly happy to live in a world wherein sites like Free Republic are easily deemed "hate sites" by content filters in use by the State. I personally will never allow it nor abide by it.
And furthermore, the next time anyone claims these content filters will somehow "protect the children," then they should try letting kids loose on computers with these idiosyncratic content filters in place and be amazed at how quickly the kids defeat the content filters, thanks to the fine work of the folks at PeaceFire.
Prime Choice: Fascinating link! It says: "April 16, 2003 Peacefire has released a
new set of instructions for circumventing Internet censorship. These instructions can be used to get around Internet blocking in China, for example, by having a friend outside China follow the instructions to set up a mini-Web-site that users in China can then connect to, circumventing the Chinese "Great Firewall." They can also be used to defeat most home blocking programs such as Cyber Patrol and Net Nanny, as well as getting around most blocking programs used in schools such as Bess, WebSENSE, and SmartFilter."
Really very interesting. (Notice they say "censorship" when the US v. ALA case has proven there is no censorship since one can ask that the filters be disabled, so they must be talking about that other country.) But even though this is possible, it is highly unlikely that any public library porn viewer would be aware of such a URL to circumvent filters. And from what I read in the
advanced instructions, installing this baby is not for your average cookie. Besides, this type of situation is the kind of thing that could be covered in Internet Usage Policies.
We thank you for bringing this to our attention. You see after determining the wishes of the community, then after the filtering software is installed, the citizens will want to know that the filters are being implemented properly, not being sidestepped just to make it appear filters are in place. Actions speak louder than words. The citizens will be watching for exactly these types of circumventions by the public or by library management. The ALA is already giving instructions on
how to circumvent filtering. Thanks again for bringing this one to our attention.