Filter Technology ...some think it's hot some think not

The CIPA has passed and now everyone has to come to terms with their essential hypocrisy. The filtering industry who seem to support this wonderful act (surprise) and armies of telephone calls and sales men get to work in earnest to provide their solutions to this “terrible problem” re: child protection and so many of them are claiming to be the best and most comprehensive solution.

Claims made by a filtering software company as to the number of URLs or sites their product will block cannot be substantiated unless that software has transparent lists. You have to have the block list to begin to verify any “blocked sites” claim. Filtering Companies that encrypt their lists so they cannot be viewed (almost all filtering companies) willingly trip into marketing myth-takes when they attempt to sell their products. It is too easy to be the biggest the best the most advanced blah blah blah…when no one can see the list.

“Without exception Internet Filters are used to eliminate that which is deemed to be “undesirable” by an individual or group that has power over other individuals or groups”…Bob Turner

I wrote this in 1997 and it was on our website. It is as true now as it ever was.

Available from Zed on CBC: Banned Width

The composer’s electro-acoustic journey to the center of the murky world of the forbidden and the banned is a byteing comment on the amorphic, enduring force of censorship.

The sound chamber reverberates with a recitation of titles captured by the sword of the censor, categorized, then banished from bookshelves.

Why the concept of transparency may interest you

Our IF-2K software is a filtering product that features URL and phrase vocabulary transparency. The lists are not encrypted, therefore they are readable by the end-user. We believe that it is relevant and important that the end-user have such visual access not only to the text file packaged in our product, but, to any future list embellishment configured at the discretion of the end-user.

The Problem With Simple Keyword Filtering

This point alone brings up many questions that ought to be explored before “building”. Blocking the word sex is a “bad idea” This is called “keyword blocking” and over blocks beyond a tolerable level for a quality filter.