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News - Old News
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Arrests Over Anti-Mugabe E-Mails
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Fourteen people have been arrested in Zimbabwe for circulating an e-mail calling for protests to oust President Robert Mugabe, state media reports, BBC News (November 21, 2003)
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Filter Software Will Block Offensive Web Sites
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"Websense" filtering software is now in place at Argonne-East to analyze and prevent access to World Wide Web pages containing material that may be offensive, Argonne News (November 19, 2003)
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UK Cannabis Internet Activists Website Blocked
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During the week of 11th November it was drawn to our attention that UKCIA was blocked from computers in libraries run by Essex County Council, UK Cannabis Internet Activists (November 18, 2003)
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Group Fears Threats of E-Voting Company
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A civil rights group fears legal threats from an electronic voting company are having a "chilling effect" among Internet service providers, students and voting rights advocates, Associated Press via USA Today (November 18, 2003)
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David Weekly on OPG v Diebold Case in Court Today
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Today, a federal judge will hear arguments that will determine whether or not e-voting manufacturer Diebold Systems can use the DMCA to force 'Net users into removing links to online discussion archives stolen from Diebold earlier this year, Boing Boing (November 17, 2003)
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Court Hearing on Electronic Voting Company's Threats Against Critics
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Two student activists and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) will ask a federal district court judge on Monday to stop the ongoing legal harassment of them and others in a case involving disclosure of flaws in electronic voting machines, Online Policy Group (November 14, 2003)
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New First Report: Net Filters in Libraries
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Internet Filters and Public Libraries by David L. Sobel (OPG Advisory Board member) is a new First Report now available from the First Amendment Center, First Amendment Center (November 12, 2003)
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Machine Politics in the Digital Age
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In mid-August, Walden W. O'Dell, the chief executive of Diebold Inc., sat down at his computer to compose a letter inviting 100 wealthy and politically inclined friends to a Republican Party fund-raiser, to be held at his home in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year," wrote Mr. O'Dell, whose company is based in Canton, Ohio, New York Times (November 9, 2003)
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Students Sue Over Voting Vulnerability
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Two students from Swarthmore College have filed suit against one of the nation's largest makers of electronic voting machines, alleging that Diebold, Inc. had abused copyright laws to keep information from the public that is crucial to the health of America's democracy, Daily Princetonian (November 6, 2003)
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EFF Stanford Law Clinic Sue E-Voting Company
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A nonprofit Internet Service Provider (ISP) and two Swarthmore College students are seeking a court order on Election Day tomorrow to stop electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold Systems, Inc., from issuing specious legal threats, Scoop (November 4, 2003)
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Diebold Voting Case Tests DMCA
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Can Diebold Systems use copyright law to pressure Netizens into removing links to online discussion archives stolen from the company in March? That question is before a federal judge, PC World (November 4, 2003)
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Diebold Voting Case Tests DMCA
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Can Diebold Systems use copyright law to pressure Netizens into removing links to online discussion archives stolen from the company in March? That question is before a federal judge, IDG News Service via PC World (November 4, 2003)
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File Sharing Pits Copyright Against Free Speech
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Diebold Election Systems is waging legal war against grass-roots advocates, including dozens of college students, who are posting on Internet copies of company's internal communications about its electronic voting machines, New York Times (November 3, 2003)
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Students Buck DMCA Threat
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When Diebold Election Systems learned that its internal e-mail correspondence had popped up on the Web, it used a common legal tactic: sending cease-and-desist letters to Webmasters, CNET News (November 3, 2003)
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E-Vote Protest Gains Momentum
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Swarthmore College students embroiled in a legal battle against voting-machine maker Diebold Election Systems have received a groundswell of support from universities and colleges nationwide, Wired News (October 29, 2003)
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E-Voting Flap Generates Legal Threats
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Despite lawsuit threats from one of the nation’s largest electronic voting
machine suppliers, some activists are refusing to remove from Web sites
internal company documents that they claim raise serious security questions,
Associated Press via MSNBC (October 27, 2003)
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Diebold Threatens Publishers of Leaked Electronic-Voting Documents
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Despite lawsuit threats from one of the nation's largest electronic voting machine suppliers, some activists are refusing to remove from Web sites internal company documents that they claim raise serious security questions, Associated Press via Mercury News (October 27, 2003)
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Diebold Targeted By Electronic Civil Disobedience
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Defending the right of a fair, democratic election, Why War? and the Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons (SCDC) announced today that they are rejecting Diebold Elections Systems' cease and desist orders and are initiating an electronic civil disobedience campaign that will ensure permanent public access to the controversial leaked memos, IndyMedia (October 22, 2003)
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Students Fight E-Vote Firm
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A group of students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania has launched an "electronic civil disobedience" campaign against voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems, Wired News (October 21, 2003)
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Students Fight E-Vote Firm
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A group of students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania has launched an "electronic civil disobedience" campaign against voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems, Wired News (October 21, 2003)
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Google Ordered to Pay Fine in French Trademark Case
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The civil court in Nanterre, near Paris, fined privately held Google 75,000 euros for allowing advertisers to link text Internet advertisements to trademarked search terms and gave the company 30 days to stop the practice, common at Internet search services, Reuters via Yahoo! News (October 18, 2003)
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ISP Rejects Diebold Copyright Claims Against News Website
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Electronic voting company Diebold, Inc., sent a cease-and-desist letter to the nonprofit OPG ISP demanding that OPG remove a page of links published on an IndyMedia website located on a computer server hosted by OPG, Online Policy Group (October 16, 2003)
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Middle East Website Posts Then Removes LGBT Story
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We must express our extreme disappointment that Al Bawada capitulated to the pressures put upon them by fundamentalist conservative closed minded people that would like us to believe that there are no G.L.B.T. people in the middle east, GayMiddleEast.com (October 4, 2003)
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Villages Bypass BT for Broadband
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Villagers in rural Northamptonshire have won their battle to bring broadband internet to their homes, by setting up their own service, BBC News (September 25, 2003)
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MSN to Close Chat Rooms
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Microsoft says it will drop chat room services in 28 countries next month, in a move it says will ward off pedophiles and junk e-mailers, CNN (September 24, 2003)
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Spammers, Pedophiles Force Microsoft to Quit Chat
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Microsoft Corp. announced on Wednesday it would shut down its Internet chat rooms in 28 countries, saying the forums had become a haven for peddlers of junk e-mail and sex predators, Reuters (September 23, 2003)
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India Bans a Yahoo Group
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The Indian government has banned a Yahoo group, alleging that it has anti-India content, CNET News.com (September 23, 2003)
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Three Arrested After Traffic Camera Aimed At Passersby
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Images from a traffic camera that was used instead to monitor passersby near the University of Alabama led to the arrests of three people allegedly misbehaving on the street, police said Tuesday, Associated Press and NBC13.com (September 17, 2003)
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Pennsylvania Web Blocking Law
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The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) together with the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Plantagenet, Inc., a Pennsylvania ISP filed a constitutional challenge to a Pennsylvania statute that blocks access to Internet sites accused of carrying child pornography and that results in the blocking of wholly innocent websites, Center for Democracy and Technology (September 9, 2003)
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Porn Filters Found to Be Ineffective Tools
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The Borough Assembly will soon vote on whether to force the public library to install expensive, ineffective Internet censorship filters on all its public and staff computers, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (September 6, 2003)
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OPG Co-Hosts Bridging the Digital Divides Event
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Join us the week of August 25-29 as we discuss "Bridging the Digital
Divides, Equal Access to the Internet" on Techsoup's Digital Divide Forum, including topics such as
class-based disparity in available technology,
the role race, ethnicity, and religion play in the
digital divide, women and technology,
the impact of Internet blocking software on the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender community, and
access to technology for people with disabilities, Online Policy Group (August 25, 2003)
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Designing a Protocol to Circumvent Internet Censorship
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Several companies and volunteer groups have been working for years on systems to circumvent Internet blocking at the network level, with a focus on defeating Internet censorship in China, where the “Great Firewall of China” blocks users from viewing external Web sites that criticize the Chinese government, Peacefire (August 24, 2003)
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CI Host Says AOL Blocking It, Sues
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CI Host, a Bedford-based Web-hosting business, has sued America Online, saying the Internet provider has unfairly labeled the company as a spammer and blocked the company's clients from communicating with AOL customers, Star-Telegram (August 22, 2003)
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China Blocks Foreign Software
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A new policy from China's governing body states that all government ministries must buy only locally produced open source software at the next upgrade cycle, removing Microsoft products from government offices until 2010, CNET News via BusinessWeek Online (August 19, 2003)
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Children’s Internet Protection Act Study of Technology Protection Measures
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On August 15, 2003, NTIA released a report pursuant to section 1703 of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Pub.L.No. 106-554, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-336 (2000), evaluating the effectiveness of technology protection measures and safety policies used by educational institutions, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (August 15, 2003)
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Minn. Librarians Settle Internet Porn Case
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The city's public library will consider using Internet
filters to restrict patrons' access to online porn, and will pay
$435,000 to a dozen librarians who said easy access to the images
resulted in a hostile work environment, the librarians' lawyer said
Friday, Associated Press via Yahoo! News (August 15, 2003)
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Attack of the Smartasses
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Friendster.com creator Jonathan Abrams wants to purge his über-hip dating site of phony profiles. But online "fakesters" are fighting back, SF Weekly (August 13, 2003)
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Don't Privatize Our Airwaves
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The contemplated FCC action to privatize the airwaves could result in the biggest special interest windfall, at the expense of American taxpayers, in history, Mercury News (August 13, 2003)
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Report: ISPs Block 17 Percent of Legit E-mail
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Top Internet service providers blocked 17 percent of legitimate permission-based e-mail in the first half of the year, according to a report issued by Return Path, InternetNews.com (August 12, 2003)
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Activist Gets Year in Jail for Hosting, Link to Bomb Site
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The Online Policy Group (OPG) today condemned the sentencing on August 4 of political activist Sherman Austin to one year in jail for hosting a website describing bomb-making and for linking from his RaiseTheFist.com website to that website, Online Policy Group (August 5, 2003)
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The Web Rewires the Movement
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Although MoveOn does not track member demographics, anecdotal evidence suggests that its base is disproportionately white as Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun, for example, fared poorly in the group's recent "primary", The Nation (August 4, 2003)
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Watch What You Surf, Net Police Are Here
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In what appears to be its first serious attempt to monitor the Internet, the Government of India has outlined an official procedure for blocking websites, Times of India (August 1, 2003)
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Ministry to Filter Sites to Mobiles
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The Japanese telecommunications ministry plans to develop a system for rating and filtering Web sites accessed by cellphones to prevent minors from viewing sex-related and other inappropriate content, ministry sources said, Asahi Shimbun (July 30, 2003)
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Studies Probe Web Link to HIV Surge
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Will Doherty, executive director of QueerNet/Online Policy Group, a nonprofit focused on providing wider Internet access, noted that online dates, or hookups, don't of themselves cause STD infection, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network (July 29, 2003)
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"Pay as You Surf?" or "Bringing Home the Gold to Cable and Phone Monopolies"
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Amazon's Misener and his Coalition of Broadband Users and Innovators, which includes Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, Disney, and others, are urging the FCC to adopt a safeguard that would prevent cable or phone giants from "impair [ing] consumer access to Internet content", Center for Digital Democracy (July 28, 2003)
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Star Wars Kid Files Lawsuit
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The parents of the infamous "Star Wars Kid" are suing classmates who posted a humiliating video of their son on the Net, according to Canada's Globe and Mail, Wired News (July 24, 2003)
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CIPA-Regulated Filters Fall Far Short
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A recent study by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Online Policy Group (OPG) concludes that the blocking software used is not accomplishing the purposes of CIPA, blocking appropriate materials and by failing to block inappropriate content, Law.com via USA Today (July 24, 2003)
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Bush Opposes Plan for Minority Grants
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The Bush administration declared its opposition Tuesday to a bill pushed by Virginia lawmakers that would create a grant program for computer technology at historically black and other minority-serving colleges and universities, Daily Press (July 23, 2003)
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Taiwanese Sexologist Faces Possible Dismissal and Imprisonment Over Web Site
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More than 2,400 professors, students, and others have signed an
international petition to support a sexologist in Taiwan who may be
imprisoned for two years and dismissed from her university if she is
found guilty of breaking the island's obscenity laws, Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) (July 22, 2003)
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Bill Aims to Curb Net Censorship
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Would-be Internet censors in places such as China and Myanmar could have a tougher time restricting the free flow of information, according to a measure that the U.S. House of Representatives approved, CNET News.com (July 17, 2003)
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Accidental Anarchist
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In United States v. Sherman Martin Austin, a 20-year-old Austin faced a single felony count of "distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction with the intent that such information be used in furtherance of a federal crime of violence", Los Angeles Weekly (July 11, 2003)
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Dick Armey, Porn King?
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Internet porn filters have a faulty track record, but Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court insist libraries can't receive federal funds without them, Alibi (July 3, 2003)
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Supreme Court Supports Library Internet Blocking Law
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The Supreme Court ruled today that a federal statute requiring Internet blocking, also known as filtering, in libraries receiving certain federal funds or discounts is constitutional, Online Policy Group and Electronic Frontier Foundation (June 23, 2003)
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Study Released on Internet Blocking in Schools, Filtering Software Overblocks and Miscategorizes Websites
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The Online Policy Group (OPG) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today released a study documenting the effects of Internet blocking, also known as filtering, in U.S. schools. The study found that blocking software overblocked state-mandated curriculum topics extensively -- for every web page correctly blocked as advertised, one or more was blocked incorrectly, Online Policy Group and Electronic Frontier Foundation (June 23, 2003)
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Court OKs Anti-Porn Filters in Libraries
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A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that Congress can force the nation's public libraries to equip computers with anti-pornography filters, Associated Press via ABC News (June 23, 2003)
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When Spam Filters Go Bad
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In June, the company that provides cable modem service, Road Runner, installed a superaggressive new set of spam blockers on its e-mail servers and this reporter suddenly noticed all email stopped for nearly three hours, Salon (June 19, 2003)
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Human Rights and the World Summit on the Information Society
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Online Policy Group joins a group of 43 non-governmental organizations signing a letter to the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights urging his active participation in the preparatory committee and summit meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society, taking place in September and December 2003, (June 16, 2003)
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San Francisco Reacts to Supreme Court LGBTIQQ Rights Ruling
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A broad coalition of San Francisco community organizations has called an event to protest or celebrate, depending on the outcome of the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Texas sodomy statute, QueerNet Project of Online Policy Group (June 12, 2003)
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The Ignoble Savage
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Talk Radio Network Inc. (TRN), an Oregon-based company that syndicates Savage's hate-filled right-wing talk show, "The Michael Savage Show," to 305 radio stations around the country, is suing Julie Sigwart, co-founder of the Web site TakeBacktheMedia.com (TBTM); Thomas and Gunilla Leavitt and Leavitt Enterprises, who produce www.savagestupidity.com; and unknown individual "John Doe," who produces www.michaelsavagesucks.com, Alternet.org (June 9, 2003)
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Public Citizen to Defend SavageStupidity.com Against Savage Lawsuit
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SavageStupidity.com announced today that Public Citizen, a nationally prominent non-profit public interest law firm, has agreed to defend them from a lawsuit filed by Talk Radio Network, Inc., which syndicates "The Savage Nation", a nationally broadcast radio talk show hosted by the infamous Michael Savage (née Weiner), SavageStupidity.com (June 3, 2003)
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U.S. Wants Court Out of Abortion Case
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The Bush administration urged the Supreme Court to reject a politically charged abortion case that seeks free-speech protection for protesters who used "wanted" posters to target doctors, Associated Press via Yahoo! News (June 2, 2003)
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With Wireless, an English City Reaches Across Digital Divide
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In Manchester, the once-grimy Victorian city famous as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Wi-Fi is being used, for the first time ever on this scale, as a way to bridge the digital divide, New York Times (free registration) (May 31, 2003)
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Declaration on Freedom of Communication on the Internet
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Among other points, the declaration states: "In order to ensure protection against online surveillance and to enhance the free expression of information and ideas,
member states should respect the will of users of the Internet not to disclose their identity", Committee of Ministers, Council of Europe (May 28, 2003)
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Can the Web Beat Big Media?
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FCC czar Michael Powell says new technologies will let diversity flourish even as giant corporations consolidate their control over TV and newspapers...Dream on, Salon (May 21, 2003)
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Iran Steps Up Net Censorship
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Iran has tightened controls on the internet, ordering thousands of political and pornographic websites to be blocked, BBC News (May 12, 2003)
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Porn Blocks Urged on Hi-Tech Mobiles
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Parents should think twice before buying children the latest mobile phones, experts warned yesterday, amid concerns that new technology could draw them into the seedy world of internet porn, The Observer (May 11, 2003)
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Licensed to War Drive in N.H.
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A land where white pines easily outnumber wireless computer users, New Hampshire may seem an unlikely haven for the free networking movement, Wired News (April 29, 2003)
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An Orwellian Purge
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A May 31, 2002 internal memo from the Education Department, "Criterion and Process for Removing Old Content from www.ed.gov," the department's Web site, is strangely akin to what occurs in 1984, Baltimore Sun (April 28, 2003)
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Setting Up a Simple Filtering Circumventor
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You can turn your home computer into a miniature Web server that you and your friends can connect to when your away-from-home Internet access gets censored, Peacefire (April 25, 2003)
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Monster.com's Resume Purge Draws Fire
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In a move the company claims is designed to comply with federal regulations, Monster.com on Thursday will delete most references to certain countries from job postings and resumes, CNET News.com (April 23, 2003)
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Use of 'Gay' May Block AIDS Research
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Federal health officials have given undocumented warnings to scientists who study AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases to keep words like "gay" and "transgender" out of their grant applications if they wish to receive funds, the New York Times reported on Friday, PlanetOut (April 18, 2003)
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Software Rams Great Firewall of China
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The news and propaganda wing behind the U.S. government's Voice of America broadcasts has commissioned software that lets Chinese Web surfers sneak around the boundaries set by their government, CNET News.com (April 16, 2003)
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Sex and the Internet
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OPG Executive Director Will Doherty presented a program entitled "Sex and the Internet" to the annual conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality in San Jose, CA, Online Policy Group (April 12, 2003)
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Activists Turn to Privacy Rights
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On Tuesday, six protesters dressed in business suits entered the San Francisco offices of Autonomy, a British software firm that has contracts with intelligence agencies and the Office of Homeland Security. While others marched outside, the six were swiftly arrested and ushered out of the Howard Street building, Mercury News (April 12, 2003)
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Congress OKs Internet Porn Restrictions
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The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the Child Abduction Prevention Act, which strengthens penalties for pedophiles, provides funding for a national child-abduction alert system and bolsters prohibitions against child pornography, Washington Post (April 10, 2003)
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Report Criticizes Google's Porn Filters
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Children using Google's SafeSearch feature, designed to filter out links to Web sites with adult content, may be shielded from far more than their parents ever intended, CNET News.com (April 10, 2003)
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German Law Shields Children From Content
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Germany became the first country in Europe to enact legislation protecting minors from harmful media content, Washington Internet Daily via NewsEdge via ComputerUser.com (April 3, 2003)
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The Great Firewall of China
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OPG Executive Director Will Doherty presented a program entitled "The Great Firewall of China: Filtering, Blocking, and
Government Censorship" to the annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference in New York City, Online Policy Group (April 3, 2003)
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OPG Climbs "Great Firewall" at Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference
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OPG Executive Director Will Doherty will lead a plenary entitled "The Great Firewall of China - Internet Filtering and Free Expression" at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference taking place at the New Yorker Hotel from 10:30am - 12:00 noon, Online Policy Group (April 3, 2003)
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Pa. Won't Identify Web Sites Blocked
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Pennsylvania's attorney general is citing laws against distributing child pornography in refusing to identify any of hundreds of Web sites his office has forced the nation's largest Internet providers to block under a unique state law, Associated Press via SiliconValley.com (April 3, 2003)
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Federal Appeals Court Clears Way for ACLU Lawsuit Over FBI Censorship of Internet Website
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The American Civil Liberties Union will move forward in its First Amendment lawsuit over censorship of a New Jersey artist Mike Zieper and his web host Mark Wieger's controversial website by federal law enforcement officials, now that a federal appeals court has rejected the government’s attempt to dismiss the case, American Civil Liberties Union (April 3, 2003)
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Censoring the Internet
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The Children's Internet Protection Act is the first federal law ever to impose free-speech restrictions on local libraries, and it does so in a constitutionally unacceptable way, New York Times (free registration) (March 10, 2003)
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New Online Smut Prohibition Bill Introduced
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In the wake of last week's decision by a Pennsylvania appeals court to bar enforcement of the controversial 1998 Child Online Protection Act (COPA), Rep. Lamar Smith (R.-Tex.) introduced legislation Monday designed to strengthen the laws against online child pornography, dc.internet.com (March 10, 2003)
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Smart-Mobbing the War
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You can find America's new antiwar movement in a bright yellow room four floors above the traffic of West 57th Street -- a room so small that its occupant burns himself on the heat pipe when he turns over in bed and can commute to his office without touching the floor, New York Times (free registration) (March 9, 2003)
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COPA Unconsitutional - A Futile Anti-Porn Crusade?
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The federal government's crusade to protect children from the Internet's seamier side took another hit yesterday, as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia knocked down yet another law aimed at online pornography, Washington Post (March 7, 2003)
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High Court to Hear Web Smut Case
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In the latest test of Congress' ability to control online content, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments over whether libraries should be required to filter out porn on their Internet-connected computers, Reuters via CNET News (March 5, 2003)
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U.S. Supreme Court Considers Internet Blocking in Libraries
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The Online Policy Group (OPG) and software expert Seth Finkelstein today submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a lower court decision that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) places unconstitutional limitations on free speech of library patrons by requiring the use of technology protection measures in libraries receiving certain federal funding or discounts, Online Policy Group (February 10, 2003)
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Email Vetting Blocks MPs' Sex Debate
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A new email vetting system at the English House of Commons is stifling debate among MPs over serious parliamentary business such as the Sexual Offences Bill, BBC (February 4, 2003)
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Big Brother Knows When You've Got Mail
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Given the continuing assault on cyber freedoms by the Bush administration and Congress, activist Will Doherty warns there's only one way to ensure your online privacy: "If there's anything you're trying to keep private, you should avoid putting it online", Philadelphia Gay News (January 3, 2003)
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DMCA: Dow What It Wants to Do
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Responding to Digital Millennium Copyright Act charges over a Dow Chemical parody site, Verio plans to throw The Thing--an ISP which has provided Internet connectivity, technical support and Web design services to New York City artists and political activists for over a decade--offline next month, Wired News (December 31, 2002)
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Supreme Court Sets Schedule for CIPA Appeal
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Arguments on the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) will be held Wednesday, March 5, 2003, according to a schedule released December 18, by the U.S. Supreme Court, American Library Association (December 19, 2002)
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Pedal-Powered Internet, The
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The newest way to hook up the developing world: the pedal-powered Internet, New York Times (December 15, 2002)
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Internet Filters Block Health Information, Study Finds
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Teenagers who look to the Internet for health information as part of their "wired generation" birthright are blocked from many useful sites by antipornography filters that federal law requires in school and library computers, a new study has found, New York Times (December 10, 2002)
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See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Health Information
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With a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging mandatory filters in libraries, the Foundation conducted a comprehensive study that indicates Internet filters most frequently used by schools and libraries can effectively block pornography without significantly impeding access to online health information - but only if they aren’t set at their most restrictive levels, Kaiser Family Foundation (December 10, 2002)
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OPG ENEWS
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Online newsletter chock full of action alerts, project updates, online policy news, and how to volunteer, Online Policy Group (December 6, 2002)
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Beating Victim May Have Met Killer Online
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A year after Ottawa police warned gay men about assaults connected to a telephone dating line, an Ottawa man was found dead in his apartment on Wednesday after what friends believe was an encounter with a man he may have met online or over the phone, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network (December 6, 2002)
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An Inside Look at China Filters
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An article on Chinese filtering mentions that the Online Policy Group and the Electronic Frontier Foundation will publish a study later this month detailing how America's public schools are filtering websites on issues from firearms to slavery, kiddie porn to pogo sticks, Wired News (December 4, 2002)
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Bush Signs Child Net Safety Law
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President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed into law legislation to create a new kids-safe "dot-kids" domain on the Internet, Associated Press on CNN (December 4, 2002)
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The Wireless Commons
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We have formed the Wireless Commons because a global wireless network is within our grasp, Wireless Commons (December 2, 2002)
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What Would Dewey Do? Libraries Grapple With Internet
|
|
Some users of the central Phoenix library are clicking away at sexually explicit material, creating one of the thorniest issues that libraries nationwide now face: balancing community standards against the First Amendment rights of patrons who use the computers to view X-rated material, New York Times (December 2, 2002)
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Paying the Price
|
|
The effects of CIPA on high school student newspapers are not difficult to see, according to Will Doherty, media relations director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and executive director of the Online Policy Group, Student Press Law Center Report (December 1, 2002)
|
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|
Critics Say Government Deleted Web Site Material to Push Abstinence
|
|
Information on condom use, the relation between abortion and breast cancer and ways to reduce sex among teenagers has been removed from government Web sites, prompting critics to accuse the Department of Health and Human Services of censoring medical information in order to promote a philosophy of sexual abstinence, New York Times (November 26, 2002)
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Pentagon Data Mining: Just Say 'No'
|
|
Unless you have been living in a cave, you're aware of the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, the goal of which is to accumulate every bit of transactional online data worldwide and use data mining techniques to provide intelligence information, InfoWorld (November 22, 2002)
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Piqua's Library Has to Flesh Out Its Own Website
|
|
Library Director James Oda earlier this month attempted to access the library's new website — www.fleshpublic.lib.oh.us — to show it off for the library staff, but unfortunately, the library computer denied him access, Dayton Daily News (November 22, 2002)
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Net Porn Filters Just Don't Work
|
|
As well-intentioned as the filter-the-Net folks might be, the reality is that existing technology can't get the job done, San Francisco Chronicle (November 13, 2002)
|
|
|
How the U.S. Can Stop Internet Censorship
|
|
Firewalls and content filtering software are designed to screen Internet traffic that could be dangerous to your PC, but they can also be used to censor Internet content, CNET/ZDNet Reviews (November 13, 2002)
|
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|
Supreme Court to Hear Web Porn Case
|
|
The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide if public libraries can be forced to install software that blocks sexually explicit Web sites, the latest in Congress' string of attempts to shield children from Internet pornography, Associated Press via ABC News.com (November 12, 2002)
|
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|
Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech
| |
The Council of Europe has adopted a measure that would criminalize Internet hate speech, including hyperlinks to pages that contain offensive content, Wired News (November 9, 2002)
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|
OPG ENEWS
| |
Online newsletter chock full of action alerts, project updates, online policy news, and how to volunteer, Online Policy Group (November 8, 2002)
|
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|
|
Australians to Pull Plug on Protest Websites
|
|
Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison, acting on a request from NSW Police Minister Michael Costa, will look at upgrading federal powers to block certain "unacceptable websites advocating or facilitating violent protest action be accessible from Australia", The Courier-Mail (November 7, 2002)
|
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|
OPG ENEWS
| |
OPG has revived its online newsletter, chock full of action alerts, OPG project and organizational news, online policy news, and lots more, Online Policy Group (October 8, 2002)
|
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|
|
Fighting Net Censorship Abroad
|
|
Washington lawmakers are considering legislation that would allocate $100 million to thwart Internet censorship by authoritarian regimes, Wired News (October 3, 2002)
|
|
|
Special Olympics Joins California Colocation Project
| |
The California Community Colocation Project (CCCP) today announced a partnership with the Special Olympics of Northern California. CCCP, a project of the Online Policy Group, provides free hosting for computer servers from nonprofit organizations, such as the server running the Special Olympics' backend database, Online Policy Group (October 3, 2002)
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California Community Colocation Project Takes Off
|
|
The California Community Colocation Project, or CCCP, was launched in February 2002 as the world's first formal non-profit to focus exclusively on the needs of the not-for-profit colocation community, Linux Journal (October 1, 2002)
|
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Groups: Teaching on AIDS Censored
|
|
The Bush administration has pulled information about the effectiveness of condoms from a government Web site and is engaged in a "witch hunt" against those who promote condoms in the fight against AIDS, several groups charged yesterday, AP via Seattle Times (October 1, 2002)
|
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WorldCom Blocks Access to Child Porn
|
|
Last week, a Pennsylvania judge, at the request of Attorney General Mike Fisher, ordered WorldCom, the bankrupt Internet and voice provider, to block access to five purported child pornography sites, CNET News.com (September 23, 2002)
|
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Hey Filters, Leave the Kids Alone
| |
A small group of activists gathered in front of Mission
High School on Wednesday to protest federally mandated Internet filtering in
public schools, Wired News (September 19, 2002)
|
|
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|
|
School Communities Give Internet Filtering Law Failing Grade
| |
School administrators, along with students,
teachers, parents, and school librarians, in San Francisco,
New York, and Boston speak out against
federal mandates for Internet blocking or filtering software
in public schools, Online Policy Group (September 18, 2002)
|
|
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|
|
Schools Install Internet Filters
|
|
All across the country, schools are installing filters or expanding their use despite flaws in the software, which sometimes blocks legitimate sites needed for lessons, AP via Salon (September 15, 2002)
|
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Yahoo 'Complicit' in China Rights Abuses Through Censorship Pledge
|
|
Yahoo, which markets itself as a bastion on free information, would be helping China clamp down on free expression if it abided by a pact for Chinese Internet firms signed by the company, Human Rights Watch said Friday, Agence France-Presse via Yahoo! News (August 9, 2002)
|
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ACLU Sues for Right to Decode Blocked-Site Lists
| |
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit challenging portions of a 1998 law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which make it illegal to write and publish programs that decode the lists of sites blocked by blocking software programs, American Civil Liberties Union (July 25, 2002)
|
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|
Filter-Free Access to Internet OK'd By Buffalo-Area Board
|
|
Internet access in the 52 public libraries in Buffalo and Erie County will remain free and unrestricted to users after a decision Thursday by library officials to keep filters off library computers, Buffalo News (July 19, 2002)
|
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|
Yahoo Admits Changing E-Mail Text to Block Hackers
|
|
Yahoo! Inc. confirmed on Wednesday that its e-mail software has automatically changed certain words -- including evaluate -- in a bid to prevent hackers from spreading viruses, Reuters via Yahoo! News (July 17, 2002)
|
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|
Israel Blocks Palestinian ISP
| |
Early Monday morning, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops took over the offices of Palnet, the leading Palestinian Internet service provider, shutting down the firm's operations, Wired News (July 16, 2002)
|
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|
|
Hacker Group Targets Net Censorship
|
|
Some of the world's best-known hackers unveiled a plan this weekend to offer free software to promote anonymous Web surfing in countries where the Internet is censored, especially China and Middle Eastern nations, Reuters via CNET News (July 14, 2002)
|
|
|
Make Hate Not Anti-Globalization
|
|
Right-wing extremists looking for converts appear to be trying to subvert the anti-globalization movement, using at least one intentionally confusing website and possibly even showing up at major protests to recruit activists directly, Wired News (July 13, 2002)
|
|
|
Dear Member: You've Been Deleted
| |
OPG Executive Director Will Doherty comments on Yahoo!
yanking the Guerilla Queer Bar website, as well as similar
activities of other online services providers, Wired News (July 11, 2002)
|
|
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|
|
Terrorism Plays New Role in Web, Games
|
|
Advertisements for suicide bombers, promotions of violence and "shoot-em-up" games have proliferated on the Internet since the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Reuters via CNET News.com (July 8, 2002)
|
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|
Bush Presses Supremes on Filters
|
|
The Bush administration renewed its legal fight against Internet pornography on Thursday, asking the Supreme Court to permit Congress to pressure public libraries to block sexually explicit websites, Associated Press via Wired News (June 20, 2002)
|
|
|
U.N. Conference Says Digital Divide Still Growing
|
|
The digital divide between rich and poor countries is growing despite the many efforts to help developing nations break into the global economy via computers, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday, Reuters via New York Times (June 17, 2002)
|
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|
Broadband by the Bootstraps
|
|
If you’ve ever dreamt about wresting control of your lousy Internet Service Provider, you will love the following story about some kindred spirits in the mountains of Summit County, Colorado who built their own high speed network, MSNBC (June 5, 2002)
|
|
|
Children's Internet Protection Act Unconstitutional
|
|
A federal appeals court ruled that the Children's Internet
Protection Act (CIPA) is unconstitutional because it
requires libraries to violate the First Amendment rights
of their patrons, Online Policy Group (May 31, 2002)
|
|
|
Federal Judges Reject Online Porn Law
|
|
Three federal judges on
Friday threw out a federal law that would have
forced public libraries to equip computers with
software designed to block access to Internet
pornography, Associated Press via MSNBC (May 31, 2002)
|
|
|
Gay Goes Online
|
|
Since the dawn of the public's use of the Web, the
gay community has had a unique, well-matched
relationship to the technologies and services offered
therein, SF Gate (May 30, 2002)
|
|
|
Bush Administration, FCC Policies Ignore, Deepen Digital Divide
|
|
Report refutes the Bush Administration’s conclusion that the digital divide has
disappeared, citing the fact that half of all Americans do not have internet access
at home, Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumers Union (Adobe pdf file) (May 30, 2002)
|
|
|
EU Law Turns ISPs Into Spies?
| |
A broad coalition of civil liberties groups [including OPG!]
is urging the European
Parliament to reject a proposal that would require European
countries to retain detailed information on citizens' phone and
Internet use for policing purposes, Wired News (May 29, 2002)
|
|
|
|
|
Software Stance May Cost Library
| |
The Chapel Hill Public Library
may give up thousands of dollars in federal
subsidies rather than buy software designed to
keep patrons from seeing Internet pornography, The Herald-Sun (May 29, 2002)
|
|
|
|
|
Online Policy Group Keeps Palestine Activists Wired
|
|
By working with the QueerNet project of the Online Policy Group (OPG), a
BAIDO member based in San Francisco, gay Palestinians and Palestinian expatriates have been able
to form a supportive online community that is at reduced risk of both persecution and logistical
problems, BAIDO (May 24, 2002)
|
|
|
Youth Censorship and Media Literacy
|
|
Executive Director Will Doherty represented OPG at the
2002 Youth & Censorship Colloquium early this May in New York
where forty youth media makers, educators, censorship,
law, and media literacy experts spent the day developing
strategies to advance the free expression rights of youth, Free Expression Policy Project (May 22, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarian: Filters Are Fab
|
|
The U.S. Justice Department, which is defending the
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in court, is
seeking to show that not all librarians agree with the
ALA's thou-shalt-not-block stand, Wired News (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
Judges Blast Library Filtering
|
|
A two-week trial over library filtering ended Thursday with a trio
of judges criticizing the Children's Internet Protection Act
(CIPA) as an unreasonable intrusion into the rights of Americans
to view legal material online, Wired News (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
Judges End U.S. Library Porn Trial on Skeptical Note
|
|
A two-week
federal trial to determine how far the
government can go to protect children from
pornography on library computers ended on
Thursday with judges openly concerned
about whether the latest online smut law
from Congress infringes on free-speech
rights, Reuters via New York Times (requires free registration) (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
Judges Iffy About Library Filtering Law
|
|
A trial to determine how far the government can go to protect children from
pornography ended Thursday with judges openly concerned about whether the latest
online smut law from Congress infringes on free-speech rights, Reuters via CNETNews.com (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
Judges End U.S. Library Porn Trial on Skeptical Note
|
|
A two-week
federal trial to determine how far the
government can go to protect children from
pornography on library computers ended on
Thursday with judges openly concerned
about whether the latest online smut law
from Congress infringes on free-speech
rights, Reuters via New York Times (requires free registration) (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
A Worthwhile Web Regulation
|
|
Today final arguments will be made in
a federal trial in Philadelphia challenging the
constitutionality of the Children's Internet
Protection Act of 2000, New York Times (requires free registration) (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
The Evil of Silent Censorship
|
|
The "Children's
Internet Protection Act (CHIPA)" is a new national law that sounds great at first blush
(who doesn't want to protect kids?), but it actually will force public librarians and public
schools to use these clumsy, inefficient and even harmful filters on all public-access
computers, LangaList (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
A Software Program Too Far?
|
|
Though I'm an admittedly overprotective parent, I would argue that CIPA
overreaches, Dallas Fort Worth Star-Telegram (April 4, 2002)
|
|
|
Full Assault on Filter Software
|
|
Lipow told a panel of federal judges on Tuesday that Congress'
attempt to force the use of anti-smutware in public libraries is
positively Stalinist, Wired News (April 3, 2002)
|
|
|
Old Principles Guide Librarians on Net
|
|
Cooper and Candace Morgan,
associate director of Fort
Vancouver Regional Library,
are leading a national battle
against the law, which
requires libraries to filter
Internet access, The Oregonian (April 3, 2002)
|
|
|
Court Panel Hears Final Witnesses in CIPA Trial
|
|
The federal court three-judge panel heard from the final witnesses in the
American Library Association’s (ALA) legal challenge to the Children’s Internet
Protection Act (CIPA), American Library Association (April 3, 2002)
|
|
|
ALA Delivers Closing Arguments in CIPA Trial
|
|
American Library Association (ALA)
attorneys today presented closing arguments in their legal challenge to the
Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), American Library Association (April 3, 2002)
|
|
|
CIPA Trial Enters Second Week
|
|
The government returned with its witnesses yesterday morning in the second
week of the American Library Association's (ALA) legal challenge to the
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), American Library Association (April 2, 2002)
|
|
|
Standing Up to the Law
|
|
Wisconsin libraries are part of a group of
plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of the
Children's Internet Protection Act in U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania, Los Angeles Times (April 1, 2002)
|
|
|
Porn in the Court: Battle Rages Over Web Smut
|
|
In the first week of a trial debating the constitutionality of a requirement that public
libraries install porn-blocking software on
their computers, gray-haired librarians
uttered words that could make a
longshoreman blush, soft-spoken
computer analysts described bizarre sexual
proclivities and federal judges mulled the definition of "fetish", Associated Press via CNN (April 1, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarians Testify in Internet Case
|
|
In the first week of a trial debating the constitutionality of a requirement that public libraries install porn-blocking software on
their computers, gray-haired librarians uttered words that could make a longshoreman blush, soft-spoken computer analysts
described bizarre sexual proclivities and federal judges mulled the definition of "fetish", Associated Press via Salon (April 1, 2002)
|
|
|
Govt. Witnesses Wrap Up First Week of Filtering Trial
|
|
A landmark trial to determine whether the government has the right to withhold federal funding
from libraries that refuse to install filtering software on their computers is ticking along on
schedule today, with U.S. government witnesses wrapping up the first week of testimony, Newsbytes (March 29, 2002)
|
|
|
Govt. Witnesses Wrap Up First Week of Filtering Trial
|
|
A landmark trial to determine whether the government has the right to withhold federal funding
from libraries that refuse to install filtering software on their computers is ticking along on
schedule today, with U.S. government witnesses wrapping up the first week of testimony, Newsbytes (March 29, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarians Fight Children's Internet Protection Act
|
|
Not a lot of news coverage is being given to the landmark lawsuit that began Monday in which the American Library
Association is challenging the constitutionality of the Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000 (CIPA), Holt Uncensored (March 29, 2002)
|
|
|
CIPA Trial Wraps Third Day
|
|
The government began presenting its case in the American Library Association’s
(ALA) legal challenge to the Children’s Internet Protection Act yesterday, American Library Association (March 29, 2002)
|
|
|
CIPA Trial Recesses Until Monday
|
|
The government called the last of this week’s witnesses in the American Library
Association’s legal challenge to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), American Library Association (March 29, 2002)
|
|
|
Feds Mount Defense of Library Porn Law
|
|
The U.S. government
sought on Thursday to defend its bid to
protect children from online
pornography in public libraries, with
testimony about Internet software that
allows library patrons to view explicit
text but not photos on the World Wide
Web, Reuters via CNN (March 28, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarian Testifies Against Censorship
|
|
Vigilant
libraries
can
keep
pornography
off
their
computer
terminals
and
fulfill
the
requirements
of
a
federal
law
without
stepping
on
the
First
Amendment,
a
librarian testified Thursday, Associated Press via Yahoo (March 28, 2002)
|
|
|
Smut Filter Snags Non-Smut, Too
|
|
Rood took the
witness stand in federal court to
testify that her attempts to
research her sexuality in the public
library before coming out as a
lesbian would have been prohibited
by smut-filtering technologies, Wired News (March 27, 2002)
|
|
|
Porn Trial Experts Say Software Block Limited
|
|
Filtering software intended
to protect children from exposure to
pornography on library computers is
doomed to fail despite its congressional
endorsement as a viable safeguard,
computer experts testified in federal
court on Tuesday, Reuters via CNN (March 27, 2002)
|
|
|
Witnesses Advocate Unfiltered Internet
|
|
A child-protection law would make libraries block certain material and U.S. judges heard
testimony about usefulness, Philadelphia Inquirer (March 27, 2002)
|
|
|
ALA Presents Expert Testimony on Filter Failures at CIPA Trial
|
|
Day two of the American Library Association's (ALA) challenge to the
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) focused on expert testimony
regarding the failure of filters to block all illegal content, as required by the law, American Library Association (March 27, 2002)
|
|
|
Porn-Filter Trial Gets Raunchy
|
|
Raunchy depictions of explicit sex punctuated
a trial over library filtering on Monday when government
attorneys argued the images were unsuitable for display on
public terminals, Wired News (March 26, 2002)
|
|
|
Censorship Has Worked, Library Says
|
|
Although librarians and the American Civil Liberties Union appeared in
court Monday in Philadelphia to battle a federal law requiring libraries and
schools to block sexually explicit images from their Internet computers,
Jefferson Parish's filtering system has caused little controversy since
going on line 14 months ago, Times Picayune (March 26, 2002)
|
|
|
Experts Lambaste Smut Filters
|
|
Filtering software intended to protect
children from exposure to pornography on library computers
is doomed to fail despite its congressional endorsement as a
viable safeguard, computer experts testified in federal court
on Tuesday, Reuters via Wired News (March 26, 2002)
|
|
|
Net Filters Fail the Children
|
|
A report casting doubt on the effectiveness of
filtering software has been released on the
first day of a US court case challenging a
federal law requiring libraries to restrict access
to some net content, BBC News (March 26, 2002)
|
|
|
Effectiveness of Internet Filtering Software Products
|
|
A newly-released report on a detailed study conducted
in September 2001 to test the performance of 14 filtering
programs using nearly 900 websites and finds that the
products differ in their effectiveness and that none
provide perfect filtering of content, Australian Broadcasting Authority (Adobe pdf file) (March 26, 2002)
|
|
|
ALA Presents Arguments in First Day of CIPA Challenge
|
|
The American Library Association (ALA) opened its challenge to the Children's
Internet Protection Act (CIPA) yesterday in the District Court of Eastern
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, American Library Association (March 26, 2002)
|
|
|
Library Net Filtering Battle Heads for Court
|
|
A group of free-speech advocates is gearing up for a trial that could determine the
constitutionality of a law requiring schools and libraries to filter Web content or forgo
federal funding, ZDNet News (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Porn-Filter Judge Boots Public
|
|
A trio of federal judges abruptly kicked
members of the public out of a library filtering trial on Monday,
saying they feared confidential smut-blocking techniques would
be disclosed, Wired News (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
U.S. Library Porn Law Battle Heads for Court
|
|
The
latest
attempt
by
Congress
to
control
pornography
on
the
Internet
was
scheduled
to
go
to
trial
on
Monday
in
Philadelphia, where a coalition of libraries, library patrons and Web site operators is battling the Children's Internet Protection Act, Reuters via Yahoo! News (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
U.S. Library Porn Law Battle Heads for Court
|
|
The
latest
attempt
by
Congress
to
control
pornography
on
the
Internet
was
scheduled
to
go
to
trial
on
Monday
in
Philadelphia, where a coalition of libraries, library patrons and Web site operators is battling the Children's Internet Protection Act, Reuters via Yahoo! News (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarians Argue Against Net Filtering
|
|
Two soft-spoken, gray-haired librarians fired the opening salvo on Monday in a battle
over how far the U.S. government can go to protect children from exposure to
pornography on library computers, Reuters via CNET News.com (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Law Limiting Internet in Libraries Challenged
|
|
A law passed by Congress
in December 2000 requiring schools and
libraries to use Internet filtering software
changes the nature of libraries from being
places that provide information to places
that unconstitutionally restrict it, New York Times (requires free registration) (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Internet Filtering Technology Put to Legal Test
|
|
A federal law requiring public libraries to filter Internet pornography and other objectionable material
on their computers will be put to the test beginning Monday before a federal court in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, as a host of civil liberty and free speech advocates back a lawsuit against the federal
government, Newsfactor.com via Yahoo! News (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Internet Filtering Technology Put to Legal Test
|
|
A federal law requiring public libraries to filter Internet pornography and other objectionable material
on their computers will be put to the test beginning Monday before a federal court in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, as a host of civil liberty and free speech advocates back a lawsuit against the federal
government, Newsfactor.com via Yahoo! News (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarians Open Case Against Internet Filtering Law
|
|
Civil libertarians, scientists and librarians led the charge today in a case
challenging the constitutionality of a new federal law designed to bar
access to pornography at the nation's public libraries, Newsbytes (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Court to Hear Net Filtering Challenge
|
|
A group of free-speech advocates is gearing up for a trial that could determine the
constitutionality of a law requiring schools and libraries to filter Web content or forgo
federal funding, CNET News.com (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Court to Hear Net Filtering Challenge
|
|
A group of free-speech advocates is gearing up for a trial that could determine the
constitutionality of a law requiring schools and libraries to filter Web content or forgo
federal funding, CNET News.com (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarians Fighting Internet-Filter Law
|
|
A battle over free speech and online pornography
returns to the nation's birthplace today as librarians try to convince a
federal court that requiring them to block access adult materials
amounts to censorship, Associated Press via Mercury News (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarians, Advocates Present Case Against Federal Net Filtering Law
|
|
The Children's Internet Protection Act trial, which
started last Monday in Federal Court in Philadelphia,
is expected to run for around 9 days with the legal
challenge focusing on the requirement
that libraries institute Internet filtering in order to
receive federal tech funding grants, Associated Press via Wall Street Journal (paid subscription) (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Librarians, Advocates Present Case Against Federal Net Filtering Law
|
|
The Children's Internet Protection Act trial, which
started last Monday in Federal Court in Philadelphia,
is expected to run for around 9 days with the legal
challenge focusing on the requirement
that libraries institute Internet filtering in order to
receive federal tech funding grants, Associated Press via Wall Street Journal (paid subscription) (March 25, 2002)
|
|
|
Library Net-Filtering Study Re-Released on Eve of Trial
|
|
With a federal trial on public libraries' use of controversial Web filters scheduled to start
Monday, the Kaiser Family Foundation today re-released a months-old study's findings,
showing that nearly two-thirds of high school students queried favor use of the filtering
technologies, Newsbytes (March 22, 2002)
|
|
|
FRC Enters Case Aimed at Protecting Kids on the Internet
|
|
Family Research Council's senior director of Legal Studies, Jan LaRue,
has submitted an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief to the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in defense of the Children's
Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Family Research Council (March 22, 2002)
|
|
|
Government Censorship Trial Begins Monday
|
|
In a nine-day trial set to begin on Monday, the American Civil
Liberties Union will argue that a federal law that forces libraries to censor
constitutionally protected speech online is unconstitutional and should be
permanently struck down, American Civil Liberties Union via Electronic Frontier Foundation (March 22, 2002)
|
|
|
Book Banning in the 21st Century
|
|
In an
effort to shield innocent minds from online "smut," the Children's Internet
Protection Act -- or CIPA -- has mandated that all public schools and
libraries using federal funds for Internet use or connections must install a
filtering system by this July or risk losing the aid altogether, AlterNet (March 21, 2002)
|
|
|
Urge CDC and USDA to Provide Safe-Sex Info to Youth
|
|
On March 9, 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed a National Prevention Information Network (NIPN) website link to the Coalition for Positive Sexuality (CPS) website called positive.org, apparently caving in to pressure from the right-wing Physicians Consortium and the Focus on the Family's James Dobson, Online Policy Group (March 9, 2002)
|
|
|
Libraries Win Delay in Installing Internet Filters
|
|
Public schools and libraries have until at least July 2002
to comply with a federal law requiring Internet blocking
technologies in exchange for federal grants and
discounts, San Francisco Chronicle (May 16, 2001)
|
|
|
ACLU, Library Groups Win Minor Victory In Filtering Case
|
|
Public libraries that receive federal funding for Internet access will have an extra year to
decide whether to stop accepting the funds or to comply with a new law requiring
Internet content filters on all computers, under the terms of an agreement reached by
the US government and groups fighting the law, Newsbytes (May 16, 2001)
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AOL's New Filter on the Block
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AOL integrates content recognition software produced by RuleSpace for website blocking using
Parental Controls, Wired News (May 7, 2001)
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AOL's New Filter on the Block
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AOL integrates content recognition software produced by RuleSpace for website blocking using
Parental Controls, Wired News (May 7, 2001)
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Internet Blocking in Schools and Libraries: Law, Litigation, and Community Response
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Internet blocking presentation on technology, legal, and
policy issues followed by a panel at the San Francisco
Public Library with David Burt (N2H2), Will Doherty
(OPG/EFF), Lee Tien (EFF), Mark Leno (SF Board of
Supervisors), and Susan Hildreth (SF Public Library), Online Policy Group and Electronic Frontier Foundation (May 6, 2001)
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Internet Blocking Policy Presentation
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A presentation on Internet blocking and policy
implications by Will Doherty, OPG Executive Director, at
the University of Southern Illinois at Edwardsville, Online Policy Group (April 23, 2001)
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Sweaty Scenes From the Life of an AOL Censor
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A personal account from an
employee in AOL's campaign to
keep the Web safe for surburbia;
though this month, the Florida
Supreme Court ruled the
corporation couldn't be held accountable for its
customers' behavior, Village Voice (March 23, 2001)
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Censoring the Libraries
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The latest threat comes from the Children's
Internet Protection Act, passed by Congress
in December, which is to take effect next
month, San Francisco Chronicle (March 23, 2001)
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Community Center Tenants Announced
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The San Francisco LGBT Community Center Project has released a list of 24 organizations,
including the Online Policy Group and QueerNet, that will lease space there when it opens later
this year, Bay Area Reporter (March 23, 2001)
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Library Smut Snit Heats Up
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It was reunion time Tuesday on Capitol Hill, as
conservatives rallied to decry Internet "bestiality," a jab at
overly permissive liberals, and remind everyone that library
filtering is not only a good idea but also a very good law, Wired News (March 21, 2001)
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CIPA Challenged
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The Multnomah County Public
Library (Portland Oregon area) and other
plaintiffs filed a complaint in U.S.
District Court against the U.S.
and other defendants challenging the
constitutionality of the Children's
Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Tech Law Journal Daily E-Mail Alert (March 21, 2001)
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Libraries: Filter Out Filters
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Filtering software is so prone to glitches that
it has no place in public libraries, librarians and free speech
groups claim in two lawsuits filed Tuesday, Wired News (March 20, 2001)
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Libraries Spearhead Attack on Cyber-Porn Law
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At issue is a free speech challenge to a U.S. law designed
to prevent children from being exposed to Internet
pornography in public libraries and schools, Reuters via Industry Standard (March 20, 2001)
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Diverse Coalition Sues to Overturn Web-Filtering Law
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Civil liberties groups joined a host of library associations today in
challenging a new law that requires federally funded schools and libraries
to install software that blocks "objectionable" online materials, Newsbytes (March 20, 2001)
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Lawsuits Slam Net Filtering Efforts
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The American Civil Liberties Union and American Library Association filed separate suits Tuesday in a
federal district court in Philadelphia challenging a new law that requires federally funded schools and
libraries to install software that blocks "objectionable" online materials, CNET News (March 20, 2001)
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Censorware Site Resurrected
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Rising phoenix-like from the ashen carcass of
Censorware.org, the new slashdot-style Censorware.net
has a lot to offer on blocking technology topics, Online Policy Group (March 14, 2001)
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Programmer Finds Filtering System Too Diligent
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As Congress mulls whether smut-blocking software should be installed in all public
schools and libraries, a computer programmer on Tuesday published a report alleging
that at least one filtering company takes its job too far, CNET News.com (October 24, 2000)
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