Opinions from PC Magazine: Net Censorship and Democracy's Fall

John C. Dvorak is a contributing editor of PC Magazine. Dvorak has won eight national awards from the Computer Press Association. Dvorak's work appears in several magazines and newspapers. He is the author of several books on computing. His radio show, "Real Computing," can be heard on National Public Radio. He is also the host of TechTV's "Silicon Spin."

John has an interesting column on net censorship in the 27 December 2005 issue of PC Magazine. It's ironic that his column, which includes a lament about corporate internet filtering and monitoring, would appear directly opposite a full-page ad for Spectorsoft ("Record Everything Your Employees Do on the Internet").

Mr. Dvorak writes:

A Catholic high school in New Jersey banned all student online activity, at home or school. This includes chat rooms, blogging, and message boards. The lame excuse was that the rule would protect the students from predators...

More important, looking at their kids' blogs can give parents insights into the teaching practices and quality at a school, since the kids will bluntly and openly comment on the teachers. That's the real reason that keeping the kids offline is so important to the school. While American schools talk a big game about parental involvement, if it actually happens the schools want no part of it.

Opinions from PC Magazine: Net Censorship and Democracy's Fall