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Allegheny County Councilman Calls for Mandatory FiltersAlthough the Bethel Park (Pa.) Public Library recently tightened its restrictions on computer use after an incident in which a man viewed nudity while sitting next to youngsters, an Allegheny County councilman is calling for even tougher measures.In early February, two 12-year-old girls were working at a computer terminal when a man at the next terminal watched nude women wrestling on a Yahoo chat room, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported March 30. Scott Rickenbach, 38, was charged with disorderly conduct in the incident. Afterward, the library reset its computer filters to block all chat rooms and has set aside computers designated for children 17 and younger. “We do take our commitment to public safety very seriously,” said library Director Cheryl Napsha. At the March 15 meeting of the Allegheny County Council, Councilman Vince Gastgeb (R-Bethel Park) introduced a resolution that would deny county funding to the eiNetwork—the computer network linking the 44 systems of the Allegheny County Library Association—if the system doesn’t install filters that can block all pornographic or inappropriate material. “I don’t want any public funding going to any library until we know these filters work,” Gastgeb said. “We’re in full compliance with both state and federal regulations,” said ACLA Executive Director Marilyn Jenkins. However, she added, even the most sophisticated filters can fail to block inappropriate content. Although the eiNetwork doesn’t receive any direct funds from the county, it gets some $2.3 million from the county’s Regional Asset District, which can use county sales tax revenue to fund cultural institutions. Gastgeb said if necessary, he would try to block RAD funds from reaching the libraries. Posted April 1, 2005. |
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