Slashdot Log In
Deleting Online Predators Act - R.I.P.
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Jan 05, 2007 04:03 PM
from the myspace-just-a-little-bit-safer dept.
from the myspace-just-a-little-bit-safer dept.
elearning 2.0 writes "It looks like the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) has died a slow death. DOPA was proposed during the height of last year's moral panic around the issue of child safety and sites like MySpace. The legislation would have banned the use of commercial social networking websites in US schools and libraries which receive federal IT funding — therefore undermining much of the pioneering work being done by educators in the e-learning 2.0 space."
Related Stories
[+]
Illinois Bill Would Ban Social Networking Sites 293 comments
AlexDV writes "Library blogger Michael Stephens is reporting that an Illinois state senator, Matt Murphy (R-27, Palatine), has filed a bill that 'Creates the Social Networking Web site Prohibition Act. Provides that each public library must prohibit access to social networking Web sites on all computers made available to the public in the library. Provides that each public school must prohibit access to social networking Web sites on all computers made available to students in the school.' Here is the bill's full text."
This local effort harks back to an attempt last May to get federal legislation banning school and library use of social networking sites (Wikipedia summary here). The DOPA bill passed the House but died in the Senate.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading ... Please wait.

Destroying Terroristic Buzzwords Act (Score:5, Funny)
In any just society, whoever wrote that would swing next to Saddam, Idi Amin, and the guy who invented clamshell packaging.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Destroying Terroristic Buzzwords Act (Score:4, Funny)
>"We were the first to thermoform polycarbonate (PCEE); we invented the locking "clamshell" package and continue to serve up unique, custom solutions to your packaging needs."
Unless your needs happen to include having your customers actually get at your product without serious injury and/or bloodloss. These people should die the death of a thousand thermoform polycarbonate cuts, preferably administered by Sadam's executioners.
But... (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:But... (Score:5, Interesting)
They'll find other ways to waste time.
The problem is that the whole approach is wrong. If you want to prevent Students surfing on Myspace using School Equipment, make sure they have something to lose. But our society is no longer able to hand out a "YOU SUCK, GET TO WORK DAMMIT" to children and students who don't do their job right.
You can't prevent by banning every distraction they find - you have to motivate them by making sure there are consequences when you're bad at school. Encouraging at first, but if you're no good, you get disqualified and can start flipping burgers. No need to waste money on people who don't try to learn.
And the whole predator perspective is just stupid. Honestly. You can't rape or harass people over the internet. You can't damage them.
2.0 what? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:2.0 what? (Score:5, Funny)
This is where one can leverage their synergies to create new paradigms while using colored parachutes to find out who moved their cheese.
WTF? (Score:3, Funny)
Banning MySpace is undermining much of the pioneering work of what?
I must be missing something.
Not about "MySpace" (Score:2)
It would have banned, by particular feature sets, social networking sites. MySpace, of course, is one of the more well-known ones that would have been affected,
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
If I recall correctly, the definition of social networking sites used in the act caused it to include an absurd variety of sites, including most bug tracking sites, Slashdot, Wikipedia and all other wikis, nearly all forums, many blog sites, some mainstrea
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Yikes (Score:3, Funny)
I was mildly interested until that. Then my "pretentious, meaningless buzzword" alarm went off.
I hope they are at least leveraging their e-synergies and fully embracing AJAX and SOAP in that 2.0 space.
Finkployd
Re:Yikes (Score:4, Funny)
We'll bring in one group doing demo or webex of some software product, and they'll claim that their product does "Super hyper-relative process optimization". It'll be some common-sense obvious crap that they decided to tag that name onto.
The bad part comes when Vendor #2 comes in and demo's their product. He'll (with a straight and shockingly confident face) raise his hand in the middle and ask "Does this support Super hyper-relative process optimization?". When they have no idea what he's talking about he's already looking at me like "OMG. They don't even do super hyper-relative process optimization. Why did you even let these people in the door?". About this time I'm ready to just shake my head in embarrassment.
Re: (Score:2)
It will be back (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I doubt it. At this point, there would be no real political mileage in doing so.
If the dems did, the reps could trade barbs with them about Barney Frank, ad nauseum. It was pressure from the conservatives, not the liberals, that caused Foley to resign
elearning 2.0? Stop with the stupid buzzwords (Score:5, Interesting)
WTF is "e-learning 2.0 space"? (Score:4, Funny)
huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
What do you mean "last year's" panic about child safety? The whole "child safety" cliche is every politician's trump card. I don't think it went out of style when we began 2007.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh well, back to the parents then... (Score:4, Insightful)
Parents need to start financing their own kids rather than expecting the rest of us to pay for them - via taxes for the salaries of politicians to make this unnecessary rubbish up.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The role of teachers and schools is to educate kids and reinforce the knowledge of right and wrong that should be being taught by the parents in the first place.
I do a lot of work fixing PCs for friends and family,
Re: (Score:2)
That being said some things do not belong in school... MySpace is one of them
Re: (Score:2)
You say that sarcastically, but in much of the states it is impossible to hold a job without a car, even if you're just working part time to allow time for your children. Companies rarely provide carpool vans, the bus
It just didn't work (Score:2)
The folowing is stolen from wikipedia ( and abridged slightly ):
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Children are vastly more likely to be victimized by someone they know than by a random stranger online or otherw
Re: (Score:2)
If it had been you, that was raped at a very young age, I am sure you would have appreciated adults making sure you were safe from predators.
Yes, I would have, if they had done so by trying to address the real problem, which is children abused by family, f
Re: (Score:2)
How do you harass someone online?
I mean, really. If you don't like talking to someone, there's a variety of filter possibilities in every
How is myspace educational? (Score:4, Insightful)
Aside from the obvious problems with the sentence "pioneering work being done by educators in the e-learning 2.0 space", how does banning myspace et. al. prevent learning? Are teachers seriously encouraging kids to get on myspace during class time for educational purposes?
I don't see anything wrong with banning social network sites inside school libraries. Wikipedia, Nasa, etc. are legitimate learning sites, I don't see how myspace compares to these.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You have no imagination. (Score:2)
A few possibilities:
Re: (Score:2)
Where would they get their truly important news? From a news source?!?! HA!
Online predators (Score:2, Troll)
Absolute Bullshit (Score:3)
Every time I walk into the library at my university, I have to actually force some myspace addict off the computer so I can write a paper or do actual research. The school's library has over 300 computers, and there are additional computer labs on campus too.
"undermining"!?!? What the FUCK! Would legislation to block large distractions and bandwidth wasting really "undermine" anyone's "pioneering" work on a school's IT policy and/or hardware/software?
Freespeech sure - if you really need to use myspace for school, ask your "pioneering" IT staff for special access.
While we're at it, can we please block hotmail and ebay? Most schools provide a local email account for students anyway...
So do I have this thing totally wrong? Or am I right in believing that there are some educators out there that believe government-funded schools shouldn't stop students from wasting their bandwidth? Pioneering!?!? WTF!
Re: (Score:2)
It depends on where we are talking about. For children--that is, definitely K-8 and probably e
e-learning 2.0 space (Score:4, Insightful)
No Brainer. (Score:3)
Using the fetid cesspool of MySpace, et al to accomplish it? Silly, if not completely irresponsible.
We upgraded our filtering device last summer, with the main impetus being effective blocking of MySpace. This is for several K-12 school districts. Why the hell would you even consider MySpace for education, when there's Moodle and other products you could choose?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I suggest taking off and nuking its servers from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, and if the law would have applied only to MySpace, that might be relevant. In the real world, the proposed language applied more generally to restrict access to "commercial social net
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, the edublogosphere (Score:2)