The recent CDA decision pointed out some of the problems involved in rating Net content. For example, the court spent a lot of time talking about Cyber Patrol software and the CyberNOT list "containing approximately 7000 sites
Do we just ignore the fact that these lists are outdated within seconds of release? Even if they can be automatically distributed via the net (maybe by forcing your Web browser to use their page as your home page and automagically downloading to you a new update), the list will still be outdated by days or weeks. This is one of the big problems with all of these types of filters.
Violence/Profanity: Extreme cruelty, physical or emotional acts against any animal or person which are primarily intended to hurt or inflict pain. Obscene words, phrases, and profanity defined as text that uses George Carlin's seven censored words more often than once every fifty messages or pages.
Gee, is this real or simulated violence? I don't suppose I can go surfing over to the Mortal Kombat website now...
Satanic/Cult: Worship of the devil; affinity for evil, wickedness. Sects or groups that potentially coerce individuals to grow, and keep, membership.
Does that include evangelicals? They're not Satanic but they certainly encourage membership growth. Some evangelicals can be quite coercive.
And
why Satanists? Don't we have freedom of religion in this country? Remember, the Supremes *did* throw out the Hialeah Sanitaria Animal Sacrifice Ordinance.
What about Co$? They might be a cult, depending upon who you ask. And, what about us harmless, life-affirming Witches? The name alone will probably trigger a lot of filters. I think the point of all this is that unless/until a "smart" filter can be devised, there can't / won't be a good filtering package that will please everyone, or even a majority of someones. Good luck. dave ----- David E. Smith, dsmith@prairienet.org PO Box 324 Cape Girardeau MO USA 63702-0324 http://www.prairienet.org/~dsmith/dave.html "fighting ultimage cosmic evil... ... one bean burrito at a time."