Internet Blocking in Schools Report

The Online Policy Group (OPG) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have cooperated to study and analyze the accessibility on the web of information related to state-mandated curriculum topics within public schools that operate Internet blocking software. This study measures the extent to which blocking software impedes the educational process by restricting access to web pages relevant to the required curriculum.

Download full report (large PDF file)

Table of Contents

1. Abstract
   1. OPG & EFF study the effectiveness of Internet blocking software
   2. Implications for censorship and civil liberties issues
   3. Summary of study results
2. Preface
   1. Need for study
   2. Children's Internet Protection Act
   3. Related litigation and legal definitions
   4. Impact on schools
3. Methodology
   1. Determine study parameters (curriculum, search engine, internet blocking software)
   2. Extract topics from state-mandated curriculums into database
   3. Generate search strings
   4. Generate web page lists
   5. Test web pages against Internet blocking software
   6. Verify blocking and software coding
   7. Compare and analyze results
4. Considerations
   1. Curriculum considerations
   2. Search engine considerations
   3. Blocking software considerations
   4. Rating system considerations
   5. Legal considerations
   6. Attempted Correspondence
5. Results
   1. Overblocking
   2. Underblocking
   3. Overall blocking rates
   4. Blocking by category or topic
   5. Blocking by state
   6. Blocking by grade
   7. Blocking by product
   8. Bad address and unreachable statistics
6. Analysis
   1. Effects on students
   2. Effects on teachers
   3. Impact on legal proceedings
7. Conclusions
8. Appendix A: Sample Research Database
9. Appendix B: Blocking Software Company and Internet Rating Association Publications
10. Appendix C: School District Internet Use Standards
11. Appendix D: Inappropriate Blocking Examples
12. Appendix E: Blocking Software Company Responses to Study
13. Bibliography
14. Acknowledgments

Press:

• Supreme Court Supports Library Internet Blocking Law (June 23, 2002)
• Internet Filtering Software Wrongly Blocks Many Sites (September 18, 2002)

Other Resources:

• Stop Internet Blocking in Schools (Flash animation)

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