CIPA

Greetings,

Since we have reopened the issue of pornography has come up repeatedly. As most folks know, we are obligated to follow guidelines as laid out in the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which states the library "must protect against access to visual depictions that 1) are obscene, 2) contain child pornography, or 3) are harmful to minors."

For a definition of obscene, CIPA ultimately points to state law. In Texas Statute 43.21, the term "obscene" is clearly defined. This is the definition we need to operate on when determining if something is obscene. Here is a link to Chapter 43 of the Texas Penal Code.
http://tinyurl.com/36upw2

Please scroll down to section 43.21 Definitions to read the definitions.

The second two issues--2) child pornography and 3) harmful to minors--are well defined at the following CIPA information page provided by WebJunction.
http://webjunction.org/91/articles/content/432235

I hope having these definitions helps with this issue.

Thanks,
Mike VC