In effect, free speech on the Internet was the victim of an ambush. It's not just the civil libertarians that are critical. The American Library Association expressed its concern about mandating filtering software in a statement issued in February. The use of blocking software deprives the community of access to many sites that provide valuable as well as constitutionally protected information for both adults and children on subjects ranging from AIDS and breast cancer to religion and politics. Filtering software, which is made by a number of companies, generally restricts what Web sites may be viewed based on a list of banned sites compiled by the software company, or by key words that are often found on pornographic sites.
Some software uses a combination of the list and key-word approaches.
The ALA points out that at times such software can go too far. And, in some cases, the software can also fail at its intended purpose. For example, a pornographic site that hasn't yet been reviewed by the software filter company might not be blocked. In other cases, pornographic sites could easily slip by key-word search filters if it doesn't use any of the words that might alert the software to adult content. In a statement about his views on the two amendments, Sen. Jack Reed, who voted along with 98 other colleagues to pass the bill, was careful not be critical of them.