The New York Times-20080127-Library Walks Fine Line On Web Pornography

Return to: The_New_York_Times-20080127

Library Walks Fine Line On Web Pornography

Full Text (695  words)

MOST of the dozen computer terminals on the spacious second level of the Mahopac Public Library were in use late one morning last week. This was typical for the high volume of users who frequent the area, said Patricia Kaufman, the library's director. She estimated that the computer area receives up to 5,000 visitors a month.

One terminal was missing, however, having been removed by the police after the arrest of a 53-year-old man from Brewster who the police said was caught downloading images of child pornography while at the library.

Alice Walsh, the board president, said it was the second of two incidents this month involving computers that had the library staff scrambling to put measures in place that will help mitigate further incidents, while putting the public's mind at ease that intellectual freedom -- the right to seek information as protected under the First Amendment -- remains a cornerstone of library use.

In the most recent case, the Brewster man was arrested on Jan. 12 after a plainclothes detective, having been tipped off days earlier by another library user, observed the man's actions. The man was charged with two felonies: possessing a sexual performance by a child and an obscene sexual performance by a child, said Lt. Brian Karst of the Town of Carmel Police Department.

That incident followed one a day earlier in which an 18-year-old Mount Kisco man was arrested after the police said he tried to persuade a 14-year-old girl to join him at a motel. The girl made contact and continued correspondence with the man -- up to several times a week beginning in December -- via chat rooms she gained access to while using computer terminals at the Mahopac Library, the police said.

In response to the arrests, the library has formed a task force, which is scheduled to meet this week, and is upgrading its Internet-use policy, possibly to include the use of filters to help prevent access to pornography sites, Ms. Walsh said.

The Yonkers Public Library upgraded its filter system a year ago in response to several incidents of misuse at computer terminals, said Stephen E. Force, the library director. We've found it to be extremely helpful, he said.

But filters are not foolproof, said Joan Irvine, executive director of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection, and will not typically address images and information obtained via popular methods of communication, particularly among a younger generation.

A lot of times the noncommercial porn activity takes place via peer-to-peer groups, networks, chat rooms and instant messaging, she said.

Filters can also inadvertently curb access to areas of legitimate research that are protected under the First Amendment, said Bennett L. Gershman, professor of law at Pace University.

Child pornography is not protected under any law, nor is material deemed obscene, according to the 1973 Supreme Court case Miller v. California. But the definition of obscenity must meet several criteria and does not necessarily apply to sexually explicit material that may come about via the normal course of research, Professor Gershman said.

Can adults go into a library and view sexual depictions of adults? he asked. The answer is yes.

The use of filters was at the center of a 2003 Supreme Court case in which the court upheld a law, challenged in a lawsuit by the American Library Association, that required the use of filters in libraries receiving federal funds. The Mahopac Library receives some federal money for telephone use, but has not applied for funding earmarked for Internet use, Ms. Kaufman said.

Grappling with what constitutes the rights of citizens in their pursuit of knowledge versus the protection of those same citizens from the use of obscenity is a delicate balance, Ms. Walsh said.

This is something we never thought we'd have to address in library school, she said.

Professor Gershman said: Filters can remove a certain amount of information from the larger realm of knowledge that adults may want access to and that is protected under the First Amendment. How far do you go? It's a fine line.

[Illustration]PHOTO: WHAT LIMITS?: Two incidents involved library computers. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ALAN ZALE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)