Filtering Policy

In compliance with the federally mandated provisions of the Children’s Internet Protection Act, the Elmhurst Public Library filters all of the library Internet stations, including Internet access from a personal laptop using the plug-in or wireless connections throughout the building. In accordance with the Supreme Court ruling on this legislation, anyone age 17 or older who needs to view a blocked site for research purposes should ask a librarian at the 2nd floor Information Desk to remove the filtering software.

There are three levels of filtering in the library which are described below.

Standard
This minimal level of filtering (see list below) is applied to all of the public access computers on the 2nd floor when used by anyone age 18 or older.

• Child Pornography/Child Abuse Sites that have been verified by the Internet Watch Foundation to contain or distribute images of non-adult children that are depicted in a state of abuse. Information on the Internet Watch Foundation is available at http://www.iwf.org.uk/
• Pornography/Adult Content Sites that contain images and/or content containing sexual acts, activity, nudity, toys, stories/writings, bestiality, fetishes, videos, etc.

• Child Pornography/Child Abuse Sites that have been verified by the Internet Watch Foundation to contain or distribute images of non-adult children that are depicted in a state of abuse. Information on the Internet Watch Foundation is available at http://www.iwf.org.uk/
• Explicit Art Art sites that display art works containing graphic nudity, nude photography, and disturbing images.
• Obscene/Tasteless Sites that contain explicit graphical or text depictions of such things as mutilation, murder, bodily functions, horror, death, rude behavior, executions, violence, and obscenities etc.
• Pornography/Adult Content Sites that contain images and/or content containing sexual acts, activity, nudity, toys, stories/writings, bestiality, fetishes, videos, etc.
• R-rated Services pertaining to anything that involves 18 and over material such as lingerie and swimsuits, revealing pictures. Sites that are adult in nature without being explicitly pornographic.
• Criminal Skills Sites that promote crime or illegal activity such as credit card number generation, illegal surveillance and murder.
• Illegal Drugs Sites that promote the sale/use of illegal drugs and narcotics, paraphernalia for express use with illegal narcotics, questionably legal “supplements” with a narcotic effect or sites that glorify the effect of illegal narcotics. Sites that offer techniques and products for testing clean for drugs as well as information on other forms of narcotics.
• School Cheating Sites that offer materials that enable students to plagiarize or cheat in their academic endeavors, including pre-written papers, answer keys, cheating methods or complete summaries intended to help students circumvent research.
• Gambling Sites which encourage gambling such as betting sites, bookmaker odds, lottery, bingo, horse/dog track, online sport betting, online casinos, etc.
• Alcohol Sites promoting the use of alcohol, drink recipes, bartender guides, home brewing methodology, drinking.
• Tobacco Sites that sell, promote or glamorize the use of tobacco related products, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco.

• Child Pornography/Child Abuse Sites that have been verified by the Internet Watch Foundation to contain or distribute images of non-adult children that are depicted in a state of abuse. Information on the Internet Watch Foundation is available at http://www.iwf.org.uk/
• Explicit Art Art sites that display art works containing graphic nudity, nude photography, and disturbing images.
• Obscene/Tasteless Sites that contain explicit graphical or text depictions of such things as mutilation, murder, bodily functions, horror, death, rude behavior, executions, violence, and obscenities etc.
• Pornography/Adult Content Sites that contain images and/or content containing sexual acts, activity, nudity, toys, stories/writings, bestiality, fetishes, videos, etc.
• R-rated Services pertaining to anything that involves 18 and over material such as lingerie and swimsuits, revealing pictures. Sites that are adult in nature without being explicitly pornographic.
• Video Sharing Sites that allow users to post, share and view videos. Videos on these sites are not moderated, and constantly updated by the Internet community at large. As such, the content of the videos on video sharing sites can include a wide range of content that has little business or educational value.
• Criminal Skills Sites that promote crime or illegal activity such as credit card number generation, illegal surveillance and murder.
• Dubious/Unsavory Sites of a questionable legal or ethical nature. Sites which promote or distribute products, information, or devices whose use may be deemed unethical or, in some cases, illegal.
• Hate & Discrimination Sites that contain material related to the discrimination of any group of people based on race, religion, gender, nationality, etc. Sites which concentrate on violence or the destruction of human life, including a single person or an entire race/religion/gender/etc. Sites focused on the superiority of one race/religion/gender/etc., while degrading others with use of propaganda or violent action.
• Illegal Drugs Sites that promote the sale/use of illegal drugs and narcotics, paraphernalia for express use with illegal narcotics, questionably legal “supplements” with a narcotic effect or sites that glorify the effect of illegal narcotics. Sites that offer techniques and products for testing clean for drugs as well as information on other forms of narcotics.
• School Cheating Sites that offer materials that enable students to plagiarize or cheat in their academic endeavors, including pre-written papers, answer keys, cheating methods or complete summaries intended to help students circumvent research.
• Terrorist/ Militant/ Extremist Sites that contain information regarding militias, anti-government/anti-establishment groups, terrorism, bomb-making/usage, anarchy, etc.
• Chat Sites offering chat rooms and chat services as well as chat sites accessed via a browser, chat logs, IRC client downloads, IRC channel listings or channel information. topics with one another via Internet message board software. Sites that provide downloads and customization of message board software.
• Online Communities Sites that promote online social networking. The content of such sites is mostly comprised of personal pages linked together in a social network that can be based on any criteria, such as schools, universities, business, or friendship. Example: http://www.myspace.com, http://www.facebook.com
• Gambling Sites which encourage gambling such as betting sites, bookmaker odds, lottery, bingo, horse/dog track, online sport betting, online casinos, etc.
• Alcohol Sites promoting the use of alcohol, drink recipes, bartender guides, home brewing methodology, drinking.
• Dating/Personals Sites related to personal ads, dating sites, dating services, dating tips, relationships, introductions, "how-to-find-a-mate" sites, introductions for purposes of finding friends or other relationships, etc. (myspace)
• Tobacco Sites that sell, promote or glamorize the use of tobacco related products, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco.
• Weapons Sites that provide information and promote the collecting, maintenance, advocacy and sales of legal firearms, knives, swords and related items.

• Bad Reputation Domains Sites that appear on one or more security industry blacklists for repeated bad behavior, including hosting malware and phishing sites, generating spam, or hosting content linked to by spam email.
• Botnets/Malicious CodeSites and hosts used by botnet herders for command and control of infected machines. Sites that known malware and spyware connect to for command and control by cyber criminals. These sites are differentiated from the Malcode category to enable reporting on potentially infected computers inside the network.
• Hacking Sites discussing and/or promoting unlawful or questionable tools or information revealing the ability to gain access to software or hardware/communications equipment and/or passwords. Sites that discuss password generation, compiled binaries, hacking tools, software piracy (game cracking).
• Malicious Code/Virus Sites that promote, demonstrate and/or carry malicious executable, virus or worm code that intentionally causes harm by modifying or destroying computer systems often without the user's knowledge.
• Phishing Deceptive information pharming sites that are used to acquire personal information for fraud or theft. Typically found in hoax e-mail, these sites falsely represent themselves as legitimate Web sites to trick recipients into divulging user account information, credit card numbers, usernames, passwords, social security numbers, etc. Pharming, or crimeware misdirects users to fraudulent sites or proxy servers, typically through DNS hijacking or poisoning.
• Spyware Sites that promote, offer or secretively install software to monitor user behavior, track personal information, record keystrokes, and/or change user computer configuration without the user's knowledge and consent for malicious or advertising purposes. Includes sites with software that can connect to "phone home" for transferring user information.
• Adware Sites that promote or offer software that collects information about users to display target advertisement based on user browsing patterns and/or install advertising toolbars without the user's knowledge and consent.
• Banner/Web Ads Banner ads served from third party servers and URLs that track online analytics and/or Web site traffic for marketing report purposes.
• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File Sharing Sites that offer peer-to-peer file sharing software and transfers.
  Sample sites: www.kazaa.com, www.bearshare.com, www.limewire.com