QuickLinks - Rating and filtering

recent items

Issue no. 201 - 26 June 2001

• Television without Frontiers : amending the directive (RAPID)
  Mrs Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Education and Culture, RTL Group Management Conference, Venice, 22 June 2001. "In my view, there is a pressing need for a single, coherent classification system that covers all electronic content: television, Internet, computer games".

Issue no. 200 - 14 June 2001

• Filtering intro (Parents Information Network)
  Filtering and blocking access to 'undesirable' content or contact on the Internet is obviously something many parents wish to be able to do. The objective of these evaluations is to help parents with an interest in managing their children's Internet usage to decide which, if any, of the currently available Internet safety software will best suit their needs.

• Internet Filtering Company Says Mandatory Filtering Laws Aren't Needed (Press release)
  SurfControl and maker of Cyber Patrol, the most widely-used filtering technology in schools and homes, issued a statement against mandatory filtering as Massachusetts lawmakers debated the issue of requiring public libraries state-wide to use Internet filtering software.

• South Dakota: Fire, Don't Filter (Wired)
  South Dakota has been experimenting with filtering products. But the Governor has decided not to use filters because he feared they would hinder legitimate access to useful information. Over the past several weeks, the state has fired or suspended without pay 20 government workers for abusing their access to the Internet at work. The investigation continues and more terminations are likely.

Issue no. 199 - 4 June 2001

• Controversial Ruling on Library Filters (New York Times)
  The Minneapolis Public Library gives its patrons unfettered and unlimited access to the Internet. But Wendy Adamson, a librarian, said it effectively made her working life a nightmare. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that the library, by exposing its staff to sexually explicit images on unrestricted computer terminals, may have allowed for a hostile work environment.

• Wiesbadener Kriminologe für Kinderschutzsicherung bei Computern (AP)
  Computer mit Internetzugang sollten nach Ansicht des Wiesbadener Kriminologen Rudolf Egg mit speziellen Kinderschutzsicherungen ausgerüstet werden. Es müssten Möglichkeiten entwickelt werden, damit Kinder zum Beispiel gar nicht erst in die Lage versetzt würden, bestimmte Web-Seiten aufzurufen.

Issue no. 198 - 28 May 2001

• Le filtrage d'Internet au travail se perfectionne (Le Monde)
  Websense est une entreprise américaine spécialisée dans le filtrage de l'accès à la Toile dans les entreprises. Elle a mis en place une structure informatique qui scrute en permanence le contenu mouvant de la Toile. Le filtrage dynamique s'attache à déterminer la nature de chaque page de la Toile grâce à son contenu réel et non à la catégorie sous laquelle elle peut être référencée par certaines bases de données existantes

• USA - No Internet Filtering Is Sex Harassment For Librarians (Newsbytes)
  Reaction is mixed on a preliminary finding by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that a group of Minneapolis librarians was exposed to a sexually hostile work environment because of pornography downloaded on library computers. The Minnesota case may force legislators and library boards in Michigan to require Internet filtering to avoid similar civil rights complaints.

Issue no. 197 - 21 May 2001

• Civil Liberties Groups Oppose 'Stealth' Web Blocking (Newsbytes)
  A clutch of civil liberties groups on Thursday publicly denounced the practice by some Internet service providers (ISPs) of surreptitiously blocking Internet users from viewing certain Web sites. see Coalition statement against "stealth blocking" (GILC - IFEA).

• Fleshing Out Peer Filters (Wired)
  Nudester, a file-trading network for adult entertainment, allows its operators to have more control over who and what is on their networks thanks to automated programs that troll the system. Nudester works with several layers of filters and technology to ensure that child pornographers and their ilk don't invade the system. The content filter automatically blocks anyone who searches for flagged words, such as child or kid.

• Neue Kindersicherung fürs Netz (Heise)
  Die Berliner Firma KinderCampus AG glaubt mit Safe-T eine Lösung fürs kindergerechte Surfen gefunden zu haben, die netzkompatibler ist als die von der Medien- und Netzindustrie gepushte Filterinitiative ICRA. Der Webseitenblocker des Startups arbeitet mit einer redaktionell betreuten Positivfilterliste zusammen, die den Zugang auf momentan rund 2 Millionen Angebote erlaubt.

Issue no. 196 - 15 May 2001

• Filtering company SurfControl gets patent (CNET News.com)
  SurfControl, which produces Web and e-mail filters, has been granted a U.S. patent for software that allows companies to block Web sites. SurfControl won a patent for its "pass by" technology, which works from a standalone computer and "sniffs" Internet data before it hits a server.

Issue no. 195 - 8 May 2001

• AOL's New Filter on the Block (Wired)
  America Online has begun using new filtering technology to power its "parental control" options for kids, young teens and older teens. The automated technology -- provided by filtering company RuleSpace -- recognizes eight languages and can analyze the content of 47 million webpages per day.

• Filterinitiative ICRA: Wir sind die Guten (Heise)
  Die Internet Content Rating Association frischt ihr Marketing auf. Mit einem Feuerwerk an Ideen bereitet die Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) den Relaunch ihrer mit zahlreichen Produktinnovationen ausgestatteten Filterplattform 2.0 im Spätsommer vor.

• Internet filters block pictures, but open debate (IT Week)
  UK software developer, First 4 Internet, (F4i) last week launched its email filtering software, which it describes as offering 95 percent reliability for the detection of inappropriate images. But some commentators question whether such filters are more trouble than they are worth.

• Kenya - Firm in Move to Control Internet (The Nation (Nairobi)
  An Internet service provider (ISP) has developed software that can block access to pornographic content. Interconnect becomes the first local ISP to develop such a programme. The software, isafe, will help families limit the access children have to offensive sites.

• Review: Filtering a dim life (FT)
  Chance encounters with new ideas broaden the mind. What, then, of technology that filters out the unfamiliar? The US constitution protects freedom of speech. Does it also protect my freedom to tune out anything I do not wish to hear? Professor Cass Sunstein, one of America's leading constitutional scholars, has written a new book, Republic.com, which argues against the unfettered right to block one's ears.

• UK - Computer shops to block child porn on internet (Observer)
  High street computer retailers and software giant Microsoft are to join forces with the British police and children's charities in an unprecedented crackdown on child porn on the internet. All computers are to be fitted with software to filter out child pornography and 'kite marks' for child-friendly chatrooms will be introduced. The big three, which dominate the home PC market, will develop packages to block websites with adult content and access to chatrooms which paedophiles use.

• UK - Home Office Web site adopts adult rating (ZDNet UK)
  The Home Office has adopted the Internet Content Rating Association's (ICRA) labelling system for its Web site.

• UK - 'Safe' net surfing for children (BBC)
  An internet service to protect children from falling prey to paedophiles and accessing pornography online is being launched in the UK. The firm behind the service says it can guarantee that it can prevent young people from logging on to inappropriate sites. The company V21 says there is a huge demand from families concerned about some of the material available on the internet. see also New ISP promises child-friendly surfing (ZDNEt UK).

• USA - Concern over inappropriate material prompts Army to restrict Web access (AP)
  The Army is installing Web-filtering software from Websense at more than 100 military posts worldwide to prevent employees from viewing pornography and other inappropriate material.

Issue no. 194 - 23 April 2001

• EFF Plans Internet Filtering Protest (Newsbytes)
  Civil libertarians on both coasts will gather to protest the official implementation of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires schools and libraries to install Internet blocking software in order to continue receiving federal funding. see also Filters face free-speech test (ZDNet).

Issue no. 193 - 3 April 2001

• Chaos Computer Club verleiht Preis an Siemens für Filtersoftware (Telepolis)
  Der Chaos Computer Club (CCC) verleiht den Chaos CeBIT Award an die Software "Smartfilter" von Siemens. Ganz in Anlehnung an die ironisch-unterkühlte Diktion des Big Brother Awards heißt es als Begründung, dass damit "die besonderen Verdienste, die die Firma Siemens mit ihrer Software 'Smartfilter' um die Internet-Zensur und Kommunikationsverhinderung erworben hat", gewürdigt werden. see also Le filtre internet de Siemens ridiculisé au CeBIT (Yahoo FR).

• Columnist Opines Against Censorware, Gets Column Blocked (Bennett Haselton)
  Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page wrote a column criticizing blocking software and the laws requiring its use in public schools and libraries. The column was blocked by CYBERsitter as a result of the phrases he used in the text because he used the words "porno[graphy]", "Internet porn[ography]" and "Peacefire".

• Congress' National Smut Tour (Wired)
  The esteemed National Research Council wants to know what you think about porn on the Net.

• EFFector (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
  Newsletter Vol. 14, No. 5 Mar. 27, 2001. Special Internet blocking / censorware issue.

• Home Office rules undermine war against child porn (Silicon)
  The fight against online child pornography is being hampered by Home Office rules which forbid porn-busting software companies from handling illegal images. The companies which specialise in developing products to combat offensive picture sharing through internet newsgroups and via email claim they need to be able to use samples in order to create effective filters.

• Law Newsletter Has to Sneak Past Filters (New York Times)
  The e-mail newsletter Tech Law Journal misspells words like sex (sez) and pornography (pormography) and camouflages the names of computer viruses, otherwise it would never get past the computers at readers' offices that screen incoming e-mail messages for references to sex or network security.

• Germany - Familienministerin: Gesetzliche Altersgrenze für "Horror-Computerspiele" (Heise)
  Bundesfamilienministerin Christine Bergmann will eine gesetzlich geregelte Altersgrenze für von ihr als "Horror-Computerspiele" bezeichnete Spiele einführen. In einem Interview kündigte Bergmann einen entsprechenden Gesetzentwurf an.

• USA - EFF Calls for Censorware Law Protests (Press Release)
  The Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a call to action for nationwide protests on Friday, April 20, 2001, opposing implementation of Congressionally-mandated Internet blocking in schools and libraries. The protests will take place at Federal Communications Commission offices, other federal offices, libraries, and Internet blocking companies, as well as in "blackouts" of websites in support of the protest.

Issue no. 192 - 26 March 2001

• CeBIT: Webwasher und Cobion stellen neuartige Web-Filter vor (Computerwoche)
  Die Webwasher AG aus Paderborn und der Bildanalysespezialist Cobion aus Kassel haben eine neuartige Filtertechnik für Internet-Inhalte vorgestellt. Die gemeinsame Lösung "Dynablocator" kombiniert Bild- und Texterkennung, um beispielsweise Porno-Seiten zu identifizieren, die dann von "Webwasher Enterprise Edition" geblockt werden. siehe auchWebWasher mit automatisch generierter Filterliste (Heise).

• Is this the man that will make it safe for kids to surf the Net? (The Register)
  The issue of making the Internet safe for kids has become a bigger one as the Web becomes ever more ubiquitous. ICRA is an independent, non-profit organisation that is promoting self-regulation on the Net through its voluntary rating system. see also Protecting kids from porn (Christian Science Monitor).

• Canada - British Columbia Proposes Video Game Regulations (Stomped)
  The British Columbia Attorney General has now officially proposed legislation for a government sponsored classification system for video and PC games. see Press Release.

Issue no. 191 - 19 March 2001

• Cyber Patrol unblocks The Register (The Register)
  SurfControl, owner of Cyber Patrol, told us by email today that it has removed The Register from its CyberNot list of banned sites. In future Cyber Patrol will block only the story containing a reference to Peacefire.org, a controversial anti-filtering organisation.

• Web-Filter gegen privates Surfen im Büro (Computerwoche)
  Firmen suchen nach Wegen, die private Internet-Nutzung am Arbeitsplatz einzuschränken. Neben dem Blocken von anrüchigen Sites bieten Tools Funktionen zur Analyse von Texten und demnächst auch Bilderkennung.

• USA - Internet Filters Used to Shield Minors Censor Speech (New York Times)
  A Republican candidate for Congress supported the federally mandated use of Internet "filtering" software to block pornography in schools and libraries until he discovered that his own site was blocked by one of those filtering programs, Cyber Patrol. . Now he will join the join the American Civil Liberties Union in filing suit in federal court in Philadelphia to overturn the Children's Internet Protection Act which requires federally financed schools and libraries to use a "technology protection measure" like filters to block access to obscene material, child pornography and anything considered to be "harmful to minors."

Issue no. 190 - 12 March 2001

• Cyber Patrol bans The Register (The Register)
  We are officially irresponsible. Surfcontrol, the Internet filtering company, has, for some reason, put us on its CyberNOT list - which means that those using CyberPatrol won't be able to see us (or even this story).

• Glasgow libraries ban Internet access (ZDNet UK)
  Internet access has been banned from all Glasgow libraries after it was discovered that primary school children had been using the computers to download porn. The council claims to have been unaware that the library was offering unlimited Internet access, after its original filtering software had been scrapped on the basis that it was too restrictive and blocked entry to newspaper Web sites. Technicians are working to install new security filters on all library computers.

• Microsoft Xbox gets family-friendly (Inside.com)
  Microsoft will solder a V-chip-style control inside the video game console, which is slated for introduction this fall. Details about the device won’t be unveiled until the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the annual gaming industry powwow in May, but it will probably allow parents to prevent their kids from playing games rated for violent or sexual content.

• USA - Mom Can't Sue To Block Internet Porn In Libraries (Associated Pre)
  California's publicly funded libraries are not required to block minors' access to Internet pornography, an appeals court ruled in Kathleen R. v. City of Livermore. A Livermore mother brought the case, saying her 12-year-old boy was traumatized by viewing Internet pornography at the city's main library.

• Conference to target kids' access to Net porn (Mercury News)
  Keeping children away from adult content on the Web is tough now, but experts already are warning about when the pornography industry and technology will really hit hyper-speed, making the job even tougher. The current discussion about how to prevent children from browsing or downloading sexually explicit images or videos merely taps the surface. The National Research Council - part of the National Academy of Sciences - is running a conference as part of the Tools and Strategies for Protecting Children From Pornography project.

Issue no. 189 - 5 March 2001

• Chinese Police unveil software to 'purify' Internet (Reuters)
  The Ministry of Public Security has released new software designed to keep "cults, sex and violence" off the Internet in China. The software, Internet Police 110, comes in three versions for households, Internet cafes and schools and can also monitor Web traffic and delete or block messages from sources deemed offensive.

• Internet-Filtern auf gut Deutsch (Heise)
  Die Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) bietet ihren Fragebogen zu "nicht-jugendfreien" Inhalten im Web auch auf Deutsch, Französisch und Spanisch an.

• Rating the Internet filtering programs (Mercury News)
  An article in the March issue of Consumer Reports questions whether Internet filtering programs like Net Nanny, Internet Guard Dog, Cyber Patrol and others are effective ways to protect your children from inappropriate material. Consumer Reports pitted several filters against "a list of 86 easily located Web sites that contain sexually explicit content or violently graphic images, or that promote drugs, tobacco, crime, or bigotry." The results of the tests were rather startling. Cyber Patrol, according to the magazine, "failed to block 23 percent of objectionable sites." Cybersitter 2000 failed 22 percent of the time. The most successful filtering option, according to the magazine, is the AOL "young teen" parental control which failed 14 percent of the time. AOL's "mature teen" filter was deemed to have a 30 percent failure rating. I didn't conduct the same tests as Consumer Reports but, frankly, I find the results a bit surprising.

Issue no. 188 - 24 February 2001

• USA - Advocates take both sides of Net filtering law (CNET News.com)
  Regulators accepted final public comments on a new law requiring libraries and schools that accept federal funds to install computer filters aimed at blocking access to adult material online. Librarians and educators criticized the law, saying it may be impossible to enforce. But conservative groups praised the plan, saying it will save children from finding pornography on the Internet. Both sides argued their case to the Federal Communications Commission, which is preparing to clarify how the Children's Internet Protection Act (CHIPA) should be implemented.

Issue no. 187 - 17 February 2001

• Net filters strain to block sites (AP)
  Internet filtering software generally fails to block one out of every five sites deemed objectionable, according to a new study. Consumer Reports magazine said filters haven't improved since it last tested them four years ago. see only Net Filtering Study Tells Only Half The Story (Newsbytes) Trade Association ITAA criticises study's small sample of 86 sites.

• Schools, businesses restrain bandwidth hogs (CNET News.com)
  In an effort to save precious bandwidth while keeping Web access open, schools and companies are installing technology that prioritizes academic and business Internet traffic over that for entertainment and games.

• USA - TV-Distributed Web to Be PG-13 (Wired)
  Television broadcasters will soon start delivering Internet entertainment at better-than-broadband speed, but the content is only going to be PG-13 [= Parental Guidance required for children under 13 years old]. Two competing companies are working with affiliate television stations to broadcast Internet data through unused bandwidth to speed up delivery, but fears of litigation are prompting them to censor the content.

• SurfControl steps up non-PC filtering (electricnews.net)
  SurfControl is a UK company that specialises in Internet filtering tools to let authorities, such as parents employers, filter or block access to certain Internet content. Now it has announced a link-up with Microsoft which will see it also able to control access to Internet content accessed by interactive tv. SurfControl has provided filtering solutions for Microsoft's WebTV Network since 1996 and the new agreement expands the relationship to include licensees of the Microsoft TV platform.

Issue no. 186 - 3 February 2001

• Anti-virus becoming less important than content control (Register)
  By 2007 firms will spend more on content filtering and encryption technology than they do on anti-virus software according to a report by industry analysts Frost & Sullivan. The growth of content filtering will be driven by companies increased desire to control their employees' use of email and the Internet.

more items

QuickLinks consists of

• a free newsletter appearing approximately once a week. The newsletter is distributed by electronic mail through an "announcement only" mailing list. To be included on the mailing list, send a blank email to quicklinkshtml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (HTML) or quicklinks-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (Text)
• a Web site with frequent updates, an events page, news items organised by category as well as chronologically by issue and full text search.