Super Bowl XXX may no longer be accessible through the Internet at some public libraries because of its Roman numeral designation of “XXX” after the Supreme Court upheld the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

Super Bowl sites are not the only ones affected by CIPA, said David Gregory, associate director for public services at Parks Library. The decision in United States v. American Library Association, Inc. could potentially block Web sites featuring information about AIDS, HIV, breast cancer, suicide, depression and birth control, Gregory said.

“Filters tend to screen out useful and good information,” Gregory said, “while allowing for 15 to 20 percent of potentially harmful content to go through.”

In the 6—3 decision, the court upheld the filters.

“To determine whether libraries would violate the First Amendment by employing the CIPA filtering software, the Court first examines their societal role,” Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote. “To fulfill their traditional missions of facilitating learning and cultural enrichment, public libraries must have broad discretion to decide what material to provide to their patrons.”

CIPA was signed into law in 2000, but was never enforced, according to American Library Association Web site, www.ala.org.

“CIPA requires public libraries and schools that receive federal funds for Internet connectivity to filter every online workstation, even staff-only machines, but does not appropriate additional funds to purchase blocking software,” according to the Web site.

The Supreme Court’s decision to require public libraries to use Internet filtering software will not affect ISU students, Gregory said.

Parks Library is not affected by this ruling because it is an academic and research library, Gregory said.

Ames Public Library is also unaffected by the ruling because the ruling only affects those libraries receiving a government E-rate discount for Internet connections.

Dawn Hayslett, assistant director of Ames Public Library, said she felt most librarians handle their computer systems well enough without assistance.

The case is moot because it is, and should continue to be, a local control issue, Hayslett said.

The Ames Public Library does not currently have filters on any of their computers, Hayslett said, but there are four computers in the children’s section which are for children only or children with their parents.

The remaining 14 computers are able to be reserved for one hour at a time and up to two hours per day, with four new computers on the way, she said.

There have been few complaints about the lack of security, Hayslett said.

“Most libraries are managing this quite well without a federal mandate,” Hayslett said.

There is no easy way to teach the library staff about when to tell someone they are out of bounds as it is a local control issue, she said.

“It is really hard for a staff member to know what is or isn’t constitutionally protected speech,” Hayslett said.

The Ames Public Library does take some steps to prevent children from seeing inappropriate Web sites at other patrons’ terminals, Hayslett said.

Gregory said he believes most librarians are opposed to filtering because it infringes on First Amendment rights.

“Most librarians are opposed to any kind of filtering for a couple of reasons,” Gregory said, “[including the] effectiveness of filters and the principle of and responsibility to uphold the First Amendment.”