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ACLU sues library for not allowing access to online p*rn

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Rockets34Legend, Feb 3, 2012.

  1. Rockets34Legend

    Rockets34Legend Contributing Member

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    http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...ibrary-for-not-allowing-access-to-online-p*rn

    The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a Washington state library district for not offering access to online p*rn, Seattle's King 5 TV reports.

    When a user logs on to a computer at the Wenatchee public library, for example, and types "p*rn" into the search engine, the list of results will appear as if p*rn doesn't exist, according to King 5.

    The search censorship by the North Central Regional Library also means some websites -- such as Google Images and YouTube -- are blocked too. The board decided the filter serves its mission to promote reading and lifelong learning.

    "We believe having p*rnography in public places hurts our ability to accomplish our mission," Dan Howard, director of public services, told King 5.

    The district won the case in the state Supreme Court two years ago, but the case is now pending in a federal court.

    "We are a publicly funded institution," Director Dean Marney said in a statement published on the district website. " It is crazy to think that we should be required to use tax dollars to allow open access to Internet p*rnography or to become illegal casinos."

    The ACLU is representing three library users and a nonprofit organization, and argues that federally funded libraries should disable their filters upon the request of an adult.

    “This case is about an overly broad filtering policy that has restricted an adult student from using the Internet for a class assignment and a professional photographer from accessing art galleries online,” ACLU cooperating attorney Duncan Manville said in a statement.

    The North Central Regional Library district, which is the largest in the state and represents 28 libraries in the central part of Washington, admits its policy puts it in the minority among the state's libraries.

    For example, despite repeated complaints from women about men watching p*rn in full view of their children, the Seattle Public Library held fast to its policy of unrestricted online access for adults, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

    The paper says the King County Library System has a similar policy: it only filters kids' access on computers. The American Library Association endorses the same stance.

    "Sometimes, in a library, you're going to see information that's going to make you uncomfortable," Barbara Jones, director of the association's intellectual freedom office, told radio station KUOW Wednesday.
     
  2. Xerobull

    Xerobull You son of a b!tch! I'm in!

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    Only Women complain? I know that when I'm in the libarry and there's some p*rn goin' on, I encourage my boy to watch. Because I'm a man.
     
  3. CourtOfDreams

    CourtOfDreams Member

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  4. Yung-T

    Yung-T Member

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    Don't go to a library if you don't want to see p*rn, women. We all know that's why they have these computers there. What has this world come to. :eek:
     
  5. bobmarley

    bobmarley Contributing Member

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    Can't they remove a user if he is looking at explicit content?
     
  6. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    Clearly casinos are much more profitable than libraries. I don't see why we're still trying to keep libraries around if they won't show p*rn on demand. :eek:
     
  7. bnb

    bnb Contributing Member

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    The whole premise of libraries is just very low tech file sharing. It's just a matter of time before they're shut down by Homeland Security anyways.
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. ScriboErgoSum

    ScriboErgoSum Contributing Member

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    Actually, some are explicitly not doing that. This varies from library to library up here. There was a local library last week that got a lot of publicity because a mother with her 6 year old complained about someone watching hard core p*rn in a very public area. Apparently it was pretty much viewable to anyone walking through the entrance area. The library told the mother that they don't restrict content and that anyone can watch anything on any public computer in the library.
     
  9. bobmarley

    bobmarley Contributing Member

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    That's ridiculousness!!! How can viewing p*rn in a publicly viewable place not be illegal especially with minors present? At least an indecency charge.
     
  10. bobmarley

    bobmarley Contributing Member

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  11. Mr. Clutch

    Mr. Clutch Contributing Member

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    SMH @ ACLU

    Bunch 'o pervs.
     
  12. ScriboErgoSum

    ScriboErgoSum Contributing Member

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    I'm with you. I am 100% in favor of free speech, especially the stuff that is unpopular. You should be able to watch whatever kind of p*rn you want, as long as it has consenting legal adults. However, you can't watch that stuff in a public space.

    I understand the whole slippery slope with censorship. If you ban p*rn, where do you draw the line. It is illegal to watch an R rated film or Game of Thrones on an airplane? What about NYPD blue with its fleeting shots of buttocks or the side of a breast? Still, I think it's pretty safe to say that hardcord p*rnography should not be allowed in a publicly viewed computer area.

    Here's a Seattle Times article about that incident (I had a few details off).

     
  13. bnb

    bnb Contributing Member

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  14. Mr. Brightside

    Mr. Brightside Contributing Member

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    Homeless people too have the god given right to watch p*rn. This action by Washington state public libraries reeks of elitism and class warfare.
     
  15. Yonkers

    Yonkers Contributing Member

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    Her daughter started crying? wtf kind of reaction is that?
     
  16. RocketRaccoon

    RocketRaccoon Contributing Member

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    SMH...decency thrown out the window because it's not politically correct.
     
  17. TheChosenOne

    TheChosenOne Contributing Member

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    love the "thirty more seconds" line, lmao.
     
  18. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

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    This is karma for underfunding. The internet access is probably a big part of what maximizes foot traffic and justifies their budget in the first place; if the money was there, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to open up a full-service kids-only library.

    At some point it'd probably be nice to get some kind of private or membership-only libraries. Or just create publicly funded internet cafes.
     
  19. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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    These public library places sound awesome! Screw the one at my school, they never let you watch p*rn.
     

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