Hello this is Logan aka Vern. I go to Bradley-Bourbonnis Community High School. Recently I noticed at our school some days this website is blocked and other days it isn't? For a whole week I couldn't get on? I've also noticed are school may get in trouble with the RIAA soon or later due to the fact there's a few teachers that do massive mp3 downloading. Also these teachers have burn many cds and shared with students. Even let students download and listen to the music that's been illegal downloaded. These teachers must have collections of music from anywhere of 2,000 to 8,000 songs. The school denys anything about this too. And the students get blame for wasting space on the hard drives. Blame the students and your the fucking ones using the fucking space! I've ask the Adminstator about these issues. He denys all this too. So it means they are blocking boycott-riaa to keep there asses from getting sued? Or is the Adminstator doing illegal activities too? Or is it the strong language you see on the site sometimes? All is I know this is free speech and I got the right to fucking see it! All I know is I'm sick of the crap we get with using BBCHS slow pieces of crap and the teachers are the ones that are fucking it all up. Peace Out, Vern aka Logan

What the hell?

I want to work for a school someday so I can piss on education too.

Bolingbrook; Bradley-Bourbonnais
Community High School (BBCHS)@ - Bradley; Crown Point

idonotthinkblockingthissitewillkeepthemfromgettingsued

talk about cencorship big time censorship like that is a treasonous act
tell the people who are cencoring your web at scool that they are breaking constitutional law
opposition in polotics like this is free speech by banning it they are liable under the law for unlawful censorship

and how the hell can a school censor shit thast like making school it self prophaghanda

dubb - run a friggin spell check sometime... or an idiot check. either one should work.

assuming industry standard symantic blocking;

simple - DDR = denied words score calculator

if a website has a certain number of "bad" words on any single day it is blocked for the day

this has led at my school for historical sites being blocked, as well as information about university courses which have had computer GAME programming courses.

Anyway, most forums are blocked from time since we all swear occasionally.

is it censorship? not really its designed to stop students wasting thier time by going on game sites etc. also don't you think parents would complain if students could get on porn sites etc?

however, the detection is WAY too strong because it takes away the usefullness of some historical sites for example

Yes, my school (now thankfully never to be visited again) used this system, and the false positive rate was awkward. It frequently blocked boycott-riaa due to Forbidden Words in the comments. Its handling was different however - rather than just prevent access to the page, it would replace it with a "Forbidden - Page contains unpermissable words or DDR score exceeded" message. The system isn't good - as it counts words, long pages are often blocked. My own website was blocked for frequent use of the word 'crack', and reference to three utility programs named clit, unfuck and gspot (a lit file converter, WMA DRM remover and AVI codec analyser respectively).

The schools usually dont want to bother with cencorship either, but over here they dont have much choice. Not only would it mean students wasting more time, but if parents throught students could access porn in school they wouldn't tolerate it. As for the possibility of accidential access, thats just asking for legal action. There was an incident some years ago with a porn site which listed every country in its meta-tags, trying to trap students doing geography research or people looking for holidays. It worked.

Install this on the computer you're using:

http://www.freehaven.net/tor/

they can't block child porn in Pennsylvania becaues of the first ammendment, but they can block this website? There's something wrong here. VERY wrong.

I support this site but I find this story a little suspicious a school isnt going to take the time to block and unblock and reblock a website. I ran into cases where I could not access website from one location and later was able to access it, it's a strange thing that happens once in a while. I could see them blaming students for downloading music but the riaa wont care the "my freind downloaded the music" didnt stop any lawsuits and neither will this. This shows that the school really doesnt know how to set up the computers to keep people from installing software. And even though I hate the RIAA the school has the right to stop students from installing software weather its p2p software or not. I think if this school allows students to install software then there fools because of all the adware and spyware base programs that are outthere that can totally ruin the schools computers and totally defeat the purpose of even having them

could it be that the computer you tried to access the website on is so spyware infested that the internet does not work properly. tell the school to run adaware and set it up to stop installations

Well, I can believe the part about a few teachers downloading songs using P2P. Both of my sons (who are in elementary school) have been given custom burned CDs by teachers with favorite songs. These songs are virtually all RIAA affilitated songs, and I'm sure these teachers didn't get permission from the RIAA affilitates (copyright holders) to burn their songs on CDs and distribute to the kiddies.

You guys think teachers don't like music, too? I might be misunderstanding you, but you sound as though you are offended by their behavior. They didn't SELL the music, did they? On the issue of the school, nobody's rights are being violated if a site is blocked--remember, it's the school's computer, not the student's. They can block anything they want on it. And at my daughter's school, students AND parents sign a form at the beginning of the year to protect the school from anything illegal the student might use the computer for. If you don't sign the agreement, you don't use the computer. It's as simple as that.

I never said the teachers did not download the music, they very well could have. All I'm saying is if the system admins where smart they would not allow software to be installed by teachers or students, becuase someone is bound to screw the computers up.

I dont believe the site was blocked

Eh, you know what the argument is. Once you pass through the school door, the Bill of Rights need not apply.

No the argument is its not your computer so therefore you cant do what you want with it. If I let you borrow something of mine, I would expect that you follow the rules I give you for it because it's my property and you should have respect for that. You can make the argument that you pay taxes and it belongs to everyone, well fine let me bring a sledge hammer to school and smash a desk. would that be acceptable.

It's a different story when it 's your personal computer in a college dorm. These school computers are there for everyone and I would be very upset as a tax payer if they allow anyone to install software and screw the computer up so much that its unusable. That would be a total waste of my tax money

Well, you guys have finally given me another reason to jump in here. Sherminator said: "I want to work for a school someday so I can piss on education too."

Thanks a lot Sherm, I've been a teacher and in charge of school networks for 20 years. Few of us are pissing on education and we do our best to get jerks out of our business as quickly as possible. Bite me.

We have firewalls and systems that track key words. I spoke about the language on this site long ago, speaking to the fact that could not have students come here to get educated about it because of the language. It simply isn't appropriate in our educational systems.

Also, the RealJFM is right on the money with the DDR. The more you curse on this site, the less access students will have to it.

You decide whether kids can get this information at school or not by your own behavior here.

I've never thought blocking cursing on a site is censorship. it's good taste. if we want to get the word out to the general public that's what it would take. many sites do it and don't allow posts with cursing or inflamitory language. Debazoz is right. if the education system is messed up (and it is) it's on account of the administrators and beaucrats, not the teachers. though I've seen my share of teachers that shouldn't be there.

"talk about cencorship big time censorship like that is a treasonous act"

whatever. this is not a treasonous act. Like debazoz has said, language like this (no matter the underlying message) is simply inappropriate in any educational setting, especially one in which minors are present. Until they are adults, the school system has every right to tell them what or what they cannot access on the internet while on school grounds.

An act of treason is defined as an act of betrayal of your country, ie working for the enemy, in peace or wartime. Next time dubbsakk, consult a dictionary.

its fair enough in honesty. there has to be some kind of system for stopping kids from getting on websites with content of a nature which is unsuitable. if all the kids came home and said wheres my fucking dinner and stuff most parents would complain about lack of censorship. be fair, what school is actually going to give a flying fuck about blocking RIAA websites?

Blocking sites with profanity is censorship, but it's also within the bounds of what is reasonable. Censorship isn't always bad.

What does this "DDR" stand for? The only DDR I know of is the game Dance Dance Revolution... and I know THAT isn't it...

double data rate. the newer type of RAM memory but I don't think it applies here either

it's probably websence. I did a project and used Boycott-RIAA as an major source, they tried to block it at my school, i had a 'litttle' discussion with them, and after that boycott-riaa hasn't been blocked, now DM is ususally blocked except for the fact that Websence hasn't been working on the school network this year yet, hmm.

there is an incredibly simple way to get around all webfilters at school... tools->internet options->connections->lan settings, check use a proxy server, put in any working proxy server (do a google for "free proxy server") and voila it's so simple it's sad. Hope this helps you guys beable to go to boycott-riaa.com when it's blocked

JGShinn--If you do those things on a school's computer and get caught, you can be denied use of the computer for the rest of the school year, if you are talking about accessing a site in a classroom setting.
As debazoz says, there's no way a responsible adult can recommend this site to someone else's minor child with the language that is sometimes
used. It's a shame, because the teenyboppers and the tweenies, etc. are the ones in a few years who will be most affected by the laws that are passed now. And most in that age group have no idea what is going on in politics, or even in the music industry, past who has the coolest new piercing. Intelligent conversations do not require four-letter words. (Although sometimes they are wonderful to let off steam!)
This is not an attempt to censor anyone, or to threaten their freedom of speech. Nor do I necessarily think it abridges any freedoms when you walk in the classroom and are asked to abide by certain rules. We all have rules.

I believe you should definitely have to follow rules when you go unto school or government property, but school is about learning right?? They can set rules, but your Constitutional rights still apply right? I'm glad I was home schooled - no censorship going on there.

Shadowmom,

I wasn't taking pot-shots at teachers with my comment. But I think it is interesting to point out that obviously there are teachers who don't think there is anything wrong with downloading tunes on P2P.

Now, how is the RIAA going to be able to convince kids that downloading songs is wrong if the kids have teachers who are downloading music to burn & give free CDs to them? And in the future, if the P2P jail bill passes, who will go to jail if a teacher uses a school computer to share over 1000 tunes, if the school doesn't know for sure who was doing the filesharing (a lot of school computers are in libraries or computer lab rooms)?

I'm glad I was home schooled - no censorship going on there.

no censorship?? Good parents always montior and limit what their children see or hear. in various degrees. Constitutional rights do not apply to minors the way they do for adults because legally those under 18 do not have full rights and responsibilities under law.
that's how it was explained to me by a counselor when I was told why I couldn't get access to my daughters information without my daughters consent. My daughter pranced around the house saying "I've got the power." yet I'm still responsible for her.

Shadowmom is 100% correct. the law doesn't apply the same way to minors.

Bufo--Glad to hear it, because teachers are some of my favorite people. Most (unfortunately, not all) teachers chose to be just that--teachers; not babysitters. I understand what you are saying, but my experiences with teachers are quite different from yours. A couple of years ago, a boy in my daughter's fifth grade class started burning custom CDs for other kids, and even printed up a flyer and passed it out. Since he was basically a good kid, I told him to stop selling them, especially on school grounds. He didn't, and the teacher found out about it later, but his response was the same as mine--don't do it on school property. I made sure he understood that selling it was wrong, and against the law, but at the same time I made a CD for the end-of-the-year party for my daughter's class. Lost sales for the RIAA? No way I would have bought any of those CDs, but for that one day the kids loved it.

And compmore--thanks. Censorship by the parents is the most important kind, because no one loves their kids and tries to protect them more than a loving parent.

"I want to work for a school someday so I can piss on education too."

Coolest line I've heard all week. I respect the teachers, I like learning a great deal. But I've lost some very important classes thanks to poor planning. I've seen kids applying to ivy league colleges being told they don't need physics. Most teachers are great, but I've been very depressed by what I've seen in the last few days. Starts feeling more and more like a prison every year, I'm only thankful that I'll be off to college in a year.

And perhaps the most important point, if the RIAA gets to shove their message down the throats of the young ones, we should get just as much show time.

The site was blocked guys. It comes up the crap that the Adminstator has blocked the site, bla bla, etc. I think the teachers can download if they want. But aren't they breaking the rule when there sharing the music with the students? Were not suppose to copy cd's and stuff and give it to our friends. It's the same thing isn't it? Later, Vern

Wow. For a site that tries to educate people in what's going on in the world...

you guys are doing a piss-poor job of actually getting people properly informed.

Hasn't this site gone over censorship & free speech before? And so many still have no clue what the true meaning of free speach is. I'll give you a hint, it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can say "fuck" when you please.

And the rest of you in this site, rallying on an anti-teacher stance now? How stupider are you guys going to get? There are far too many cases here showing that this site indeed deserves to be blocked. For shame.

Over half of this site's posters are irrational impulsive thinkers. Grow up.

Cubby -- you have a point...sorta a blunt point, but you have a point. Censorship is problem, regardless of free speech, because once you start censoring, there is the problem of who determines what gets censored and what doesn't. If some administrator can block access to this site, he can block access to any site he wants to. That means if he's a conservative, he could just block access to any liberal site that people are going to. That is what makes censorship wrong.

Freedom of speech is about being able to say "fuck" when you please. The only realistic limitation on it is if doing so puts other people's lives in danger (screaming "fire" in a crowded theater).

As for an "anti-teacher" stance...students have the right to question their teachers (or they should; at my school we do, but I've heard schools where this right is denied). That includes expressing disgust about them, their actions, or the fact that they are allowed to have unrestricted internet access when students aren't.

Cubby,

Yes, I don't like censorship. It sucks. But the truth about the school's computer is just that. The network, the computers, and the Internet connection provided by the school belong to the school. It's no different if you work in an office building and they block access to certain sites. You act as if it is your God-given right to use a computer in a school.

Now, if you owned the computer, and paid for the Internet connection yourself, and it was being censored, then that would be a real problem.

"I'll give you a hint, it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can say "fuck" when you please."

Yes if fucking does.

if=it

so many of you are missing the point. If you/ we keep saying the magic 4 letter words in every post we are very effectivly censoring ourselvs, when our message needs to be heard. We can't expect any real help or exposure(without spin)from the major media, so we have to make the only outlets we have work. I wouldn't be supprised if some of the troublemakers who stir up the cussing in here are employed by the enemy(RIAA)to make sure the swear quota is met, so the truth stays out of the schools.

Oh, bullshit, the RIAA can figure out other ways to keep our message from the schools. Most of us saying "fuck" in this thread are doing so out of spite and being deliberately bull headed because they are trying to limit free speech. This site, and similar ones, perhaps SHOULD be visited by students in school in my oppinion, but it is NOT primarily intended for/aimed at those youngsters who are hitting the books. It is an open PUBLIC forum. Sure, if we were a site specifically aimed at the school kids, you can bet your ass my language would be more "appropriate." But this is an OPEN forum. Everyone should say what they wish to say. Censorship be damned.

Shmoo--You are right when you say this is an open forum, and yes, you should be able to say anything you want. But I'm pretty sure the RIAA sites are not blocked from most school computers. And in 2008, a lot of kids will be old enough to vote. If you want them to see BOTH sides of the issue, they have to have access to information. Granted, they can still visit the other sites like the EFF, but things are not going to change in schools where "unappropriate" language is still prohibited. Simply by exercising your right to "free speech" you are losing the educational battle to the RIAA. Remember, they are already in schools with their propaganda, and we are not.

YOU are the CENSOR!! get it through your head "shmoo", if you can't; I have to assume you're getting a check to talk trash in here. Why would they "figure out other ways" when it's so easy and cheap to sit back and watch us bury our message because of a few stupid members. Its VERY important these kids learn some truth, not just the crap they hear on the 5:00 news. If I could (Now that I know the final effect) I would change all swearing on this sight to f***, s###, B**## and so on.

That been said, be aware of those who continue to drop the words. Especially for no reason at all "shmoo","B.S", and others. They're either incredably stupid or ENEMY moles.

The schools are blocking or censoring sites. K-6 should be learning the three R's etc and not surfing the net during school. 7-9 same thing 10 - 12 should have a little leeway during study period. But for most part they should be cracking the books and not surfing the net. Besides if they can't get it at school they will get it at home. Kids will find a way to get what they want. I know I did and nothing would have stopped me from finding it out. And no I do not get paid.

Well that just about takes the cake. Schmoo the enemy mole from RIAA headquarters, just here to cuss and get a check. Nice job if you can it.

Povertystricken, you need to back up the bus with these assinine accusations that defy logic. Do you realize what kind of music is at the top ten of most school kids? Shmoo doesn't even come close to those artists for cursewords. This is the music these kids are paying for...RIAA supported artists who really do swear to get a check.

Shmoo's username is Independentmusician. He and his band Electric Gypsy are the kind of musicians who daily have to fight the RIAA and their radio DJ buddies just to get their music to apparently ungrateful consumers like you. He is one of the people this website and DMusic was formed for. He's been fighting the fight for all of us for a long time, before anybody even thought of downloading music over the internet.

Keep going, shmoo. At least some of us know where you stand.

Povertystricken--Pinemikey's right. Shmoo's been here a long time, and deserves a lot more respect than that. I simply disagree with him on this one point--but no one here would ever believe he's a mole. He is entitled to his opinions just like everyone else, including you. Shmoo reminds me of my own son, about whom my mother used to say: "He was born knowing all his rights, and demanding every one of them!"

OK I apologize for my "assinine accusations that defy logic" no disrespect intended on any loyal members. This article made me think about censorship on a new level. I don't want to see any of us censored. My boycott RIAA passion kicked in, in a dmusic forum. I was afraid that might happen. I hardly know any of the dmusic folks, so I didn't mean to directly accuse anyone of anything.

Don't censor yourself with free speech. I won't anymore. I learned something from this thread.

If you can access the site on some days but not others, then it's not blocked.
It's either the computer or the server is having a problem that day or that moment.

Even if it is blocked, then it's probably blocked due to the fact that this site sometimes can get rather raunchy and the school will get sued cause their kids read someone writting nasty words.


I don't consider banning things on internet at schools or libraries to be censorship. The school and the library own the computer and I think they should be able to set up how they wish. Also, if my tax dollars are going to education to educate, then that's what should be going on. I don't believe our tax dollars should be going to pay for internet servers, etc.

Thanks for the defense folks, but I actually encourage others to say what they wish when they disagree with me.

I dropped the "f-bombs" for the very specific reason of protesting against censorship.
Crude and vulgar? Yeah. But sometimes you need to exercise a muscle if you don't want to loose it.

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy
Support Local and Independent Music!

They just block the days I post

Some schools have overpaid idiots co-ordinating the computer system, and as I speak from personal experience, on any given day, any thing may or may not work.

I am not sure if certain words make some cites censored by some schools. They are not censored out of books in the school's library.

Vern, maybe you should be studying English, paying a little more attention to spelling and sentence structure. We know for sure at least one word you can spell!

The ONE teacher I blame for screwing things up is little Georgie Bush's first grade teacher...She should have held him back til her learned to read..or, at least, Use his "edumacation" bone!

lol...til "he learned"...not "her learned"...

My edumacation bone "ain't working neither"

We know school admins would NEVER do anything illegal...or would they?
http://forums.rpghost.com/showthread.php?t=22461&goto=nextoldest
Kimball took his findings about Sharpstown High to CBS affiliate KHOU-TV, which first reported the dropout scandal.

Then, he went to State Rep. Rick Noriega. In Noriega’s largely Hispanic, mostly poor district, many kids start high school, but never finish.

“In my district in particular, where I have many of my high schools, 1,000 ninth-grade students, yet only approx 300 or so will walk the stage four years later and receive a diploma. A big question should go off in people’s heads, where are the other students?” says Noriega, who asked the state to find out.

Investigators checked half of the city’s regular high schools. They reviewed the records of nearly 5,500 students who left those schools, and checked how the schools explained it. They found that almost 3,000 students should have been, but weren’t, coded as dropouts. The audit substantiated Kimball’s allegations.

“The problem is the lack of integrity that’s being demonstrated when you say there’s such a low dropout rate, when we know, everyone knows, that 30 to 40 percent of the kids are dropping out of schools," says Kimball.

60 Minutes wanted to ask Houston school officials about Kimball’s charges, but they wouldn’t talk on camera. They said they wouldn’t “get a fair shake.” But they did meet off camera, and they argued that the audit proved outright fraud only at Sharpstown High.

At the other schools, they contended, the false statistics were due to “confusion” about the complex state system for coding students, and sloppy bookkeeping. They conceded, however, that Houston’s “official” 1.5 percent dropout rate was not accurate.

cencorship just allows us to use our rad skills to get around it and veiw the good stuff

You know, this thing the Bush people keep coming up with is really getting old--we can't find his records, we really tried. Whoops!! We found some more, would you look at that!! Wow, we didn't mean to delete the part of the record about the prisoner abuse--it was just an oversight. Here it is!!! And the worst, in my opinion, is the No Child Left Behind scam. Mandates without the money to implement them, schools where the student body just disappears; they all started school together, but some of them just went away--poof!! And the superintendent of the very school system that is now in court is the secretary of education for the president who pushed this No Child Left Behind crap on all of us. Look at the post above, and tell me if this educational process is working...and I'm not picking on Logan aka Vern. But if he's in high school, and that is the best he can do, he should demand his money back, because he's going to need it. Any of you who still want to vote for Bush, just check out what the man has done for education--and remember, that's YOUR future, too.

Very good points, ShadowMom.
In Pennsylvania, an assessment test (PSSA) is given in the 5th, 8th, and 11th grades, I believe. Now, we have 501 school districts in this state. That means 501 superintendents. Some districts have two assistant superintendents. Then there are the principals and assistant principals. Salaries differ from one district to another. But great test scores mean bigger salaries for the administration.
The test scores are published. School districts are compared.
A neighboring, more affluent district, had very high scores on these tests. Then it was discovered that the "weaker, minority" students were absent on the days that this PSSA was administered. Hmmm.

I think each state has its own test, Lachatte. In Florida, we have the FCAT, which is universally hated by students, parents, and every teacher I ever talked to. Schools are also given a "grade" every year which supposedly shows how much progress they have made toward the goal of "No Child Left Behind." Since we have a large population of non-English speakers, we run into a few problems. Some of the schools that get grades of "A" are such a joke, many people here no longer pay any attention to them. Most of the school year is spent teaching the FCAT--in other words, teaching students how to take a particular test--and whatever time is left over is spent in actually teaching curriculum. We have had our problems, too, because of the reward system and the penalties that are assessed for failing schools, such as teachers accused of cheating. One teacher reportedly was caught erasing students' answers on the test. This sort of environment fosters one thing--fear. If they want to do something about the drop-out rate, they really need to re-think the structure of testing and teaching. There are some great teachers out there, if only they would let them do their jobs!

The people out there who advocate these types of tests are just fooling themselves. School administrators and state politcians who push this garbage are only thinking about themselves...how can I get myself elected to another term? They figure they'll be long gone before the corrosive effects of their school systems causes the education system to crumble upon itself.