Federal judges overturn Children's Internet Protection Act

sacbee.com ^ | By Published 6:20 a.m. PDT Friday, May 31, 2002 | DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press

[jwalsh07]

Madison and Jefferson say your idea sucks.

[sinkspur]

I have a much better idea. Eliminate public libraries altogether. Government at even the most local level has no right to provide reading material at taxpayer expense.

It's likely those libraries were built after being approved by voters at the ballot box.

If people vote for government-built libraries, then government-built libraries they will have.

[let freedom sing]

Hello?... I don't have an answer... talk amongst yourselves. What was that stuff about the color of law? I thought justice was blind-- even color-blind. I can't remember-- do HATE crimes really exist in law, or was it all just a bad dream? Hard core and porn on the internet ought to be considered a HATE crime, because it really has nothing to do with sex (speech)-- but a lot to do with hate and violence (the product or result). Right? You know, like rape-- it's not about the sex, it's about the feeling of POWER and making other people feel powerless. Taking a more liberal point of view can be so much more refreshing-- Has anyone ever tried that one on the Supremes? Public libraries could swear to help prevent hate crimes-- you know, like the rest of us swore to look out for terrorists. :-)

[archy]

Public libraries could swear to help prevent hate crimes-- you know, like the rest of us swore to look out for terrorists.

That seems unlikely in the library in my town, graced as it is at the front entrance with the 3-foot diameter hammer and sickle and enscription Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains..."

Despite numerous complaints about that hate symbol and citizen requests for something less offensive to local veterans crippled and otherwise injured in the various wars against the communist slave system of the XX Century, the officials are adament that it will remain.

And so long as it does, I don't really care if the Confederate flag or politically incorrect descriptive terms I use for such creatures offend them, either.

-archy-/-

[southern rock]

It's likely those libraries were built after being approved by voters at the ballot box.

Theft can be approved at the ballot box? (I know in reality it is all the time . That was just a philosophical question for ya!)

[Nick Danger]

"Internet filtering software" that "keeps pornography away from children" is one of those symbolic B.S. items that pollute the culture and make government more dangerous. It's another "Patriot's Act of 2002" that no one can oppose lest they be deemed unpatriotic, when in fact the damned thing is a collection of stupid, ugly stuff that impinges on civil liberties.

Buy a vowel, folks: machines cannot recognize pornography when they see it. We barely have machines that can recognize faces in a database, and those are horribly inaccurate. They also cost tens of thousands of dollars each.

So what the Net Nanny guys do instead is try to keep lists of nasty sites, and update them as fast as the pornsters move around. That, and key off certain words, an approach that collects amusing but annoying stories about banned breast-cancer sites as fast as it bans porn sites. There has to be at least one person here who bought one of these things and found it wouldn't let him visit Free Republic. Hey, some liberal on the software team thought it should be banned.

Let's not fall for this crap because it has a nice name. It doesn't work, it's a waste of money, and all the good intentions in the world won't make it any better. Maybe in twenty years we'll know how to make machines as smart as Justice Potter Stewart; in the meantime, nobody knows how to make a thing that "knows it when it sees it."

[AAABEST]

BINGO

[let freedom sing]

If the feds and privates thought it was important enough-- they'd develop the techonology, if it isn't available, already. True, it's costly, but--

the worth of a soul is great in the eyes of God

Archy RE: the large graphic-- perhaps you could post a nicely framed rebuttal underneath, explaining the meaning to those who are so naive, that they would choose such a focal point for a US public library-- with their permission, of course.