CyberPatrol (not to be confused with Cybersitter)

[Steven Benson]

There seems to be some confusion between Cybersitter & Cyberpatrol.  These
are two different products by two different software companies.

It is Cyberpatrol that is going to be installed in Boston.  

It is Cybersitter that has been accused of excluding web sites critical of
it's product.
For information about this see the Internet World's February Surfboard
column available online at:
   http://www.iw.com/1997/02/gray.shtml
Also point your browser's to   http://www.peacefire.org   for other pointed
commentary about blocking software, including a database of blocked sites.

Some comments about Cyberpatrol.
The fully functional program can be downloaded (www.cyberpatrol.com) and
used for 7 days.  This program does allow a lot of control over what types
of materials are blocked and does allow the administrator to create a lists
of additional sites that should be blocked or sites that shouldn't be
blocked.  In my very brief time playing with CyberPatrol and my library's
list of bookmarked web sites I made a few quick observations to share.  
* It blocks the JAMA HIV/AIDS Info center
* It doesn't block the Negroid Research Institute, the Adelaide Institute
(Holocaust denial), or the home page of Professor Butz at Northwestern
(Holocaust denial).  These three pages were links off of the
www.hatewatch.org page.
* It does block About Witchcraft (www.crc.ricoh.com/~roanf/COG/iabout.html)
which seems quite inoffensive to me.  So I played with the subject category
controls, opening access to Satanic/Cult (still no access),
Militant/Extremist (still no access), etc.  Finally I opened access to
Gambling/Questionable/Illegal and voila, I could connect - go figure on the
why's of the categorization.  

The point being, that lists of blocked sites unavailable to libraries we
have to rely on the accuracy and judgement of someone outside the library -
and mistakes get made.  It can't hurt to try these programs and become
familiar with their workings, and to be able to distinguish between them.
There is a hue and cry in New York now (see David Burt's 3/3/97 posting in
PUBLIB "Staten Island Porn on the Internet") to put blocking software on
their library's Internet PCs.  In order to advocate a position we have to be
able to articulate it clearly, correctly, reasonably, and politically.  

Regards,
Steve Benson
Supervisor, Technical Services
Richardson Public Library   
Richardson, TX  75080
steve_benson at cor.gov
http://www.library.richardson.tx.us