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L.A.C.K. & Censoround
March 29, 2002
Today's CIPA Update
If you missed Odyssey yesterday, Gretchen Helfrich's show about the CIPA trial has been archived. Have I mentioned how bad-ass Odyssey's theme song is?
In pro-filtering testimony yesterday, Tacoma Public Library manager David Biek testified that 95 percent of filtered sites were legitimately blocked, and that the filters are easy to manipulate if a site is wrongly blocked.
The Baltimore Sun did a good summary of what the trial is all about. Meanwhile, the Hartford Courant comes out against CIPA.
On a similar note, Gary Price pointed out this week an article in Library Journal about how Seth Finkelstein found some web filters block the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
[TT] Chicago Public Radio
[TT] Library Journal via NewBreed Librarian
[EDITOR'S NOTE] The Odyssey theme is by OK GO.
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:49:00 PM
March 28, 2002
Meanwhile...
As I was adding the new post markers to the L.A.C.K. archives yesterday, I noticed that I use the word "meanwhile" a lot.
Meanwhile, today's Odyssey will discuss the CIPA trial. Not only is Gretchen Helfrich a reliably informed host, but the show also has one of the coolest theme songs on NPR.
If you'd like to get a recap of what's happened already, Declan McCullagh has an archive of articles he's written on the subject.
While the CIPA trial rolls along, a challenge to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act is upcoming.
Corporate tool Sen. Fritz Hollings has introduced to the Senate the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act, now called the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act since the SSSCA is now synonymous with Big Brother.
The bill, which the aforementioned McCullagh has shredded, marks a new line in the battle between the entertainment and the computer industries.
On a similar note, Roger Ebert weighs in on the "piracy" issue.
In other news about the government spying on its citizens, a federal judge wants the FBI to release information on its Carnivore surveillance device.
[TT] via Chicago Public Radio
[TT] via Politech
[TT] Law.com
[TT] Wired via LISNews.com
[TT] News.com via Library Juice
[TT] Yahoo! Internet Life via LibraryPlanet.com
[TT] via Shifted Librarian
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
4:55:20 PM
March 27, 2002
Today's CIPA news update
A couple of small administrative notes to start off with today. First, I've added the daggery graphic to the left to indicate a new topic within a post. I got the idea after taking a second look at yesterday's long post. Let me know what you think by emailing the new Lemur Love administrative address.
Secondly, I've signed up to be editor of the Open Directory Project's Librarians category.
Today's CIPA news update:
Stanford professor Geoffrey Nunberg testified that filters may never be technologically capable of successfully blocking out pornographic Web sites with complete accuracy.
Meanwhile, U of Pennsylvania graduate student Christopher Hunter told the three-judge panel hearing the CIPA cases that filters have only 69 percent success rate, while blocking non-pornographic Web sites by accident 21 percent of the time.
Also, high school student Emmalyn Rood testified that Web sites about human sexuality can be blocked by filters, even though they aren't pornographic in nature.
A related Christian Science Monitor editorial takes the sorta ludicrous "you don't carry Playboy" argument about libraries refusing to use filters, but also admits that filters may block out useful Web sites.
Not all libraries are anti-filtering, by the way. A parish of Lousiana requires filters on library terminals, and Library Director Joan Adams believes they have been successful.
Abraham Lincoln is Disney CEO Michael Eisner's "internet guru," which may explain Disney's lack of success with its Web sites.
[TT] via LISNews.com
[TT] Wired via LLRX.com
[TT] Wired
[TT] Christian Science Monitor via NewBreed Librarian
[TT] NOLA.com via Library Stuff
[TT] Financial Times via Shifted Librarian
[EDITOR'S NOTE] The daggers were pretty cool, but I dropped them during a later redesign. Also, I'm no longer editor of the Librarians category. And the email address is no longer active, so I deleted the link to it.
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
5:06:35 PM
March 26, 2002
CIPA hearing begins
A challenge to the Childrens' Internet Protection Act, in the form of Multnomah Co. Library vs. US and ALA vs. US, began in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania yesterday.
The trial promises to be controversial, as already shown by the fact that the trio of judges agreed to filtering software company N2H2's request to remove members of the public in order to protect its top-secret Web-filtering techniques.
Meanwhile, evidently some stereotypes of librarians testified in the case yesterday.
In news related to another controversial law, Google briefly complied with the Church of Scientology over the removal of an anti-Scientology site from its database.
The company later said the removal was accidental, and that they were only trying to remove certain materials that may violate copyrights held by the church.
The White House has ordered that mentions of info on weapons of mass destruction be taken off of government Web sites.
A San Jose Mercury News columnist is rightfully pissed off at the nefarious music industry: "I'm not a thief. I'm a customer. When you treat me like a thief, I won't be your customer."
[TT] Nando Times via Librarians Anonymous
[TT] Wired via LISNews.com
[TT] via Library Stuff
[TT] ZDNet & Microcontent News via 'brary blog
[TT] Virtual Chase
[TT] SiliconValley.com via Virtual Chase
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
5:12:35 PM
March 25, 2002
Caterblog discontinued
There's a shitload of stuff to cover today, but since I just got back from vacation, I have a lot of work to do at my full-time job. For info on CIPA and other such fun things, visit the sites I bookmarked at Open Directory.
If you got here via a Caterblog link, don't be alarmed. I've decided to discontinue Caterblog due to time constraints. Between L.A.C.K., Suck My Caucus, scads of other sites Jen & I create on whims, and the aforementioned paying job, I just haven't the time nor inclination to do a personal blog.
That said, I'm likely to post some personal stuff at L.A.C.K., but only if I think it's particularly important. No San Jose Sharks updates, for example.
Anyhoo, actual news updates will return tomorrow, once I've sifted thru all my backlog.
[EDITOR'S NOTE] I never learn. Between this, Banned Bookslut, TalkStation, my day job, and my wife and me house hunting, it's a wonder I get any sleep at all.
Also, the links at the Perniciouslib page have nothing to do with CIPA anymore.
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
11:35:00 AM
March 8, 2002
Ashcroft-bashing
Ashcroft-bashing is so much fun everyone is getting in on the act! The House Government Reform Committee is refuting Ashcroft's FOIA memo with an editorial change in A Citizen's Guide on Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 to Request Government Records.
Incidently, the House Government Reform Committee might also want to look into Executive Order 13233, which limits access to the records of former presidents.
And since we're discussing the House, it has just passed a bill that creates a child-friendly domain, .kid. Parents (and libraries, presumably) could then set up a filter that would only display .kid. Of course, if ICANN had approved the .sex domain, the lives of librarians and parents might have been a heckuvalot easier.
[TT] Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press & FAS Project on Government Secrecy via Virtual Chase
[TT] ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom via Librarians' Index to the Internet
[TT] News.com via Library Stuff
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
7:09:00 PM
March 7, 2002
FOIA, USA PATRIOT Act, RIAA, N2H2
Sen. Patrick Leahy is requesting your friend and mine the General Accounting Office to investigate John Ashcroft's Freedom of Information Act policies post-September 11.
I may have linked to this before and am being lazy by not checking my archives, but here's a piece from the Village Voice about the USA Patriot Act.
For lots more information on free speech issues, visit Freedom of Expression Link.
Have I bitched, pissed and moaned about the music industry enough yet? No? Good, then check this article out.
Seth Finkelstein takes a look at N2H2's censorware. This is an ongoing project for him.
[TT] FAS Project on Government Secrecy via Virtual Chase
[TT] Village Voice via LibraryPlanet.com
[TT] via LibraryPlanet.com
[TT] Business 2.0 via infolibre
[TT] Seth Finkelstein via Shifted Librarian
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
7:19:22 PM
March 6, 2002
Schneider, Tasini, TidBITS, EU
You've seen Karen Schneider's article on the USA Patriot Act everywhere else; now see it at L.A.C.K.!
Jonathan Tasini weighs in on the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, a topic near and dear to my heart.
On a similar note, TidBITS has a commentary on how the music industry doesn't want to share.
The E.U. has a pro-filtering website called Safer Internet. It also links to Net Family News, which advocates parents using filters on their home computers.
[TT] ALA via everywhere else
[TT] via Library Stuff
[TT] TidBITS via LISNews.com
[TT] LISNews.com
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
7:28:00 PM
March 5, 2002
Freedoformation!
Freedoformation! A federal district judge ordered the Department of Energy to release materials covered under the Freedom of Information Act. This isn't anti-terrorism related, but does have a bearing on how FOIA requests will be handled.
As you may know, the RIAA has proposed higher royalty rates for radio stations that stream their broadcasts over the internet. This would, of course, effectively shut down many Web broadcasts by non-Clear Channel radio stations. How this will affect international radio stations remains to be seen, so you might as well bookmark RTL and Frequence3 now.
Book burning in art: Bonfire of Liberities is an online retrospective on censorship.
[TT] Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press via Virtual Chase
[TT] Mywebpal via LibraryPlanet.com
[TT] via Library Stuff
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
7:33:27 PM
March 4, 2002
Filters, restrictions on information
The Tennessean recently printed an excellent editorial on Web filters.
While it isn't necessarily the same as denying access to public information in the name of the war on terrorism, blocking the access of former presidents' records does smack of censorship.
[TT] The Tennessean via Library Stuff
[TT] FAS Project on Government Secrecy & ALA via librarian.net
posted by Chris Zammarelli at
7:36:13 PM
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