[1457] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: So what is the answer?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Carl M. Kadie)
Wed Oct 9 10:54:50 1991
From: kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie)
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1991 14:54:20 GMT
Apparently-To: eff-mail-com-priv@eff.org
brian@ray.lloyd.com (Brian Lloyd) writes:
[...]
>OK, let's cut to the chase. I am in a similar situation here (schools
>interested in Internet connectivity). I plan to present the pros and
>cons of netnews and to point out the newsgroups that present potential
>problems. I suspect that I will probably turn off alt.* for the
>gradeschools and require parental permission to allow access to alt.*
>for the high-school kids. Who knows, we will play it by ear. Perhaps
>we will even have a rational discussion about it.
[...]
The American Library Association suggests that the default be access
to selected material, but that parents be allowed to restrict access.
The policy is explained in the enclosed ALA Interpretation. All the
interpretations and statements mentioned are available on-line via
anonymous ftp from directory ftp.eff.org:pub/academic/library. The
material is also available via email. For information on email
access, send email to archive-server@eff.org. Include the lines
"help" and "index".
-----
ACCESS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE TO VIDEOTAPES
AND OTHER NONPRINT FORMATS
An Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS
Library collections of videotapes, motion pictures, and other nonprint formats
raise a number of intellectual freedom issues, especially regarding minors.
The interests of young people, like those of adults, are not limited by
subject, theme, or level of sophistication. Librarians have a responsibility
to ensure young people have access to materials and services that reflect
diversity sufficient to meet their needs.
To guide librarians and others in resolving these issues, the American Library
Association provides the following guidelines.
Article V of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS says, "A person's right to use a
library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background,
or views."
ALA's FREE ACCESS TO LIBRARIES FOR MINORS: An Interpretation of the LIBRARY
BILL OF RIGHTS states:
The "right to use a library" includes free access to, and unrestricted
use of, all the services, materials, and facilities the library has to
offer. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library resources,
based solely on the chronological age, educational level, or legal
emancipation of users violates Article V.
. . .[P]arents - and only parents - have the right and the
responsibility to restrict the access of their children - and only their
children - to library resources. Parents or legal guardians who do not
want their children to have access to certain library services,
materials or facilities, should so advise their children. Librarians
and governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions
of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and
child. Librarians and governing bodies have a public and professional
obligation to provide equal access to all library resources for all
library users.
Policies which set minimum age limits for access to videotapes and/or other
audiovisual materials and equipment, with or without parental permission,
abridge library use for minors. Further, age limits based on the cost of the
materials are unacceptable. Unless directly and specifically prohibited by
law from circulating certain motion pictures and video productions to minors,
librarians should apply the same standards to circulation of these materials
as are applied to books and other materials.
Recognizing that libraries cannot act in loco parentis, ALA acknowledges and
supports the exercise by parents of their responsibility to guide their won
children's reading and viewing. Published reviews of films and videotapes
and/or reference works which provide information about the content, subject
matter, and recommended audiences can be made available in conjunction with
nonprint collections to assist parents in guiding their children without
implicating the library in censorship. This material may include information
provided by video producers and distributors, promotional material on
videotape packaging, and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings
if they are included on the tape or in the packaging by the original publisher
and/or if they appear in review sources or reference works included in the
library's collection. Marking out or removing ratings information from
videotape packages constitutes expurgation or censorship.
MPAA and other rating services are private advisory codes and have no legal
standing*. For the library to add such ratings to the materials if they are
not already there, to post a list of such ratings with a collection, or to
attempt to enforce such ratings through circulation policies or other
procedures constitutes labeling, "an attempt to prejudice attitudes" about the
material, and is unacceptable. The application of locally generated ratings
schemes intended to provide content warnings to library users is also
inconsistent with the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS.
*For information on case law, please contact the ALA Office for Intellectual
Freedom.
See also: STATEMENT ON LABELING and EXPURGATION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS,
Interpretations of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS.
Adopted June 28, 1989, by the ALA Council; the quotation from FREE ACCESS TO
LIBRARIES FOR MINORS was changed after Council adopted the July 3, 1991,
revision of that Interpretation.
[Made available by permission of the American Library Association.]
--
Carl Kadie -- kadie@eff.org or kadie@cs.uiuc.edu
I do not represent EFF; this is just me.
