Right to internet porn at the library? (drugs, support, income)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That wasn't my point. Why should spanking it in public be illegal? Aren't you in favor of freedoms?
I mean if I go to a webcam porn site and a guy is sitting there spanking it on live video....how is that ok when a guy sitting across the room minding his own business and spanking it publically isn't?
You're funny! Public masturbation is a potential danger to public health - you know, bodily fluids all over the place. Also, we have certain laws against showing the genitalia in a public place. On a screen, it's easy to hide these displays with a privacy screen and/or a restricted access room. Porn is legal if you are over 18. Masturbation is legal at any age, but not in public.
And if that wasn't the point you were trying to make, perhaps you should more carefully word your posts.
You're funny! Public masturbation is a potential danger to public health - you know, bodily fluids all over the place. Also, we have certain laws against showing the genitalia in a public place. On a screen, it's easy to hide these displays with a privacy screen and/or a restricted access room. Porn is legal if you are over 18. Masturbation is legal at any age, but not in public.
And if that wasn't the point you were trying to make, perhaps you should more carefully word your posts.
It's ok, I will wear a condom to eliminate the public health risk. Problem solved.
Hmmmm so videotaping myself spanking and then watching it on the library computer in front of 10yo girls walking by is *ok*....because that's legal.
The point being that the person was NOT hiding their viewing and were as a result exposing minors to porn.
I was more disagreeing that the guy was within his *freedoms* to do so and the attack by Chielgirl on the mom for complaining.
I think we are mostly in agreement, I'm just seeing how far we'd have to stretch the boundaries before people became unconfortable.
ie) If I get a high quality full sized naked pic of myself and put it on the lawn....vs. standing on the lawn naked....one is ok and the other isn't?
Kind of wondering if you didn't read the gist of the article or if watching porn in front of 10yo girls is some sort of regional thing I missed out on like eating possom.
You are correct, but that's why the STAFF exists - and why it's not just run by machines, as somebody actually suggested on another thread! Librarians (and para-professional staff) are well-trained in dealing with conflict, and being aware of the overall situation at all times. We do our best to keep everyone comfortable, and do address complaints as diplomatically as possible.
I've faced this very situation more than once, and as I stated in my first response, we can ask people to refrain from viewing "objectionable material" if another patron complains... and if we determine their complaint is valid, for instance if the offending images are in PLAIN sight of a child. In smaller libraries without separate children's rooms, it's particularly reasonable to make that request. And believe it or not, most people do comply immediately, usually because they're embarrassed to have been caught. We can't legally force anyone to sign off a website, but we can request it firmly; and if need be, we can always eject them from the library for misconduct (if things get heated).
You guys will like this story: My old library, which was a large and well-funded suburban branch, had the ability to send patrons an IM from the reference desk. Usually we just did that when they abused/bypassed the time limit, and for general closing or maintenance alerts... but every so often if somebody was watching porn, and their computer was not in the private corner, we'd shoot them a message saying something like "We see what you're viewing." OMG, the looks on their faces were priceless!! They usually had no idea who sent the message, and looked around like they thought G-d was watching them. Always worked like a charm.
Excellent post. If some creep wants to get off on porn in a public facility and claim it as a right, then the library staff or any private citizen likewise has the right to loudly and publicly point out said individual in expressing his rights in such a manner.
Freedom of speech and expression is a beautiful thing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizmo980
Please don't make this into a partisan issue.
... and isn't it usually the Republicans who complain about Democrats wanting more censorship & government control? Make up your minds!
Yep, these clowns only cry nanny state and infringement of liberties only when something does not suit their theocratic, homeland (in)security agenda.
Whatever happened to your rights ending at the tip of your nose?
I agree with setting up the monitors for private viewing....but the woman had every right to complain because the current set-up is infringing upon her families freedoms now isn't it?
I mean should the guy also be allowed to sit there spanking it too?
Why would that be different?
mathguy, it would not let me rep you, but I file that under "got em, dead to rights."
I am totally anti-censorship, but taking porn off of the public library computers to me is not censorship. Censorship would be government shutting down the web site. I've never had a problem with strip clubs; I've gone to many a strip club myself. But I don't like the giant neon 'Live Nude Girls' signs and am fine with cities regulating that, so that parents driving by don't have to explain them to their children.
But I don't think it is any concern of gov't what goes on inside the club. Therein lies the hypocrisy. The same liberals who cry 'censorship' when somebody wants to shield a 10 year old girl from watching an anal sex video, are sending out police vice squads to sting the strip clubs. Strange world we live in, especially in Seattle.
But, as far as I know, there is no Internet filter out there that is sophisticated enough to block porn without also blocking many various Internet resources that one would want/need to consult for information on, for example, self-examination for breast cancer, or guidance for parents first dealing with their child's questions and natural curiosity about their own sexuality.
Ding ding ding!! And therein lies the biggest obstacle here, as I explained in my earlier example of the Human Sexuality professor who couldn't do his research with filtered computers. If anyone here is a computer programmer, who knows how to properly set up a filter to ONLY block visual porn - please, offer your services to the ALA.
This is an example of Freedom not being comfortable or nice. I am opposed to censorship in any form, including CYA Classification scams by the Federals. Porn in the library must be tolerated in a free society even if some people do, not like it. I would think screening the monitors so only the subscriber could see what was there could be done without interfering with anyone right to look at whatever they want.
I disagree. There is not "right" to whatever the hell you want wherever the hell you want it. The interent is new, libraries didn't have it a few years back, they can offer up whatever they like.
Like the saying goes, sometimes people try to be so open minded their brains fall out. Doing what's "right" for the community (ie: what a library is) trumps theoretical "rights" when it comes to stuff like this.
Ding ding ding!! And therein lies the biggest obstacle here, as I explained in my earlier example of the Human Sexuality professor who couldn't do his research with filtered computers. If anyone here is a computer programmer, who knows how to properly set up a filter to ONLY block visual porn - please, offer your services to the ALA.
[/thread]
I think I did offer a solution a few posts back, in a response to your post. Privatize, so that we don't have to have a 'one size fits all' solution. If the professor for some reason cannot afford internet access at home, he/she can go to the internet cafe offering unfilltered access. The mother with 10-yr-old can go to the cafe with max filtering.
Then we don't have to throw up our hands & say "hey, write your congressman, pal."" If an internet cafe doesn't meet our needs, we shop around and find one that does.
I disagree. There is not "right" to whatever the hell you want wherever the hell you want it. The interent is new, libraries didn't have it a few years back, they can offer up whatever they like.
Like the saying goes, sometimes people try to be so open minded their brains fall out. Doing what's "right" for the community (ie: what a library is) trumps theoretical "rights" when it comes to stuff like this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:"There is not "right" to whatever the hell you want wherever the hell you want it."
You can't do whatever you want. There are things called 'laws'. If there isn't a law against it, well, you can do it. Simple, isn't it?
Quote:"The interent is new"
Well, I was using it in 1980. (Not sophisticated like today, but it was there). Any Unix guys remember 'tin'?
Quote:"Doing what's "right" for the community (ie: what a library is) trumps theoretical "rights" when it comes to stuff like this."
If you would be so kind as to show us all where it states that, literally, in such documents as the Constitution or Bill of Rights? (Or any reputable legal document of your choice).
The sense of 'right', as you define it is quite subjective. I am sure the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition thought that what they were doing was 'right'.
I'm still waiting for some of you to tell me how a full-sized high-quality naked picture of myself out on my lawn should be ok but my standing there naked wouldn't.
Can I just get a billboard with an actual penis on it blown up to 30 feet long? Gee, if you can't talk to your kids about it blah blah blah....it's nothing they can't see on TV....blah blah blah.
But no, we have some people attacking the mom for complaining. Wow. Just wow.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
