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stories filed under: "computer limits"
Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick


Filed Under:
computer limits, first amendment, free speech, library



Is It Unconstitutional To Restrict Time On A Library Computer?

from the seems-a-bit-extreme dept

A woman in Florida is claiming that it's a violation of her First Amendment rights that a library is restricting the amount of time patrons can spend on a computer. She's also upset that they're asking for ID before you can log on. The library says they're doing this to keep the wait down for a computer, but the woman says it's to keep homeless people and other low income people from using computers. It may be difficult case to prove, as it hardly seems like the library is preventing people from using the computers altogether -- just limiting how long they can use them in a single sitting. Even then, the limit of two and a half hours, does seem pretty long. The requirement for an ID might be an issue, if there are people with no IDs, but it's still difficult to see this as a First Amendment issue.

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