AR- Argentine search engines told to block famous names

(OUT-LAW News)
Search engines in Argentina have been banned from linking to stories naming up to 100 famous people including football legend Diego Maradona in a move critics have said is tantamount to censorship. Google and Yahoo! have filtered search results relating to the names on their Argentine sites but not their international ones, the companies told internet filtering campaigning organisation the OpenNet Initiative (ONI).

Labels: Content_Regulation, Filtering_and_blocking

UK - Web content 'disturbing children'

(BBC)
Three out of four children have seen images on the internet that disturbed them, an NSPCC poll suggests. The charity is renewing its call for computer manufacturers and retailers to install security to stop children finding violent or sexual content. The NSPCC, which polled visitors to its children's website There4me.com, said it was "alarmed" by the accessibility of potentially disturbing material. Some 377 of 497 votes cast claimed to have been disturbed by internet images.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking, Safer_Internet_awareness

AU - No opt-out of filtered Internet

(Computerworld)
Australians will be unable to opt-out of the government's pending Internet content filtering scheme, and will instead be placed on a watered-down blacklist. Under the government's $125.8 million Plan for Cyber-Safety, users can switch between two blacklists which block content inappropriate for children, and a separate list which blocks illegal material. Pundits say consumers have been lulled into believing the opt-out proviso would remove content filtering altogether. The government will iron-out policy and implementation of the Internet content filtering software following an upcoming trial of the technology, according to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

AU - ISP filtering gains momentum

(Australin IT)
The federal Government's plan to implement content filters at the internet service provider level is one step closer to reality with live trials set to commence after next month. The Government will seek expressions of interest in the second half of October for ISPs to participate in live trials.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

SE - TeliaSonera launches child porn blocking service for ISP

(TeliaSonera international Carrier has launched a free service allowing operators and Internet Service Providers the ability to deny their users access to web sites containing child sexual abuse. TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC) is a global provider of IP-services with a network spanning around the globe. The service is based on a solution provided by the Swedish company NetClean and uses a dynamic and comprehensive list from the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation. The list contains live child sexual abuse URL's.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

DE - BKA fordert Sperrung kinderpornographischer Webseiten

(Heise)
Der Chef des Bundeskriminalamtes (BKA), Jörg Ziercke, hat sich bei der Vorstellung des Lagebilds zur organisierten Kriminalität 2007 dafür ausgesprochen, Internetprovider gesetzlich zur Sperrung von Angeboten mit kinderpornographischen oder fremdenfeindlichen Inhalten zu verpflichten. "Der Großteil der Kinderpornographie wird über kommerzielle Webseiten verwaltet", betonte Ziercke in Berlin. Es gehe dabei um "Millioneneinnahmen". Das "Access-Blocking" könne daher eine "wichtige Maßnahme" sein, um das Geschäft mit Kinderpornographie weniger lukrativ zu machen.

Labels: Child_abuse_images, Computer_crime, Filtering_and_blocking

Web filtering software is moving to the cloud

(New York Times)
Web filtering software is moving to the cloud - that all-knowing, pervasive, sometimes unreliable cluster of computers in the digital ether - and it?s going to watch your every move online and tattle to your boss. Zscaler's idea is to relieve companies of the tiresome and costly burden of managing Web filtering and security on their own servers. Instead, the cloud-based service, which is rented to companies by the month, acts like a Web proxy, intercepting all incoming and outbound HTTP traffic from employees and scrubbing it for malware and online activity that violates company policy.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

US - Cablevision To Block Child Porn Sites - NY AG

(Dow Jones)
Cablevision Systems is the latest Internet provider to reach an agreement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to block access to bulletin boards and Web sites that distribute child pornography. Cuomo said the media and entertainment company has signed his code of conduct, which requires the companies to restrict access by their customers to Web sites and newsgroups - or public bulletin boards where they can upload or download files - that have been identified as sites that disseminate child pornography.

Labels: Child_abuse_images, Filtering_and_blocking

Review: Livia Web Protection offers the first-rate filtering of Websense for Parents

(Filtering Facts)
Some former Websense managers have started up an Internet security solutions provider called Total Tech.  Their product offering is called Livia Web Protection, and it's basically Websense's filtering "in the cloud" - i.e., with the filtering done on remote servers rather than on your desktop. This is a good thing, because filtering databases have become too large and are updated too frequently now to be practical running on individual desktops as they were in the 1990s. This is about the best quality filtering I've seen, blocking everything in my test sample. 

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

AU - New Filter Test by Australian Government Shows Filter Effectiveness

(Filtering Facts)
The Australian Communications and Media Authority released a report on Closed environment testing of ISP-level internet content filtering.  This report presents the findings of the closed environment testing of ISP-level filters conducted in 2008. The trial was conducted in response to a ministerial direction received in June 2007. Among the report's findings: Successful blocking (the proportion of illegal and inappropriate content that should have been blocked that was successfully blocked) was between 88% and 97% with most achieving over 92%. The median rate of successful blocking was improved from the previous trial. Overblocking (the proportion of content that was blocked that should not have been blocked) was between 1% and 6%, with most falling under 3%. The median overblocking rate was significantly improved from the previous trial. 

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

JP - Government plans blocking of child porn sites

(Yomiuri Shimbun)
The ruling parties in Japan will introduce legislation for Internet service providers to block access to child pornography sites with major providers in favor of the move. Under the blocking system, Internet service providers would use special software to block access to Web sites included on a police list of child porn sites, including sites using overseas servers. Britain, Italy, Sweden and other countries have already implemented such a system, and it is claimed the approach has been effective in limiting child porn on the Web.

Labels: Child_abuse_images, Filtering_and_blocking