Fergie's Tech Blog

Illinois College Wants Internet Firewall, Not 'Censorship'

Corina Curry writes in The Rockford Register:

A new firewall installed to block access to sexually explicit material, video games and social networking Web sites on Rock Valley College computers has prevented some students and faculty from educational endeavors.

For example, attempts to do Internet research on sexual disorders for an abnormal psychology class have been denied. Students and staff had problems posting to blogs, too, even ones that dealt with politics. The students involved in the college’s Model United Nations organization couldn’t access U.N.-related Web sites.

It started in June when the college installed a Web filter called Barracuda. Officials from the college’s information technology department said they’d open specific sites upon request, but that made Web browsing difficult, some faculty said, as they’d have to submit requests and wait for access.

posted by Fergie @ 1/05/2007 10:43:00 PM