The real issue with New York’s free Internet kiosks isn’t adult content

New York City's free Internet kiosks are getting a big downgrade after the company that operates them said users were hogging the on-street machines to watch movies and pornography. A spokesperson for LinkNYC said that no filter is perfect and that it's difficult to strike a balance between blocking content that some people might deem innocuous and maximizing the kiosks' usefulness to members of the public. The spokesperson said that LinkNYC faced a bigger problem: People are overturning newspaper boxes and pulling up chairs in front of the kiosks to settle in, keeping others from using the devices. The company said it is weighing policies that might prevent the nuisance, such as time limits and cooldown periods where the kiosk's Web browsing feature becomes inactive. While that could deter some from abusing the tablets, it may also make life more difficult for the next people who want to use them.