[UPDATE 2/4/12] Great news. Last night, thanks to the rapid response of Free Press activists, Arizona State University lifted its blocking of student access to Change.org.
We hope ASU understands that its students' right to free speech online is paramount. Free Press has asked the university to scrutinize its Internet use policies to be sure they don't compromise our online freedoms.
This is a win in the ongoing fight to protect the open Internet. But Internet censorship like we saw at ASU is on the rise at home and around the globe. We need to fight it at every turn.
Arizona State University might need to change its name to Censorship U after deciding to block students' access to popular petition site Change.org.
Change.org happens to be hosting a petition created by ASU student Eric Haywood that protests rising tuition costs at the school.
This blocking could be violating the First Amendment rights of ASU students to speak freely and petition government.
When challenged about the website blocking, ASU officials claimed that Change.org is a spam site, writing that the blocking was conducted "to protect the use of our limited and valuable network resources for legitimate academic, research and administrative uses."
But Change.org is anything but spam. It's a perfectly lawful website that has helped millions take action on a host of important issues (disclaimer: I worked there as managing editor from 2008-2009).
The fact is, disabling access to any lawful site violates the spirit and principles of Net Neutrality, chills academic freedom and possibly rises to the level of a First Amendment violation. It's astonishing that ASU President Michael M. Crow would allow this to happen -- and that's why Free Press and Change.org are urging him to stop his school's censorship immediately.
We're at a moment when threats to online speech are peeking around every corner. Just last month, we beat back SOPA and PIPA, two bills in Congress that would have opened the door to online censorship from big corporations.
Now Arizona State University is going after free speech. If it gets away with this, other universities could be emboldened to follow suit. We must defend ASU students' right to speak online.
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In which case they probably have dozens of sites blocked out including things like facebook.
Its typically done to save bandwidth. Students really shouldn't be using the school's computers to be doing non-school related stuff. Or at least that's the policy of pretty much every university you will find
Most students LIVE at the school. The network is how everyone at the school connects to the internet - be it on a school computer in the lab or the student's personal computer in their dorm room. Students have every right to have a life outside of their academics and utilize the internet access THEY have paid for through their tuition.
"Spam is a mass mailing to different email address from one entity, undertaken for the purposes of financial gain. Change.org is the inverse. It solicits the masses to mail just one entity, and the petition is undertaken for the purpose of social change or altering a law or policy, not for for financial gain."
No spam was ever sent to any ASU student. ASU is full of crap.
As the publisher of thedailyshit.com and the author of the petition hosted by Change.org which can be found at;
http://www.change.org/petitions/arizona-state-board-of-regents-reduce-the-costs-of-education-for-arizona-state-university-students
It has been my experience as a student at ASU that ASU is not interested in fostering an environment that is respectful of the 1st Amendment...Nor am I of the opinion that ASU is concerned about the quality of education that it is tasked to provide. What I do believe is that ASU is far more interested in the financial exploitation of students above all other things...I believe that ASU is failing it's students and society as a result.
In other words, ASU cares about the money it can generate from the 72,000 plus students that are currently enrolled. We are nothing more than cows to be milked. Sheep to be sheared. We are livestock.
We, as students, are there for ASU. ASU is not there for us.
College in the U.S. is a pay-to-play business, the equivalent of paying an enterance fee before entering a casino. The quality and validity of your education are a gamble, the only thing you know for sure is you're going to pay for the roll of the dice.
Spam is a mass mailing to different email address from one entity, undertaken for the purposes of financial gain. Change.org is the inverse. It solicits the masses to mail just one entity, and the petition is undertaken for the purpose of social change or altering a law or policy, not for for financial gain.
ASU should not censor this site, the university is doing something immoral if they are.
You are correct, this is not a new problem...just more troubling now that the TP conservatives simply do not care at all about the health and well being of those less fortunate. Also, many of the TP have all their "benefits" now, and do not want the younger generation to benefit from the taxes they pay. I remember the "free speach" zones also, and such actions are truly meant to stifle opposing views...
Good luck!
Dave/