--- TIC-TECH message:
For those of you interested in this subject, consider the following
post an update. Feel free to act on the request as well. --KS
Kurt Sahl
Doctoral candidate
College of Education
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2000 14:40:47 -0500
From: Gary Ruskin <gary@essential.org>
To: commercial-alert@venice.essential.org
Subject: Child Advocates Want Ad-Free Internet Filters For Schools
Commercial Alert November 3, 2000
A coalition of child advocates and academics sent letters today to
President Clinton, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and other key Members of
Congress asking that federally mandated Internet filters in schools and
libraries be prohibited from carrying advertising. The letter states
that "An effort to protect kids from pornography should not be the
occasion to open them up to commercial predators."
The letters were sent to President Clinton; Senators John McCain, Rick
Santorum (R-PA) and Richard Shelby (R-AL); and Representative Ernest
Istook (R-OK). The letter to Senator McCain follows.
Dear Chairman McCain:
We want to alert you to an unintended consequence of the mandatory
software filter provision currently attached to the fiscal year 2001
Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. Corporations might use such
mandated software filters to deliver advertising to captive audiences of
impressionable schoolchildren. An effort to protect kids from
pornography should not be the occasion to open them up to commercial
predators. We urge you to ensure that any mandatory software filter
provision for schools and libraries that receive federal technology
funds also prohibits that filtering program from acting as an
advertising delivery mechanism.
Schools are for learning, not selling. But some companies use Internet
filters to deliver advertising to children. For example, N2H2 tells
advertisers to "Own the education desktop by reaching teens and tweens
where they learn the most -- the classroom. N2H2 is the leader in
filtering Internet content for schools all across the United States. In
doing so, we reach over 13.5 million* students who view 4 billion online
pages a year. And our sponsorship and advertising opportunities let you
be a part of every Web page they explore." N2H2 tells advertisers that
they can "tailor a comprehensive program that drives your corporate and
brand loyalty initiatives through scholastically-focused activities."
The unintended consequence of promoting advertising in the public
schools would be easily fixed by including language that prohibits such
federally mandated Internet software filters from delivering
advertisements.
If you have any questions about this letter, or want to discuss how to
amend the mandatory software filter provision, please call Gary Ruskin
of Commercial Alert at (202) 296-2787, or Jim Metrock of Obligation,
Inc. at (205) 612-3376 or Andrew Hagelshaw of the Center for
Commercial-free Public Education at (510) 268-1100.
Sincerely,
Brita Butler-Wall, author, A Parent's Guide to Commercialism in Schools
Jason Catlett, President, Junkbusters Corp.
Colleen Cordes, Co-Coordinator, Task Force on Computers in Childhood,
Alliance for Childhood
George Gerbner, President and Founder, Cultural Environment Movement;
Dean Emeritus, Annenberg School of Communication
Andrew Hagelshaw, Executive Director, Center for Commercial-Free Public
Education
Velma LaPoint, Associate Professor of Human Development, Howard
University
Diane Levin, Professor of Education, Wheelock College; author, Remote
Control Childhood
Carden Johnston, MD, FAAP, FACEP, FRCP; Past President, Alabama Chapter,
American Academy of Pediatrics
Robert McChesney, Research Associate Professor, U. of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign; author, Rich Media, Poor Democracy
Jim Metrock, President, Obligation, Inc.
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media Ecology, New York University
Gary Ruskin, Director, Commercial Alert
Juliet Schor, Senior Lecturer on Women's Studies, Harvard University;
author, The Overspent American
Nancy Willard, Project Director, Responsible Netizen, Center for
Advanced Technology in Education, University of Oregon
<-----letter ends here----->
BACKGROUND:
Following is an excerpt from the October 30, 2000 issue of National
Journal's Technology Daily
Education: White House Amenable To Tweaked Net Filtering Measure
by Drew Clark
The White House on Monday accepted an agreement calling for mandatory
software filters for schools and libraries that receive federal
technology funds, pleasing congressional advocates of Internet filters
and disappointing civil liberties groups that have argued against
requiring them.
"The essentials of the bill remain the same," said David Crane, a
staffer for Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-AZ,
explaining that some small changes had been made to the measure, which
is attached to the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. The
filtering provision combines elements of McCain's S. 97, with other
portions authored by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-PA, and Rep. Ernest Istook,
R-OK.
[snip]
<--------->
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
Please ask Senator John McCain (nicely) to prohibit federally mandated
Internet filters from delivering advertisements. Senator McCain's email
address is <John_McCain@McCain.senate.gov>, phone number is (202)
224-2235 and fax number (202) 228-2862.
Commercial Alert opposes corporate exploitation of children and the
excesses of commercialism, advertising and marketing. Commercial
Alert's website is at <http://www.essential.org/alert/>.
Commercial Alert's materials are distributed electronically via the
commercial-alert mailing list <commercial-alert@lists.essential.org>. To
subscribe to the commercial-alert mailing list, go to
<http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/commercial-alert> or send
the word "subscribe" to <alert@essential.org>.
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
-- --------------------------------------------------------------- Gary Ruskin | Commercial Alert 1611 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite #3A | Washington, DC 20009 Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax (202) 833-2406 http://www.essential.org/alert/ | mailto:gary@essential.org --------------------------------------------------------------_______________________________________________ Commercial-alert mailing list Commercial-alert@lists.essential.org http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/commercial-alert
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