So, as a small contribution in celebration of the freedom to read, here are some book-related websites likely to be banned in some libraries and schools, as they are all blacklisted as "Sex".
The following are from SmartFilter , a censorware program made by Secure Computing. This program is used just because I had some work available from prior absurd blacklist examples . But the issues are general to all censorware, not any particular program.
Some book-related sites banned as "Sex" by SmartFilter, September 23 2002: [My comments, as to potential reasons, in brackets]
http://www.artandbooks.com/
"Cultural Connection at artandbooks.com is a source of quality art by
generally widely known or listed artists and antiquarian books: rare,
collectible and scholarly"
[My guess at the reason for the blacklisting (emphasis added):
"Our art collection includes African tribal art, American, antiques,
Asian, Eskimo, European, Far Eastern, Indian, Mid
Eastern, 17th, 18th and 19th century, 20th century, contemporary,
nudes, and precolumbian art."]
http://www.bookbucketgifts.com/
"Book Bucket Gifts- - childrens books, gift books, gift basket,
childrens literature, wedding gifts, baby shower gifts, baby gifts ..."
[Ahh, they have a section for "Adult Gifts", which they mean as "gifts
for the adults", not as a euphemism for erotic gifts - but the
censorware can't tell the difference]
http://www.boonebookwarehouse.com/
"Welcome to the Book Warehouse, proudly serving the
book needs of Boone and the High Country!
[I'm not sure about this one, maybe the problem was
the phrase "The hottest new titles now in stock"]
http://www.chinaberrybooks.com/
"Chinaberry offers items to support families in raising their children with love,."
[This is a classic, I'll quote the whole passage which I'm sure is the
reason they were blacklisted as a SEX site:
Adult Good Reads
Every so often we parents need to remember that we are ADULTS - people who can think in words that are longer than six letters and sentences that have more to do with the meaning of life than the necessities of life. There are days when, instead of infant stimulation or diaper changing or preschool carpooling or cooking or baking or conflict resolution or sock sorting or any other number of noble duties, we need a little adult stimulation. And for just these occasions, we've decided to include a few just plain "good reads" in this catalog. NOTE: Some of these books have complex adult themes and situations. They are meant for adults, not children.
http://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/
"Welcome to Hearts and Minds! ... a bookstore which attempts to
create a new space for serious, reflective readers. Unabashedly Christian ..."
[Let's see - maybe it was the references to "Youth Ministry", "Youth
Worker", "Christian Practices for Teens", and so on. Oh, the "filtering"]
http://www.peppercornbooks.com/
"Peppercorn Books - Publisher & Distributor of High Quality Books & Materials for Adult Education & Lifelong Learning"
[Hmm, "Adult Education" ... "adult learners" ... ]
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[Note - this material is not associated with or endorsed by, the ALA 's campaign for "Banned Books Week" . Merely inspired by it. ]
Update 1.1: They were finally all changed from "Sex" around October 14 2002
Older material:
SmartFilter - I've Got A Little List
SmartFilter's Greatest Evils
(if you subscribed a few months ago, please resubscribe due to a crash)
See more of Seth Finkelstein 's Censorware Investigations