Of course I wouldn't want to close libraries, but that's exactly what could happen if they don't adhere to CIPA, because they lose funding if they are found to be noncompliant. You wouldn't want a library to lose funding because some community volunteers set up a K12LTSP system w/o filtering, I assume? But think how many libraries could benefit from K12LTSP since they're so poorly funded as it is. But filtering has to be turned on or you're putting the school or library at risk.
Speaking of filtering and Edith Piaf, since I speak French I knew that what she was saying on screen was much more vulgar than the English translations at the bottom of the screen. I've found this to be the case with all French films, so if you really want to get the full impact of Edith Piaf, I recommend the book "Merde: The real French they never taught you in school" before you go to the movie.
I'm not really a fuddy duddy as much as it may sound, it's just that there are legal issues here and we as proponents of Open Source have to adhere to those when we're working with schools and libraries.
Best, Daniel Douglas S. Blank wrote:
On Sat, July 21, 2007 10:53 am, Daniel Howard said: [snip, included below]Too bad about YouTube, there's lots of great old video clips of historic value there, but if you can't block the bad stuff via filtering, better to block the whole site.I just want to point out that many would disagree with this statement generally, and specifically to YouTube. My kids (ages 8 and 12) have probably learned more about science from YouTube than all of their official schooling. YouTube is a library of video covering a large range of activities (and explicitly does not have hard-core porn.) However, regardless of how any of us feel about this point, we should all be sensitive to jumping to a "technological solution" (ie, filtering) before considering the alternatives. Discussions with the students regarding appropriate use should *at least* be considered before deciding. Surely any library has a larger range of materials than YouTube. But hopefully you would not recommend closing the library?! I'm not sure who you advise with your recommendations, but I hope they see the bigger picture.
-- Daniel Howard President and CEO Georgia Open Source Education Foundation