Follow-up on what my local library is blocking

[TN al]

Last week I posted that DU was blocked by my public library but that a competing conservative site was not. To follow up on that I asked the library director why this was the case and she told me she had no hand in it. That she was required to have a filtering device since they took federal funds and that what was blocked and what was not was what the filter hit or let go. She told me that the filter was cyber sitter and that I should take it up with them. I asked that did i have to request an unblocking each time I used the computer and she told me that I would. Well today I came in and asked for an unblocking and the desk personnel told me that they were all unblocked. Curious. Another thing about the blocking of DU. The screen that came up did not say that the site was being blocked, it said that the site I wanted was down. If I had not pursued the issue I would have been left with the belief that DU was not working for everyone.

[robinlynne]

1. wow. cyber sitter, federal censorship. I bet it is supposedly blocking porn.

[PDJane]

2. Big Brother is watching.....

You're not supposed to notice obviously.

[MethuenProgressive]

3. Language. probably.

Filters spider around getting tastes of sites, and make calculations based on what they find.
No doubt I've typed "Fuck you, George W. Bush" enough times here on DU to have Cyber Sitter decide this was a naughty website that needs a good spanking... er, blocking. :argh:

[Buzz Clik]

4. Probably true. DU ranks real high on the god-awful language meter.

But, where other than DU could we get prose such as this?

my day has been filled with the fucktastic fuckulence of fuckolosical fuckitude
fuckity mcfuck fuck fuck.

shit.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6978436

Would you deny children the opportunity to learn how to curse with such style?

[China_cat]

12. No, Cybersitter is one of the worst for blocking

(non) religious and political sites. Including Amnesty International pages, Peacefire and more.

http://www.peacefire.org/censorware/CYBERsitter/

[LakeSamish706]

5. Following is an interesting URL regarding Cybersitter...

http://www.peacefire.org/archives/latimes.on.cybersitter.txt

[DrDan]

6. and where are you located?

[TN al]

14. Mt. Juliet, TN

[DrDan]

15. so we can probably assume that censorship in the library would be quite

well supported.

Sad. But considering frist and thompson, not that hard to believe.

[juno jones]

7. cyber sitter blocks a lot of things

sites about alternative religion, sexuality (GLTB), politics, etc. Most of the blocking sites are produced by companies with RW affiliations and many parents buy them thinking that their little darlings are being simply protected from porn. They are actually being 'saved' from alternitave viewpoints. With my kid, I take my chances. So far, all he surfs is websites like IMDB.

I hate censorship of any kind.

[NMMNG]

9. Perish the thought

that kids might learn about Buddhism, feminism or Democrats. Their little minds would be poisoned forever! :sarcasm:

[Whoa_Nelly]

8. This probably has to do with the current fascist shift in our nation today

Highly recommend reading of:

The End Of America: A Letter Of Warning To A Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf

Available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/End-America-Letter-Warning-Patriot/dp/1933392797/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5504117-8082340?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191947464&sr=8-1

Editorial Review
<snip>
Readers will appreciate her energy and urgency as she warns we are living through a dangerous "fascist shift” brought about by the Bush administration. Her chapters outline the “Ten Steps to Fascism” citing historical corollaries (as well as the pigs in Orwell’s Animal Farm), with headings like “Invoke an External and Internal Threat,” “Establish Secret Prisons,” and “Target Key Individuals.” In other words, fascism can exist without dictatorship. Her book’s publication through a small press in Vermont that is committed to “the politics and practice of sustainable living” rather than through a large trade house is itself a political act. Highly recommended for all collections.
—Theresa Kintz, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA



I bought my copy for a great price on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200149437886

Synopsis
In order to address what she sees as a dire political crisis, feminist scholar Naomi Wolf looks to the writings of the Founders, as she reads the Constitution in light of recent history. Wolf urges citizens to recognize that the administration of George W. Bush has subverted the basic, foundational principles of America, such as checks and balances and the rights of the individual over the state. She identifies 10 specific steps that, historically, have signaled a turn toward totalitarianism ("1. Invoke an external and internal threat"), and shows how they are present in these times. Wolf's radical return to roots makes good reading, and her stirring arguments, written in the spirit of the pamphleteers of the colonial times, are rhetorically robust.

[Iris]

10. I may be wrong, but they should be disabling the cypersitter when adults request it.

I think the cybersitter thing is required by the feds for kids, not adults, and the library is obligated to remove it for any adult who asks.

[Tesha]

11. Didn't I tell you?

> She told me that the filter was cyber sitter and that I
> should take it up with them.

Didn't I tell you? They bought a service, that service
makes its own choices, and is answerable pretty much
to no-one.

Tesha

[blondeatlast]

13. Regarding the unblocking--it's very simple (I used to review the sites

in my library as a professional).

You requested a review of the site, the library staff reviewed it, found it acceptable, and unblocked the site--not just at your library, but thousands of others as it was reported to the filter provider.

Just so everyone knows, public libraries are often denied state funds if they DON'T block sites children can access, but most states allow the library to review and judge for itself what is acceptable. those funds are crucial, so tell it to your legislators, please, gang.

[Horse with no Name]

16. This is the way it is at my work also. The filtering site they use is

St. Bernard. All progressive sites are blocked, but there isn't one conservative site that is blocked.

[blogslut]

17. Cybersitter is terrible

What's sad is that ICRA offers a most excellent filter free of charge: http://www.icra.org/icraplus/

[melm00se]

18. Surfcontrol

has DU categorized as a "political" site, as is freeperland, Smartfilter has both flagged similarly.

usually with these software packages, the admin can block whole categories (sex sites, web email sites, sports etc) or they can manually enter a specific URL....as 1 political site is blocked and another isn't and they are both similarly categorized, i would lean towards a manual filter put into place and that falls purely under the control of the network/security administrator.

Cybersitter is a key word based so yes, it could pick up "fuck" and throw a block.