News

Sno-Isle changes porn policy

Viewing Internet porn at the local library will get harder in the new year, at least for those under 18.

The Sno-Isle Regional Library System will take steps in 2004 to come into full compliance with the federal Childrens Internet Protection Act. The broad-reaching act requires all computers in libraries nationwide to provide filtered Internet access only.

Sno-Isle, including the libraries in Island County, currently provides filtered access on all computers in childrens areas, while adults have the option of filtered or unfiltered access. They can also give their children under age 18 permission to access unfiltered sites.

Sno-Isle board member Dani Fowler, of Oak Harbor, thinks it was the right move.

I think the general public will be satisfied, she said.

The library board approved compliance unanimously at the December board meeting.

Although compliance is not mandatory, libraries that choose not to follow the act will not receive federal e-rate discounts for Internet service.

Fowler said she didnt know if the board would have voted to change the library systems Internet access rules if not for the financial incentive.

It seemed to be working well with parents deciding what their children viewed, she said.

One question that remains to be worked out is just how stringent the blocking software will be. It remains to be seen whether legitimate Internet searches, such as for breast cancer information, will be blocked.

Fowler said the filter is meant to block graphics, such as those that are too graphic, and not text.

The biggest issue is, what are the key words, she said.

The library system expects to have the filters in place by the July deadline.

You can reach News-Times reporter Marcie Miller at mmiller@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611

We encourage an open exchange of ideas on this story's topic, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. Personal attacks, inappropriate language, and off-topic comments may be removed, and comment privileges revoked, per our Terms of Use. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Read the latest Green Edition

Browse the print edition page by page, including stories and ads.

Aug 20 edition online now. Browse the archives.
http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/22112724.html
www.whidbeynewstimes.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2014-35
61505
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:TQ5ERJIIOON7WG5T6V5OFZ5W2EGAIE3D
<urn:uuid:a9d07a26-a91d-4b45-ab7b-837020d66cd3>
2014-08-21T02:30:02Z
68.142.108.128
sha1:JDPOD4RC6TYST4XYQ2PNHFN6TI4CXEKL
<urn:uuid:23727b79-3b3c-4399-9ef3-a5b73efa9627>
http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/22112724.html
length
response
<urn:uuid:828a23ff-9303-48d3-bf2c-d7d09b3d9d9f>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2014-35
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for August 2014
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf