San Jose Once Again Considers Software Filters at PLs
Jennifer Pinkowski -- Library Journal, 11/1/2007
Ten years after it rejected the use of Internet filters on public library computer terminals, the San Jose, CA, City Council is again debating whether to install Internet filtering software to prevent users of the San Jose Public Library (SJPL) from accessing pornographic material. With the support of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, councilman Pete Constant proposed on October 23 that the city put filtering software on the hundreds of public computer terminals in the library system’s 18 locations.The proposal came at the urging of the Values Advocacy Council, a Silicon Valley Christian group whose president, Larry Pegram, is, like Constant, a former police officer and city council member. Constant asserted that the city could recoup the $30,000-50,000 it would cost to install the filters because it would then comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000, which requires software filters in exchange for telecomm discounts. The library currently opts out of the program.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that the library has received few complaints about online pornography . On October 23, director Jane Light met with the City Council Rules Committee to discuss filters, which in 1997 she argued are on the “slippery slope to censorship” and can block valid research materials. “It was determined that a quick decision would be ill-advised,” library spokesperson Lorraine Oback told Library Journal. “[Light] goes back to the Committee on November 14 to propose a framework and timetable for further study, which will include opportunities for public input. The Rules Committee will determine then if and how they want to proceed."
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