_________________________________________________________________ ALAWON Volume 7, Number 140 ISSN 1069-7799 November 12, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (109 lines) NCLIS EXAMINES CHILD SAFETY ON THE INTERNET _________________________________________________________________ NCLIS EXAMINES CHILD SAFETY ON THE INTERNET The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) held an open hearing on "Kids and the Internet: The Promise and the Perils" on November 10, 1998, in Washington, DC. Jeanne Hurley Simon, NCLIS chairperson and moderator for the hearing, framed the hearing as an attempt to gather information that would guide the Commission in the creation of practical guidelines for librarians for the development of the Internet and the well being of children. Simon said the Commission "recognizes the value of the net and the dark side of the net." Those testifying before the Commission included Andrew Vachss, novelist and child advocate attorney; Larry Maxwell, inspector in charge, U.S. Postal Service, Postal Inspection; Kevin Higgins, chief deputy attorney general, Reno Office of the Attorney General, State of Nevada; Toby Levin, Federal Trade Commission; Deirdre Mulligan, staff Counsel, Center for Democracy and Technology; Bruce Watson, president-elect, Enough is Enough; Jan LaRue, director, Legal Policy, Family Research Council; David Burt, president, Filtering Facts; Ray Ewick, president, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies; Ann Symons, president, American Library Association; Eleanor J. Rodger, president, Urban Libraries Council; Lawrence Ottinger, senior staff attorney, People for the American Way Foundation; Gene Crick, president, Electronic Frontiers-Texas; Heidi Borton, librarian; Karen Jo Gounaud, president, Family Friendly Libraries; and Donna Rice Hughes, Enough is Enough. Commissioners present and participating in panels to question witnesses were, in addition to chair Jeanne Simon, vice chair Martha Gould, C. E. "Abe" Abramson, Walter Anderson, Rebecca Bingham, Joan Challinor, Jose-Marie Griffiths, Frank Lucchino, and NCLIS executive director Robert Willard. As the first to testify and the only person on his panel, Andrew Vachss, an attorney specializing in child advocacy, set the tone for the hearing by vividly describing predatory pedophiles and sharing some of the materials he has found on the Internet defending their behavior. He labeled librarians' concerns about censorship as "the new McCarthyism." Vachss proposed eliminating interactivity from Internet service offered to children saying, ".the greatest danger of the Internet to vulnerable children . is the very real potential for enticement." His testimony was warmly received by many of the Commissioners who used his premises and proposals as the basis for much of their questioning for the rest of the day. ALA President Ann Symons testified in the afternoon. She emphasized the need to promote access, quality, education and local control in order to help children have safe, educational and entertaining experiences online. She said: "The opportunity to work as partners with parents by teaching them to guide their children in using the Internet is one of the most exciting opportunities that librarians have today." While other perils for children using the Internet were brought up, such as invasion of privacy and lack of access, exposure to inappropriate materials, people or pornography dominated the discussion. Many of the witnesses advocated local control and site based decisions, but also supported restricting children's access to a variety of materials and services available through the Internet. The ALA position on filters (which states "that the use of filtering software abridges the "Library Bill of Rights"") was criticized by several witnesses and Commissioners. The public was given through December 10 to add to the record any information or viewpoint that might help the Commission in its endeavor to recommend practical guidelines for librarians and policy for the Administration and Congress. NCLIS executive director Robert Willard announced that the Commission expected to adopt a formal recommendation at its April 1999 meeting. Comments may be sent to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, 1110 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005-3522; fax: 202-606-9203; or e-mail: _________________________________________________________________ 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. 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