Filters/Cybersitter

[CMUNSON]

     Sheryl: The folks who sell censorware are probably aware that their 
     products are unpopular and that they will ultimately be rejected by 
     the public. I think they are counting on making some fast bucks before 
     everybody gets organized enough to stop their silliness.
     
     Bennett Haselton is not the only person who has drawn the ire of the 
     censorware producers. They've "filtered" out other sites who have been 
     critical of them, or just provided information about the product (NOT 
     lists, etc.) Such are the tactics of those who hold freedom of speech 
     in low regard.
     
     I know of one friend who had a difficult time convincing CyberPatrol 
     to remove his site from their censored list. He runs a political site. 
     They eventually dropped it from his list, citing a rather pathetic 
     excuse for why his cite was blocked. I'm aware of others on the net 
     that have had their fan sites blocked, including a rather innocuous 
     Xena fan site. Of course, I've had two of my sites blocked, which made 
     me mad because they are educational sites. Both have recently switched 
     URLs, but the old URLs remain blocked.
     
     Installing censorware in libraries is unconstitutional. It amount to 
     government control over the public's right to access information.
     
     Chuck Munson
     


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Filters/Cybersitter
Author:  Sheryl Dwinell <dwinells at vmsb.csd.mu.edu> at Internet
Date:    4/24/97 7:00 AM


Karen's posting about filters reminded me of a situation that occured last 
year between Solid Oak, the company that manufactures Cybersitter, and a 
young guy named Bennett Haselton, who runs a web site for teenagers called 
Peacefire.  If you want an idea of how the folks who operate Solid Oak 
respond to criticism about their product, take a look at this site: 
http://annoy.com/cda/media_muck/cybersitter.html.  They threatened a 
lawsuit and even wrote to the ISP that hosted Peacefire threatening to 
block every site serviced by the ISP.  All in response to a teenager 
concerned about censorship and how a piece of software operates.  Now 
apparently the kid involved has written a program that will crack the file 
of filtered sites in the Cybersitter software. see: 
http://www.wired.com/news/story/901.html. 
     
Any librarian who considers installing any blocking software should not 
only be aware of how the software operates and whether the list of blocked 
sites can be viewed or altered, but should also be aware of the attitudes 
amongst those in management at the corporations that create and own the 
software. 
     
Sheryl Dwinell
Cataloger/Database Management Librarian 
Memorial Library, Marquette University 
P.O. Box 3141
Milwaukee, WI 53201-3141
dwinells at vms.csd.mu.edu
414-288-3542