Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 23, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a13 Pui 2000 Are libraries suitable site for net porn the availability of pornography on the and the ability of persons using the internet to direct pornographic or other materials deemed inappropriate to some particularly has sparked a debate about the need to censor the the least difficult method of achieving this censorship is to install software filters that Block users from accessing materials that the installer of the filter deems while decisions regarding filters for use on Home computers rightly fall to the Issue of installing filters on computers for Public such As in is not so easily As the two pieces below that address the debate in the United states letters to the editor Janet Washington internet pornography is turning Public libraries in the United states into virtual Peep shows open to children and funded by tax pay compare two libraries Minneapolis and seven min Neapolis librarians filed a Public libraries complaint with Arp Spino the equal ment Opportunity turned 11110 Vir commission Peep because of the hostile and Offen shows by Sive working end internet Pom Rosment caused by daily exposure to internet sex offenders congregate six year Olds View hardcore porn child porn is left on printers men masturbate a porn surfer brandishes a this Doest happen in because the Library considers the internet a limited resource and porn is inconsistent with its a new study published by family research dangerous Access 2000 edition uncovering internet pornography in americas documents More than incidents in libraries of adults and children accessing sexual harass ment and other sex and convicted paedophiles trading child for this we can thank the american Library association and its Adamant opposition to the a private Trade believes minors have a right to Access any including child bes sexual orgies and Bath room its in its Bill of even though the group has admitted that the first amendment does not protect such Judith director of the Ala office of intellectual blocking material leads to censor that goes for pornography and if you dont like dont look at every time i hear someone i want to protect the i want to pull my hair even porn Industry lobbyist Mike Ross breasts belong in the but they belong in the health in not going to stand up in front of a committee and say i want porn in these Guys would not even talk to me if i was stupid enough to say porn belongs in its not too stupid for the a Library is not a Public forum open to All forms of there is no constitutional requirement for govern ment to provide Access to illegal pornography such As obscenity and child pornography in libraries simply because it provides internet As an Agency of a Library Board has the right to deter mine that the forum it provides the Public for internet Access is a nonpublic the state has Power to preserve the property under its control for the use to which it is lawfully according to Kreimer Bureau of police for town of As cited in mainstream Loudoun Board of trustees of the Loudoun county Library a Case filtering opponents love to but not for this Access in a nonpublic forum can be restricted if the restrictions Are Rea Loudoun acknowledges that minimizing Access to illegal pornography and avoidance of creation of a sexually hostile environment Are compelling governmental while filtering int its bet Ter ban the alas acceptable use its bogus such As breast cancer information is blocked by have been inappropriately blocked Sites can be unblocked within minutes by a have you Ever waited two weeks for a Book that was checked out or been told that 8 Book want available because it haunt met the Library selection criteria that not neither is blocking illegal Janet Law is senior director of Legal studies at the family research m organization devoted to restoring traditional values to american Robert filters to Block internet Access in pub Lic libraries that seems to be an appealing even for Many people who would not think of barring Access to print materials in those same the Federal government and some state Legislatures have seriously considered forcing schools to restrict internet filter proponents have a valid con Cern about Content they find inappropriate for they also Point out that the internet offers a far wider array of such mater Ial than could be found at All but the largest Library print yet there Are powerful reasons filtering internet Access would be if not downright Union Stith a major problem with filtering internet Access is that current technology is too crude to target Only material that might harm children for exam obscenity and child what happens is that filters Block much material that is not Only lawful but valuable for Library a citizen of Loudoun recently diagnosed with breast found that because of the Public Library filters she could not get vital health information from the internet the filters blocked All mention of breast not Only in medical web but presumably in those offering recipes for Vari filter exists that much material can Tell the differ that is not ence Between l3wf us Dut valuable f or Drain users acceptable and unacceptable uses of common or discus Sion of sensitive the risks of filtering Are a filter requirement takes out of the hands of teachers and Library professionals crucial judg ments about Content and on which they Are the experts the peo ple in our society and in our schools Best trained to guide children in exploring new areas and when it comes to print we Trust these experts but when the material is some peo ple lose that Confidence and seem will ing to turn crucial judgments Over to commercial software who May or May not understand students that delegation of educational Deci Sions was a major reason a Federal judge in Northern Virginia struck Down the Loudoun county Library filtering filtering Library terminals worsens the digital wealthier who increasingly have their own internet links at would be unaffected by such those who stand to suffer from restricted Access in libraries Are those for whom the Library May be the Only viable Means of accessing the intellectual and cultural wealth that the internet pro finally and most this is the least appropriate place of All places in our society for the supreme court has clearly stated its conviction that libraries and the internet should be open to free expression and free that was the Central lesson of the courts 1997 judgment striking Down the indecency provisions of the communications decency the court has also held consistently that Young readers May not be protected by keeping out of the hands of adults material they have a right to View and internet restrictions of the Type the justices invalidated would not Only have reached obscenity and other unprotected but in addition much speech that adults have a right to receive and to address to each said Justice John Paul Stevens in his majority would be like burning the House to roast the Robert Oneil is director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of free expression at the University of and the first amendment fellow selected by the National press a 1961 graduate of Harvard Law he was the University of Virginias president from 1985 to the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email . Dogs Are a storekeepers Best Friend adopt a scare a robber pet store owners could use dogs to deter protecting themselves from theft and saving a dogs i am writing because crime is ram Pant in the City in Rob a few months pet stores were being robbed of fish and i phoned a few to Tell them to get a in the ones that were not robbed had a dog on the i then had idea of having those poor unfortunate dogs at the Winnipeg humane society being adopted by the owners of Small and medium sized stores As guard once a robber heard a dog he would think twice about it does not have to be big a Small one will it will bark when it hears a sound and the robber does not know How big a dog it i Hope the store owners and Home for that matter would consider this it would save a lot of dogs lives and is More reliable than a Security Emily Fedewicz Winnipeg conspiracy of hearsay i am writing in response to the column by Jordon Wheeler in your May 14 Issue a conspiracy of the aboriginal Council of Dis agree with the statements that he and two unnamed columnists made and their reference to the conspiracy of silence surrounding our the title of wheelers article was actually the title of a film depicting the unjust tragedy surrounding the Helen Betty Osborne that Story is of an innocent aboriginal woman who was murdered and the refusal of Community members to come Forward with the real Story of what happened and Testi using this title not Only minimizes what happened to this woman and her family but paints the aboriginal Community As silent bystanders who Are afraid of the repercussions of coming Forward to identify corrupt aboriginal this is simply not the Case in regards to the aboriginal Council of Over the last few we have had Many Community members including our own past president who have come filed petitions and made statements regarding the Finan Cial accountability of our seemingly without i am glad to say that our financial speak for the aboriginal Council has always had an open door policy As we Are a nonprofit Organiza Tion and conduct audits Many aboriginal journalists seem to fish for subject matter and have writ ten their own accounts of hearsay in their respective papers without Gath ering without being and Only presenting one Side of the they seem to perpetuate the Divide and conquer attitude in our aboriginal Community by their one sided journalism style and beat the accountability Issue to i would just like to ask Wheeler when was the last time he stepped foot in the aboriginal let alone the aboriginal or the last time he called our organization to clarify state ments that he happened to overhear in the Kings head pub Natalie Ballentyne aboriginal Council of Winnipeg intolerance Bane of us All it was with great interest that i read the letter from Giesbrecht in the free press on May 8 god Clear on sex prac the writer clearly expresses his or her our leaders govern under gods the govern ment of Canada is under no obligation to believe As Giesbrecht thinks they there Are six billion people on this planet and Only a tiny fraction believe As the writer it is this kind of arrogance and intolerance that is the Bane of us Rigby Beausejour everyone deserves Good child care i would like to commend the Winnipeg free press for its recent coverage of the crisis in Early childhood this is an Issue that requires extensive coverage from All segments of the Over the past 25 Manitoba has been successful in creating one of the Best childcare systems in this system will deteriorate if it cant attract and retain the trained staff that it today society contains an increasing number of single Parent and dual earner it is in the Best interest of taxpayers to provide acres High Quality child care to every one who chooses to use with Over 600 children on waiting lists in James the system has not been Able to meet the needs of Sci and the general must take immediate action to reverse the current trend that is jeopardizing this important Glen Arnould Winnipeg human spirit varies this letter is in response to Gordon Toombs article on buddhism the ism on the Faith Page buddhism As a midwife for rebirth of the free May i think Hes wrong to believe that the Christian Church ver Sion of theism he takes no Issue with islam or Judaism for some reason needs to morph into a Buddhist style philos theism May very Well represent a childhood stage of spiritual develop that is not a bad As we human individuals cant All be at the same advanced spiritual stage any More than we can All be old Simul Tane would Toombs ban childhood because children Are simple minded and foolish compared to most adults Margaret Canadas Lead ing summed it up nicely a few years ago by comparing religion to some of us May regard some forms of music and religion Asunso Phosti rated or but there Are others who like and respond to such the degree of knowl involvement and emotional experience elicited by a Given Type of music vary greatly from listener to Lis the same is True for the human spirit to Bettie Trueman Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau to Guevarr a in m k in my miu10n sound ;