No MySpace At the Library
The Tulsa City-County Library has no room for MySpace.
Library officials have banned MySpace.com from library computers, which suits some folks fine and angers others.
It seems that some adults were using the library computers to view MySpace profiles that contain pictures that are supposedly inappropriate for children to see while in the library and the parents of those children complained.
And while MySpace.com has been banned from Tulsa libraries, competitor Facebook.com is still available on library computers. Evidently librarians prefer Facebook.
I’d be the last person to claim that children should be allowed to view inappropriate materials on library computers. As a matter of fact Bubbaworld.com has long been banned from Tulsa library computers owing to the nature of some of the content published here and I have no complaint with that what-so-ever.
But really, are not children using library computers supposed to be supervised by someone?
Are not adults using library computers also supposed to be monitored to insure they do not use library computers to view inappropriate materials?
Simply banning one of the web sites most popular with teens and young adults from library computers just because some parents are too lazy to supervise their children and evidently library employees caught their laziness is not how this taxpayer wants to see his taxes squandered.
Censorship seldom if ever works as intended and the law of unintended consequences usually comes into play in the wake of censorship.
Like the next time a library bond issue comes before the voters of Tulsa…
Wow… you’re an idiot. Follow me… the CIPA basically states that children cannot have access to materials deemed harmful to children. It is not the library’s responsibility to watch what sites children are using. That responsibility falls on the parents. There is no library rule against people being bad parents and dumping their children on the library staff.
You claim that adults and children alike are supposed to be monitored while using the internet. Well, guess what? THEY WERE. Hence the addition of Myspace.com to their global ban list. Furthermore, if you can justify the readmission of myspace.com to the list of safe sites, then go to your local library, attempt to access myspace.com on their computers, and when the “block” page appears, click on the link for a citizen’s request to change it. Make sure you add that you’re okay with “Candy’s” solicitation to be your friend… oh, and by the way, just click her link to see all her nude pictures.
A child using the computers may not be looking at that stuff. A child using the computers might have his mother with him ensuring that he uses the internet responsibly. But, the 25 year old pervert right next to him doesn’t have his mommy there to ensure he behaves on the internet. And myspace.com presents opportunities for Child Internet Protection Act violations that the library can’t afford to deal with. You think adding myspace.com to a program that is ALREADY being used is a waste of taxpayer dollars? I guess you don’t think that fighting a court battle that could have been avoided is a waste.
If you have a problem with facebook, use the same “citizen’s request” form to ask that facebook be banned.
First it was COPA – stricken down as an unconstitutional limitation on the rights of adults.
Next it was CIPA – ruled constitutional *provided* “a librarian will unblock filtered material or disable the Internet software filter without significant delay upon an adult user’s request.”
The latest is DOPA – which should be called DOPEY as it seeks to block just about everything including all sites that permit users to create profiles, publish journals and communicate with each other on-line which in addition to the ‘social networking sites’ would also require blocking for example, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Amazon, Slashdot and every blog in existence.
In announcing the banning of MySpace, the Tulsa City-County library stated that the “decision was final” and there would be no exceptions. That act alone violates the provisions of CIPA which requires that sites be unblocked for use by any adult library patron that requests access. Therefore the action of the Tulsa library system is unconstitutional on its face.
Here, let me help you understand, and I’ll type slowly so that you might ‘get it’:
COPA – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Online_Protection_Act
CIPA – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Internet_Protection_Act (Be sure and check out the section titled, “CIPA found constitutional”.
DOPA – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deleting_Online_Predators_Act
And once you grasp all that, be sure and get back with me, okay?
Personally, I’m sick and tired of seeing a bunch of idiots such as yourself wanting to reduce taxpayer funded public access to the internet to the “lowest common denominator” and consisting of nothing more than disney.com and various other ‘kids sites’.
Maybe it’s time for a law prohibiting children from using library computers without parental supervision.
Nah, that would actually mean making parents responsible for their children’s welfare and we wouldn’t want that in our nanny state, now would we?
I guess you are the only one left in the world that did not know that MySpace is now only for child preditors and children who like child preditors. All normal people use Facebook, which is one reason that it is still allowed because only normal people are on it. The freak show that is MySpace is best left to the freaks homes.
Ryan, you really are an idiot, aren’t you?
Now, now…
Before you take me to task for calling you an idiot please take note of the fact that you called me a freak or was it a child predator?
Neither I nor my family members, friends and business associates that use MySpace from time to time are freaks, child predators or prey of child predators.
Of course we also use Facebook, so if we are all those nasty things you claim we are, then the library needs to ban Facebook also…