DOPA is just Dopey
Web 2.0 is being targeted by Congress with legislation that is known as DOPA -- the Deleting Online Predators Act. If DOPA gets passed it would ban students from accessing online communities from school or library computers because they receive federal funding. To me it seemed liked CIPA 2.o at first glance, then I did some more reading and realized it could be far more damaging than CIPA and that DOPA is far more insidious.
Andy Carvin posted about DOPA at learning.now yesterday and the ensuing discussion is fantastic and thought-provoking. Andy followed up with a brief blog entry today in which he states:
... what about all the educators and students who've used commercial tools like Flickr or Blogger? Have the nascent days of Web 2.0 been nipped in the bud as far as schools and libraries are concerned? Will the promise of online constructivist learning be wiped out with the swish of a presidential pen?
I certainly hope not Andy, but I fear that too many of our lawmakers may not yet have their ticket for the cluetrain. I see a long battle looming in our future.
posted by Janie L. Hermann @ 7:55 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
My mother is a teacher. She has informed me that she can't view blogs on her computer at school because they are blocked. I asked her what she is supposed to do if she wants to use a blog for professional purposes. She says she can't go to one from school and she doesn't have any way to override the block.
When will people learn that somebody's misuse of a tool or toy does not automatically make that tool or toy evil.
Good Point Liz! Blogs would be banned under the DOPA the way it is currently written. Many libraries are currently communicating with customers via blogs on their web sites. Does that mean that those libraries would have to ban their own site?
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