From comp.admin.policy Thu May 19 21:59:54 1994 Xref: utcsri comp.org.eff.talk:33720 comp.admin.policy:5331 alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk:13548 alt.censorship:27185 alt.feminism:47528 Path: utcsri!utnut!torn!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!news.umbc.edu!eff!eff!not-for-mail From: kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,comp.admin.policy,alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk,alt.censorship,alt.feminism Subject: Why universities should not create a rule banning computer "porn" Date: 15 May 1994 23:01:09 -0400 Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation Lines: 150 Message-ID: <2r6nll$5uf@eff.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: eff.org I just created this new Computers and Academic Freedom FAQ. Please post or email any comments or corrections. - Carl =============== ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/CAF/faq/computer-porn =============== q: Should university's create a rule banning "porn" on university computers? a: No, such a rule would be unnecessary and too broad. A computer porn ban is too broad because "pornography" is not a well-defined term. For many people, "porography" means any nude or sexually suggestive material. While you may intend only to stop computer-science student from looking _Playboy_ centerfolds in your computer labs, your rule may also stop liberal-arts students from viewing the growing number of fine art collections on the Net. For example, 2,800 images are on-line at the Australian National University ANU. Among these images is a print of Manet's "Olympia" Olympia. When this now famous nude was unveiled in 1863, it caused an outrage because of its blatant sexuality. Hundreds of images are also available at Le Louvre Louvre. Among these images is Salvador Dali's shocking "Young Virgin Autosodomised by her own Chastity" Virgin. Either of these images could be used to sexually harass someone, but so could many noncomputer images on your campus such as art on the University's walls and the _Playboy_ centerfolds that are likely in your university library. A rule banning against computer porn is unnecessary because university computer facilities can (and should) be treated any other university facility. That means banning the act of harassment, not the materials that can be used to harass but that can also be used without harassing anyone. At least in the U.S., virtually every university has a sexual harassment policy that not only covers harassment via computers but that also dictates the exact procedure that must be used to handle a sexual harassment procedures. (Having a procedure is important because the line between constitutionally protected expression and unprotected expression is dim and uncertain.) Computer sites should publicize the university's sexual harassment rules; they should not try to preempt them. See the referenced U. of Illinois report on the Status of Women for concrete suggestions on publicizing your existing sexual harassment rules. - Carl Kadie ANNOTATED REFERENCES (All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.) ================= faq/censorship-and-harassment ================= * Censorship And Harassment q: Must/should universities ban material that some find offensive (from Netnews facilities, email, libraries, and student publications, etc) in order to comply with antiharassment laws? a: No. U.S. federal courts have said that harassing speech is ... ================= academic/women-in-eng.uiuc.txt ================= ASCII (plain text version) of "Final Report of the Committee on the Status of Women Graduate Students and Faculty in the College of Engineering" at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (Also available in TeX and Postscript form.) ================= academic/artistic.freedom.aaup ================= * Artistic Freedom (AAUP) Academic Freedom and Artistic Expression - An official statement of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) It says in part: "In our judgment academic freedom in the creation and presentation of works in the visual and performing arts, by ensuring greater opportunity for imaginative exploration and expression, best serves the public and the academy." ================= library/challenged-materials.ala ================= * Challenged Materials (ALA) An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library Bill of Rights". It says in part "The Constitution requires a procedure designed to focus searchingly on challenged expression before it can be suppressed. An adversary hearing is a part of this procedure." ================= law/miller ================= * Expression -- Obscenity -- Law -- Miller The Supreme Court's definition of obscenity (the so-called _Miller_ test) ================= ================= 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 (192.77.172.4), and then: cd /pub/CAF/faq get censorship-and-harassment cd /pub/CAF/academic get women-in-eng.uiuc.txt cd /pub/CAF/academic get artistic.freedom.aaup cd /pub/CAF/library get challenged-materials.ala cd /pub/CAF/law get miller To get the file(s) by email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Include the line(s): connect ftp.eff.org cd /pub/CAF/faq get censorship-and-harassment cd /pub/CAF/academic get women-in-eng.uiuc.txt cd /pub/CAF/academic get artistic.freedom.aaup cd /pub/CAF/library get challenged-materials.ala cd /pub/CAF/law get miller -- Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me. =Email: kadie@eff.org, kadie@cs.uiuc.edu = =URL: , =