Library Juice 3:33

Library Juice 3:33 - August 30, 2000 Contents: 1. DeCSS 2. Slashdot article on freeware library catalogs 3. Free Speech on the Web? Don't Even Talk About It 4. Federal legislation affecting postal rates for libraries 5. New URL for AcqWeb 6. Akamai caught in Net filtering cross fire 7. CyberPatrol Break FAQ 8. Managing the Digital Future of Libraries: Proceedings 9. Freelance Authors Turn Up the Heat with More Lawsuits 10. Direct Search - Campaign 2000 11. Discussion on liblicense-l on banner ads in licensed databases 12. Liblicense 13. LISnews.com seeking contributors 14. Andrew Carnegie, Union-Buster 15. IFLA 2000 report 16. Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last name 17. Tom the Dancing Bug Quote for the week: "Some futurists continue to promote an all-digital future because there's big consulting money in simplistic projections, and nobody seems to check the track records of futurists. Other technologists and futurists focus on their own needs, desires, and capabilities to the exclusion of all else. They don't read books, so books are dead. They circulate preprint journal articles and consider magazines beneath contempt, so periodicals are dead. They don't use public libraries, so neither does anyone else. Based on the articles and books I've seen, most technologists are essentially unaware of public libraries." -Walt Crawford, in _Being Analog: Creating Tomorrow's Libraries_, ALA, 2000 Home page of the week: Erika Dowell http://php.indiana.edu/~edowell/index.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 1. DeCSS DeCSS is a linux utility for copying DVD's. A US District Court ruled recently that even LINKING to a web page where this software could be downloaded is illegal. Can that be right? Here is an article at ZDnet: http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2619215,00.html _2600: The Hacker Quarterly_ was the victim of this ruling. There is a wealth of information on this case at their website: http://www.2600.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________top 2. Slashdot article on freeware library catalogs Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 17:11:10 -0700 (PDT) From: "Karen G. Schneider" <kgs[at]bluehighways.com> To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu>, Subject: Discussion on slashdot about library catalogs Another PUBLIBer pointed me to a discussion on slashdot about freeware library catalogs. Some librarians may want to jump in with suggestions. The discussion reminds me of the very old anecdote about the library automation vendor who was asked if his system supported authority control. He said yes, then went back to his company and asked, "what's authority control?" See: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/08/22/2040245&mode=thread Karen G. Schneider kgs[at]bluehighways.com Assistant Director of Technology Shenendehowa Public Library, Clifton Park, NY http://www.shenpublib.org ____________________________________________________________________________top 3. Free Speech on the Web? Don't Even Talk About It Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 09:09:14 -0500 From: "Don Wood" <dwood[at]ala.org> Subject: [IFACTION:1002] Free Speech on the Web? Don't Even Talk About It To: Intellectual Freedom Action News <ifaction[at]ala1.ala.org> "Could linking to a bomb-making site also be illegal? What about a site that sells radar detectors? The answer ought to be no and no, but possibly only because they're not mentioned in the DCMA. Why give the film industry so much extra protection? One thing I do know, the ruling is a wet blanket over innovation." Free Speech on the Web? Don't Even Talk About It http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2619215,00.html _________________________ Don Wood Program Officer/Communications American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom dwood[at]ala.org http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/index.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 4. Federal legislation affecting postal rates for libraries From: "Christie Braziel" <cbraziel[at]cla-net.org> To: "CALIX (E-mail)" <calix[at]listproc.sjsu.edu> Subject: Library mailing rates could be eliminated Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 15:58:37 -0700 Visit this Web site: http://www.nonprofitmailers.org/capitol/page5o.htm for important information regarding pending Federal legislation affecting postal rates for libraries. ************************************* California Library Association 717 K Street, Suite 300 Sacramento, CA 95814 916-447-8541 info[at]cla-net.org www.cla-net.org ************************************* 102nd Annual Conference November 10-13, 2000 * Santa Clara ____________________________________________________________________________top 5. New URL for AcqWeb I am happy to announce that AcqWeb now has a new, simpler URL: http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/. The old links have redirects that will work for a year. For more news and information, please see The AcqWeblog at: http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/ms_acqs.html For those not familiar with AcqWeb, it is the sister publication of the ACQNET and the Web site for librarians and other professionals interested in acquisitions and collection development. Anna Belle Leiserson AcqWeb Editor Vanderbilt University Law School 131 21st Ave South, Ste. 204 Nashville, TN 37203-1164 615-322-0023 a.leiserson[at]law.vanderbilt.edu http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/ ____________________________________________________________________________top 6. Akamai caught in Net filtering cross fire http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2586200.html "Many consumers and businesses use filters to prevent children and employees from accessing certain sites, such as those with sexual content. But under the workaround, such sites are accessible by tacking the location onto the end of another address. For example, someone surfing the Web with filtering software installed could access "sex.com" by typing: http://a1.g.akamaitech.net/6/6/6/6/sex.com/. " _________________________ Don Wood Program Officer/Communications American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/index.html ____________________________________________________________________________top 7. CyberPatrol Break FAQ http://www.islandnet.com/~mskala/cpbfaq.html "This FAQ is intended to answer frequently asked questions about Eddy L.O. Jansson's and my essay, titled The Breaking of Cyber Patrol 4, the resulting court cases, and related topics." "To summarize: we took apart, to see how it worked, a software package designed to filter out undesirable content (such as pornography) on the Web. We published a document explaining what we found inside the software. The makers of the software sued us. We settled out of court. Issues related to this chain of events are still being fought in the courts and elsewhere." [Previously mentioned in Library Juice 3:12 - http://www.libr.org/Juice/issues/vol3/LJ_3.12.html#6 ] ____________________________________________________________________________top 8. Managing the Digital Future of Libraries: Proceedings [PowerPoint] http://www.rsl.ru/tacis/menupceedings.htm The Moscow Manifesto http://www.rsl.ru/tacis/manifesto.htm Russian State Library Information Project http://www.rsl.ru/tacis/Home.htm English and Russian translations of the proceedings from last spring's Managing the Digital Futures of Libraries conference held in Moscow are available from the Russian State Library Information Project Website. The proceedings contain over 50 papers representing speakers from more than 20 countries addressing trends and issues related to digital libraries, as well as reports on specific projects. Among other topics, papers cover electronic serials services, electronic document delivery, digital audio collections, and digitization efforts. In addition to HTML documents, several of the papers link to PowerPoint presentations. The conference represented the final phase of a joint European Union - Russian State Library project through Tacis, an EU initiative designed to foster development in the New Independent States and Mongolia by cultivating links with organizations in the European Union. The Moscow Manifesto presents the recommendations that resulted from the conference. Users can access the Russian-language version of the site (click on Russian Federation flag) from the Russian State Library Information Project Homepage. [AG] > From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ ____________________________________________________________________________top 9. Freelance Authors Turn Up the Heat with More Lawsuits; Major Database Providers Under Siege by Paula J. Hane Information Today August 21, 2000 - After last weekís report about a settlement between the National Writers Union (NWU; http://www.nwu.com) and Contentville (http://www.contentville.com) over author royalties [See Paula J. Hane's August 14 NewsBreak] the pressure on database providers has escalated, with two new class-action lawsuits being filed on behalf of freelance authors whose copyrighted works have been sold online. We are clearly seeing the consequences of last fallís appellate court ruling in the Tasini case, as writers and organizations realize that a precedent has been set and monetary settlements are possible. It also reflects the present climate of concern for creative and intellectual property rights and what is sold or given away on the Internet, as in the Napster case. More: http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb000821-1.htm ____________________________________________________________________________top 10. Direct Search - Campaign 2000 Just in time for the election, a new section or "direct search" to share with all of you. At: http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/campaign.htm you can access direct search-Campaign 2000. This new resource compilation provides links to numerous campaign finance databases available on the Internet. Links to resources for ALL STATES and D.C. are included. Please note some states DO NOT provide an interactive database with this information. However, I have linked to related material that may be of interest. Like all Internet resources this one is a work in progress. Finally, links to election boards for all states are provided as well as a few Federal election resources. I hope this page is of some value. Feel free to share the url with others. Cheers, Gary Gary D. Price, MLIS George Washington University Virginia Campus Library Gelman Library Ashburn, VA and Washington, D.C. gprice[at]gwu.edu 703-726-8235 703-726-8237 (fax) Looking for "Invisible Web" Databases? Visit "direct search" http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/direct.htm ____________________________________________________________________________top 11. Discussion on liblicense-l on banner ads in licensed databases http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/ListArchives/0008/threads.html Initial posting: o: liblicense-l[at]lists.yale.edu Subject: Are banner ads acceptable on licesnsed databases? From: GenAnnual[at]aol.com Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 09:08:29 EDT Colleagues, I need your opinion. An online database vendor has asked me if librarians would accept or object to their placing banner ads, visible to library patrons, on licensed databases hosted by their company? What would be your reaction? Not care; accepting; would cancel the subscription or? I take it that they feel they could charge lower fees if they had the additional revenue from the ads. What's your feeling? ____________________________________________________________________________top 12. Liblicense http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml >From the web site: "Increasingly, university and research libraries are being inundated with information that has been created in digital format and transmitted and accessed via computers. As the number of collections in digital formats increase exponentially, more and more libraries and information providers are facing a number of unique challenges presented by this relatively new medium. Chief among these new challenges is crafting agreements with information owners that adequately assure libraries will continue to provide users with comprehensive and timely access to information in digital formats. Because of several unique properties of digital information, agreements that govern the acquistion and maintenance of traditional paper collections are inadequate in the digital information context. Unlike paper materials, digital information generally is not purchased by the library; rather it is licensed by the library from information providers. A license usually takes the form of a written contract or agreement between the library and the owner of the rights to distribute digital information. As many librarians responsible for collections know all too well, licensing agreements often are complex, lengthy documents filled with arcane and unfamiliar terms such as indemnity, severability and force majeure. In an effort to assist librarians (and information providers as well) to understand the issues raised these licensing agreement, we have prepared an Analysis of Licensing Agreements for Digital Information. The pages that follow include a collection of common terms usually found in licensing agreements, along with a discussion of the pros and cons of specific language in such agreements. We have tried to present language that we believe to be fair and workable for libraries and information providers as well. We have also included examples of provisions that we believe are unduly burdensome or otherwise do not adequately reflect the needs of libraries in providing digital information to their users. We hope that these materials will serve as a useful starting point towards providing librarians with a better understanding of the issues raised by licensing agreements in the digital age. " ____________________________________________________________________________top 13. LISnews.com seeking contributors Blake Carver LISNews.com News for the Entire Information Science World. http://www.lisnews.com --------------- Created and maintained by librarians, LISNews.com is a web site devoted to current topics and news in the field of Library and Information Science. I'd like to welcome Library Juice readers to participate with this Web Site. LISNews.com brings you summaries of selected news articles by email, and via our interactive web site. We select items and stories that we hope will stimulate ideas and conversation in the interest of keeping you and your colleagues informed. The LISNews web site allows many authors contribute to bring a wide variety of stories each day. Your contributions can be anything you feel would be of interest in the library and information science field. Contributions can be news stories, editorials, poems, jokes, web site links, or just about anything else. As a home for your creative instincts, we hope to give voice to your own intellectual visions. All ideas are open for discussion on our web site. It will be your insight and creativity that helps further LISNews. All submissions will remain under complete control and copyright of the author. Thanks again for considering LISNews.com, You can reach me at: btcarver[at]lisnews.com, or http://www.lisnews.com We also have a Mailing List you can subscribe to at: http://www.lisnews.com/mailing_list.php3 ____________________________________________________________________________top 14. Andrew Carnegie, Union-Buster Dear all, Here are a couple of webpages that says something about libraries, & about one of the greatest of Library philanthropists. Andrew Carnegie During his 83 years, Carnegie give away over $350 million and helped build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world. Yet there is another aspect to the man, which many might not be so informed about. He was engaged upon union bashing. So - here are a couple of webpages that illustrate just what sort of person he really was. Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919 http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/carnegie/carnegie.html & The Homestead Strike of 1892 This was a very nasty strike at the Carnegie Steel Company http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/carnegie/strike.html So here's to historical accuracy ! There is also an article that covers aspects of the Homestead Strike in Freedom - Aug' 12th 2000, vol 61 No 16 Martyn Lowe ____________________________________________________________________________top 15. IFLA 2000 report Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 22:34:14 -0500 To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l[at]ala.org> From: Al Kagan <akagan[at]uiuc.edu> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:5134] IFLA Jerusalem Report to SRRT on the 66th IFLA General Conference, Jerusalem, 13-18 August 2000 Jerusalem was perhaps the most controversial IFLA venue in the history of the organization. The status of the city is one of the main contentions in the ongoing peace talks. The Palestinian and other Arab librarians boycotted the meeting and instead convened a conference of the Arab Union for Libraries and Information in Cairo. Although IFLA officials stated that they only learned of the boycott fifteen months before the meeting, the Palestinians claim contesting the venue four years ago, one year after the choice was announced. The IFLA Executive Board issued a statement last year stating that the conference "does not confer any particular recognition or status on that venue." This may be a fine theoretical statement, but it was ignored in practice. In fact, the Opening and Plenary Session presumably arranged by the Israeli Organizing Committee turned out to be an explicit showcase for promoting the politics of the State of Israel. A representative from the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) welcomed us to the "unified capital of the State of Israel." This was in Hebrew, so those without headphones for simultaneous translation missed it. The keynote speaker at the Opening Session is usually a government official who talks about libraries, education, or culture in the host country. This was the first time in my knowledge that the speaker was a political scientist who addressed an overtly political topic, the dramatically changed conditions that have led to the peace process. The talk was given by Shlomo Avineri, Director of the Institute for European Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a former Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The session was concluded with a choir singing Israeli peace songs. Although the Palestinians were effectively silenced at the official meeting, the Norwegian Library Association took the lead in bringing a Palestinian point-of-view to the attendees. A small international group met with Feisal Husseini, the informal mayor of East Jerusalem and the member of the PLO Executive Committee who is in charge of Jerusalem affairs. The group was presented with a statement from the National Conference of Palestinian Librarians which reaffirmed the boycott, noted that the Israeli Government had prevented a workshop for Palestinian librarians, and called for Unesco intervention to maintain the cultural identity of the city. This statement was finally published in the conference newsletter, the IFLA Express, on the last day of the meeting. IFLA President, Christine Deschamps, stated at the closing session that the IFLA Executive Board dissociated itself from political incidents during the conference, but claimed that these were beyond the control of the local organizing committee. This was the weakest response possible. Several other statements were made during the conference in at least two other meetings. I took the opportunity to address the question at both the panel and the business meeting of FAIFE, the Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression. I asked the following rhetorical questions concerning the Opening Session: Why were we welcomed to the "unified capital of the State of Israel?" Why was it focused on the peace process with only the Israeli point- of-view and no chance for discussion? Why were there Israeli peace songs but no Palestinian peace songs? And in a city with a large Palestinian population, why was there not one word of Arabic? At the FAIFE business meeting, I said that the situation was entirely predictable five years ago, and I asked that FAIFE have some input into future venue decisions. Although the Israeli Organizing Committee had to promise that all would be welcome in its bid to win the venue, it turns out that visas were denied to many third world librarians. It is notable that the Regional Section on Africa's funded speaker was denied a visa as were a number of other African librarians. Many also suffered long and difficult immigration and customs interrogations, both on arrival in Israel and before takeoff at El Al Airlines facilities at other airports. I observed what appeared to be a typical case of profiling on my arrival, the same kind of treatment that blacks often suffer here in the US. On the positive side, I am pleased to report a successful meeting of the IFLA Social Responsibilities Discussion Group. There were about 80 people who engaged in a lively discussion around recommendations to IFLA on addressing the growing gap between the information rich and the information poor, both between countries and within countries. About 30 people have volunteered to work on implementing the recommendations assuming endorsement by the IFLA Professional Board. The recommendations were forwarded to the Professional Board for action at their fall meeting in The Hague. It was also heartening to find a panel on "Libraries and the WTO." The speakers were Frode Bakken, the current President of the Norwegian Library Association and, Paul Whitney from the Burnaby Public Library in Canada. They explained the excellent IFLA policy on the WTO (which has been endorsed by ALA) and talked about what happened in Seattle. Unfortunately, as opposed to our SRRT panel in Chicago, the spirit of Seattle was not evident in the room. There was also a Guest Lecture on the WTO by Steven Shrybman, also from Canada. He characterized the WTO as the "most powerful organization that has ever existed." For example, he noted that the US has won a case against Canada treating periodicals as commodities, exactly the same way as beer. Local content in Canadian periodicals has no relevance under WTO rules. There were three notable agenda items at the FAIFE meeting, the recently issued report on the state of libraries in Kosovo, the draft World Report on the state of libraries in various countries and the controversy around the FAIFE report on Cuba. The Kosovo report has been issued as a monograph. It describes the war devastation and offers recommendations for revitalization. The first World Report will be issued next year and will be something like an Amnesty report on the state of libraries. Marta Terry, the President of the Cuban library association, ASCUBI, made an impassioned rebuttal to the FAIFE report condemning Cuban Government repression against the so-called "Independent Librarians." Her remarks will be available in English shortly. I was able to back-up her remarks by referring to the recent trip by US librarians who visited two of these "independent libraries." I noted that they were neither independent nor librarians, and that their small living room collections of books distributed by the US Interest Section in Havana did not function as libraries. On a personal note, I would like to thank Margot Brault who told me about the wonderful Jerusalem Hotel and their Alternative Tours. This small, decorative and warm Palestinian Hotel served as my home away from home in East Jerusalem, provided me with wonderful food in their garden restaurant, helped me attend the exquisite Jerusalem Festival for Arabic Music and Jazz, and provided me with political tours to Gaza and The West Bank. A tour of a refugee camp in Gaza was an experience I will not easily forget. I did learn more about the Medical Library in Gaza, and I hope we can follow-up on our proposed aid project. It was quite a trip. Al Kagan August 27, 2000 Al Kagan African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration Africana Unit, Room 328 University of Illinois Library 1408 W. Gregory Drive Urbana, IL 61801, USA tel. 217-333-6519 fax. 217-333-2214 e-mail. akagan[at]uiuc.edu .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. FYI. We have about 30 people ready to work in small working groups on implementing each of these recommendations. We must first wait for the approval of the IFLA Professional Board. This will be on their fall meeting agenda. Recommendations from the IFLA Social Responsibilities Discussion Group Revised August 15, 2000 The IFLA Social Responsibilities Discussion Group first met at the 1997 Copenhagen meeting under the auspices of the Section on Education and Training. The first priority has been to address the growing gap between the information rich and the information poor both between countries and within countries. All countries have information gap problems to a greater or lesser degree. Several discussion papers were developed on various subthemes, and they were presented and discussed at the 1998 Amsterdam meeting. A composite discussion paper with recommendations was presented and further discussed at the 1999 Bangkok meeting (Paper #126-72-E). The recommendations were further refined at the open session at the 2000 Jerusalem meeting. All of the discussion papers are available on the IFLANET (http://www.ifla.org/VII/dg/srdg/pubs.htm). The recommendations below are arranged in the order of the discussion papers, except Recommendations 12 and 13 which were advanced at the 1999 open forum. Rural Library Development 1. IFLA should develop a research program on rural library development in coordination with national library agencies. The focus should be on empowerment of local authorities to process information required by the community in comprehensible formats for diverse rural populations. Literacy in Libraries 2. IFLA should urge library and information schools to promote adult basic education skills as a component of their curriculums. 3. IFLA should promote literacy training as a basic library service as advocated in the Unesco Public Library Manifesto. Fees for Library Services 4. IFLA should take a strong position against fees for basic services broadly construed as advocated in the Unesco Public Library Manifesto. 5. IFLA should work with commercial information providers to establish a standard price structure for public libraries based on ability to pay. Human Resource Development 6. IFLA should encourage library and information science schools to adopt a socially responsible orientation, including the promotion of a strong service ethic towards all population groups. Electronic Information Gap 7. IFLA should promote the development of and assist in formatting local content for electronic resources. 8. IFLA should work with appropriate national and international bodies to promote policies and develop programs that equalize access to the Internet. North-South Library Cooperation 9. IFLA should promote greater resource sharing between the North and South, including Southern links to the information superhighway for equitable, adequate and reliable communications for all. 10. IFLA should research the education and training needs of Southern countries in conjunction with relevant agencies in order to facilitate the development of appropriate information infrastructures. 11. IFLA should urge appropriate government agencies to develop policies conducive to the development of information infrastructures for equitable, adequate and reliable communications for all. The Profession, Library Associations, and IFLA Structure 12. IFLA should monitor and report on how various library associations are addressing information gap issues. 13. IFLA should put the concerns of Third World librarianship at the center of its program and activities. Al Kagan African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration Africana Unit, Room 328 University of Illinois Library 1408 W. Gregory Drive Urbana, IL 61801, USA tel. 217-333-6519 fax. 217-333-2214 e-mail. akagan[at]uiuc.edu ____________________________________________________________________________top 16. Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last name ----- Original Message ----- From: "Declan McCullagh" <declan[at]well.com> To: <politech[at]politechbot.com> Cc: <omar[at]nyo.com>; <bwong[at]dfn.org>; <abrown[at]dfn.org> Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 1:13 PM Subject: FC: Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last name : [I've copied Omar in case he'd like to respond. --Declan] : : ********* : : Scunthorpe (historical note, courtesy of ocschwar[at]MIT.EDU): : http://www.xent.com/spring96/0552.html : : ********* : : http://www.dfn.org/Voices/Americas/usa/blackplanet.htm : DIGITAL FREEDOM NETWORK MEDIA RELEASE: For immediate release Contact: Bobson Wong (201-928-4378, bwong[at]dfn.org) or Alan Brown (201-928-4365, abrown[at]dfn.org) WEB SITE BANS WOMAN WITH "UNACCEPTABLE" NAME NEWARK, N.J., August 18, 2000 - In a new twist on Internet censorship, Los Angeles attorney Sherril Babcock was blocked from joining the BlackPlanet.com online service - at least until she changes her name. When Babcock registered for access to BlackPlanet.com, a New York-based Web site dealing with African-American topics, she was told that her last name was "unacceptable," presumably because it contained the word "cock," and she was not permitted to register. Suspecting the matter to be a simple matter of the site's overly ambitious censorware, she contacted BlackPlanet.com hoping to clear up the problem. She explained that "Babcock was my father's name as well, and I am very fond of him." Crystal Martin, BlackPlanet.com's Moderator for Member Services, responded. She apologized twice for the inconvenience, but said "unfortunately, the letters that form the word 'Cock' is [sic] unacceptable and will not be recognized by our system." Omar Wasow, BlackPlanet.com's executive director, intends to continue using the censorware. Though he described himself as a strong supporter of free speech, he defended his use of censorware as an attempt to not offend his site's membership, even though there would be casualties like Sherril Babcock. When asked if he would register Babcock manually, thereby bypassing the censorware, Wasow explained that if the censorware made bad decisions even only one percent of the time, it would have meant over 8,000 manual entries given the current population of his online community. Babcock would just have to change her registration name to please the censorware. End of matter. Babcock is still not a member, and cyber-rights groups are having a good laugh over this latest episode of censorware's shortcomings. "Censorware is a non-solution for a non-problem. It doesn't block what it intends to, most of which doesn't hurt anyone, and it blocks far too much of what it shouldn't. It's a failure and it's scary that some want public libraries to adopt this junk," said Alan Brown, Internet development director for the Digital Freedom Network. The episode reminded Babcock of America Online's ban of the word "breast" in its chat rooms. The ban was only overturned when members of a breast cancer survivor's group complained that the ban left them with very little to talk about. According to the cyber-rights organization Peacefire, Internet censorware is so flawed that various versions have blocked Web sites including Time Magazine, the National Organization for Women, the Vatican, the Heritage Foundation, and even sites about dogs. "Would St. Francis of Assisi or Emily Dickinson also have been banned from BlackPlanet.com?", asked Bobson Wong, executive director of the Digital Freedom Network. The Digital Freedom Network (DFN) promotes human rights around the world by developing new methods of activism with Internet technology and by providing an online voice to those attacked simply for expressing themselves. DFN creates Internet applications to fight censorship, acquires technology tools for other activists, launches Internet-based campaigns on behalf of human rights, and serves as a technical resource for activists worldwide. DFN's Web site is http://dfn.org. # # # Media release from: Digital Freedom Network 520 Broad Street Newark, NJ 07102-3111 U.S.A. Phone: +1 (201) 928-4378 Fax: +1 (201) 928-2984 E-mail: <mailto:info[at]dfn.org>info[at]dfn.org Web: <http://dfn.org>http://dfn.org .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. From: "Karen G. Schneider" <kgs[at]bluehighways.com> To: ALA Council List <alacoun[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: [ALACOUN:5032] Fw: Response from Blackplanet.com on banning "Babcock" last names Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 06:52:13 -0400 I thought Ken Haycock would particularly enjoy this update. -- Karen G. Schneider ----- Original Message ----- From: "Declan McCullagh" <declan[at]well.com> To: <politech[at]politechbot.com> Cc: <omar[at]nyo.com>; <bwong[at]dfn.org>; <abrown[at]dfn.org> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2000 10:02 PM Subject: FC: Response from Blackplanet.com on banning "Babcock" last names > [Well, it's not exactly a response, but a paraphrase of one. Close enough. > --Declan] > > ******** > > >Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 00:04:29 -0400 (EDT) > >From: Shana Skaletsky <skaletsk[at]ymail.yu.edu> > >To: Declan McCullagh <declan[at]well.com> > >Subject: Re: FC: Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last > > name > > > >This practice has become increasingly more common, unfortunately. When I > >created a profile at socialnet.com's networking professionals site, I was > >blocked from posting my educational background, since I wrote that I had > >graduated *cum* laude from NYU. > > > >Best, > >Shana Skaletsky > > ********* > > >Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 14:57:04 -0400 (EDT) > >From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <director[at]embassy.org> > >To: Declan McCullagh <declan[at]well.com> > >Subject: Re: FC: Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last name > > > > > > "Would St. Francis of Assisi or Emily Dickinson also have been banned > > > > from > > > > BlackPlanet.com?", asked Bobson Wong, executive director of the > > > > Digital > > > > Freedom Network. > > > >Sure, along with that celebrated offender, John Hancock. > > ********* > > >From: "Bass, Kenneth C., III" <kcbass[at]venable.com> > >To: declan[at]well.com <declan[at]well.com> > >Subject: RE: Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last name > >Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 13:46:42 -0400 > >X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) > > > >Ah! Fond memories! > > > >In 1995 when I first tried to register my wife's business domain > >(bassandco.com) the registrar balked. I finally got to talk to a live > >body over there who agreed that just because three objectionable letters > >appeared in sequence in the proposed name was no reason to refuse to > >register it! > > > >Ken > > ********* > > >From: "Bobson Wong" <bwong[at]dfn.org> > >To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan[at]well.com> > >Subject: Re: Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last name > >Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 13:31:53 -0400 > >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211 > > > >Declan, > > > >Omar Wasow responded to us with a very thoughtful and respectful e-mail. > >Basically, he distinguished between editorial decisions made by private > >entities and censorship by the government, and he says that the First > >Amendment addresses the latter and not the former. "The real threat to > >freedom of speech in this country and especially abroad is from hostile > >governments," he argued. > > > >Ironically, the filtering technology being used by China and other hostile > >governments to keep "objectionable" material out of the hands of their > >citizens is the same as that used by private corporations. > > > >FYI, I'm putting the finishing touches on a piece for Internet Freedom > >(netfreedom.org) about Babcock and the shortcomings of filtering technology. > >I imagine it'll go up soon, since it's due today! > [personal note snipped --dbm] > - Bobson > > >____________________ > >Bobson Wong > >Executive Director > >Digital Freedom Network > >520 Broad Street > >Newark, NJ 07102-3111 > >U.S.A. > >Phone: +1 (201) 928-4378 > >Fax: +1 (201) 928-2984 > >E-mail: bwong[at]dfn.org > >Web: http://dfn.org > > ********** .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. An interesting article on the subject: http://dfn.org/Voices/Americas/usa/follies.htm ____________________________________________________________________________top 17. Tom the Dancing Bug This is a great cartoon in Salon Magazine: http://www.salon.com/comics/boll/2000/08/24/boll/index.html First panel: "A book locating/lending phenomenon known as the "Dewey Decimal System" - enabling users to get access to copyrighted text material for free - has sent shockwaves through a panicked publishing industry." ____________________________________________________________________________top L I B R A R Y J U I C E | http://libr.org/Juice/ | | Library Juice is supported by a voluntary subscription | fee of $10 per year, variable based on ability and | desire to pay. You may send a check payable in US funds | to Rory Litwin, at PO Box 720511, San Jose, CA 95172 | | Original material and added value in Library Juice | is copyright-free; beyond that the publisher makes | no guarantees. Library Juice is a free weekly | publication edited and published by Rory Litwin. | Original senders are credited wherever possible; | opinions are theirs. If you are the author of some | email in Library Juice which you want removed from | the web, please write to me and I will remove it. | | Your comments and suggestions are welcome. | | Rory[at]libr.org This page was created by SimpleText2Html 1.0.3 on 29-Aug-100. ug-100.