January 24, 2006 4:00 AM PST
Do Web filters protect your child?
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experts say they work best when combined with involved parenting. That means parents should talk to children about their online activities, set limits and check up on them.
Choosing a filter that won't falter
Here are some tips from ConsumerReports.org.
Consider your Internet provider. Filtering comes free with AOL, EarthLink or MSN. AOL and MSN both filtered effectively, but AOL blocked sites such as NewsMax, a conservative political site, and Operation Truth, an advocacy site for Iraq War veterans. In both cases, a parent could override the block.
Weigh protection versus interference. All filtering programs either overblock or underblock. For young children, look for maximum protection. For older children, look for filtering software that doesn't overly interfere.
Consider which activities to control. Older children are more likely to engage in activities such as e-mail, instant messaging and gaming. Time-management controls help minimize fighting for the computer.
Decide how much customization you need. If your children aren't close in age, consider a program that can be customized by age. Those that offer more filtering flexibility make fine-tuning easier but may not offer the best protection.
Whichever filter you choose, give your children clear directions on how, when and where they can access the Internet.
"They're not a substitute for parenting," said Danielle Yates, a spokeswoman for the Internet Education Foundation, publisher of GetNetWise.com, an online guide to Internet safety for children and teens. "They're there to help parents when parents can't always be around, but they can't take parents' place. Parents really need to be involved."
To be sure, circumventing filters is not rocket science. Teens can find work-arounds through a simple Google search, which can turn up detailed instructions and pointers for sidestepping filters.
For instance, a Google search for "NetNanny hack" yields a result for Cexx.org, "How to Disable Internet Filtering Programs." NetNanny, made by Anonymizer, is a popular brand of filter.
Proxy sites are another tool for thwarting filters. Browser proxies, such as IPZap.com and IBYPass.org, let people type in an address, and then they redirect all responses from the blocked domain through the proxy's domain. Many filtering companies have wised up to proxy sites and now block access to those sites too. For example, CyberPatrol, which is owned by SurfControl, will categorize browser proxy sites and prevent children from accessing them.
Bennett Haselton, a programmer in Seattle, is one of the many free speech activists in a kind of cat-and-mouse game with filtering companies. Through his site, Peacefire.org, he distributes a free download that lets Web users turn their desktop computers into Web proxies that fly under the radar of filter programs. Users can invite friends with computers protected by filters to use their machines to override the protections.
He launched the program, which takes just minutes to set up, more than two years ago and said visitors download about two dozen copies a day. Haselton, who is concerned about Internet censorship in China and elsewhere, believes concerns about children and Internet porn are overblown.
"I never met anyone who was harmed by having unfettered Internet access," he said. "But I've met plenty of people who have been harmed by being overprotected. The real harm is the harm to critical thinking."
Clearly, a determined teen or child can outsmart a Web filter, but most don't want to, said Lenhardt at the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
"Most kids want to be protected," she said. "A lot of exposure to undesirable material is by accident. Most kids don't want to see it, so most aren't going to be trying to circumvent the protections."
Nonetheless, filtering companies have their hands full trying to handle an exploding amount of content, including video, that's circulating online, Lenhardt said. In addition, they're grappling with new kinds of devices that connect people to the Web, like video iPods and Internet-capable cell phones and handhelds. Web filters could also do a better job of ensuring access to benign material, such as health information, exerts say.
Filter companies say they're up for the challenge. Bob Kessinger, director of operations for CyberPatrol, is emphatic that technology is the answer for shielding children from adult material online.
"Many of the adult sites out there, the content is not hosted in this country; it's a global issue," Kessinger said. "I'm not sure legislation is going to have an effect on that."
See more CNET content tagged:
filter, porn, McAfee Inc., agency, U.S.
122 comments
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Don't let your child have a computer in their room, put it in a public area in your home. Teach them how to avoid the dark/dangerous areas of the net, and only allow them to use the computer when a parent or guardian is at home.
If you don't know how to do the above - Learn.
The government is good at some things. Controlling content on the Internet, a global entity mostly outside the reach of U.S. laws, is not one of them.
Don't let your child have a computer in their room, put it in a public area in your home. Teach them how to avoid the dark/dangerous areas of the net, and only allow them to use the computer when a parent or guardian is at home.
If you don't know how to do the above - Learn.
The government is good at some things. Controlling content on the Internet, a global entity mostly outside the reach of U.S. laws, is not one of them.
If the government really wanted to make pornography easy to filter out so that you could simply protect you kids, they would not have opposed the .xxx high level domain. In fact, they would have embraced it, and put a caveat in there that all pornography MUST be in the .xxx domain.
The government refusing to accept and embrace the .xxx domain shows that they have no interest in actually working to rectify the problem, and allow pornography on the internet, and make an easy way to filter it out for kids. This tatic shows that they have one intent, and one intent only, to remove pornography from the internet. (Like that is possible)
Also, surely children accessing images of violence is going to harm them a lot more.
Another foolish left-wing conspiracy theory. Your xxx domain example is just horrible. The government knows that publishing content under .com, .net, .org, etc, is a right, and they did not interfere with the industry's ability to publish content under any domain they choose. You see, they were PROTECTING the rights of the adult entertainment industry. You really have it backwards.
And now, they are doing a STUDY to determine which methods best accomplish the goal of upholding the adult-content distribution problem, and they were careful to ask for data that would not violate any person's rights.
The governmetn is working to address everybody's concerns in this matter while protecting our freedoms. Your loony conspiracy theory is... just that. Loony.
I have to buy my essentials because it infringes on my rights as not respecting me being a religous person. The same applies to putting pictures on cosmetic products which show partial nudity or billboard adverts. In other words freedom and respect go hand in hand. Otherwise you have anarchy. What I am saying is consider the feelings of religous people as well even if you may not have the same beliefs as them.That is what a multicultural society and democracy is all about.
If the government really wanted to make pornography easy to filter out so that you could simply protect you kids, they would not have opposed the .xxx high level domain. In fact, they would have embraced it, and put a caveat in there that all pornography MUST be in the .xxx domain.
The government refusing to accept and embrace the .xxx domain shows that they have no interest in actually working to rectify the problem, and allow pornography on the internet, and make an easy way to filter it out for kids. This tatic shows that they have one intent, and one intent only, to remove pornography from the internet. (Like that is possible)
Also, surely children accessing images of violence is going to harm them a lot more.
Another foolish left-wing conspiracy theory. Your xxx domain example is just horrible. The government knows that publishing content under .com, .net, .org, etc, is a right, and they did not interfere with the industry's ability to publish content under any domain they choose. You see, they were PROTECTING the rights of the adult entertainment industry. You really have it backwards.
And now, they are doing a STUDY to determine which methods best accomplish the goal of upholding the adult-content distribution problem, and they were careful to ask for data that would not violate any person's rights.
The governmetn is working to address everybody's concerns in this matter while protecting our freedoms. Your loony conspiracy theory is... just that. Loony.
I have to buy my essentials because it infringes on my rights as not respecting me being a religous person. The same applies to putting pictures on cosmetic products which show partial nudity or billboard adverts. In other words freedom and respect go hand in hand. Otherwise you have anarchy. What I am saying is consider the feelings of religous people as well even if you may not have the same beliefs as them.That is what a multicultural society and democracy is all about.
The .XXX domain name. Get it going. If a site is to be pornographic, it MUST be labeled with .XXX domains. Then, to block porn, simply block all .XXX domains.
If someone is caught hosting/making a pornographic site that is not .XXX, then massive fines and jail/prison time occurs.
This can't be that hard to figure out. And I'm sure other countries will jump on this idea. It can also be applied to gambling sites (.GAM) or... ok, now I'm drawing a blank as to what other sites people want to block. But there is no reason this simple idea won't work... other than it being too easy for any government to catch on to.
My point here is that it takes active monitoring, and there is no infrastructure in place at this time to do so outside of filtering applications.
Secondly, you are proposing to take away a freedom/right... A company can buy whatever unclaimed domain they can think up... and publish the content that they choose to publish. This is a freedom. Now you want to tell everybody in the country what domain extensions they must use, and what content belongs under which domain extension... never going to work. How do you police THAT?? Subpeona more records from Google, I suppose........
The .XXX domain name. Get it going. If a site is to be pornographic, it MUST be labeled with .XXX domains. Then, to block porn, simply block all .XXX domains.
If someone is caught hosting/making a pornographic site that is not .XXX, then massive fines and jail/prison time occurs.
This can't be that hard to figure out. And I'm sure other countries will jump on this idea. It can also be applied to gambling sites (.GAM) or... ok, now I'm drawing a blank as to what other sites people want to block. But there is no reason this simple idea won't work... other than it being too easy for any government to catch on to.
My point here is that it takes active monitoring, and there is no infrastructure in place at this time to do so outside of filtering applications.
Secondly, you are proposing to take away a freedom/right... A company can buy whatever unclaimed domain they can think up... and publish the content that they choose to publish. This is a freedom. Now you want to tell everybody in the country what domain extensions they must use, and what content belongs under which domain extension... never going to work. How do you police THAT?? Subpeona more records from Google, I suppose........
Do people still randomly type in www.????.com? I thought people clued into this a long time ago. If not...now you know! :)
Do people still randomly type in www.????.com? I thought people clued into this a long time ago. If not...now you know! :)
At this point, I think a large percentage of what the US considers "web-porn" is probably hosted out of US jurisdiction. So, a monolithic move to force the .xxx domain would be pointless unless other countries agree to do it as well.
Which brings up...how are all those countries going to agree on what "porn" is?
ALL A POINTLESS ENDEAVOR!
At this point, I think a large percentage of what the US considers "web-porn" is probably hosted out of US jurisdiction. So, a monolithic move to force the .xxx domain would be pointless unless other countries agree to do it as well.
Which brings up...how are all those countries going to agree on what "porn" is?
ALL A POINTLESS ENDEAVOR!
Fingerprints are a clear way for people to identify themselves on a computer. It would seem they would be good for banking and other sensitive transactions as well. In porn sires, they would allow for identification without disclosing sensitive information, such as credit card numbers.
The people that wrote in to contradict me seemed to suggest that the idea would open up the door for intense governmental interference, and loss of privacy. But I believe that if the fingerprint identities were located on each person's individual computer(just as names are, when people log in) it would cause no problems. I.E.-You place
your fingerprint identity in with your name and your age when you first log onto your computer. It would be the responsibility of parents to ensure that their kids log in the first time with their correct age. The computer would identify by fingerprint after that, and set the rules accordingly.
Also, how long before the kids with enough knowledge pull a bit from national treasure where they get their parents' fingerprints and use them to surf where they want to go?
And, if the technology were simply used by me, the computers-owner, to control access to my own computer, ...that would be fine.
However, the overall plan is primarily designed around the eventual idea of a "Trusted Computer" being able to "attest", to both "local-software and services" and "external-devices", what software is being used (down to installed service patches and drivers), ...who is authorized (licensed) to use the computer, ...and to allow "remote-identification" of "acceptable uses".
...And yes, that would include being able to identify, and therefore externally-log the activities of each individual-person who uses a computer.
Many industry-analysts have stated that the primary uses of such technology would be, ..."locking" consumers into Microsoft-controlled technology, ...imposing "DRM" restrictions, ...extracting revenue from any technology-company that wished to produce anything which runs on a PC, ...and allowing the "tracking" of virtually all "online-activities".
Furthermore, based upon current and past actions, its hardly a stretch to expect that the government would consider this a "minor loss of freedom" in the name of "protecting the citizens of America" from any number of, "...threats to our way of life".
So, finally, why should I be forced to show ID to use my own computer? Why should I be forced to cough-up an extra one-hundred dollars (your figure) for a computer? Why should I be forced to pay Microsoft, if I want to create, or sell, any computer-product? And, why should I accept being BIO-Metrically "identified", and most certainly "tracked", whenever I use the Internet?
In short, based upon recent business, and government, events, ...why should I risk any of this..?
In summary, while fingerprints could make identification easier it would not be any more secure. Also, it would be implemented improperly by the government and therefore instead of securing our data it would rather invade our privacy.
Fingerprints are a clear way for people to identify themselves on a computer. It would seem they would be good for banking and other sensitive transactions as well. In porn sires, they would allow for identification without disclosing sensitive information, such as credit card numbers.
The people that wrote in to contradict me seemed to suggest that the idea would open up the door for intense governmental interference, and loss of privacy. But I believe that if the fingerprint identities were located on each person's individual computer(just as names are, when people log in) it would cause no problems. I.E.-You place
your fingerprint identity in with your name and your age when you first log onto your computer. It would be the responsibility of parents to ensure that their kids log in the first time with their correct age. The computer would identify by fingerprint after that, and set the rules accordingly.
Also, how long before the kids with enough knowledge pull a bit from national treasure where they get their parents' fingerprints and use them to surf where they want to go?
And, if the technology were simply used by me, the computers-owner, to control access to my own computer, ...that would be fine.
However, the overall plan is primarily designed around the eventual idea of a "Trusted Computer" being able to "attest", to both "local-software and services" and "external-devices", what software is being used (down to installed service patches and drivers), ...who is authorized (licensed) to use the computer, ...and to allow "remote-identification" of "acceptable uses".
...And yes, that would include being able to identify, and therefore externally-log the activities of each individual-person who uses a computer.
Many industry-analysts have stated that the primary uses of such technology would be, ..."locking" consumers into Microsoft-controlled technology, ...imposing "DRM" restrictions, ...extracting revenue from any technology-company that wished to produce anything which runs on a PC, ...and allowing the "tracking" of virtually all "online-activities".
Furthermore, based upon current and past actions, its hardly a stretch to expect that the government would consider this a "minor loss of freedom" in the name of "protecting the citizens of America" from any number of, "...threats to our way of life".
So, finally, why should I be forced to show ID to use my own computer? Why should I be forced to cough-up an extra one-hundred dollars (your figure) for a computer? Why should I be forced to pay Microsoft, if I want to create, or sell, any computer-product? And, why should I accept being BIO-Metrically "identified", and most certainly "tracked", whenever I use the Internet?
In short, based upon recent business, and government, events, ...why should I risk any of this..?
In summary, while fingerprints could make identification easier it would not be any more secure. Also, it would be implemented improperly by the government and therefore instead of securing our data it would rather invade our privacy.
In other words Porn is also bad for adults.Look how many marriages it has broken.(Besides the terrible sin of masturbation) Many people want to use the internet but without the temptations. I would rather have an option where I could get a service provider that filters the internet before it arrives to my house or business. There is a huge market where people are willing to pay extra premiums instead of worrying about what enters their house. Also in the contract it will be that nobody can change there contract and suddenly allow porn.
Search for family ISP in google and at least 3 church based ISP's are returned, do the work yourself, do not ask the gov't to do it for you.
In other words Porn is also bad for adults.Look how many marriages it has broken.(Besides the terrible sin of masturbation) Many people want to use the internet but without the temptations. I would rather have an option where I could get a service provider that filters the internet before it arrives to my house or business. There is a huge market where people are willing to pay extra premiums instead of worrying about what enters their house. Also in the contract it will be that nobody can change there contract and suddenly allow porn.
Search for family ISP in google and at least 3 church based ISP's are returned, do the work yourself, do not ask the gov't to do it for you.
But regardless, even if a .xxx or a .sex domain was created... it still won't 100% solve the porn issue.
As for spending money to prove that those content filtering software on the market today is a waste of money... EVERY SINGLE CONTENT FILTER MAKER... Cyberian inclusive has the same problem.
Images are stored in bits and bytes. And there is NO WAY to program a computer to display Bambi the deer but not Bambi the stripper because the file name is Bambi.jpg. And how is the computer supposed to determine what is and what is not porn when it can't even be defined in words... much less programming language looking at images.
The best description I've seen for pornography is: I know it when I see it. But that's not programmable into computers... even when fuzzy logic is used.
That said... proving current content filters don't filter out 100% is a waste of unnecessary money which could be better used elsewhere.
Anybody can create a home page (corporate or personal) and anybody can create a blog (corporate or personal). Once the site getsw a [Business] rating... all it takes is one hack o rone employee to spend a few minutes uploading porn or swapping out ligitimate pics with porn pics and wala... NONE of the content filters work.
And then you have the problem of cache servers where even if the pornography site is blocked... Google, Yahoo and or any other cache server site will still retain a copy of the pornographic image in it's cache. And as Google, Yahoo or any other business site is rated as [Internet] or [Search Engine], occasionally pornographic images can be retrieved from those cache servers.
Bottom Line: Domain names won't stop porn... nor will content filters guarantee 100% porn free sites.
So where does that leave us... in a world where parents should be allowed to set up their own safe-sites White List.
Anything outside of that is considered pulling the wool over the sheep's eyes.
Walt
should be formed in which only sites which fulfill its standards would be included and otherwised fined or taken out of the list. If it is a webshop or mall that sells lingerie that part of the shop should be clearly distinguishable from the rest of the website so it can be blocked from the clean internet.