<nettime> Austin Public Library... [McCullagh, Cisler]

["nettime's_digestive_system" <nettime@Desk.nl>]

Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 14:23:45 -0500
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: Re: <nettime> Austin Public Library With Cyber Patrol Blocks
  Academic Article

While it's a shame that CyberPatrol is blocking access to this site, the
program's overbreadth has been known for some time. An article I coauthored in
mid-1996 was the first to document the filter's hypercensorial wackiness:

http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/Declan_McCullagh/cwd.keys.to.the.kingdom.0796.article

As for the constitutionality of filtering software in a public library, check
out:

http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/16455.html

Judge: Library Filters Must Go 
by Declan McCullagh 

Public libraries in a Virginia county may 
not install filtering software, a federal 
judge ruled Monday in a widely watched 
case that has become the first to 
determine how US libraries will control 
Internet access.  [...]

-Declan

At 10:07 PM 12-26-98 -0500, Stefan Wray wrote:
>- For immediate release -
>
>December 26, 1998
>
>Austin Public Library With Cyber Patrol Blocks Academic Article
>
>Austin, TX (December 26, 1998) - A New York University doctoral student
>visiting Austin during the break between semesters was prevented, by Cyber
>Patrol, from accessing an article on the Internet in the Austin Public
>Library. This, in the age of increasing cyber-censorship, may not seem so
>unusual. But the article in question was an academic piece written by the
>student himself and the web location of the article was on New York
>University's server.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 16:22:05 -0800
Subject: Access in Austin
From: "cisler" <cisler@pobox.com>

It's too bad that Mr. Wray did not ask (or search for) other public access
points around Austin, quite a few of which are not blocked.  Austin Free-Net
has a bunch of sites in East Austin that are free to use.  The map is here:

http://www.afn-neighbor.net/eacn/locations.htm. 

I'm partial to the Austin Learning Academy and the DeWitty Lab.

Mr. Wray seems unaware of all the previous controversy over Internet
filtering in Austin Public Library.  His own city's newspaper (New York
Times) had a big article about this on October 15, 1998. There is already a
group of impassioned library users involved in working on the filtering
issue, and it includes ACLU reps and other anti-filtering people as well as
pro-filtering groups.

Steve Cisler
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