Seems that Vermont Senator Pat Leahy has agreed to slow DOPA down so to speak and that the bill is now going to the Senate Commerce Committee. Here is a list of members of that group that you might want to contact.
Why is this in the Commerce Committee? I know it relates to the FCC, but it seems that it is affecting education significantly!
Two DumptrucksI'm starting to feel like there are two dumptrucks headed in opposite directions down a one way street. One is right and the other is wrong, but unless one turns around both will suffer.
Amendments!
I have a feeling with the momentum for this bill, even though DOPA is wrong, we're going to have to put efforts into getting amendments in that make more sense.
- We need local databases and filtering! The bill allows for unblocking when the classroom is supervised. If it is too difficult to unblock, teachers will forget it. (No FCC centralized behemoth!)
- How about educators getting behind a massive, nonprofit, profanity blocking, teacher moderated site for social networking on educational issues? It sounds a lot like think.com although I think that blocking out the world is a mistake for such a database. I wonder if Oracle could be convinced to have an open version of think. However, if because Oracle is a commercial enterprise, I have to wonder if anything they do won't be blocked!
- I also think 180 days is a ridiculously short length of time to sort through perhaps billions of websites!
- No education funding for programs to teach internet safety.
- Educators need to be involved in the FCC board that is reviewing sites.
I have to wonder if this isn't the wrong way to make teachers do the right thing.
A big ole' truck is a comin' -- do we turn or do we play chicken?
(For the good of the kids, I think it is going to have to be the former.)
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