Crossposted from the CyberWire Dispatch, an Internet ezine put out by
journalist/free-speech activist Brock N. Meeks (brock@well.com)
Bear with the first few paragraphs, you'll get to the @nd Ammendment
stuff.
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For a range of companies producing so-called "blocking software"
designed to keep kids from accessing undesirable material in
cyberspace, the road to such a moral high ground turns out to be a
slippery slope. These programs, spawned in the wake of the hysteria
over how much porn Junior might find on the Net, have chosen the role
of online guardians. The resulting array of applications, including
names like SurfWatch, CyberPatrol, NetNanny and CyberSitter, acts as a
kind of digital moral compass for parents, educators, paranoid
Congressmen, and puritanical PTAs.
Install the programs and Junior can't access porn. No fuss, no muss, no
bother. "Parental empowerment" is the buzzword. Indeed, it was these
programs that helped sway the three-judge panel in Philly to knock down
the Communications Decency Act as unconstitutional.
But there's a darker side. A close look at the actual range of sites
blocked by these apps shows they go far beyond just restricting
"pornography." Indeed, some programs ban access to newsgroups
discussing gay and lesbian issues or topics such as feminism. Entire
*domains* are restricted, such as HotWired. Even a web site dedicated
to the safe use of fireworks is blocked.
**[SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS ON BLOCKED FEMINIST, ENVIRONMENTALIST, ETC GROUPS
   AND WEB PAGES DELETED] **
But CyberPatrol doesn't stop at EFF and MIT. It also goes after gun and
Second Amendment pages including http://www.shooters.com/,
http://www.taurususa.com/, http://206.31.73.39/, and
http://www-199.webnexus.com/nra-sv/, according to a recent "Cybernot"
list.
The last site is run by the National Rifle Association (NRA) Members'
Council of Silicon Valley, and bills itself as "the NRA's grass roots
political action and education group for the San Jose, Santa Clara,
Milpitas, and surrounding areas."
Peter Nesbitt, an air-traffic controller who volunteers as part of the
Silicon Valley NRA group, says "it's terrible" that CyberPatrol blocks
gun-rights web sites. "The people who are engaging in censoring gun
rights or gun advocates groups are the opposition who want to censor us
to further their anti-gun agenda."
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--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
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