SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose City Council has rejected a plan to install porn filters in public library computers.
Instead council members voted 7-3 Tuesday for a different proposal that would remind computer users about library policies and ask them to be considerate of other patrons. The decision will save the city an estimated $90,000 it would've cost to install filters in children's areas of all libraries, plus an additional $5,000 annually to maintain and update software, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
As reported last week by AVN.com, the filtering proposal was pushed by Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilman Pete Constant, who for nearly two years has led a drive for library computer filtering.
Constant is also a representative of the Values Advocacy Council, a conservative religious lobbying group that offered to pay $40,000 towards filter implementation
As part of the approved plan, the city instead will spend money on expanded library hours, school crossing guards and sex-crime investigators, the Mercury News reported.
Filter opponents included Councilman Sam Liccardo, who said "There are a lot of different ways to protect our children" and compared the filtering scheme to "fighting a global naval strategy by deploying all our ships to Lake Tahoe."
Local residents spoke at the council meeting, some claiming they had seen patrons viewing porn on library computers while librarians took no action.
The argument for filtering dates back to 1997, when local leaders considered the technology too expensive and unreliable. The concerns at Tuesday's meeting included the same issues, as well as the possible blocking of legitimate research.
