More on American Library Association "Censorware Invitation"

In response to the ALA's "censorware invitation", regarding meeting with censorware companies in the aftermath of CIPA (Federal library censorware law) Keith Michael Fiels, Executive Director of the American Library Association has written a message on "Responding to the CIPA decision". It states in part:

While we know many libraries will choose not to receive federal funds, we also must accept that many libraries, particularly those serving poorer and urban communities will be forced to accept federal funds and be faced with a significant challenge of complying with the CIPA requirements. Our job must be to help them in every way to insure that patron First Amendment rights are protected to the maximum extent possible under the law.

As a result, we do see the planned meeting with filtering companies as important within our overall strategy, but only as part of a much broader plan. ALA has expressed no intention of 'developing a filter', as the press has incorrectly indicated. Nor do we expect that ALA will certify or otherwise endorse any specific products. The primary purpose of this meeting and subsequent discussions will be to emphasize to the filtering companies that the Supreme Court decision requires that filters be easily disabled upon the request of any adult user. We also need to be extremely aggressive in pushing for better disclosure and a reduction in the number of inappropriately blocked sites, as children have no access to the disabling provisions in the law.

Good theory. I'm not sure how well it will work in practice

Seth Finkelstein's Infothought blog (Wikipedia, Google, censorware, and an inside view of net-politics) - Syndicate site (subscribe, RSS)