DOPA Hearing

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Posted by Linda W. Braun

I wasn’t able to listen and watch the live video stream of the DOPA hearing today, but I just did get a chance to watch and listen to the archive of the stream.

Anyone interested in teens, social networking, legislation related to teens and libraries, technology, etc. should make sure to listen. There were several things that struck me as I listened.

  • There is a lot of fear about the Internet in general.
  • There is a lot of fear about Social Networking
  • There are still many misunderstandings about what the Internet is all about.
  • There are misconceptions about what social networking is and isn’t.
  • There are people who are trying to educate without fear – in particular YALSA’s own Beth Yoke, Amanda Lenhart from the Pew Internet in American Life Project, and Chris Kelly from Facebook.
  • There are people who are working hard to understand what teens need, why they use technology, and how they use technology.

You can access the archived stream on the Congressional web site. You can also click on the name of each testifier and download a pdf version of that person’s testimony.

Don’t forget you can contact your legislator about DOPA.

Posted in: Government Legislation

About Linda W Braun

Linda W Braun is a YALSA Past President, the YALSA CE Consultant, and a learning consultant/project management coordinator at LEO: Librarians & Educators Online.

2 Thoughts on “DOPA Hearing”

  1. byoke [Member] on July 13, 2006 at 11:12 am said:

    Now that the hearings are over, the sponsors of the bill will decide if they are going to try and move it forward, and if they do, whether to make any changes to the language first. So, we need to keep monitoring the situation and, based on what the sponsors do, take appropriate action.
    -Beth Yoke

  2. byoke [Member] on July 17, 2006 at 4:58 pm said:

    At ALA’s Annual Conference, ALA’s Council passed this resolution:

    Resolution on Support of Online Social Networks

    “Resolved, that the ALA oppose the Deleting Online Predators Act as it is presently drafted and, be it further resolved, that the ALA affirm the importance of online social networks to library users of all ages for developing and using essential information literacy skills.

    Resolved that ALA ask library supporters to contact their
    representatives and senators to inform them about the important role ‘social networking sites’ serve in civic participation, collaboration, etc. and about problems caused by mandatory blocking as proposed in HR 5319; and be it further resolved that ALA communicate this resolution to the US Congress and others as appropriate.”

    -Posted by Beth Yoke on behalf of Christine Allen, YALSA’s Councilor

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