Your mom's a DOPA.

You know, if people would just stop being stupid then I could finish my dissertation in peace instead of having to be a force for social change all the time.

The latest is that the House of Representatives have passed this Deleting Online Predators Act, which, from the title, sounds like a good thing. I hate online predators, I'm all for deleting them. But what the bill actually does is require schools and public libraries to block pretty much any kind of site that allows "social networking" or interaction features. This would include:

• Blogs, including mine
• Instant-messaging
• MySpace and sites like unto it
• Gmail (because of the chat feature)
• Wikipedia and other wikis
• Online forums

What the crap is that? Those are pretty much the best things on the Internet!

Also, whoever heard of online predators hanging out at Wikipedia? Plus, lots of libraries have tried to make their websites better and more community-building by introducing interactive features--librarians can post library events or featured books and people can comment about them afterwards. Some have created discussions forums where people can discuss books and movies, etc. These updated websites could fall under this legislation as well, which would make all that time and money a waste.

Here's the main thing: Lots of people can only access the Internet at school or the libray. This includes people who come from very poor and disadvantaged communities. If they're going to learn how to use the Internet, that's where it's going to be. If this law passes, they won't even have access to those things, much less learn how to use them effectively and safely--they'll be put at an even greater technological and educational disadvantage.

Do you really want me to become a librarian and have to say to some kid (or adult), "I'm sorry, you're poor. Only the people with Internet at home get to be bloggers. Or use Wikipedia for research. Or open a Gmail account. In fact, you shouldn't even really know those words."

You can read a better, longer explanation at the ALA's page here. This still has to get through the Senate, but it went through the House practically uncontested. If you are bothered by the fact that people won't be able to read my blog at their public library (a travesty if there ever was one) then you know what to do.

Posted in: effecting social change,England,library gossip