Congress Considering Ban on MySpace and Facebook in Libraries

[ecstatic]

Poor libraries -- they just want to fill our kids' heads with porn and violence. Is that so wrong?

First, libraries were forced to start filtering out obscene content in 2000. Then came the Patriot Act, which granted the government the right to examine the books you checked out and the sites you visited on a library's public computers. Now, lawmakers are trying to ban children from accessing MySpace and Facebook on library PCs in order to keep the kids safe from sexual predators.

The heavy-handed legislation -- a bill introduced by Representative Mark Steven Kirk of Illinois -- is, of course, being fought by the American Library Association. The library wants to protect people's privacy saying that it is essential if a community is to utilize the library for intellectual pursuits.

http://www.switched.com/2008/07/28/congress-considering-ban-on-myspace-and-facebook-in-libraries/

[Love Bug]

1. Doesn't Congress have anything better to do?

[Mr. Blonde]

2. Shouldn't that say pornography instead of obscene

since obscene content is illegal and all anyway?

And seriously, this should be handled by individual libraries and not Congress?

[Teaser]

3. There has never been a "blocked site"

that I haven't found a way to view within a minute and a half.

[NightWatcher]

4. the libraries are full of people using the internet today (not so many books anymore)

My old local library used to have two levels of books and reading rooms. Now the books are confined to the first floor while the second floor is just 50 computer work stations. I lost my home internet a few weeks before I moved and I went to the library for their free wifi. I saw dozens of men, women, and children from all walks of life. Many were using the compters to look for jobs, check emails, and some just play.

Myspace isnt obscene, nor illegal, and should be allowed.

"Intellectual pursuits"??? most people use the library for free dvd's, newspapers, or now the internet access. You can HOPE that people would use it for intellectual pursuits, but you shouldnt be able to legislate it. After all it is the PUBLIC library.

[Lex]

5. "Having solved all other problems concerning Americans . . . "

:rofl: