_________________________________________________________________ ALAWON Volume 7, Number 105 ISSN 1069-7799 September 14, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (91 lines) ALA ARGUES AGAINST FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS ON INTERNET FILTERING BEFORE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS _________________________________________________________________ ALA ARGUES AGAINST FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS ON INTERNET FILTERING BEFORE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS On Friday, September 11, Agnes M. Griffen, a member of the ALA Committee on Legislation, testified on behalf of ALA before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications. The hearing, chaired by Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH), focused on "Legislative Proposals to Protect Children from Inappropriate Materials on the Internet." Griffen spoke as a working librarian on the practical as well as philosophical issues that many librarians have with the use of blocking and filtering software. ALA's testimony emphasized that the decision whether to employ blocking and filtering software should be made by the local communities through library boards and schools boards, not the federal government. Two of the bills under discussion at the hearing were H.R. 3177, the Safe Schools Internet Act of 1998, and the "Istook" amendment, currently attached to H.R. 4273, the Labor/HHS appropriations bill. H.R. 3177, sponsored by Rep. Bob Franks (R-NJ), would require all schools and libraries receiving e-rate discounts on telecommunications to install filtering or blocking software. Sen. McCain (R-AZ) has sponsored a similar provision now included in S. 2260, Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations. Franks testified in favor of his bill at the hearing. Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) testified in favor of his amendment which would require filtering software for any library or school receiving federal funds to purchase computers. Others testifying at the hearing included Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) and Stephen R. Wiley, Chief of the FBI's Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section, which investigates online crimes against children. Griffen, director at the Tucson-Pima Public Library in Arizona, testified on the third and final witness panel which included: Jerry Berman, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, Mr. Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Harvard University, and Peter Nickerson, CEO of N2H2, a producer of server-based filtering software. Also asked to testify by the House subcommittee was Jeffrey Douglas, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for providers of online adult entertainment. Other witnesses on the panel described adult-verification systems and types of filtering software. A psychiatrist also testified about the detrimental affects of pornography and the risks of becoming a "porn addict." The invitation to testify came only late on Wednesday, September 9. Working in conjunction with the ALA Washington Office and the Office for Intellectual Freedom, Griffen and ALA staff were able to prepare testimony as well as clear schedules and make arrangements for Griffen to get to Washington on such short notice. Based upon this hearing, there may be an attempt to draft an "amalgam" bill on filtering for consideration by the House before this session of Congress ends in early October. There is little time for such an effort. ALAWON will bring you more information if and when it becomes available. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/ subscribe.html or send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson Lynne E. Bradley Claudette W. Tennant All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. _________________________________________________________________