The problematic Internet issues, he believes, are online pornography, gambling and consumer fraud.

The software to be installed would block access to an estimated 28,000 pornographic sites. Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) has introduced a bill that would slap criminal penalties upon anyone who distributes sexual material "harmful to minors" on the Internet for profit.

Access to the Badpuppy site, which requires an adult credential--a credit card –would not be affected by such a bill. Only those sites which provide their visitors free preview images need be concerned, according to authoritative reports.

People for the American Way (PFAW) a 300,000-member organization dedicated to defending civil rights; promoting the democratic values of religious freedom, free speech and respect for diversity, sees government censorship in the McCain screening plan, however.

Carole Shields, PFAW president, criticized Senator McCain's proposal, one which would require schools and other public institutions to "filter" Internet access in order to qualify for federal discounts for Internet service.

"The Internet is becoming a vital tool for educating our children," Shields said, "and the universal service discounts are meant to extend that opportunity to every child. These discounts should not come with federal strings of censorship attached."

People for the American Way and the ACLU are contributing assistance in a lawsuit seeking to overturn a similarly restrictive Internet filtering policy in Loudoun County, Virginia public libraries. That lawsuit, with PFAW serving as co-counsel, was filed in federal court in December. (See GayToday archives, Technology, February 9)

Other opponents of government-sponsored censorship include the American Library Association, the ACLU, and the computer industry, all of whom argue that both the McCain and Coats bills impose unfair burden on educational institutions.

Last summer the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision striking down a previous attempt by Congress—the 1996 Communications Decency Act—to crack down on so-called pornography.

Currently, gamblers with modems, are able to access sites if they have credit cards, using online slot machines, poker and blackjack games, lotteries, off track betting, and roulette wheels. "On the Internet," complained Representative Frank LoBiondo (R.-N.J.) "gambling is virtually a free-for-all. Gamblers have no assurance they will be paid their winnings, and, unlike Atlantic City, there is no floor supervisor to complain to if you feel you're being treated unfairly."

Two states, Missouri and Minnesota, already ban Internet gambling, while other locales are considering such legislation. Foes of such bans—the Internet gambling industry—claim that these laws infringe—not on free speech-- but on free commerce.

Software that interferes with so-called "sexual" material routinely blocks all educational information about AIDS, safe sex, and access to any gay-friendly sites that provide avenues to self-esteem and news about civil rights and social equality. The word "gay" is often the only indicator seized upon by such software to provoke access denials.

In the public libraries in Loudoun County, Virginia, for example, entire daily issues of the San Francisco Examiner are blocked whenever individual Examiner columnists discuss questions relating to gay and lesbian rights or to AIDS.

The McCain plan, according to People for the American Way, would take away from parents and teachers the decision about what children may have access to, putting that decision in the hands of the federal government.

"While the vast majority of Internet content is appropriate for children, it should be up to parents working with their local school districts, and not the federal government, to decide how to limit their children'' exposure to inappropriate content," said PFAW officials.

Carol Sheilds points out that Internet filters have often proved problematic and ineffective, "screening out a large amount of educationally valuable material—making their forced installation in schools particularly onerous."

Schools, she believes, now have a variety of less intrusive means of controlling inappropriate material, such as supervising the students or teaching them about the possible dangers they face on the Internet.

The text of PFAW's federal lawsuit against the Loudoun County Library Board can be found on People for the American Way's website: http://www.pfaw.org/loudoun.htm