This is my response, which I could not submit directly apparently because of this bug.
freedomPusher
joined 4 years ago
MODERATOR OF
Libraries in Belgium brought in sewing machines so women could create what they need for menstruation. I don’t understand it.. but I don’t have to.
I saw a list somewhere of libraries around the world that allow non-residents to have access. In general, most libraries are restricted to local residents.
In Belgium, there are two library networks, a French network and a Dutch network. The French network gives people a gratis membership. The Dutch network charges €5/year.
I’ve not heard of any book bans, but there are notable restrictions for using the info systems. Using a PC is often limited to an 1 hour. Bulk downloading is prohibited, Tor is blocked, Invidious is blocked, some specific branches are skiddish about attaching a USB drive to printer, some won’t allow a PDF to be opened directly from a USB drive, etc.
Price of printing is getting crazy & out of touch with inflation. I think it was 5¢ per page a year ago. Now it’s 10¢ in some branches and 15¢ in others. Which is ridiculous.. inflation did not triple in the past year.
Someone on the Invidious project says the copyright issue is “complicated”.. that it’s a murky grey area. I’m not sure a library would research it diligently and might rather block it out of risk aversion.
So this is why I’m looking for concrete information.
Running my own instance is a non-starter because it’s my own bandwidth limitations that bring me to the library to begin with. I think kavin.rocks blocks the library. But other piped instances might be worth a look. Though if it works it probably won’t work for long before the library shuts them down too.
Has anyone tried to access #Piped from a public library? It’s a web-based front-end that requires no client-side installation, correct?
I keep encountering libraries that block Invidious.
Thanks for the tip. I avoid lemmy.world as much as possible (Cloudflare & exclusive; centralized both because of CF and simply due to sheer size). The French one might be interesting. Would I get away with machine-translated posts there?
I might query the honeypot site but then what? I’m not sure it would answer the question.
I’m looking for patterns. All Tor exit nodes get hostile treatment by Cloudlfare, no exceptions. I once started using a new exit node the moment it was deployed and it immediately got blocked by CF. That means CF is targeting and that IP reputation is not necessarily earned. People whose ISPs use CGNAT also get blocked by Cloudflare because IP addresses are shared (to save money). Other non-Tor users have complained about CF exclusion. Cloudflare is non-transparent about who they block.
So I’m specifically interested in libraries. Is there a systemic pattern of libraries getting blocked, or is this a one-off case where a library user did something bad and got the library blocked.
Is this something that should be fought? Or is the library mitigating a real copyright offense?
It seems like quite a hit on the library benefits that we cannot effectively “check-out” #Youtube videos.
Brussels has a French language library network and a (Dutch language) Flemish library network. IIUC, every library is in one or the other.
I would generally be at home in the city, not on-the-move. But I was ½ tempted to get a portable bluetooth speaker w/DAB+ which might be tempting to take cycling. Based on what you’re saying, I suppose it should also have FM or I should plan on playing from the phone’s collection when moving.
There are still some CDs at one of the branches so it’s also possible that they were just shedding less popular albums. I noticed someone who spends a lot of time at the PC just listening to music from Youtube. If he wants to listen at home to whatever he’s finding on YT, he’s probably stuffed.
I’m not sure if there is an effective DRM mechanism to give the library control like that, but it would be the same problem unless they also negotiate something with Google in a way that compensates Google. I guess the big problem is that Google is the gatekeeper to begin with. If there were a deal in place, I guess I still would not be enthusiastic about doing something that feeds Google.