The library at Winona State University in Minnesota recently restricted public access to the Internet, dropping the number of open computers from 10 to 2. Larry Hardesty, interim director at the Darrell W. Krueger Library said incidents of individuals looking at inappropriate material, including possibly child pornography, led to the decision.
Mr. Hardesty is examining policies at other schools for ideas. "We want to make sure that people have access," he said,"but we also want to be mindful that our users are safe." He continued: "We have elementary-aged students playing games on them. We have to be mindful of that, and we are very concerned." Mr. Hardesty is considering deploying filters.
Winona Police Sgt. Chris Nelson suggested that the library install cameras to monitor who is using the computers and for how long. He also suggested filtering and tracking programs.
It is unfortunate that the nature of the Internet and the actions of a few can so drastically effect the experience of everyone else. The Internet is an amazing tool that, ideally, should be accessible to everyone. But its open nature and the presence of dangerous, violent, and pornographic content require that protections be in place - just as we would ensure protection from such material in other parts of society.
It is equally lamentable that the only options for universities and libraries are to restrict access, deploy often useless filtering, or use other expensive and time consuming monitoring methods. It seems that the nature of the Internet should change to better serve everyone's needs rather than requiring everyone to adopt the Internet's needs.
The CP80 Foundation is pleased to offer free training to individuals who wish to learn more about the Internet, pornography, current laws and the CP80 Internet Channel Initiative.
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