FWD Artikel ueber ZENSUR im WWW

[Ute Winter <ZUB035 _at__ eo-nwfs-1.ku-eichstaett.de>]

Hallo,
mal wieder ein interessanter Artikel zur Zensur im Internet ...
dieses Thema duerfte sich fuer Bibliothekn vielleicht auch stellen.

Ich persoenlich bin GEGEN jede Zensur (weil wer sollte zensieren,
und wo sollte man anfangen). Aber ich finde es besteht
Diskussionsbedarf (man denke nur an rechtsextremistisches
Gedankengut, jugendgefaehrdendes schrifttum o.ae.)
Mit herzlichen Gruessen
Ute Winter
 
______________________________________________________________________
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 20:18:49 -0700
To: info _at__ outproud.org
From: chris _at__ kryzan.com (Christopher A. Kryzan)
Subject: Online Censorship Against Lesbigay WWW Pages
 
This email is intended to alert you to impending censorship on the World
Wide Web, against gay, lesbian, bisexual and sexually-related topics, in
the form of a product called SurfWatch.
 
BACKGROUND
 
SurfWatch is a product just introduced by SurfWatch Software, Inc., of Los
Altos, California.  They describe the product as:
 
"...a breakthrough software product that helps you deal with the flood of
sexually explicit material on the Internet.  By helping you to be
responsible for blocking what is being received at any individual computer,
children and others using your computer have less change of accidentally or
deliberately being exposed to unwanted material."
 
 
WHAT SURFWATCH BLOCKS
 
SurfWatch includes a database of newsgroups, ftp and gopher sites, and WWW
pages, that contain what the company views as objectionable contents.  The
company says its goal is "to block sexually explicit material, particularly
pictures and explicit text.  WIth that in mind we used a combination of
proprietary softwrae, together with input from educators and parents, to
determine what we would block."
 
The goal has some merits, in that it allows parents to prevent their
children from viewing sexually explicit material or conversations, and
provides capabilities similar to the parental controls on AOL, and the
censorship they may impose on their children's television viewing habits in
the home.
 
However, the list of censored sites is determined by one organization
(SurfWatch), and imposed on a national (or worldwide) basis, without regard
to local community standards.  And, seemingly, in a sweeping fashion that
classifies queer topics as "sexually explicit."
 
There is significant potential for queers to be silenced on the World Wide
Web, if queer-related sites are viewed as being sexually explicit by the
fact that they simply talk about homosexuality, or use the words gay,
lesbian or bisexual.  It looks as if that may indeed be the case, because
some sites which clearly do not contain sexually explicit materials, but
rather provide information, education, resources and calendars of events,
have been blocked by SurfWatch.
 
After testing approximately 30-40 queer-related sites, I found that it
blocks the following:
 
- International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs:
http://hawg.stanford.edu/~sgreen/IAGSDC/clubs.html
- Maine Gay Network:   http://www.qrd.org/QRD/www/usa/maine/gaynet.html
- QRD:   http://www.casti.com/QRD/.html/QRD-home-page.html
- Rainbow Room:   http://www.acs.appstate.edu/~hb6399/stale/rainbow/rainbow.html

- RRR (Radical Religious Right):   http://www.qrd.org/QRD/www/RRR/rrrpage.html
   (it appears anything housed at QRD is blocked)
- Safer Sex Page:   http://www.cmpharm.ucsf.edu/~troyer/safesex.html
- soc.bi:   http://sun1.bham.ac.uk/J.W.Harley/soc-bi.html
- Society for Human Sexuality:   http://weber.u.washington.edu:80/~sfpse/
- UC Berkeley LGB Association:   http://server.berkeley.edu/mblga/uclgba.html
- UC Berkeley Queer Web:   http://server.berkeley.edu/mblga/
 
 
WHAT SHOULD WE DO
 
I am mailing this to a very large list of lesbigay activists and
organizations online, many with capabilities to disseminate information on
a broad basis.  If you feel that there is a legitimate concern, that it is
possible or likely our visibility and existence will be trampled upon, then
I urge you to investigate this further, let SurfWatch know where you stand,
and let others know as you feel appropriate (please copy this message to
anyone and everyone you think may benefit, or assist).
 
Here are some thoughts on possible courses of action:
 
- Let SurfWatch know how you feel.  You can reach them at:
 
          SurfWatch Software Inc.
          105 Fremont Avenue, Suite F
          Los Altos, CA  94022
 
          phone: 415-948-9500
          fax: 415-948-9577
          email: info _at__ surfwatch.com
          WWW: http://www.surfwatch.com
 
- Forward this email on to others who can make an impact
 
- Cover this topic in your newsletter, newspaper, or other publication
 
- Provide an "email SurfWatch" capability with your own form letter on your
Web page, to make it easier for others to get their message to SurfWatch
 
 
CONCLUSION
 
The World Wide Web is going to rapidly become an integral part of our
everyday lives, and of our society.  We will conduct our business over it,
we will entertain ourselves through it, and we will educate ourselves using
the vast array of resources it will contain.
 
We must be vigilant in ensuring that some self-proclaimed Guardians of the
Internet do not impose their personal morals and values on the community at
large, in effect, conducting a worldwide book-burning in this electronic
library.  It may be very appropriate for a parent to prevent
sexually-explicit materials from entering their home, but we must not let
all topics of a gay, lesbian or bisexual nature get swept up in a frenzy of
censorship.
 
Chris Kryzan
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   Ute Winter                                            
   Kath. Univ. Eichstaett / Univ.Bibl./Katalog           
   e-mail: ute.winter _at__ ku-eichstaett.de                   
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