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ACLU Sues Washington State Library To Remove Internet Censorware

The ACLU sued the North Central Regional Library District in eastern Washington state, charging the library's use of a "restrictive Internet filter to bar access to information on its computers and refusing to honor requests by adult patrons to temporarily disable the filter for sessions of uncensored reading and research," according to an ACLU press release.

The library uses SmartFilter, Bess Edition, from Secure Computing Corp, the release says. "Bess blocks a very broad array of lawful information, and the NCRL has refused to unblock sites for patrons."

The lawsuit contends that the library system’s policy of refusing to disable its Internet filters at the request of adults who wish to conduct bona fide research or to access the Web for other lawful purposes violates the United States and Washington State constitutions. The suit seeks an order directing the NCRL to provide unblocked access to the Internet when adults request it.

Among the plaintiffs: A guy who wanted to use the Internet to look up information on gun use by hunters. I throw that in there because it runs counter to the common belief that the ACLU is a liberal organization.

(Via Boing Boing)

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