STOP THE
ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
INTERNET FILTERING FOR ADULTS

ISSUE #1 - THE INTERNET & THE FILTER - The US Supreme Court has adjudicated that "the internet is a unique, never-ending, world wide conversation and, as such, deserves the highest level of protection from governmental intrusion." According to this decision, it is nobody's business (not mine, not yours, not the library's, and not even the government's business) as to what lawfully transpires between the TRANSMITTER (webpage) and the RECEIVER (viewer). The Orange County Public Library internet filter affects me in these ways:

AS A RECEIVER - The internet filter affects my ability to access webpages that are being blocked. This has included many useful, harmless websites, constitutionally protected material, and free, web-based, e-mail websites (see E-MAIL BLOCKING below). At one point, I was blocked at the library from a website in which I was taking an on-line digital arts class while I was a student at Orlando Technical College studying Television Productions.

AS A TRANSMITTER - As an award-winning library website author, I have the ability to convey my thoughts and ideas globally and at no cost to anyone, as evidenced by my LOVE, JOY, PEACE FOREVER MINISTRY website. For example, I have received 'prayer requests' from all over the world (Mexico City, Toronto, Tokyo, South Africa, Sweden, UK and from all over the USA). My 'prayer request form' successfully transmits the viewers data to my e-mail account. However, a patron at the Orange County Public Library cannot submit that information to me while other people all over the world can, and the library patrons were my target audience. It's interesting to note that the same thing that happens to my 'prayer request form' also happens on the Orange County Government's website.

E-MAIL BLOCKING - E-mail blocking has affected me as both a TRANSMITTER and RECEIVER. Over a period of two years, I was selectively blocked from a total of 12 free, web-based, e-mail websites. My very first project was to construct my resume on to a website, and I began to market myself via the internet. With my e-mail accounts being systematically blocked, I was unable to determine if I had received any responses to my job search strategy. Six months later, I went to the Kissimmee library, where they don't have a policy of internet blocking, only to discover that I had received two prospective job offers. By this time, I was too late to follow up on these offers.

WEBSITE AUTHORING - In order to secure a free website on a free domain server, one must have a valid e-mail account. Upon completeing the registration process, the free domain sends a password via e-mail which allows access to the free domain's HTML editor. From there I can begin to author a website utilizing HTML code. The blocking of e-mail, therefore, has the secondary effect of blocking my ability to 'speak' by means of authoring websites.

ISSUE #2 - MY PROTEST OF THE FILTER - This is my experience of how the Orange County Public Library responded to my resistance of abridgment:

ATTEMPTS TO SQUELCH MY PROTEST FREE SPEECH - During my protest on the public sidewalk outside the library, the library had called the police on me four times in an effort to silence me. The first officer was a little intimidating and I thought I might go to jail, but he let me continue. The second officer liked what I was doing and offered me some advice so as to not get tripped up by some law or ordinance that I may have overlooked. He informed me of ALL the city laws and ordinances. When the third officer arrived, I expressed my knowledge of these laws and ordinances, and he said, "OK, carry on." When the fourth officer arrived, I said, "This is ridiculous, I'm exercising my right to free speech, and by the library continually calling you guys, they are attempting to violate my right to that speech. The next time they call, I want you guys to get the caller's name so I could pursue appropriate action." The officer informed the library of what I had mentioned to him and the police were not called again. Also, during my protest, I had collected over 1,000 signatures on a petition in support of my anti-censorship position. However, these signatures were lost with the theft of my backpack.

THREATS - After "The Devil's In The e-Mail" article and my "Waging War On Electronic Frontier" letter to the editor appeared in The Orlando Weekly newspaper and after I appeared in the Jacksonville television news interview, I started receiving threatening letters while I would be working on the computer terminals. The letters were left on the desk I'd be using to sort out all my research material. Upon receiving the fourth letter, I called the police, filed a complaint, and turned the letters over to the police. The investigating officer informed me that he would speak with the library administration about the letters. After that, no further letters were received. I have irrefutable evidence that these letters were coming from a library employee and not from another library patron.

LIBRARY POLICIES - At every reference desk, there is a manual that contains all of the library's written policies. During my protest, the library refused to comply with their own written policies. This includes the policy of co-operation with persons resisting abridgment, among many others. At one point, members of my internet group, THE CYBERSPACE COFFEE CLUB, had met with library director Dorothy Fields during an internet forum at the library. We expressed our concerns about the filtering, only to have Ms. Fields block us from the websites we informed her that we needed access to in order for us to continue our work. The Orange County Library's Board Of Trustees has also refused to comply with the American Library Association's "Library Bill Of Rights".

INTERNET HISTORY FILES - During the course of an on-line session, all of the websites visited is recorded in a 'temporary internet history file'. I discovered that the library personnel were using this confidential data to determine which websites I was using, and then blocked my access to a number of those sites. Although I was instructed by the librarians not to do so, I began deleting my information contained in these files. This strategy proved to be extremely effective in combatting the library's practice of 'Snoop & Block'. I informed the librarians that these files were a 'user defined attribute' and not a 'network administrator defined attribute', therefore, I continued my policy of deleting these files.

INTERCEPTION OF E-MAIL - This is the one that ticks me off the most. I was sending an e-mail to Senator Bob Graham concerning my experiences with the library filtering, and as I was typing the letter on the terminal, the library computer technician removed the terminal right from under my fingers. I informed him that I had confidential data (mainly, my letter to Senator Graham) on that terminal and that I wanted to properly log-off. He refused and proceeded to remove the terminal along with my letter to Senator Graham. When the terminal was re-installed 15 minutes later, my letter had disappeared and I was also then blocked from that free e-mail site. I filed a two page complaint with the library and never received a response to my complaint (2 witnesses to this incident). On another occasion, I was sending an e-mail to then Orange County Chairman Linda Chapin and two librarians, Mr. Illick and Mr. Cesares, came over to me and asked me if I was using e-mail. I informed them that I was writing HTML code. They then forced themselves in front of me so as to be able to see what I was doing and then they actually began reading my letter aloud. They then closed the browser down on me and kicked me out of the library for the day. This incident occured at the branch located at Edgewater & Lee Road (3 witnesses to this incident). I'd like to point out that e-mail has the same protection as regular US mail and that the interception of e-mail is a federal crime.

PRECEDENT COURT DECISIONS:
THE CDA (aclu v. reno) DECISION - This decision protects the material (both text and graphics) contained on the internet. You can view a copy of this decision at:
http://www.daft.com/~rab/liberty/cda/full_dec_text.html

THE VIRGINIA PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERNET FILTERING DECISION - This decision declares that it is unconstitional for a public library to engage in internet blocking for adults and that the library must offer all aspects of the internet, not just the ones they deem to be appropriate.You can view a copy of this decision at:
http://www.aclu.org/court/loudounvboard_dec.html

CONSIDERATIONS:
It has been the Orange County Public Library's stated position that the reason they were blocking free e-mail was because they never intended the terminals to become a 'message center'. The library never intended to become a 'shopping mall', yet many patrons (including myself) have ordered products via the terminals. They never intended to become 'stock brokers', yet some patrons trade stocks via the library terminals.

There are segments of society in which the 'public access' terminals located at the public library is the only means of access to the 'Information Superhighway'. By the library selectively blocking access to websites, they are determining who the have's and have not's will be. This CYBERSPACE COFFEE CLUB website and my LOVE, JOY, PEACE FOREVER MINISTRY website clearly demonstrates that a patron at the library can also be a source of information and not only a recipient of information.

The Orange County Public Library has been using the internet filter for reasons other than what they have been stating in the media. It has been THE CYBERSPACE COFFEE CLUB's experience that they have selectively targeted certain library patrons and then engaged in blocking internet access of certain websites to those patrons without offering any explanation as to why the websites were being blocked.

Library director Ms. Dorothy Fields had appeared on "The MacNeil - Lehrer NewsHour" television news program and stated the filter was being installed to make the internet 'safe' for children. However, in a response from Mr. Ron Harbert, library Board of Trustess member, he admits the filter doesn't work in achieving that goal. Mr. Harbert states:

"I'm sure that you understand that no degree of technology is perfect. Our filtering service is designed to delete only material which meets the definition of obscenity promulgated by the courts, hence certain objectionable material does get through."

None of my work is physically located on the Orange County Public Library internet server. The library merely provides me access to my work in the same manner they provide me access to books. To the best of my knowledge, my work is physically located on a free domain internet server located in California.

Library Internet Filtering and Censorship is NOT just about blocking information and/or pictures. It also has a secondary effect. For example, when my e-mail to Senator Graham was intercepted, it affected my ability to particpate in the governmental process. Also, with my 'prayer request form' being blocked, it affects my free, religious expression.

The jurisdiction of the Orange County Public Library falls under the much larger umbrella of Orange County Government. The Orange County Chairman and County Commissioners also sit on the library's Board of Trustees making the library a governmental entity and not a 'private' organization. Therefore, internet filtering at the library is a 'governmental intrusion' contrary to the Supreme Court ruling.

FEEDBACK:
You can send your FEEDBACK directly to the 'powers that be' that are responsible for the internet filtering at The Orange County Public Library by calling, writing, or clicking on their e-mail address below:

SIGN THE PETITION Jim Hannon - Founder THE CYBERSPACE COFFEE CLUB 18 Laurel Avenue Derby, Connecticut 06418 jimhannon@sprintpcs.com VIEW THE PETITION

Permission is granted to disseminate the information contained on this webpage.