Contents
Software which automatically blocks or screens material on the
Internet
Welcome to the Texas ISP Association's (TISPA's) courtesy page for parents
seeking information about blocking software. The Texas Internet Service
Providers Association is pleased to bring you this page to assist you in your
effort to provide educational experiences and an appropriate environment for
your child. Please note: We, along with other Internet organizations, do not
normally recommend the use of online content censor software. In our hope to
empower you by providing you with full information, and in compliance with Texas
state law, these links
are provided to assist parents with information to help guide decisions about
blocking and filtering software.
It's true that objectionable content, even garbage, is available on the
Internet, just as it is in many parts of a free society. But no blocking
software is 100% successful in filtering all "bad" sites. And blocking software
often includes a hidden
cost -- censorship of genuinely worthwhile, wholesome information, and
perfectly "good" sites.
The Texas ISP Association feels parents can be most effective in protecting
their children by spending time discussing the values and risks of free access
to information. Information to aid these discussions is available below. Please
be warned: there is a great diversity of opinions about blocking and filtering
software. Some parents find blocking and filtering software to be a useful tool
for reducing the risks of objectionable materials coming into the home via the
Internet, while other parents find "censorware" to be ineffective, offensive,
expensive, and disruptive of the essence of the parent-child bond.
When you are deciding whether or not to use blocking and filtering software
in your home, please remember that buying and installing software on a computer
cannot be an adequate substitute for spending quality time parenting
your child. Many experts and successful parents who have survived the Internet
experience agree that Internet-connected computers cannot be safely used as
electronic baby-sitters, regardless of the sales pitch of some software
vendors.
Where to Start: Parental Guides, Online Safety
Handbooks, and Positive Examples
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Electronic Resources for Youth Services
Rich resources in children's
literature, for children's writers, illustrators, parents, school librarians,
and storytellers.
Get Connected to Learning Using the Internet
Resources for
teachers, kids, and parents. Includes a free online course on "Internet
Basics."
Guiding Children Through Cyberspace
Contains links to lots of
advice, filter software, reviews, ratings, and other tools.
Net Parents
Links
to blocking software, advice on safe access for kids, net rating systems,
"kid-safe" sites, and other resources.
NetSurfing Aids For Child Safety
Resources for parents and kids,
including links to several positive examples and links to "child protection
software."
The Parents Guide to Cyberspace
Solid, common-sense advice
from The American Library Association.
Parents' Guide to the Information Superhighway.
This advice
is from the Children's Partnership organization.
Protecting Our Children From the Internet (and the World)
Excellent
analysis and advice from a leading educator.
Reviews of software, advice and related information
Blocking software, like any other kind of software, varies in quality, and
different packages are intended for different sorts of users. Furthermore, every
publisher of blocking software has a different opinion of what kind of pages
they should "censor" . . . some have political or social agendas which they
don't necessarily advertise. Others "accidentally" block pages that you may want
to see.
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The
Big Cookie: What's Behind Internet Privacy Concerns: Part II
A cogent
discussion from the Internet Legal Practice Newsletter of important privacy
concerns for families and individuals.
Censorship,
Freedom of Speech, Child Safety on the Internet
An award winning mixture
of advice and links to further information.
CNET reviews - comparative reviews - 8 programs to porn-proof the
Net
Basically, software is no substitute for parental guidance. Most
products can be defeated; those that can't are so restrictive that kids may be
prevented from getting the most from their online experience. Their advice:
supervise your children when they're online, just as you do during other
activities.
Cyber Angels
(Guardian Angels)
The online version of the Guardian Angels organization,
heavy on what could go wrong online.
Filtering
Information on the Internet
A special report from Scientific
American. "Look for the labels to decide if unknown software and World Wide
Web sites are safe and interesting."
Information
Filtering Resources
A librarian's scholarly approach to filtering
information.
Internet Filters and Monitoring Software
This site has links and brief
reviews for many of the blocking software programs.
The Internet
Advocate
This is one of the best resource sites. It contains links which
debunk inaccurate perceptions of pornography on the Net, links which promote
positive examples of youth internet use, and links which will help you
understand blocking software.
The Internet Filter
Assessment Project
This is the most scientific and comprehensive attempt
to evaluate the blocking software programs to date.
Is My Child Safe on the
Internet?
This site has online safety basics and guidelines for kids, and
links to blocking software.
Is My Child Safe on the
Internet?
The same information from a different source.
Links to
Sites with Internet Safety Software
Brief reviews of blocking software
are available here.
Net Nanny
2.1 for Windows 95
This Australian site provides technical details about
how to use the program Net Nanny.
Parental
Control Software
This site is fearful of a "proliferation of indecency"
on the Net, and offers links and reviews for several of the blocking software
programs, in an effort to empower and educate parents.
Platform for
Internet Content Selection (PICS)
This site has an interesting discussion
of legal issues around rating systems enabled and delivered through PICS.
Platform for Internet
Content Selection
"PICS" is one of the content rating systems being
promoted.
Safety
Tips
Parental instructions for kids, from The American Library
Association
Talk to your
kids; silence is far more dangerous than any information
A large
collection of free speech links.
United Federation of
ChildSafe Websites
An organization of websites labeled as "childsafe."
Shows no activity as of early August 1997.
CYBERsitter:
Where Do We Not Want You To Go Today?
This page exposes bias used in one
filtering program -- CYBERsitter blocks access to sites that have information
about safe sex, feminism, gay/lesbian rights, and progressive political causes,
for instance.
Why Censoring Cyberspace Is Futile
Another version of the previous
article by best selling author, Howard Rheingold.
Where to get filtering software:
Makers of
software which blocks or screens Internet material
These are links to companies that sell blocking software or "censorware."
Neither TISPA nor your Internet Service Provider (ISP) endorses any of these
products -- this section is provided to fulfill obligations of your ISP under Texas state law. Please see
the previous section for independent reviews and scientific evaluations of the
quality and effectiveness of some widely-sold blocking packages. Please read the
disclaimer.
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Bess
Cyber Patrol
Cyber Snoop
ChatNet
CyberSitter
Guardian
Infoscan
Intergo
Internet
Filter
Net Nanny
Net Shepherd
PlanetView
NetRated
SurfWatch
Time's
Up
Triple
Exposure
For more, here is
Yahoo
Evaluating Quality On The Net:
Okay, I found this
information on the Net. How do I know if it's any good?
It's not called the "Net of a Million Lies" for nothing. The Internet gives
access to information from all over the world. Some of it is vital and valuable.
Some is incomplete . . . or erroneous . . . or out of date. Some is marketing
hype presented as fact. And many pages are unsupported opinion, or political
demagoguery. A few are, quite literally, the ravings of madmen!
It's all there on the Net. How do you, and your child, divide the information
from the raving? The same way you do when you pick up a newspaper or a magazine:
Consider the source.
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Evaluating Information on the Internet
Over a dozen credited links to
Internet evaluation information, from the University of Washington
Libraries.
Evaluating Quality on the Net
Common sense from a distiguished
librarian's point of view.
Evaluation
of Information Sources
A long list of credited links from New
Zealand.
Librarians Information Online Network
A large collection of annotated
links to valuable resources.
Library
Selection Criteria for WWW Resources
The latest revised version of
Carolyn Caywood's classic 1995 essay.
Peter
Milbury's School Library & School Librarian Web Pages
This site is
the center of the K-12 school library world.
Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
Points to consider
from Esther Grassian of the UCLA College Library.
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Texas Legislature At
Work
Texas State law requires all Texas Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) to link to blocking and filtering software sites. In
1997, during the 75th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, House Bill 1300
(HB
1300) was passed. HB 1300 requires Internet Service Providers to make a link
available on their first world wide web page which leads to Internet
"censorware" software, also known as 'automatic' blocking and screening
software.
The two most important portions of the law are shown here:
- Sec. 35.102. SOFTWARE OR SERVICES THAT RESTRICT ACCESS TO CERTAIN
MATERIAL ON INTERNET.
(a) A person who provides an interactive computer
service to another person for a fee shall provide free of charge to each
subscriber of the service in this state a link leading to fully functional
shareware, freeware, or demonstration versions of software or to a service
that, for at least one operating system, enables the subscriber to
automatically block or screen material on the Internet.
(b) A provider is considered to be in compliance with this section if the
provider places, on the provider's first page of world wide web text
information accessible to a subscriber, a link leading to the software or a
service described by Subsection (a). The identity of the link or other
on-screen depiction of the link must appear set out from surrounding written
or graphical material so as to be conspicuous. \ . . . \
- Sec. 35.103. CIVIL PENALTY.
(a) A person is liable to the state
for a civil penalty of $2,000 for each day on which the person provides an
interactive computer service for a fee but fails to provide a link to software
or a service as required by Section 35.102. The aggregate civil penalty may
not exceed $60,000.
(b) The attorney general may institute a suit to recover the civil penalty.
Before filing suit, the attorney general shall give the person notice of the
person's noncompliance and liability for a civil penalty. If the person
complies with the requirements of Section 35.102 not later than the 30th day
after the date of the notice, the violation is considered cured and the person
is not liable for the civil penalty.
If you want to read the entire law, it's available in several formats here:
The bill's history is given here:
And here is the legislative staff
analysis of the bill:
Return To
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Disclaimer |
|
Neither TISPA nor your ISP warrant or represent that any
of the material referenced on this page (whether it is software or not)
will function as advertised, will safely run on your computer or will
acheive the results claimed by the author or programmer. TISPA and your
ISP encourage you to thoroughly research any software you install on your
computer to make sure it is what you are looking
for. |
This page is brought to you as a
public service by the Texas Internet Service Providers Association. Your
comments and suggestions are welcome! For more information,
please contact:
"Dave Kinnaman" mailto:kinnaman@io.com
Version 0.091
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The
Net address URL for this document =
http://www.Io.Com/~kinnaman/pchealth/draft.html (Updated 14 Sep 97
)
Copyright 1997 by Dave Kinnaman - All rights reserved. Links to
this document are welcome. Copies or excerpts of this publication may be made
and distributed in any medium for any non-commercial purpose provided that this
notice, the author's name, and the document's Net address URL remain intact. All
commercial distribution must obtain written permission in advance. Please send
comments and questions to kinnaman@Io.Com