"Child Protection"

"Filtering software can be too broad, blocking innocuous pages based on keywords. Although such instances are relatively rare, sites about breast cancer, homosexuality, and computer activities (which may contain the words "hack" or "code") have all been screened out. Some centralized services block suspicious IP addresses, taking out an entire server because it hosts one or two pages with adult content." - "Sex on the Web," a CNET Special Report


STUDY: KIDS LACK NET SUPERVISION
The Roper polling organization conducted a study of 500 households with children between the ages of 8 and 18 and found that parental supervision of children's Internet activities is seriously lacking. The survey, conducted for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, finds that 20 percent of parents do not monitor their children's Internet usage, and 52 percent monitor it only moderately. More alarming, the survey also finds that 18 percent of the children surveyed intend to physically meet someone they met on the Internet. Forty-eight percent of parents allow their children to go online every day or as often as they want, and 24 percent of parents do not place restrictions on the length of time their children stay on the Internet. In addition, 71 percent of parents with children age 14 or older no longer supervise their children's Internet use. Ruben Rodriguez of the National Center's exploited child division calls the Internet-equipped home PC the "baby sitter of the 90s." (USA Today Online, 05/27/99)


Declan's Capitol Letters
Kids and Porn: Got Any Advice?
http://www.wirednews.com/news/politics/0,1283,40700,00.html
Congress is seeking public input as to how it should deal with the vexing problem of children, pornography and the Internet.


NEWS SITES MISTAKENLY BLOCKED BY FILTERS, STUDY SAYS
Internet filter programs are blocking access to many non-offensive Web sites because of the high incidence of words and phrases the filters search for, according to a study from Peacefire.org. For example, the Cybersitter program identifies an Amnesty.org news article as sexually explicit for containing the phrase "at least 21." The phrase, however, is used to describe the number of casualties in an international shooting incident. Politicians in the United States and elsewhere want filtering software to become a standard tool of libraries and schools, but numerous students are complaining that such software actually hampers their schoolwork. Such complaints prompted Peacefire to run several filtering programs through a list of Amnesty International-related sites. The results of the study show that the software blocks more news sites than sexually oriented sites, Peacefire claims. Ironically, the Realtime Blackhole List is blocking the Peacefire Web site because the program discovered an unrelated site on the same Web hosting service that could potentially send spam. (Cnet, 15 December 2000)


Canada's Kids at Risk, Too
The Canadian government wants to enact legislation to protect children from exposure to sex and violence on the Internet and in video games.
Charles Mandel reports from Edmonton, Alberta.


EDUCATION 'SAFETY NET' WARNING AGAINST PORNOGRAPHY
England is launching an initiative to protect schoolchildren from the harmful effects of the Internet. Schools in England will receive the Superhighway Safety pack, an official package of information that includes advice on software filters and children's computer use. The effort is a collaboration on the part of the Department for Education, the British Educational and Communications Technology Agency, NCH Action for Children, the Parents Information Network, the British Educational Suppliers Association, and Disney. The Superhighway Safety pack also provides parents with tips for ensuring their children's online safety. Education Secretary David Blunkett says the government wants to build upon the safeguards that are already in place, such as the monitoring of computer use and limiting access to certain Web sites. The initiative also includes Gridwatch, a set of guidelines for teachers, parents, and pupils. "We are encouraging suppliers to give schools the scope to create secure, local intranets," which will link schools together to keep out inappropriate material, Blunkett says. (BBC Online, 10/11/99)


A WELL-SCRUBBED INTERNET
Paxson Communications will be offering a $19.95-a-month Internet access and search service that automatically filters out 32 categories of pornographic, violent, or hate-group content. A Paxson executive describes the service, called Paxway, as a "national clean Internet access kit for families," that will allow subscribers to search the World Wide Web "without being exposed to obscene materials, even the headlines." (USA Today, 15 Oct 99)


From the Christian Coalition "Contract with the American Family", released May 17, 1995 -- page 27 - 28, as quoted by the CDT: "Protecting children from exposure to pornography on the Internet and cable television, and from the sexual exploitation of child pornographers." The Protection of Children from Computer Pornography Act of 1995. In my capacity as President of "Enough is Enough!"--a non-profit, non-partisan women's organization opposing child pornography and illegal obscenity, I am very familiar with the issue of contemporary pornography--its content, availability and its harms.


AT&T - A Catalog of Tools that Support Parents' Ability to Choose Online Content Appropriate for their Children


No Porn Wanted at .Kids
A company wanting to become the registrar of family-friendly domains -- where only porn-free websites would roam free - has applied to ICANN to operate the .kids top-level domain.
By Oscar S. Cisneros.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,39169,00.html


ICANN MAY CONSIDER DOMAIN NAME FOR CHILDREN
Monday night was the deadline for submitting new domain name proposals to ICANN's 19-member board, which could receive an interesting submission--a proposal for the introduction of a .kids domain name suffix. Page Howe, a father of four living in San Diego, came up with the idea for the .kids domain, which would serve as an area on the Internet that would be free of pornography and other material deemed inappropriate for youngsters. The .kids domain would provide children with a "safe and entertaining" haven on the Web, Howe says. "This would solve some of the decency issues on the Internet," says Howe. Howe said he would continue to press his case in the future even if ICANN rejects his idea this time around. If his idea is approved, Howe's company, Kids Domain, would manage the .kids domain name database and would take on the added responsibilities of monitoring content and enforcing the standards for Web sites and advertisers that target children. Howe has plunked down $500,000 for the address system application and has earmarked $10 million in funding for Kids Domain. (CNET, 29 September 2000)


CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR SOFTWARE FILTERS
Although a commission appointed by Congress has decided that parental involvement rather than software filtering is the right way to shield children from pornography on the Internet, senators John McCain and Rick Santorum and congressman Ernest Istook are introducing legislation to require schools and libraries to install software to protect children from encountering pornography and violence as they use the Web. Presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush are both in favor of such filters. (New York Times 20 Oct 2000) http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/20/technology/20NET.html


CONGRESS WEIGHING INTERNET FILTERING FOR SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Reps. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) and Charles Pickering (R-Miss.) have introduced a bill that would revoke federal funding for any schools and libraries that do not install Internet filters on their computers. The bill is being opposed by an eclectic set of groups, including the ACLU, state chapters of the Christian Coalition and American Family Association, the American Library Association, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, and the Information Technology Association of America. The bill has been attached to an appropriations bill that may be voted upon this week. President Clinton does not support mandatory filtering, but it is not known if the inclusion of the filtering language would cause him to veto the entire appropriations bill. (Associated Press, 15 October 2000)


LIBRARIANS QUESTION INTERNET ACCESS RULES
Nearly all public libraries in the state of Massachusetts offer Internet access, and the vast majority of those that do also have policies on how library patrons may use the Internet, according to an August survey conducted by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Of the 284 public libraries surveyed, 99 percent offered access to the Internet, and 86 percent of those had usage policies in place. Still, the thorny question confronting individual libraries is whether to install Web filtering software. Sydney Rubin, spokeswoman for the Cyber Patrol filtering program, says parents and librarians can use filtering software to establish Web use parameters that reflect community and family values. The American Library Association (ALA) is no fan of filtering. "Filters violate our mandate to provide ideas across the entire spectrum," says Judith Krug, director of the ALA's office for intellectual freedom. (Boston Globe, 15 October 2000)


CLINTON, GOP COMPROMISE ON NET FILTERING
A spokesman for the Clinton administration says the White House may agree to a compromise version of an Internet filtering bill that has been attached to the Labor and Health and Human Services Appropriations bill. Likewise, Senate Commerce Committee staffer David Crane indicated a compromise on the issue between the Clinton administration and GOP members of Congress has been reached. The compromise apparently takes language from the appropriations-attached Internet filtering bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and language from another filtering bill sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.). The compromise bill no longer forces public schools and libraries to use E-rate funding to pay for software filters, instead permitting the use of other federal funding for that purpose, Crane says. The revised bill also contains technology-neutral language and would place filtering decisions in the hands of local school and library boards, according to Crane. (Newsbytes, 30 October 2000)


Porn and the New Prez
How X Rates With 'W'
How will the next administration deal with pornography on the Internet? Republicans have pledged that the Justice Department will pounce on Net pornographers, and George W. Bush has railed against offensive websites. He's also endorsed library and school filtering. Declan McCullagh reports from Washington.


FUNDING STALEMATE PUTS INTERNET-FILTER MANDATE ON HOLD
School lobbyists view the inability of lawmakers to approve the spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education as an opportunity to become more involved in the issue of whether schools should be required to use technology to block access to certain information on the Internet. The latest talks on the issue between the White House and congressional negotiators did not include school lobbyists. Those discussions led to lawmakers attaching a provision to the spending bill that would cut off federal technology funding to schools and libraries across the country that do not use software products to block out material that is pornographic, obscene, or "harmful to minors." Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) back the position of school and library groups such as the Consortium for School Networking, the International Society for Technology in Education, the National PTA, and the National Education Association. These groups contend that local schools and libraries should decide for themselves whether to use Internet filters. (Education Week, 18 November 2000)


LIFTING THE CURTAIN ON WEB FILTERING STRATEGIES
Companies such as CyberPatrol, which develops software that blocks out pornographic or obscene Web sites, refuse to release the lists of the sites that they block. The ACLU argues that people have a right to know what the software blocks, and in the spring the ACLU defended three Web publishers who bypassed the locks on CyberPatrol. "The public is served by having these sites public," said ACLU lawyer Chris Hansen. The Library of Congress has been instructed by Congress to determine exemptions for a recently passed law that prohibits the bypassing of security measures on software. The Web publishers won a small victory when the ruling stated that "persons who wish to criticize and comment on them cannot ascertain which sites are contained in the lists unless they circumvent." CyberPatrol maintains that it is concerned about protecting its customers, not the lists; however, the company has already released a more secure version of the software, which cannot be bypassed. In October, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that the Web publishers were in the clear. (New York Times, 16 November 2000)


The Net and kids: tips for parents


Hitsgalore.com

ZDNet - "Sex isn't all that sells online Hitsgalore.com, a porn-free search engine, nets a $100M investment."

ZDNet - "ISP filters out sex, violence ... and grows -- American Family Online"


Schools Block Sexy Sites, 06.09.00
In another example of university frumpiness, Seattle Pacific U. has recently joined the ranks of schools that block online sex sites. And guess what? A campus student group actually requested the action.


Smut Filter Blocks All But Smut - Exotrope, Inc.


Revenge for Dick Trickle
What's the Worst &*#% Filter?
Frustrated by "censorware" that won't let you find information about, say, sextuplets or Middlesex, England? The Digital Freedom Network is holding a Foil the Filters contest. By Joyce Slaton.


Danni Ashe Does COPA
The webmistress who runs Danni’s Hard Drive talks with Brad King about ways to prevent kids from accessing mature content on the Web. Danni Ashe testifies Thursday at a Child Online Protection Act hearing.


ICANN COOL TO .KIDS AND .XXX
ICANN has released a report that rejects a few top level domain name proposals and questioned other applicants' capabilities. ICM Registry's .xxx and .kids, as well as a number of suggestions from Name.Space, such as .agency and .commerce, were dismissed by the report. ICM Registry Chairman Jason Hendeles says ICANN is unwilling to protect children against improper content. Name.Space listened to the people to determine what TLDs they wanted and how to organize the TLDs, says company CEO and founder Paul Garrin. Because of ICANN's decision to limit these desires, the current artificial lack of domain names and the issue of differentiation will not be addressed, says Garrin. Due to the large quantity of comments supporting the Image Online proposal in the ICANN Public Comment Forum, the ICANN staff asked that the evaluators re-examine the application. ICANN found that the core competency of an expanded Image Online would consist of a mere three employees, two of which have insufficient technical experience. ICANN's report is an evaluation rather than a recommendation, notes ICANN CFO Andrew McLaughlin. (InternetNews.com, 10 November 2000)


KIDS RUN A 20% RISK OF ‘CYBERSEX’ ADVANCES Congress yesterday received a new report that finds that roughly 20 percent of children and teenagers who regularly use the Internet as a vehicle for socialization have been propositioned for "cybersex" by strangers on the Internet. The survey of 5,001 young people was conducted by the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center with help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The survey, Online Victimization: A Report on the Nation’s Youth, finds that 19 percent of kids between the ages of 10 and 17 were sexually propositioned on the Internet during the past year, although 48 percent of the sexual advances likely came from other youths below the age of 18. About 25 percent of the advances were believed to have come from young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. "Teaching kids about online safety must reach beyond warnings about older male predators," says David Finkelhor, director of the University of New Hampshire research center. The survey determined that 65 percent of the advances occurred in chat rooms and 24 percent by instant message. (USA Today, 8 June 2000)