QuickLinks - Rating and filtering

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Issue no. 358 - 21 April 2006

• FR - Free parental control software in France (EDRI)
  As a result of the agreement signed between the French ISPs and the Ministry of the Family on 16 November 2005, starting with 1 April 2006, most of the ISPs started providing a free of charge parental control software to their subscribers. voir aussi Les FAI filtrent plus Net. (01Net). Depuis le 1er avril, la plupart des fournisseurs d'accès mettent à la disposition de leurs abonnés un logiciel de contrôle parental gratuit. C'est le résultat d'un accord passé avec le ministère de la Famille.

• US - Attorney-General calls for mandatory Web labeling law (CNET News.com)
  by Declan McCullagh. Web site operators posting sexually explicit information must place official government warning labels on their pages or risk being imprisoned for up to five years, the Bush administration proposed. A mandatory rating system will 'prevent people from inadvertently stumbling across pornographic images on the Internet,' Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at an event in Alexandria, Va. see Internet Content Rating Association Response (ICRA). ICRA strongly believes that self-regulation of legal Internet content leads to the best balance between the free flow of digital content and the protection of children from potentially harmful material. A nationally mandated system like the one proposed today for sites with sexually explicit material cannot guarantee international compliance. US - Attorney-General gives child porn 'wake-up call'

• US - Violent video games often not properly labeled (Reuters)
  Most video games rated 'M' for mature audiences fail to disclose violent content on their labels and can easily fall into the hands of children, according to a study. 'Parents should not interpret the absence of a content descriptor to mean the absence of content,' said the study's author, Kimberly Thompson of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Issue no. 357 - 26 March 2006

• AU - Filters cause reduction in network performance (NetAlert)
  Research into the use of filters in the broadband environment confirms that accessing the Internet through a content filter at the Internet Service Provider (ISP) level leads to a significant reduction in network performance. Network performance was reduced by 18 per cent for the best performing filter and almost 78 per cent on the worst performing filter. The research also demonstrated variable filter performance across the different categories of restricted content. Even the most effective filter in terms of accuracy, only blocked 76 per cent of the selected list of potentially offensive URLs used in the testing.

• BoingBoing banned in UAE, Qatar, elsewhere. (BoingBoing)
  Boing Boing is blocked by entire countries including the United Arab Emirates, and by many library systems, schools, US government and military sites, and corporations. Internet Qatar, the sole ISP in the State of Qatar, has also banned BoingBoing. At fault in most of these cases is a US-based censorware company called Secure Computing, which makes a web-rating product called SmartFilter.

• Microsoft readies Windows Live parental controls (CNET News.com)
  Microsoft is inviting testers to try an early version of new parental control software for Windows XP called Windows Live Family Safety Settings. The parental controls software lets people filter online content, Microsoft said in an e-mail invitation to testers. It is designed to help keep Web content that parents deem inappropriate from reaching their children--such as items on alcohol, pornography, gambling and tobacco.

• Nouvelle mise à l'épreuve pour le contrôle parental (01net)
  L'association e-enfance a testé l'efficacité des logiciels de tous les fournisseurs d'accès à Internet. AOL sort nettement du lot.

• Oxford Internet Institute joins research on Internet filtering (OII)
  The Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford has joined the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a programme established in 2003 to study state-sponsored filtering of the Internet. This worldwide initiative is a joint project undertaken by the University of Toronto, Cambridge University, and the Berkman Centre for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, in addition to Oxford.

Issue no. 354 - 31 January 2006

• Do Web filters protect your child? (CNET News.com)
  The recent DOJ subpoena for search records from Google and others - an attempt, the department says, to determine the effectiveness of Web porn filters - has raised the question of just how well such filters work. Experts say the technology is not flawless, but it has become more sophisticated. Still, filtering companies have to handle an exploding amount of content, and they're grappling with new kinds of Web-capable devices, such as the video iPod and cell phones.

Issue no. 353 - 15 January 2006

• The filtering Matrix (FirstMonday)
  by Nart Villeneuve. Integrated Mechanisms of Information Control and the Demarcation of Borders in Cyberspace. Increasingly, states are adopting practices aimed at regulating and controlling the Internet as it passes through their borders. Seeking to assert information sovereignty over their cyber-territory, governments are implementing Internet content filtering technology at the national level. The implementation of national filtering is most often conducted in secrecy and lacks openness, transparency, and accountability. Policy-makers are seemingly unaware of significant unintended consequences, such as the blocking of content that was never intended to be blocked. Once a national filtering system is in place, governments may be tempted to use it as a tool of political censorship or as a technological "quick fix" to problems that stem from larger social and political issues.

Issue no. 350 - 4 December 2005

• DK - Filter blocks Danes from accessing child pornography (DPA)
  Some 1,200 Internet users in Denmark try to access child pornography websites each day, but a month-old blocking filter, so far only available to customers of telecommunications group TDC, has has thwarted most attempts. Danish police, Internet service provider TDC and child advocacy group Save the Children Denmark have developed the filter to block access to child pornography sites. Similar filters are in use in neighbouring Norway and Sweden. Norway introduced the system a year ago, Sweden put its system online in May. When a customer attempts to access a website known to contain child pornography, a blocking site automatically pops up, containing information about the filter, as well as a link to the police. About two thirds of the Danish surfers who are blocked give up quickly, while a third spend more than five minutes trying to access the material before giving up, police said. Danish police have listed some 1,300 sites containing illegal child pornography. All are based outside Denmark.

• Google fixes glitch that unleashed flood of porn (CNET News.com)
  A technology glitch temporarily turned Google's new personal listings service, Google Base, into a vast, virtual red-light district. Google Base is the search company's foray into free classified listings and other user-generated content. Anyone can use the service to classify and post all kinds of information, from business services and used cars for sale to recipes and photos. Google Base allows adult content but should filter most of it if visitors use the company's SafeSearch feature, which blocks pornographic material from appearing in search results. That wasn't the case earlier this week, however, due to a technical glitch that allowed porn to leak into Google Base search results.

• More Swedes seek net child porn (Australian IT)
  The number of Swedes seeking out sexual images involving children on the internet is on the rise, the Swedish chapter of the anti-child pornography group Ecpat said. Ecpat, which stands for End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, has joined forces with Swedish police and 12 internet operators to block access across Sweden to sites containing child pornography.

• Sony plans parental controls for PS3 (News.com)
  Parents concerned about the kind of material their children are exposed to should be resting a little easier today. Sony has decided to implement parental controls on its next-generation video game console, PlayStation 3.

• Tests des logiciels de contrôle parental (Action Innocence)
  Le projet Filtra a pour but de tester les logiciels de contrôle parental. Publication des tests septembre 2005 ! Notre nouvelle session de tests est terminée. Nous avons publié les résultats qui sont très satisfaisants dans l'ensemble. Il n'y a vraiment aucune raison de ne pas installer un logiciel de contrôle parental sur l'ordinateur familiale. Une protection incontournable ! Le top 5 1. eye.KIDZ V2.4.2 2. Zenbow-Internet Protection Key 3. Optenet PCFilter 9.4 4. Enologic NetFilter 3.0.0.2 5. Trend Micro Internet Security 12

Issue no. 349 - 27 November 2005

• AT -"Positivprädikatisierung" für Computerspiele in Österreich (Heise)
  "Gute" Computer- und Konsolenspiele sollen in Österreich künftig mit einem Pickerl (Aufkleber) der Bundesstelle für die Positivprädikatisierung (BuPP) versehen werden. Diese Gutachter-Kommission wurde im August von Familienministerin Ursula Haubner, Schwester des BZÖ-Chefs Jörg Haider, ins Leben gerufen, um unter den rund 15.000 jährlich erscheinenden Titeln die "guten" zu finden. Nun liegt die erste Liste mit 29 empfohlenen Spielen vor. Haubner hofft auf einen Lenkungseffekt hin zu "empfehlenswerten, unbedenklichen und nicht gewaltdominierten Computerspielen".

• FR - Le contrôle parental sera inclus dans les abonnements internet début 2006 (ZDNet France)
  Les FAI se sont engagés à fournir dans leurs kits un logiciel de contrôle parental, que les abonnés pourront activer, s'ils le souhaitent, dès l'installation de leur connexion. Sans augmenter le prix de leur abonnement, garantit le ministre de la Famille. voir aussi Contrôle parental sur Internet : Relevé de conclusions (Ministère de la Famille et de l'Enfance) et Protection de l´enfance sur Internet : des engagements concrets et opérationnels (AFA - Association française des fournisseurs d'accès et des services Internet).

• TN - Internet Filtering in Tunisia in 2005 (OpenNet Initiative)
  A country study documents Tunisia's attempts to control Internet information, including the filtering of Web sites, blogs, and anonymizer services. Drawing on open sources and a detailed year-long technical investigation, ONI research describes Tunisia's aggressive targeting and blocking of on-line content, including political opposition Web sites, human rights groups, and sites that provide access to privacy-enhancing technologies.

Issue no. 347 - 19 October 2005

• O2 to become the first company to win web trust mark (Press Release)
  O2 is set to become the first company worldwide to be granted a new automated, machine-readable trustmark for accessibility of its corporate website, www.o2.com. The trustmark awarded by Segala - an independent web certification specialist - is an endorsement of the importance O2 places on the ability of people of all age groups and capabilities to view and engage with content on the company's corporate website. The Segala trustmark is expected to be adopted by leading Internet search engines, enabling web users to filter for content that is specifically accessible to people with disabilities as well as protecting certain groups, such as children, from inappropriate web content. The core system was developed under the Quatro project, part of the EU Safer Internet Programme, and in addition to accessibility information, the label includes ICRA (Internet Content Rating Association) descriptors. The trustmark can be displayed wherever the user is on a site, assuring them that the website conforms to industry guidelines.

• AU - Porn filtering back on agenda (Australian IT)
  Internet content regulation has dropped off the radar for the moment in a world now more concerned with terrorist attacks than pop-up pornography. But bubbling away in the background there is a growing push across party political lines and the conservative/radical divide for tougher regulation.

• QUATRO project news (ICRA)
  The QUATRO project has issued its first newsletter to provide an overview of the work so far completed. The core aim of the project is to allow trustmarks, also known as quality labels, to become both interoperable and machine-readable as part of the Semantic Web. ICRA's recent change in technology platforms from PICS to RDF is part of this same process.

• SA - Saudi Arabia Blocks Blogger and Flickr, Again (Global Voices)
  The Internet Services Unit (ISU) at King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the governing body of the internet in Saudi Arabia, have blocked Blogger, denying users inside the country accessing their blogs. They have also blocked photos from the popular photo hosting service Flickr. Users still can log on to the site, but photos are no longer visible.

• Study Says Software Makers Supply Tools to Censor Web (New York Times)
  It should come as no surprise that the Internet in Myanmar, the southeast Asian state once known as Burma and in the iron grip of a military cabal for decades, is heavily filtered and carefully monitored. But a new report from the OpenNet Initiative, a human rights project linking researchers from the University of Toronto, Harvard Law School and Cambridge University in Britain, once again raises tough questions about the use of filtering technologies - often developed by Western companies - by autocratic governments bent on controlling what their citizens see on the Web.

• Study: Overzealous filters hinder research (eSchool News)
  The internet-content filters most commonly used by schools block needed, legitimate content more often than not, according to a study by a university librarian, Lynn Sutton, director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Her report was presented at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) conference in Pittsburgh.

• UK - 'G' spot on (CommsWatch)
  There is research evidence that television viewers would welcome more guidance, especially in the form of labelling, on the content of programming that is inappropriate for young children or might be offensive to older children or adults. Now the BBC is trialling a labelling system known as the "G" system. The BBC system is different from the other labelling systems mentioned because it uses the electronic programme guide (EPG) rather than the screening of the actual programme and it is uses text descriptors rather than the blunter instrument of age-grading (although it could be combined with an age grade).

• UK - Parents Offered Latest Filtering Software Through 29,000 Schools (Net4Now)
  Whilst most schools employ network level filtering to protect pupils from unsuitable material online, many home PCs are not covered to the same extent, and do not deliver the same quality or control. This can be an additional problem in an era where children are frequently more computer literate - and familiar with the web - than their parents. With this in mind, web filtering company Brightfilter has launched a partnership project with the UK's 29,000 primary and secondary schools, offering them an opportunity to introduce parents to one of the most sophisticated, new generation filtering products on the market. Through the scheme, letters will go out in bookbags and via standard school/parent information networks, offering information about the product, and free trials to parents.

Issue no. 346 - 2 October 2005

• Altersverifikation soll ein gutes Geschäft werden (Heise)
  Die Schufa und Fun Communications erwarten gute Geschäfte mit ihren Altersverifizierungssystemen. Beide Systeme, die kürzlich von der Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) in einer nicht öffentlichen Sitzungen zugelassen wurden, nehmen Anbietern die von der KJM geforderten Face-to-Face-Prüfungen ab. Die Face-to-Face-Überprüfung des Alters der Kunden haben bei den beiden von der KJM empfohlenen Systemen bereits die angeschlossenen Bank- und Kreditinstitute vorgenommen.

• FR - Vers un verrouillage automatique des accès à Internet (Madame Figaro)
  Pédocriminalité, pornographie, incitation à la haine raciale, aux violences, à l'anorexie, au suicide... Les dangers du Web sont nombreux et à portée de main des plus jeunes. Parmi de nombreuses mesures de sensibilisation et de partenariat avec les acteurs de l'Internet, le gouvernement devrait imposer aux fournisseurs d'accès à Internet (FAI) de proposer gratuitement à leurs abonnés une solution de contrôle parental activée par défaut, autrement dit automatique. Configurable par les parents avec des critères pré-établis, ce contrôle se mettrait en route à chaque connexion, contraignant tout adulte à le désinstaller s'il n'en veut pas. «A l'heure actuelle, l'accès à ces outils est compliqué, les parents doivent aller chercher le logiciel de contrôle dans des onglets qui diffèrent d'un FAI à un autre, ils sont souvent inconfigurables, en plus de quoi ils sont facturés en sus de l'abonnement !, s'indigne Christine du Fretay, présidente de l'association e-enfance/Communiquer en toute sécurité. Il est temps d'arrêter l'hypocrisie des FAI qui, depuis quatre ans, font preuve de résistance et de mauvaise foi ! On ne construit pas de voiture sans ceinture de sécurité. Il ne faut pas d'ordinateur sans contrôle parental.». Protection des mineurs: les opinions divergent sur la procédure automatique (silicon.fr) et Une petite minorité de parents contrôlent l'activité de leurs enfants sur la Toile (Le Monde)

Issue no. 345 - 25 September 2005

• FR - Label « Famille ». (Forum des droits sur l'internet)
  Dans le cadre de la Conférence de la famille qui s'est tenue le 22 septembre 2005, le Premier ministre, Dominique de Villepin, a confié au Forum des droits sur l'internet la mission d'établir le cahier des charges d'un label « Famille ». Ce label permettra d'indiquer aux parents les services, outils et informations présentant les meilleures garanties quant à la protection de leurs enfants. Il incitera les professionnels à se doter de bonnes pratiques en matière d'information du public, de fournitures d'outils techniques de protection et de coopération avec les autorités de police. Par ailleurs, le Forum se réjouit tout particulièrement de l´annonce d´une campagne nationale de sensibilisation des familles aux moyens de maîtriser les usages de l´internet.

• FR - Protection des mineurs: le gouvernement met la pression sur les FAI (ZDNet France)
  Le gouvernement veut que les logiciels de filtrage et de contrôle parental deviennent une fonction standard de l'accès internet pour protéger les mineurs de «contenus choquants, voire traumatisants», a indiqué Dominique de Villepin. «Je souhaite renforcer l'obligation qui pèse sur les fournisseurs d'accès afin que ces logiciels soient disponibles automatiquement et pour tous», a déclaré le Premier Ministre à l'occasion de la Conférence nationale de la famille 2005. Le directeur de la Délégation aux usages de l'internet (DUI), Benoît Sillard, a rappelé qu'il n'est pas question d'imposer aux FAI de "contrôler les sites", mais bien de fournir aux parents un outil leur permettant d´exercer ce contrôle. Une partie du prochain Baromètre des usages de l'internet que la DUI fait réaliser par Médiamétrie porte sur la protection des mineurs : elle révèle que 83 % des parents n'ont pas de logiciel de protection en service. Voir le Communiqué de presse. voir aussi Intervention du Premier ministre lors de la Conférence de la famille. voir aussi Les parents peinent à encadrer leurs enfants sur le Net (Libération).

• NO - Telenor and KRIPOS introduce Internet child pornography filter (Press Release)
  Telenor and KRIPOS, the Norwegian National Criminal Investigation Service, have introduced a new filter against child pornography on the Internet. The filter, which is one of the first of its kind, will prevent access to web sites containing sexual abuse of children. The filter will be placed centrally at Telenor, and no installation at customers' computers will be required. KRIPOS will provide lists of web sites containing child pornography, and Telenor will handle the technical management of the filter. Should any of Telenor's customers attempt to open a web site containing child pornography, a blocking site will automatically pop up, containing information about the filter, as well as a link to KRIPOS.

• UK - Supervise your kids online as software is not enough (out-law.com)
  Most parental control software aimed at protecting children online is far from foolproof and human supervision is recommended, according to Computing Which? The consumer magazine tested six popular parental control packages. Which? found that most were too difficult for parents to understand and manage. Only Apple's Tiger operating system scored top marks for ease, said the magazine.

Issue no. 344 - 18 September 2005

• FI - Finnish ISPs must voluntarily block access (EDRI-gram)
  Ms Leena Luhtanen, Minister of Transport and Communications, has announced that Finnish ISPs will implement a censorship system to curb access to foreign web pages containing child pornography. Ms Luhtanen's plan is framed as a voluntary scheme of industry self-regulation, instead of mandatory regulation. The ministry contends that this is allowable under the constitution, and points out that similar systems are already in use in Sweden and Norway.

• FR - Filtrage automatique des contenus : l'ordre moral s'enhardit (IRIS)
  L'association IRIS (Imaginons un réseau Internet solidaire) apprend que le gouvernement aurait l'intention d'instaurer, par une mesure législative, le filtrage automatique et par défaut de l'accès à l'information en ligne, au prétexte de la protection des mineurs. Une proposition d'amendement législatif aurait ainsi été adoptée au cours d'une réunion interministérielle. L'annonce de cette proposition serait prévue le 22 septembre prochain, au cours de la Conférence de la famille 2005. La mesure pourrait être introduite dans le prochain projet de loi sur la prévention de la délinquance. L'amendement consisterait à ajouter à la loi pour la confiance dans l'économie numérique (LEN), après le paragraphe sur les moyens techniques de filtrage (Article 6-I.1), la disposition suivante: « Ils [les fournisseurs d'accès à Internet] mettent en oeuvre auprès de tous leurs abonnés, de manière automatique, des dispositifs techniques performants et activés par défaut qui permettent de restreindre l'accès aux services de communication au public en ligne mettant en péril les mineurs. Un décret en Conseil d'Etat fixe les modalités du présent article.»

• UK - BBC may introduce internet rating (BBC)
  The BBC could bring in an internet TV rating system to help people decide what to watch online. The internet labelling system will let viewers know if BBC programmes available over the internet contain sex, strong language or violence. Programmes that could be viewed on the internet 'on-demand' are not subject to normal broadcasting watersheds. The BBC will carry out a three-month trial with a 'G' for programmes that require parental guidance. see also BBC trials guidance labelling system for online programmes (Revolution).

• US - Games watchdog warns over content (BBC)
  Games publishers in the US have been told by the industry's watchdog that they must declare any hidden content in games released since September 2004. It follows the uproar over secret sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which were unlocked by a fan.

Issue no. 343 - 4 September 2005

• AU - Subsidies proposed for net porn filters (AAP)
  Australian Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has called for a subsidy on the cost of internet filtering so families can better protect their children from violent and pornographic websites.

• CA - Telus Breaks Net Providers Cardinal Rule (Michael Geist)
  Internet service providers always seem to get the first call when a problem arises on the Internet. Lawmakers want them to assist with investigations into cybercrime, parents want them to filter out harmful content, consumers want them to stop spam, and copyright holders want them to curtail infringement. Despite the urge to hold ISPs accountable for such activities, the ISP community has been remarkably successful in maintaining a position of neutrality. Given the importance of the neutrality principle, it came as a shock to learn last week that Telus, Canada's second largest telecommunications company, was actively blocking access to Voices for Change, a website supporting the Telecommunications Workers Union.

• DE - SCHUFA weitet Altersüberprüfung im Internet aus (Heise)
  Um Jugendliche vom Besuch ihrer Internetseiten abzuhalten, hat die Reemtsma-Zigarettenfabrik, Hamburg, in dieser Woche ein Altersverifizierungsverfahren der SCHUFA eingesetzt. Die deutschen Internetseiten der Zigarettenmarken West, Davidoff, Drum, Cabinet und John Player Special (JPS) stehen Nutzern seitdem nur nach einer Identitätsüberprüfung offen, bei der Name, Adresse und Alter anhand der bei der SCHUFA gespeicherten Daten überprüft werden. Reemtsma, Teil der Imperial Tobacco Group, teilt mit, man habe dieses Verfahren auf Grund der brancheneigenen Bestimmungen zum Jugendschutz eingeführt. Die Überprüfungsmöglichkeit nutzen schon jetzt verschiedene Freemail-Anbieter, Online-Auktionshäuser wie azubo und die Firstgate AG, ein Anbieter von Zahlungssystemen im Internet.

• DE/US - IP carrier Level3 blocks website on router level (Heise)
  The US IP carrier Level3 has blocked access by German customers to a website and the IP address that goes with it. The website in question is a commercial "Snuff Site" that without effective age limitation of any kind offers against payment videos of, for example, genuine executions or of people killed as a result of natural disasters (such as, for instance, of victims of the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean). According to its own statements the German branch of Level3 was made aware of the site by the German organization dedicated to the protection of children and adolescents jugendschutz.net. The child protection organization had called on the company to remove the content from the Net.

• SG - Internet Filtering in Singapore (Berkman Center for Internet & Society)
  The university-based OpenNet Initiative (ONI)has released Internet Filtering in Singapore in 2004-2005, a report that documents the degree and extent to which the Republic of Singapore controls the information environment in which its citizens live, including websites, blogs, email, and online discussion forums. Compared to other countries with mandatory filtering regimes that ONI has closely studied, such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, Singapore's technical filtering system is among the most limited.

• UK - Nanny software 'fails to protect' children (Guardian)
  "Nanny" computer software, intended to shield children from offensive internet content, often fails to protect them from viewing pornographic and racist websites, according to a new survey. The consumer magazine Computing Which? gave two programs, Norton Internet Security 2005 and Microsoft's MSN Premium, scores of below 35% across a series of testsa series of tests.

• US - ESRB rescinds San Andreas' rating over Hot Coffee (GamesIndustry.biz)
  Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has been re-rated as AO (Adults Only) in the USA as the result of an investigation by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board into a sexually explicit mini-game that could be by following instructions online. The title was originally rated M (Mature), which is normally the highest rating granted by the ESRB to mainstream games and means that the title is suitable for over 17s. The far less common AO badge is seen as hugely commercially damaging, as the vast majority of US retailers have a policy of not carrying AO-rated titles.Rockstar now plans to remaster the game without the offending content, which will allow it to continue to see the title as M-rated; however, until those copies can be shipped out to replace existing stock, that stock will either have to be removed from shelves or re-stickered with an AO rating. GTA: San Andreas is unlikely to be re-rated in the UK where it has been given an 18 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), meaning that it is illegal for retailers to sell it to anybody under that age. see also Video gaming - Chasing the dream (Economist).

• UK - Parents 'ignore game age ratings' (BBC)
  Parents tend to ignore warnings on games that say they are unsuitable for children, research shows. A study commissioned by the UK games industry found that parents let children play games for adults, even though they knew they were 18-rated. Like movies, all games receive an age classification. This works through a two-tier system involved the British Board of Film Classification and a voluntary European setup known as Pegi. But the research presented at the Elspa (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) summit in London suggests that few parents pay much attention to the age ratings.Most people knew that games had age ratings, the study by the Swiss research firm Modulum showed.However, parents were still letting their children play 18-rated games. The research showed that parents were more concerned about children spending too many hours playing games, rather than about what type of title they were playing. And to a certain degree, sticking an 18-rating on a game made that title more desirable. Mr Freund suggested that the problem was that parents felt disconnected from the world of video games and so showed little interest in this aspect of their children's lives.

Issue no. 342 - 31 July 2005

• DK - Denmark to get child porn filter (DR Nyheder)
  Danish police and Internet suppliers are planning to introduce a national child porn filter. The filter will make it harder for Danish paedophiliacs to access child porn on the Internet. It will block access to most child porn sites while at the same time informing people who try to enter these sites that they are breaking the law.

• ICRA Unveils New System To Make Internet Safer (Press Release)
  ICRA (the Internet Content Rating Association) has unveiled a new labelling system, based on the RDF (Resource Description Framework) standard, making the process of labelling across large complex websites far simpler in order to encourage many more major online brands to label their sites and thereby make the Internet considerably safer for children.

• NZ internet industry tests porn filter (Sydney Morning Herald)
  Internet industry groups in New Zealand are teaming up with the Government to test a system to filter out online child pornography. The Internal Affairs Department will test the British CleanFeed system, which was developed by Britain's Internet Watch Foundation and blocks access to sites that have been blacklisted for hosting such material, an industry group that monitors child porn online. The CleanFeed list of banned sites is updated through Web monitoring and public complaints.

• US - Content rating systems (USA Today)
  Summary of US content rating systems for video games, films, television and music.

Issue no. 340 - 23 June 2005

• UK - Parents 'ignore game age ratings' (BBC)
  Parents tend to ignore warnings on games that say they are unsuitable for children, research shows. A study commissioned by the UK games industry found that parents let children play games for adults, even though they knew they were 18-rated.

Issue no. 339 - 29 May 2005

• US - Long-awaited filter reviews (Net Family News)
  Consumer Reports latest review tests filters and finds 1) Filtering software has gotten better but is still flawed, 2) the 11 products tested are 'very good or excellent' at blocking porn 3) 'they blocked more than porn but not effectively' (not great at blocking hate and violence sites or those that aided weapons-making or advocated illegal drug use), and 4) they over-blocked. CR's top 3 picks were SafeBrowse 'for most people,' AOL's Parental Controls 'for Mac users or families with young children,' and Microsoft's Parental Controls 'if you use MSN or want protection built into your Internet service.' Here's the page with at-a-glance ratings of the 11 products reviewed.

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