MANDATORY INTERNET FILTERING IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES: THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN LAW AND TECHNOLOGY By BARBARA H. SMITH A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2009 1 © 2009 Barbara H. Smith 2 I dedicate this dissertation to my Mom, Dorothy Marie Butterworth Smith, who contributed the most to my success as a human being with her unconditional love, ongoing support and daily inspiration. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Professor Bill F. Chamberlin, Eminent Scholar Emeritus in Mass Communications, and chairman of my dissertation committee, for his wisdom, steadfast support, encouragement and patience as I prepared this dissertation. I also would like to thank my other committee members for their helpful insights: Professor Laurence Alexander, Professor Charles Collier and Professor John W. Wright. In addition, I would like to thank colleagues and friends for their ongoing support during the dissertation process, especially Stuart Blacklaw, Fred Brock, Tom Caswell, Irina Dmitrieva, Rick Donnelly, Tony Fargo, Jennifer Freer, Martin Halstuk, Jody Hedge, Michael Hoefges, Kimberly Lauffer, Christina Locke, Charles Lubbers and Michelle O’Malley and Steve Smethers. Finally, I owe special thanks to Dorothy Marie Butterworth Smith, my mother, my friend, my role model and my beacon in the night, for her continued support throughout the dissertation process, and for her inspiration and unconditional love throughout my life. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 INTERNET ACCESS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES ...................................................................10 Introduction .............................................................................................................................10 Relevance of Study ..........................................................................................................19 Research Questions .........................................................................................................19 Contributions to the Field ................................................................................................20 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................20 Review of the Literature .........................................................................................................21 The Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 ..............................................................22 Relevant Articles Before the CIPA Was Adopted ..........................................................34 Methodology ...........................................................................................................................38 Outline of Dissertation ............................................................................................................41 2 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT .............................................44 Introduction .............................................................................................................................44 The Mission and Role of the Public Library ..........................................................................46 The Applicability of Public Forum and the Right to Receive Doctrines to Public Libraries ..............................................................................................................................56 Case Analysis—The Application of Public Forum and Right to Receive Information Doctrines to Public Libraries ...................................................................59 Case Analysis—Historical Overview of the Right to Receive Ideas and Information ...77 Commentator Analysis on Public Forum Doctrine .........................................................93 The Public Library as a Traditional Public Forum ..........................................................93 The Public Library as a Designated/Limited Public Forum ............................................94 The Public Library as a Nonpublic Forum ......................................................................96 The Public Library as Mixture of Fora ............................................................................96 The Inapplicability of Public Forum Doctrine to Public Libraries ..................................98 Commentator Analysis on the Right to Receive Ideas and Information Doctrine ........101 First Amendment Theory ......................................................................................................104 Minors’ Access to Public Library Material ..........................................................................110 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................118 3 INTERNET FILTERING TECHNOLOGY .........................................................................120 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................120 History of Internet Technology ............................................................................................121 Internet Content and Usage ..................................................................................................124 5 How Filtering Technology Works ........................................................................................129 Internet Filtering in Public Libraries ....................................................................................135 Filtering Software Studies ....................................................................................................138 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................152 4 THE PROTECTION OF MINORS FROM MATERIAL DEEMED HARMFUL ..............155 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................155 The Changing View of the Child ..........................................................................................156 The Parental Role in Childrearing ........................................................................................165 Sexually Explicit Material and the Law ...............................................................................170 Children, the Variable Obscenity Standard and Indecency ..................................................174 Social Science Research on the Effects of Pornography ......................................................184 Pornography and the Third Person Effect Theory ................................................................195 Pornography and Children ....................................................................................................196 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................199 5 FEDERAL ATTEMPTS AT PROTECTING MINORS FROM ONLINE MATERIAL DEEMED HARMFUL .........................................................................................................201 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................201 Communications Decency Act of 1996 ................................................................................202 Child Online Protection Act of 1998 ....................................................................................209 Round 1: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania—1998 ............214 Round 2: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania—1999 ............215 Round 3: Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals—2000 ......................................216 Round 4: U.S. Supreme Court—2002 ..........................................................................218 Round 5: Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals—2003 ......................................221 Round 6: U.S. Supreme Court—2004 ..........................................................................223 Round 7: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania—2007 ............228 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................230 6 THE LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE CHILDREN’S INTERNET PROTECTION ACT ......................................................................................................................................232 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................232 The Emergence of the Children’s Internet Protection Act ...................................................238 Proposed Legislation in 1998 ........................................................................................241 Proposed Legislation in 1999 ........................................................................................255 Proposed Legislation in 2000 ........................................................................................273