This hearing addresses legislative proposals to protect children from inappropriate materials on the Internet. Among the issues discussed are federal investments and information access, defining standards for protection, child pornography and marketing to children, filtering technology and adult verification services, and freedom of speech.…

The Commission on the Status of Women section of the Proceedings contains the following eight papers: "Post-Title IX Gender Bias in Local and National Media: A Literature Review with Recommendations" (David S. Fearn); "Interrogating Desire: Pornography, Sexuality and Epistemic Responsibility" (Robert Jensen); "Women in…

Radical feminist Andrea Dworkin has been instrumental in efforts to curtail pornography by defining it as a violation of women's civil rights and allowing individual women to sue the distributors for damages. Dworkin's position derives from the tension between "what should be" and "what is." Her conception of the difference…

Examination of data from four General Social Surveys (1976, 1977, 1980, 1982) focuses on questions related to intellectual freedom, especially library censorship. Responses are analyzed together with selected demographic variables to determine which broad segments of society give majority support to censorship and which do not. (7 references) (EJS)

The Communication Technology and Policy section of the Proceedings contains the following 15 papers: "The Virtual Sphere: The Internet as a Public Sphere" (Zizi Papacharissi); "Toward a Typology of Internet Users and Online Privacy Concerns" (Kim Bartel Sheehan); "Blind Spots of the Communications Decency Act Debate: A…

This document presents witness testimony and supplemental materials from a Congressional hearing called to address concerns about the Internet becoming a forum through which minors can be exposed to pornographic or otherwise offensive material. It features opening statements by Congressman Steven H. Schiff, chairman of the House Subcommittee on…

Section B of the Miscellaneous Studies section of the proceedings contains the following 16 papers: "Ethics--Is It on the Media's Agenda: A Content Analysis of Three Trade Magazines" (Steven R. Snyder and Roxanne Buchanan); "Blacks, Whites and Read All Over: Ending Slurs on Newspaper Use by Race" (Gerald Stone); "Ethics in…

During 1986, a movement against the production and sale of pornography brought together two extremely different factions--radical feminists and evangelical church groups. The two groups' reasons for attacking pornography and their tactics in attempting to halt its production and distribution differ significantly. Feminists have argued that…

In the wake of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, discussions have raged both online and in the press about free speech, online pornography, and the protection of children. This paper discusses the legal and social science issues surrounding content regulation of the World Wide Web and the Internet as a whole, with an emphasis on the…

The Communication Theory and Methodology section of the Proceedings contains the following 20 papers: "Information Sufficiency and Risk Communication" (Robert J. Griffin, Kurt Neuwirth, and Sharon Dunwoody); "The Therapeutic Application of Television: An Experimental Study" (Charles Kingsley); "A Path Model Examining the…

Erotica (love or a creative principle) and thanatica (death or a destructive principle), two sexually explicit forms of speech, are discussed in the context of fighting pornography in the courts. Antipornographers are urged to reexamine their political alliances, legal theories, and philosophical assumptions. (MLW)

Considers recent efforts within the field of psychology to understand issues involving gender. Demonstrates patterns of development within feminist psychology and its relation to mainstream psychology. Examines status of the field, two case studies, and new research. (Author/SA)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate attitudes of library science students towards censoring controversial materials on the World Wide Web viewed in the library by patrons. The study suggests that some library science students will have moral dilemmas in supplying information that is contrary to their personal beliefs and that factors such as…

Discusses concerns at the Arizona State University library regarding inappropriate uses of their public workstations, including Web surfing, personal email, and accessing pornography. Describe data collection techniques, including observation and electronic data collection software, which investigated use and availability data for workstations.…

With the 1996 defeat of the Communications Decency Act, under which providing offensive material on computer systems accessible to children would have become a felony, no legal guidelines exist for library use of the Internet. Libraries can avoid becoming the center of an Internet controversy by encouraging parental involvement; by protecting…