ALA Files Comments on E-rate
Mandate Proposal
ALA filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission July 22 in response to an April 9 proposal from National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Irving that schools and libraries be required to have acceptable-use policies in place as a condition of receiving e-rate subsidies.
ALA's filing stated that the decision to have use policies should not be imposed by the federal government and, in particular, should not be made part of the e-rate application process. However, if policies are to be required, applicants should be given maximum flexibility in establishing their form and content, with no federal involvement in decisions on content. Additionally, it urged, any requirements should not place additional administrative burdens on what is already a complex application and administrative process, and it added that any such requirements should not be applied retroactively to the year-two funding process already underway.
The full comments are available on the Web site of ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy.
Posted August 2, 1999.
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