|
|
| Watchdog Unveils Net Filter in Bid to Sanitize Web |
|
Posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 08:57:07 PT Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent Source: Reuters 
A non-profit group aiming to protect children from unsavory material on the Net introduced a Web browsing filter on Thursday that blocks access to sites promoting, among other things, sex, drugs and hate speech. The initiative comes from the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA), a small organization with an enormously ambitious goal. Since the mid-1990s, ICRA, which has offices in the US and Britain, has been working to establish the Internet's first voluntary rating system for all major Web sites. "We have a dual mission: to empower parents to protect their kids (from offensive Web sites), while protecting free speech. This is a pretty difficult mission," Stephen Balkam, ICRA's chief executive, told Reuters. With a ratings system in place -- one that categorizes sites based on its subject content, and labeling them as, say, "educational" or "adult" -- the group hopes to improve odds that children do not unwittingly stray onto adult-themed Web sites. The ICRA rating is not carried on the site itself, but inside its source code, thus making it easier for filtering software to detect and block out, in the case of adult sites. FIRST STEP INTO PUBLIC LIGHT Until now, ICRA has been little known by consumers. The brunt of its work has been a campaign to sign up Internet companies for its ratings program. Over 50,000 Web site publishers have volunteered to have their sites classified under the ICRA system, from the tame Yahooligans kid portal on Yahoo to the racy Playboy.com, Balkam said. Balkam said he is hopeful the launch of the ICRA filter, its first commercial product, will make it more of a household name. The filter allows users to compile a list of "safe" sites, or conversely a "blackout" list of inappropriate sites, that they can download into a customary Web browser, thus creating a confined, kid-safe online environment. There are already numerous Web site-filtering software packages on the market from the more prominent Net Nanny, which cost $39.95 to install, to Kid Safe at $15. In muscling into this competitive niche market, ICRA will seek to play up its free offering and the industry support it has garnered from Web site publishers. Balkam said ICRA, which subsists on corporate donations and government funding, has received a $1.15 million grant from the European Union. Related Article: AOL, MSN, Yahoo to Label Sites for Content Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
| Comment #19 posted by Patrick on March 22, 2002 at 08:51:05 PT |
| Thanks for the snippet of information on the hassler question! Old MacDonald had a farm eieio....snip snip here and a snip snip there eieio... And on this farm he had some truth, freedom of speech, and what little rights he had left eieio... Keep up the awesome job FoM/Martha! Sincerely, Patrick [ Post Comment ] |
|
Comment #18 posted by kaptinemo on March 22, 2002 at 08:35:12 PT:
|
| I suggest that you plug in the words "Council on Foreign Relations" and "Trilateral Commission" into a browser and stand back for an avalanche of information. Then remember that the Bush family have been star members of this little club...wholly owned by oil interests. Then ask yourself why the US government gave money to the Taliban early last year. While you are at it, type in "Unocal" and see what you get. The world ain't like they teach in school, chillun. Oh, no it ain't... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #17 posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 20:17:04 PT |
| Before the Internet I got my news from CNN and MSNBC and knew that the news had it's major slants but didn't realize what I know now. I didn't understand about corporate interests or even that people really cared about the laws against marijuana but found out that people do care and are tired of feeling like second class citizens because of a natural herb. It is medicine for many and just for fun, like Nixon said about alcohol, for others. Slowly the truth is making it into the press but it is not pushed very much because there's no real profit to be gained by alienating some companies that would lose money if the laws were changed. It's political and we will keep learning because of the Internet and I thank God for the opportunity to have this form of communication to finally, in my life, see real truth at face value. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #16 posted by boppy on March 21, 2002 at 19:21:11 PT |
| I live in central Indiana and the reason I visit this site so much is so I can read what's going on in the world of cannabis. I can say for certain that the Indianapolis Star reported nothing of the fiasco in Michigan at the campground up there where the government murdered it's owner. There was nothing said of the raids on the cannabis clubs in San Francisco. Nothing has been said of Great Britain's quickly changing cannabis reforms. Is information like this being suppressed in other parts of the country? Do you feel like the "shadow government" that was discussed recently in the media has been there all along? Was this supposed to be news to any thinking person?All of this subversion is really upsetting. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #15 posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 19:11:24 PT |
| Here is Richard Lake's explanation. This sums it up very nicely. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12165.shtml#10 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #14 posted by Patrick on March 21, 2002 at 19:03:13 PT |
| What kind of hassle are you receiving FoM? Who is doing the hassling? Inquiring minds wish to know. In military terms you could say that I would be interested in covering this website's flank from the hassler. And you are right yet again dddd!!! They will have to pry my mouse from my cold dead hand. Or shut off the nations electric supply. Wait a minute they already do that here in Socal.
[ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by The GCW on March 21, 2002 at 18:14:37 PT |
| Equation. It is really like war where there is great strife, and sacrifice. People that are waging this war are on both sides. This is where you can meet people that are fighting on the side of Truth. We give up other priorities in order to win this war. It is not like the government is fighting a war and there is no one fighting back. They have spent trillions on their holocaust with nothing but horror and terror to show for it. We pack words and aim them straight. No charge. The government sanctioned cannabis culture diaspora, isn’t happening. Help gather what has been scattered. The Green Collar Worker. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 17:26:08 PT |
| Pry the mouse from our dead cold hands! That cracked me up! I'm so glad you are back. You give us so much with your way with words. We shall overcome someday. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by dddd on March 21, 2002 at 17:08:02 PT |
| ....the day we give up the internet,,they will have to pry the mouse from our cold,dead hand. .......(paraphrase,,,,Chuck Heston,,,{?})....ddd...d [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 16:55:17 PT |
| You're right about us being hassled big time but we are fighting and not taking it. It's wrong. I have given over 3 years of my life ( I'm not a martyr) so far to this web site and we have come a long way. I was really surprised but in the last two days, only 48 hours, the front page of Cannabis News has received over 6, 000 hits. That's just the front page hits. People want somewhere where they can relate to others who have a common interest and that is what we have here. I am a fighter not a quitter and we survived 9-11 and free speech must stay free. The Internet was created as a way to exchange data with others and trying to stop that exchange is wrong. We will survive. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by dddd on March 21, 2002 at 16:14:21 PT |
| ..I like to hear verification of being right,,,alot of my theories are little more than rambling blaber-fests,,,but I think that my internet doom theory is undeniably eminent....The newspapers have already launched massive lawsuits against sites like this,,,,the new anti-terror laws are already there,and worded in such a way as to make it possible for me to be classified as some sort of "threat",to the government,,,,inciting dissatisfaction ,,, causing people to get angry....... ..the internet cannot go on!...it cannot be allowed to continue in the way it is...watch as it slowly decays and becomes another corporate possession! ...here's a really easy way to tell who the biggest corporate bogarts are;,,,Watch TV and take note of the ads on primetime....locally,down here in Southern California,,auto insurance ads slather the airwaves,,,and couch potatoes who vegitate in front of mid-day court shows get alot of career school ads,,you know,,with some guy who went to DeVry or ITT tech with a Ferrari,,and a chick,,or a proud father....how bout health insurance,,or the latest pharmaceutical offerings,,,,of course,,the really big national players,are the phone company monopolies,and their latest high speed internet bargain,and long distance fone deals..soft drinks...hard drinks..pizza....etc..etc......BUT,,,where I think it gets really grotesque,,is when we see ads for the military,,,high dollar,,slickly produced ads ,,that are paid for by the multitudes of hand to mouth sheeple,,who pay obscene portions of their meager incomes,,(convieniently witheld from their paychecks,,and then a paltry amount is returned each year as a "refund"),,just imagine if you tried to tell someone ,who was thinking of signing up as an average burger flipper/janitor/clerk type job,,and you told them,that about 25 or 35 percent of their pay would be with held by the government,,,but,at the end of the year,the government will give back any amount that you "overpaid"....??..when you look at it that way,,a normal Sheeple,in a free land would say;"no way".........It's Absurd!....next time you think about paying the amount you pay to that obscure entity that is called the IRS,,(but is really the federal government,,but not really,,because it's the IRS),,,,,imagine how it was used. ...did the IRS "use" it?...No,,,let's say you ended up paying about $5000.00 in taxes in a $25000.00 a year job. ..OK,,,now,,think about how fuckin' pissed it makes you,,to think that your $5000.00 paid for less than one second of the ondcp superbowl commercial that labeled any and all "drug" users responsible for global terror!.... ..or..maybe that is too extreme,and you dont want to think about it because it makes you way too pissed off,,OK,,let's think of a less upsetting example of what became of the 20% of your pay that was extracted from your randomly drug tested ass.......how bout if it we chip in that $5000 toward the $400.000 dollars that the government is awarding to the son of a stockbroker who was a victim of the 9/11 tragedy!...If you really wanna freak out,,and get pissed,,,then look into the "compensation" that is being paid to relatives of 9/11 victims!... ....wanderin' and ramblin.......serious nonsense....uncomfortable fun.......d..dd...d [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on March 21, 2002 at 16:05:04 PT |
| Free. Available for enjoyment by anyone. Available in a way that anybody can post whatever they want. The Airwaves are supposed to belong to "the People", but try getting 10 minutes on The Nightly News to say what's on your mind. They are not accessible to the common person and the internet is. Media Access is Power, and the Net gives power to the common man. The rating thing is moving forward after the news that the DOJ has been monitoring drug law reform websites. It's an attempt to get a lucrative deal to sell the service nation- or worldwide. The US government hates the web like it hates weed. Weed can be had by anyone, grown to do all sorts of stuff with. Its a renewable resource. Weed is Power. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 15:35:44 PT |
| I'm not sure because I didn't watch it either. I said I would destroy my dog if he killed anyone. I know it is an automatic destruction if that would happen and I wouldn't have a say in it anyway. Having a Rottweiler and raising Rott pups in the past for years I know what they could do if they wanted too. We crate trained our dog from pup on up and isn't allowed contact with anyone but us. If you want a dog for protection then you must use good common sense. It does seem since I've watched more about this case since my post that they didn't even keep the dogs on a leash. That is irresponsible. A dog can become a killing machine if they are bred to protect. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by elfman_420 on March 21, 2002 at 15:20:46 PT |
| I haven't been keeping up on the case either. I THINK (somebody back me up here?) that the dog had mauled somebody in the past, and they showed pictures of the first mauling in court. The owners didn't get rid of the dog and then it killed somebody in a second attack. I'm not positive about the two attacks, but that is what I got out of the 8 seconds of coverage I've seen. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by bruce42 on March 21, 2002 at 15:07:14 PT |
| This internet may be doomed, but in the end all the internet is, is a large network. No one said that you can't make another internet. The only reason people buy into all of this corpo-media crap is that they have no choice. Remember, the Internet is just a widely distributed collection of computers connected by cables that exchange data via a certain set of defined IEEE protocols. It actually surprises me that no ne has tried to make a new internet yet. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 13:55:05 PT |
| Maybe I haven't followed this dog mauling case but how can a owner of a dog be charged with second degree murder? If my dog killed someone I would destroy my dog. If my dog showed extreme viciousness the dog would not be allowed around strangers. I don't understand law. I couldn't watch it because I wasn't even sure why it was worthy of news coverage. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by boppy on March 21, 2002 at 13:10:04 PT |
| There are corporate nazis that are all stumbling over themselves right now contemplating how to make their piece of the pie by hijacking the internet. It pisses them off that something so wonderful and free is accessible to everyone without us paying one of them to use it. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on March 21, 2002 at 09:43:17 PT |
| "censor" "...the massive influx of impressions is so great, surprising, barbaric, and violent things press so overpoweringly--"balled into hideous clumps"-- in the youthful soul; that it can save itself only by taking recourse in premeditated stupidity."- Friedrich Nietzsche Rejecting propaganda is first on the list. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by dddd on March 21, 2002 at 09:35:37 PT |
| ...as the internet is consumed by corporate behemoths...enjoy it while you can....these are rare and special times. I'm sorry,,,but the "Net" is doomed!....sad but true.........dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |