_________________________________________________________________ ALAWON Volume 7, Number 126 ISSN 1069-7799 October 13, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (76 lines) URGENT ACTION ALERT: ISTOOK AMENDMENT, ONCE DROPPED, IS ON AGAIN IN FINAL OMNIBUS CONGRESSIONAL NEGOTIATIONS; CONGRESSIONAL CONTACTS NEEDED _________________________________________________________________ URGENT ACTION ALERT: ISTOOK AMENDMENT, ONCE DROPPED, IS ON AGAIN IN FINAL OMNIBUS CONGRESSIONAL NEGOTIATIONS; CONGRESSIONAL CONTACTS NEEDED ACTION NEEDED: Immediate calls are needed to congressional offices (U.S. Capitol switchboard phone number: 202-224-3121). Request that your Representative and Senators contact the omnibus bill negotiators to urge that the Istook amendment imposing filtering requirements on libraries and schools be dropped. Use the reasons that mean most in your library situation or that you feel would be persuasive. Timing is urgent. Negotiators are already behind schedule and could finish today or within the next 24 to 48 hours. Thanks for your help! BACKGROUND: The Istook amendment, requiring public schools and libraries as a condition of receiving federal funds from any federal agency for the acquisition or operation of computers to install software to protect children from obscenity, may be added to the final omnibus funding bill now being negotiated by House and Senate leaders. An earlier decision by House-Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriators would have dropped the amendment, but it is clearly "live" again today. Not only is this amendment very broadly based in the range of federal assistance it would cover (it could include the E-Rate as well as any federal grants), it would impose a heavy administrative and cost burden on libraries and schools. A library receiving such funds must: (1) install software "adequately designed to prevent minors from obtaining access to any obscene information using that computer," and (2) "ensure that the software is operational whenever that computer is used by minors, except that such software's operation may be temporarily interrupted to permit a minor to have access to information that is not obscene or otherwise unprotected by the Constitution under the direct supervision of an adult designated by such school or library." Determination as to whether such software is "adequately designed" for this purpose would be made by a state official designated by the chief executive officer of the state (adding potentially difficult roles for state library and education agencies). _________________________________________________________________ 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 All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. _________________________________________________________________