From: kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie)
Subject: Re: Aarnet should not be pornographic!
Originator: kadie@eff.org
Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 07:55:56 GMT

If you are interested in a slightly North American-centered view, here
is a FAQ from the Computers and Academic Freedom archive.

- Carl

p.s. The newsgroup is alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk. Info on
the mailing list is appended.

=============== ftp.eff.org:pub/academic/faq/netnews.reading ===============
q: Should my university remove (or restrict) Netnews newsgroups
because some people find them offensive? If it doesn't have the
resources to carry all newsgroups, how should newsgroups be selected?

a: Material should not be restricted just because it is offensive to
some. In 1989, Stanford University banned rec.humor.funny. The ban was
lifted after a university committee recommended that newsgroups be
selected according to library policy. In other words, removing a
newsgroup is equivalent to banning a magazine from an academic
library.

The principles of intellectual freedom developed by libraries can (and
should, in my opinion) be applied to the administration of information
material on computers. These principles are explained in such American
Library Association documents as the Library Bill of Rights, the
Freedom to Read Statement, and the Intellectual Freedom Statement.

With the permission of the American Library Association, these
documents and others are available on-line. Many of these documents
deal with controversial material and material selection policy. For
example, article 2 of the Library Bill of Rights says: "Materials
should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal
disapproval". The ALA Statement on Diversity talks about the
importance of "materials that reflect political, economic, religious,
social, minority, and sexual issues." The ALA Workbook for Selection
Policy Writing tells how to create a formal policy. It also tells
exactly how to respond to challenges to controversial material.

- Carl M. Kadie

ANNOTATED REFERENCES

(All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.)

=================
statements/stanford.statements
=================
* Stanford U. -- Netnews Selection Statements

"In 1989 rec.humor.funny was suppressed in some of the Stanford
University computers.  After a campaign it was re-installed in those
computers." 

This file contains 
1) the "Statement of Protest about the AIR Censorship of rec.humor.funny" 
2) a statement by the Stanford faculty committee on libraries
3) Notes from Professor John McCarthy on how censorship was fought at Stanford

(also see "pub/academic/cases/jmcabstract")

=================
cases/jmcabstract
=================
Professor John 	McCarthy lead the effort to restore "rec.humor.funny"
at Stanford. In March of 1991, he traveled to the University of
Waterloo, a place where "rec.humor.funny" and "alt.sex" was banned.
At Waterloo, he gave one talk on a new computer language and a second
talk on "Network Publication and Free Expression". This is the
abstract of that talk.  (In May 1991, an advisory committee said the
ban should be lifted. In October 1991, the ban was lifted.)

(Also, see "stanford.statements")

=================
statements/caf-statement
=================
* Computer and Academic Freedom Statement -- Draft

This is an attempt to codify the application of academic freedom to
academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line discussion
about computers and academic freedom. It covers free expression, due
process, privacy, and user participation.

Comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when posted to
CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available on-line.
(Critiqued).

=================
statements/caf-statement.critique
=================
* Computer and Academic Freedom Statement -- Draft -- Critique

This is a critique of an attempt to codify the application of academic
freedom to academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line
discussion about computers and academic freedom. It covers free
expression, due process, privacy, and user participation.

Additional comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when
posted to CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available
on-line.

=================
policies/netnews.uwm.edu
=================
* Edu -- U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee -- Netnews

These are the network policy resolutions developed by the Computer
Policy Committee at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The
resolutions were approved by the Committee and forwarded to the
Chancellor.

They say (to paraphrase) 1) Netnews is important 2) No restrictions
should be imposed without wide consultation 3) The principles of
intellectual freedom developed for university libraries apply to
Netnews material 4) The principles of intellectual freedom developed
for publication in traditional media apply to computer media.

=================
library/bill-of-rights.ala
=================
* Library Bill of Rights (ALA)

=================
library/freedom-to-read.ala
=================
* Freedom to Read Statement (ALA)
and Association of American Publishers.

It says in part: "We trust Americans to recognize propaganda, and to
reject it.  We do not believe they need the help of censors to assist
them in this task.  We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice
their heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what
others think may be bad for them.  We believe they still favor free
enterprise in ideas and expression."

=================
library/diversity.ala
=================
* Diversity in Collection Development (ALA)

An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library
Bill of Rights"

It says that collections should be inclusive, not exclusive. And that
materials should cover the needs and interest of all patrons. "This
includes materials that reflect political, economic, religious,
social, minority, and sexual issues."

=================
library/selection-workbook.ala
=================
* Selection Policy Writing Workbook (ALA)

The American Library Association's "Workbook on Selection Policy
Writing". Although aimed at textbook and library book selection in
grade and high schools, it also seems applicable to newsgroup
selection. It includes information about how create a selection policy
and how to handle complaints. It also includes a sample selection
policy.

=================
library/int-freedom.ala
=================
* Intellectual Freedom Statement -- American Library Assoc

An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library
Bill of Rights"

=================
library/int-freedom.can
=================
* Intellectual Freedom Statement -- Canadian Library Assoc

=================
library/censorship.def.ala
=================
* Definition of "Censorship" and Related Terms (ALA)

=================
library/README
=================
* Library Policy Statements

Library Policy Archive
  [part of the Computers and Academic Freedom (CAF) Archive
     [part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Archive]]

This is an on-line collection of library policy statements. It
includes the American Library Association's Freedom To Read statement
and the ALA Library Bill of Rights. (The ALA material is made
available by permission of the American Library Association.)

If you have gopher, the archive is browsable with the command:
  gopher -p academic/library gopher.eff.org

The archive is also accessible via anonymous ftp and email. Ftp to
ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4). It is in directory "pub/academic/library".
For email access, send email to archive-server@eff.org. Include the
line:

send acad-freedom/library <filenames>

where <filenames> is a list of the files that you want. File README is
a detailed description of the items in the directory.

For more information, to make contributions, or to report typos
contact J.S. Greenfield (greeny@eff.org).

=================
faq/netnews.writing
=================
* Netnews -- Policies on What Users Write
 
q: Should my university allow students to post to Netnews?
 
a: Yes. Free inquiry and free expression are an important part of a
...

=================
banned.1991
=================
* Computer material that was banned/challenged in academia in 1991

A list of computer material that was banned at universities during (or
before) 1991. It summarizes incidents and policies at Ohio State U.,
the U. of Illinois (two campuses), Case Western U., Boston U., U. of
Waterloo, U.  of Toledo, Western Washington U., Iowa State U.,
Pennsylvania State U., U. of Texas, U. of Newcastle, James Madison U.,
U. of Wisconsin, and others.

=================
banned.1992
=================
* Computer material that was banned/challenged in academia in 1992

A list of computer material that was banned or challenged in academia
in 1992. The institutions mentioned are:

Ball State U., Boston U. (2), Carnegie Mellon U., German universities,
Iowa State U. (3), Irish universities, James Madison U., Middle East
Technical U., North Dakota State U., Pennsylvania State U., Princeton,
Simon Fraser U., U. of British Columbia, U. of California at Berkeley
*, U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U. of Manitoba, U. of
Massachusetts at Boston, U. of Nebraska at Lincoln, U. of Newcastle,
U. of Ottawa, U. of Texas, U. of Toledo, U. of Toronto *, U. of
Wyoming, United Kingdom Net, Virginia Public Education Network,
Virginia Tech, Western Washington U. (& U. of Washington), Wilfrid
Laurier U. (2), Williams College **

========
* Site of an unsuccessful challenge
** College not directly involved.

=================
caf
=================
* About the CAF mailing lists (and newsgroups)

A description of the comp-academic-freedom-talk mailing list. It is a
free-forum for the discussion of questions such as: How should general
principles of academic freedom (such as freedom of expression, freedom
to read, due process, and privacy) be applied to university computers
and networks? How are these principles actually being applied? How can
the principles of academic freedom as applied to computers and
networks be defended?

=================
=================

If you have gopher, you can browse the CAF archive with the command
   gopher gopher.eff.org

These document(s) are also available by anonymous ftp (the preferred
method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp
to ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4), and get file(s):

  pub/academic/statements/stanford.statements
  pub/academic/cases/jmcabstract
  pub/academic/statements/caf-statement
  pub/academic/statements/caf-statement.critique
  pub/academic/policies/netnews.uwm.edu
  pub/academic/library/bill-of-rights.ala
  pub/academic/library/freedom-to-read.ala
  pub/academic/library/diversity.ala
  pub/academic/library/selection-workbook.ala
  pub/academic/library/int-freedom.ala
  pub/academic/library/int-freedom.can
  pub/academic/library/censorship.def.ala
  pub/academic/library/README
  pub/academic/faq/netnews.writing
  pub/academic/banned.1991
  pub/academic/banned.1992
  pub/academic/caf

To get the file(s) by email, send email to archive-server@eff.org.
Include the line(s) (be sure to include the space before the file
name):

send acad-freedom/statements stanford.statements
send acad-freedom/cases jmcabstract
send acad-freedom/statements caf-statement
send acad-freedom/statements caf-statement.critique
send acad-freedom/policies netnews.uwm.edu
send acad-freedom/library bill-of-rights.ala
send acad-freedom/library freedom-to-read.ala
send acad-freedom/library diversity.ala
send acad-freedom/library selection-workbook.ala
send acad-freedom/library int-freedom.ala
send acad-freedom/library int-freedom.can
send acad-freedom/library censorship.def.ala
send acad-freedom/library README
send acad-freedom/faq netnews.writing
send acad-freedom banned.1991
send acad-freedom banned.1992
send acad-freedom caf
-- 
Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me.
 =kadie@eff.org, kadie@cs.uiuc.edu =
Newsgroups: aus.aarnet