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                Date: 1998-04-08
                 
                 
                Filtersoftware (PICS): U.S. Zensurgesetz erfolgreich angegriffen
                
                 
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      q/depesche 98.4.8.1 
 
Filtersoftware (PICS): U.S. Zensurgesetz erfolgreich angegriffen 
 
Hier kommt das erste Urteil nach dem School Filtering Act des 
Handelskomitees im U.S. Senat. Der einstimmige Gesetz/Beschluss im 
genannten Gremium koppelte die Vergabe von Bundesgeldern an 
öffentliche Schulen & Bibliotheken mit der Verpflichtung zum 
Einsatz von Filterprogrammen - zum Schutz der jugendlichem vor 
anstössigem Material. 
Dem Klage/Begehr der von ACLU, EFF & anderen unterstützten Kläger 
gegen das Zensur/Gesetz wurde stattgegeben  
http://www.aclu.org/congress/lg031198a.html  
 
Ganz offenbar, weil - siehe unten - eine Bezirksrichterin in East 
Virginia verstanden hat, dass bei Einsatz von Stichwortfiltern 
gegen Obszönität in allen Schulen & Bibliotheken der USA weder 
eine komplette Bibel, noch Homers oder Joyces Odysseen online 
verfügbar wären.   
 
 
from: 
Barry Steinhardt (Barrys@eff.org),President 
Electronic Frontier Foundation 
 
Judge Sets Highest Legal Hurdle For Using Blocking Software in 
Libraries 
    Tuesday, April 7, 1998 
 
    ALEXANDRIA, VA -- In the first major ruling on the use of 
Internet 
blocking software in libraries, a federal district judge today 
forcefully 
rejected a government motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the 
use of such software in public libraries in Loudoun County, 
Virginia. 
 
    The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia, 
which 
represent a   diverse group of eight Internet speakers seeking to 
reach library 
patrons, hailed the  ruling as one of the strongest ever defenses 
of online free speech. 
 
    "We are thrilled that the judge in this case, a former 
librarian, recognized the Internet  as the ultimate library 
resource," said Ann Beeson, an ACLU staff attorney who  appeared 
before the court. 
 
    "Every member of every library board considering an 
Internet-blocking 
policy ought  to read the judge's ruling," said Kent Willis, 
Executive Director of 
the ACLU of Virginia. "It will remind them of why we have 
libraries and why an unfettered Internet serves the fundamental 
purpose of libraries better than any invention since the printing  
press." 
 
    In a 36-page decision issued earlier today, Judge Leonie M. 
Brinkema of 
the U.S.  District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia said 
that the 
government had "misconstrued the nature of the Internet" and held 
that "the Library Board may not adopt and enforce content-based 
restrictions on access to protected Internet speech." 
 
    Calling public libraries places of "freewheeling and 
independent 
inquiry," Judge Brinkema quoted extensively from Reno v. ACLU, the 
landmark Supreme Court decision on Internet free speech, noting 
that the Court "analogized the Internet to a 'vast library 
including millions of readily available and indexed publications,' 
the content of which 'is as diverse as human thought.'" 
 
    The court today also rejected the notion that the use of 
blocking 
software can be  considered analogous to a librarian selecting 
certain materials, noting that Internet  publications "exist only 
in 'cyberspace,'" and do not "take up shelf space or require  
physical maintenance of any kind." 
 
    Nor do such publications cost money, the judge said, noting 
that in 
fact, "it costs a library more to restrict the content of its 
collection by means of 
blocking software than it does for the library to offer 
unrestricted access to all 
Internet publications." 
 
    Beeson said that although the case will still go forward, the 
unequivocal language of the ruling gave the government a very high 
burden to meet in its defense of the blocking policy. 
 
    "Blocking software is nothing more than CDA in a box," Beeson 
said. 
"With today's ruling, the court correctly applied the same level 
of First Amendment scrutiny that the Supreme Court used in 
rejecting the CDA." 
 
    Beeson also said that the ruling should serve as a strong 
deterrent to 
recent efforts in Congress to mandate the use of blocking software 
in public schools and libraries. 
 
    In a unanimous voice vote last month, the Senate Commerce 
Committee 
passed the Internet School Filtering Act, a bill that requires all 
public 
libraries and schools that receive federal funds for Internet 
access to use blocking software. 
 
    Urging against the policy, the ACLU said in a letter to the 
Committee that "the government may not condition federal funding 
on unconstitutional requirements," emphasizing that "parents and 
teachers, not the government, should provide minors with guidance 
about accessing the Internet." 
 
    In the Loudoun case, the national ACLU and the ACLU of 
Virginia 
intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of a diverse group of speakers 
outside of the county - -  and even outside the United States -- 
who want to reach their intended worldwide audience, including 
library patrons in Loudoun County. 
 
    The ACLU's plaintiffs are: 
 
        The Safer Sex Page, created by John Troyer. 
 
        Banned Books Online, created by John Ockerbloom. 
 
        American Association of University Women Maryland (AAUW 
Maryland). 
 
        Rob Morse, an award-winning columnist for the San 
Francisco Examiner. 
 
        Books for Gay and Lesbian Teens Youth Page, created by 
18-year-old Jeremy Myers. 
 
        Sergio Arau, the popular Mexican artist and rock singer 
known as "El Padrino." 
 
        Renaissance Transgender Association, a group serving the 
transgendered 
        community. 
 
        The Ethical Spectacle, created by Jonathan Wallace. 
    
                 
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edited by Harkank 
published on: 1998-04-08 
comments to office@quintessenz.at
                   
                  
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