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| Watchdog Unveils Net Filter in Bid to Sanitize Web |
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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 |
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| 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 chareged 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 ] |
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