Well, some good news for the family of Julie Amero, a woman who was arrested and prosecuted for failing to stop popup porn ads from being displayed on the PC that she was in her classroom when she was a substitute teacher at the school. After much grief, it appears that the system is finally starting to back down and concede partial defeat. The local media, on the other hand, is continuing to fullfil its role as a good defender of Der Staat by attacking her for being just plain dumb:
Whether Amero was purposefully exploring pornographic Web sites, or was the victim of a technological assault, is irrelevant. She was the adult entrusted with the safety of those children, and she failed.
The simple explanation for the rest of the behavior they accuse her of is that she was embarrassed and terrified of what was going on. Ever seen someone who knows nothing about how computers work get hit by an unholy shit storm of popups? The look of helplessness alone is enough to evoke sympathy in most civilized people. If we prosecuted people for being stupid and technological neophytes, that alone would see the demise of the mainstream media overnight, but I suspect that that point is lost on the editorialist.
Who happens to be anonymous. Go figure...
A woman who doesn't have the basic sense to just rip out the power chord in a case like that shouldn't be teaching. That part they have right, but not the reason. If she is not able to evaluate the situation and just do something like that, it's dubious what sort of value she brings to the school anyway, is it not? Still, that doesn't make her a malicious skank out to corrupt the morals of the yooots of America. It just means that her intelligence and powers of reasoning are sufficiently suspect that she probably shouldn't be teaching.
Funny thing too the editorial conveniently left out while trying to smear this poor woman's good name. What was going on in her classroom while she was on break? No doubt, the same computer scientists who are smearing her, would hang this guy out to dry. This is why we need the blogosphere, I suppose.
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Isn't the school administration responsible for allowing these computers into the classrooms without proper pop-up blockers in place? I smell a lawsuit...
One could make that charge, but I doubt that it would get very far because the system looks out for its own. That would, however, be a definite mitigating factor on appeal with the sort of testimony that they can get from the real security experts.
Now that you brought it up Pablo, the will probably pass yet another law.
(sigh)
I would like to see her blame the computer's owner (the school district), the IT policy managers (insufficient safeguards permitting such things to get through the school- owned servers), and the IT staff (possible remote access issues).
It is senseless to hold anyone personally responsible for things that are beyond their control.
I really don't understand why she didn't just TURN OFF the computer if it was being annoying and offensive???
One word description: MORON
Where is her union? You know, the ones that back graphic explanations of homosexual activity and such in that same school? And the ACLU who fights to make it available in every library out there unfettered for these same children to access?
I think the school officals and the DA saw more than justice served in prosecuting this women....promotion,promotion promotion! What better way to gain the trust and admiration of the public than to rid the school system of an immoral person bent on harming children.....