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San Francisco Bans Internet Filters
AP ^ | October 2, 2001, 11:33 PM EDT | KIM CURTIS

Posted on 10/02/2001 9:32:49 PM PDT by Jean S

SAN FRANCISCO -- Internet filters designed to keep pornography away from children were banned at city libraries despite a federal law mandating them.

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday to ban the filters from library computers, a move that could cost the city $20,000 in federal funds. The board left it up to the Library Commission to decide whether to install filtering software in children's areas.

The Children's Internet Protection Act, passed in April, requires libraries to install the software by 2003. The $20,000 the city might not get would be a tiny portion of its $50 million annual library budget.

The American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union have sued to overturn the law, saying it violates the First Amendment.

"Some people think that having a child exposed to objectionable material is so horrific that anyone's civil rights can be sacrificed to protect that child," said Emily Sheketoff of the American Library Association.

In San Francisco, city library computers currently provide unrestricted Internet access, even those in children's areas, library spokeswoman Marcia Schneider said. However, children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult at libraries, she said.

The American Library Association estimates about 20 percent of the country's 15,000 library systems use some type of Internet filtering.

Supervisor Mark Leno, who sponsored the city ordinance, said Internet filters only widen the digital divide.

"Internet access that the library provides is often used by folks from different ethnic communities who may not have computers in their own homes," he said. "That's where the free speech issue is especially significant and unfair."

Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press


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1 posted on 10/02/2001 9:32:49 PM PDT by Jean S
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: JeanS
Maybe the city's fags pushed for this? You know, the child molesters?
3 posted on 10/02/2001 9:35:49 PM PDT by PatrioticAmerican
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To: USGrant
Yeah, but I bet our reasoning on the matter couldn't be more different.
4 posted on 10/02/2001 9:36:54 PM PDT by NovemberCharlie
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To: JeanS
"Internet access that the library provides is often used by folks from different ethnic communities who may not have computers in their own homes," he said. "That's where the free speech issue is especially significant and unfair."

Only if he is counting the homosexual community as an ethnic community. What a farce.

5 posted on 10/02/2001 9:37:47 PM PDT by Ruth A.
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To: USGrant
Public libraries are not supposed to be the same as PORNO shops.....this makes me ill.
6 posted on 10/02/2001 9:38:26 PM PDT by goodnesswins
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To: Wonder if the library has any new coloring books...
So I take it then that the more ethical rainbow warriors believe children age 8 and younger are too young to hit upon.
7 posted on 10/02/2001 9:40:22 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: JeanS
Is the Board of Supervisors an elected body? Who would vote for these people? What idiocy!
8 posted on 10/02/2001 9:41:43 PM PDT by Focault's Pendulum
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To: goodnesswins
I totally agree with you. You can't read Hustler or Playboy off the magazine rack at the library, so why should you be able to go to hard-core porn web sites via the public library.

You end up with trench coat perverts with boxes of kleenex. They should PAY for their porn at the local adult stores.

9 posted on 10/02/2001 9:50:21 PM PDT by Vicki
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To: JeanS
In San Francisco, city library computers currently provide unrestricted Internet access, even those in children's areas, library spokeswoman Marcia Schneider said. However, children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult at libraries, she said.

So 9 and up are free game huh? These people are sickening!

10 posted on 10/02/2001 9:51:54 PM PDT by StayoutdaBushesWay
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To: JeanS
Public libraries shouldn't have internet access. They should stick with books and magazines. This would nip this little filtering problem right in the bud. Let the free market handle this problem. If people want to surf the net, they can go to their friendly local internet cafe, or whatever the marketplace erects.
11 posted on 10/02/2001 9:56:41 PM PDT by WillaJohns
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To: JeanS
San Francisco - - "Sodom-by-the-Bay", LOFL !!!.... What a toilet! No wonder Dan White went berserk, lol.
Are there any decent human beings left in that filthy place? If so, why?
12 posted on 10/02/2001 9:59:15 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: JeanS
I don't know that these filters are worth a hoot. I have tried them with my kids and find that they deny access to sites not affiliated with porn. They are hard to set up and are agravating beyond belief. I no longer use them. I simply check the history file from time to time to see what they have been surfing. If I find something porn or objectionable I have a little chat with them. Seems to work for me..
13 posted on 10/02/2001 10:01:39 PM PDT by Cold Heat
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To: USGrant
So you think taxpayer dollars should subsidize porn in a public place?
14 posted on 10/02/2001 10:05:13 PM PDT by hypatia
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To: JeanS
Though I agree with what they are doing,it has ZERO to do with the First Amendment.

What is shown in Public Libraries is up to the local taxpayers who prop them up, not the Feds.

15 posted on 10/02/2001 10:07:04 PM PDT by Senator Pardek
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To: Senator Pardek
Internet porn sites use various methods to evade filters. They name the site (check out the bushes of the amazon)for example. I believe the parents and the library people should be resposible for the uses their computers are put to by close monitoring if needed. I also agree that the local community has a say in just what limits there are regarding children. The Feds should not be legislating morality but I believe it is ok to encourage moral thinking.
16 posted on 10/02/2001 10:17:46 PM PDT by Cold Heat
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To: JeanS
Actually I agree, for of course a completely different reason. They have a number of computers hooked up - this is an unfunded mandate by the Feds - it probably would have cost more than $20k just to buy and install the filtering software.
17 posted on 10/02/2001 10:52:26 PM PDT by ikka
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To: wirestripper
I also agree that the local community has a say in just what limits there are regarding children.

Agreed. And that being said, what kind of parents would bring up a child in a place like San Francisco? Kids notice everything. It's one thing for San Francisco to be a magnet for the sickest souls in American society, but there is
really no excuse for deliberately exposing children to the depravity and perversion.

18 posted on 10/02/2001 11:00:27 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: JeanS
They'd change their tune in a heartbeat if you went around to their library's computers and pulled up sites like Free Republic, DrLaura.com, American Family Association, et al. There would be gasps and shrieks and gay "parents" forcing children to turn their heads.
19 posted on 10/02/2001 11:07:36 PM PDT by Tall_Texan
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To: Tall_Texan
hehehe LOL
20 posted on 10/02/2001 11:09:27 PM PDT by Cold Heat
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