ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 9, Number 78 October 2, 2000 In this issue: Filtering Update Last Friday afternoon, meetings were held between Hill and White House staff on policy issues related to the Labor, HHS, Education apparitions bill (H.R. 4577). However, discussions did not reach the level of final resolution on all the many policy issues involved. It is unclear how much mandatory filtering played into the discussion. In the last week several Members of Congress and congressional staff have said that they were not aware of the extent of the filtering measures included in the conference draft of H.R. 4577. Many have even indicated that they were provided misinformation that characterized these provisions as a "compromise." They have not been aware that these provisions, unlike many other policy issues, will take money from their states or districts. ACTION NEEDED: Please check with your Senators and Representatives to see if they are aware that there are provisions included in the Labor, HHS, Education appropriations bill that would: 1) Withhold LSTA funds for the purchase of computers or to pay costs associated with Internet access from all libraries that do not install on all computers technology to block or filter access to material that is obscene, child pornography and material that is harmful to minors and ensure that the technology is in use when a minor uses a computer; 2) Withhold E-rate discounts from those schools and libraries that do not install technology to block or filter Internet access to material that is obscene, child pornography and material that is harmful to minors and ensure its use at all times -- for adults to block obscenity and child pornography -- for children to block all above categories; 3) Withhold E-rate discounts from schools that do not monitor online activities of minors by either supervisory or technological means; 4) Withhold E-rate discounts from libraries that do not hold at least one public hearing or meeting to address the proposed Internet Use Policy that ensures the use of blocking or filtering software; instead of offering a community based Internet Use Policy as an alternative to federally mandated filtering, Internet Use Policies would also become a requirement for receiving E-rate discounts; 5) Withhold ESEA Title III (focused on technology) funds for the purchase of computers or to pay costs associated with Internet access from all schools that do not install on all computers and ensure the use of technology to block or filter access to material that is obscene, child pornography and material that is harmful to minors. The filtering provisions included in H.R. 4577 are extremely complex and require different standards of mandatory filtering depending on what type of federal assistance is received and what type of institution receives that assistance. For a detailed explanation of the new requirements that filtering provisions in H.R. 4577 would impose, see the Washington Office Web site at: Please, reiterate for your legislators that these provisions are not what the library and education communities consider to be a compromise, as there has been no attempt made to address concerns that: * Federal filtering mandates are unfunded mandates. They will require libraries and schools to take on the onerous burden of paying to install and maintain filters or be stripped of key federal funding. * Federal mandates trample on the decision making responsibilities and capabilities of local librarians, library trustees, parents, teachers, and school boards. Mandates do not communities to articulate their own values because they force community decisions to be turned over to corporate entities. * Federal filtering mandates are a one-size-fits-all, overly broad solution to a complex and local problem. Around 95% of public libraries already have in place a formal policy to regulate use of the Internet. * Federal mandates will worsen the digital divide in those libraries and schools that most need E-rate discounts and other funding. Low-income, poverty-stricken libraries and schools will not have the resources to implement filtering and comply with certification requirements needed to qualify for the very funds intended to help bring them up to the standards of the 21st century. The last few weeks of this Congress are likely to be unpredictable and frenzied. Please keep a careful watch on ALAWON so you can continue to be a strong library advocate in the federal arena. Created by Claudette W. Tennant on 10/02/2000 10:33 AM Version 2 saved by AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION at 10/02/2000 10:33 AM ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Mary Costabile, Peter Kaplan, Miriam Nisbet and Claudette Tennant. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell and Saundra Shirley. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.