To Ban Or Not To Ban
Is the US shooting itself in the web 2.0 foot/face.
(US) Senator Ted Stevens is the guy who described the internet as a series of tubes in defense of creating a two-tier system in the US (enter the net neutrality debate). He was also one of the main politicians behind the Deleting Online Predator Act (DOPA) which attempted to curb access to any websites which you could interact with through public institutions (schools, colleges, libraries etc.).
Well DOPA didn’t get far but already it has been replaced by a new Act called Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act which again, Ted Stephens is spearheading.
Briefly, the new act focuses on three areas: Protecting Children (which focuses on banning child porn and if there is adult content the providers have to be certified in some way like films), Deleting Online Predators (exactly the same as original DOPA) and Children’s Listbroker Privacy (no-one can sell/purchase information about a child).
But hold on, a national survey of teachers in the US are claiming to use the web more and more as a resource. And with more and more news sites adopting commenting and trackback options plus highlighting links to blogs which reference the article, surely this will fall under the categories listing in the new Act and therefore be banned for use in public institutions ie. the schools. Mmmmm—
