David Burt (filtering advocate)
Encyclopedia
Content-control software
Content-control software, also known as censorware or web filtering software, is a term for software designed and optimized for controlling what content is permitted to a reader, especially when it is used to restrict material delivered over the Web...
. Burt's research on Internet filtering and the problems allegedly associated with unfiltered Internet access have been cited by both the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
and the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in upholding the Children's Internet Protection Act
Children's Internet Protection Act
The Children's Internet Protection Act requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for the receipt of certain federal funding...
(CIPA). He is discussed in various sources such as the book Pornified
Pornified
Pornified: How Pornography Is Damaging Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families is a 2005 book by American writer Pamela Paul, discussing the impact of ready access to pornography on Americans....
.
Early life and career
David Burt earned an undergraduate degree in history and a master of library science from the University of Washington in 1992. He worked for the New York Public LibraryNew York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
for three years, then worked at the Lake Oswego, Oregon
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Lake Oswego is a city located primarily in Clackamas County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Small portions of the city are also located in neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Located south of Portland surrounding the Oswego Lake, the town was founded in 1847 and incorporated as Oswego in...
Public Library as information technology manager from 1996 to 2000. Since then he has worked with filtering software companies.
Filtering Facts
In July 1997, his concerns about children potentially being exposed to pornography on the Internet led him to start Filtering Facts, a nonprofit organization that encouraged libraries to voluntarily adopt filters. Burt's advocacy included testifying as an expert witness in the library filtering case Mainstream Loudon v. Board in 1998; before the National Commission on Library and Information Science; as well as state legislatures, city councils, and local library boards. This activism was profiled in an article in the New York Times in 1999.In 1999, Burt filed over 15,000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests of public libraries seeking public records documenting incidents involving Internet pornography in public libraries. Burt compiled the over 2,000 incidents into a report published by the Family Research Council
Family Research Council
The Family Research Council is a conservative or right-wing Christian group and lobbying organization formed in the United States in 1981 by James Dobson. It was fully incorporated in 1983...
entitled Dangerous Access 2000: Uncovering Pornography in America's Libraries The reports included news stories but also anecdotal, often second and thirdhand, reports. Judith Krug
Judith Krug
Judith Fingeret Krug was an American librarian and anti-censorship activist. She was appointed as the Director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom in 1967 and Executive Director of the Freedom to Read Foundation in 1969...
, director of the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
's Office for Intellectual Freedom, stated that the report was "inflammatory and sensational", based on an agenda "to control what everyone reads, views, and listens to."
Dangerous Access 2000 was entered into the Congressional Record
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
in 2000 in support of the Children's Internet Protection Act
Children's Internet Protection Act
The Children's Internet Protection Act requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for the receipt of certain federal funding...
(CIPA), a law Congress passed in 2000 requiring public libraries that receive certain types of federal funding to purchase filtering software.
Filtering industry and CIPA
In March 2000, Burt closed Filtering Facts and accepted a job in marketing with the (now defunct) filtering company N2H2N2H2
N2H2 may refer to:* N2H2, Diazene, a chemical compound* Secure Computing...
. While at N2H2, he testified before the Congressional Commission on Child Online Protection (COPA) in 2000 the Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Copyright Office in the 2003 DMCA exemption hearings
In 2001, the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
legal team charged with defending CIPA hired Burt as a consultant. Burt helped identify and recruit most of the witnesses used by the DOJ, and assisted the DOJ in depositions of opposing witnesses.
On June 23, 2003, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of CIPA, specifically citing Burt and Dangerous Access 2000 as justification for Congress passing CIPA:
Congress learned that adults us[e] library computers to access pornography that is then exposed to staff, passersby, and children, and that minors access child and adult pornography in libraries. Footnote 1,(citing D. Burt, Dangerous Access, 2000 Edition: Uncovering Internet Pornography in America's Libraries (2000)) (noting more than 2,000 incidents of patrons, both adults and minors, using library computers to view online pornography, including obscenity and child pornography).
In 2003, N2H2 was acquired by Secure Computing
Secure Computing
Secure Computing Corporation, or SCC, was a public company that developed and sold computer security appliances and hosted services to protect users and data...
, which hired Burt to promote Secure Computing's filtering and other network security products. In 2006, Burt left Secure Computing for his current position promoting network security products in Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Security and Access Services Division.
Filtering Facts revived
In 2007, Burt revived FilteringFacts.org. It is now a leading resource for filtering research and filters. Its "Legal Reference" section lists filtering legislation and a dozen related legal cases, some of which directly involved Burt.Burt blogs regularly on issues related to filters and the filtering industry.