[KLUG Members] E Rate funding

[Jamie McCarthy]

rkvincent@hotmail.com (Richard Vincent) writes:

> Does anyone out there know of the policy for Internet filtering
> as it relates to E-Rate funding.
> 
> Specifically is Internet filtering explicitly required by
> schools?

Heh, here's what I posted to the list on Oct. 2.  This is a bit
off-topic, so probably email replies to me directly.  The ala.org
links should get you started...



GettigAM@kalamazoo.k12.mi.us (Tony Gettig) writes:

> For those of us in the public schools, I believe content
> filtering is mandated by law.

Not yet.  The law's actually pretty complicated and you were
supposed to have "undertaken action" by last July 1, which
apparently could have been just attending a seminar, not installing
the actual "technology prevention measures."  But CIPA's
constitutionality is being challenged by the ALA and ACLU and
so you actually have until next spring.  At least that's the
situation for school _libraries_... not sure about the rest of
the computers in a school.

http://www.ala.org/cipa/
http://www.ala.org/cipa/litigation.html

"...the deadline for a fund recipient to decide whether to
install filters has been delayed until next spring [2002] for
both public libraries and schools after extensive negotiations
between counsel for ALA and counsel for the government."

> The archive of the k12 Linux list has a few references to block
> lists for use with squid:
> http://email.riverdale.k12.or.us/mailarchives/k12linux/
> I haven't been able to try any of them though.

If you do, email me and let me know what you find.

> That is a really cool idea though, Bruce. I'll bet it works
> pretty good, too. :)
> 
> For some reason, where I work, they insist on spending a LOT of
> money on Cyber Patrol. Don't get me wrong, it works.

Does it?  Cyber Patrol has for the last several years blocked the
newsgroup soc.feminism as "Sex Acts"... and this was actually our
first report, we keep meaning to go back to the product but in
informal tests we've done it hasn't gotten any better...

http://censorware.net/reports/cyberpatrol/ada-yoyo.html

(Sorry, a bit offtopic I know :)
--
 Jamie McCarthy
 jamie@mccarthy.vg