---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 22:25:50 -0400 From: Michael Sims <jellicle@inch.com> To: fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu Cc: jberman@cdt.org, jseiger@cdt.org Subject: The Big Sellout It's here. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9707/15/cybersmut.ap/index.html Computer industry to announce anti-smut initiatives July 15, 1997 Web posted at: 9:59 p.m. EDT (0159 GMT) [20 minutes ago. I'm quick, aren't I?] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hoping to avoid a V-chip for the Internet, the computer industry will announce at the White House on Wednesday it will provide greater access to anti-smut software and work to flag Internet sites that are clean enough for kids. Weeks after the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law designed to keep cyberspace's seedy side away from children, the White House is urging the computer industry and parent's groups to take such voluntary steps to make the Internet safe for youngsters. "We don't need to reinvent the wheel here and we don't need a V-chip for the Internet. We have tools out there which are 100 percent available," said Jerry Berman of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a group that works to protect computer users' civil liberties. They just need to be more widely used and understood, he said. President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, a computer enthusiast, will host the private meeting Wednesday. About 30 to 40 people are expected, including representatives from America Online, Netscape Communications Corp., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo! Inc., the National Parent Teacher Association, the American Library Association, makers of screening technology and electronic civil liberties groups. The White House has said it wants a solution "as powerful for the computer as the V-chip will be for the television that protects children in ways that are consistent with America's free-speech values." Instead of seeking new legislation to force the computer industry to shield children from Internet smut, the Clinton administration is pushing voluntary ideas. That's welcome news for the industry and electronic civil liberties groups, which fought to overturn anti-smut provisions in the 1996 telecommunications law. "It's a very positive thing to try to come up with a constructive alternative to legislation," said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a nonprofit media watchdog group. No final industry-wide voluntary plan is expected to be announced Wednesday, but some companies are expected to unveil plans. For instance, Netscape Communications is expected to announce it will back a software standard that allows people, using a Web browser, either to block or select certain Web sites based on their electronic labels, said industry and government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity. Netscape did not return a phone call for comment. Microsoft Corp.'s Explorer browser already uses the standard, dubbed PICS, which can work with more than one labeling or ratings system. Parents using a browser with the PICS technology could, for example, call up Web sites designated to be "family friendly" or they could block sites labeled as violent or sex-filled. The Center for Democracy and Technology, meanwhile, is supposed to debut a Web page that would give parents information on how and where to get free smut-screening software, Berman said. The center estimates all of the major providers of Internet access to consumers offer screening technology for free or at a nominal cost. Those providers cover 14 million households, and include AOL, AT&T WorldNet, CompuServe, Prodigy and Erol's. The American Library Association is working on a broader effort. It has compiled a listing of family friendly Web sites parents can access separately or through its Web page, said spokeswoman Joyce Kelly. The listing will be updated and expanded, she said. And Microsystems Software Inc., maker of Cyber Patrol, a widely used screening software, is expected to unveil new technology to make it easier for owners to label their Web sites, a company representative said. "We're heartened that the industry is taking steps on its own," said Patty Yoxall, spokeswoman for the National PTA. "We prefer voluntary efforts over government intervention." White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that in addition to the voluntary efforts for indecent or smutty content, the government still will enforce vigorously provisions making illegal any obscene materials carried on the Internet. The Supreme Court upheld that provision of the 1996 law on June 26, even as it overturned provisions aimed at restricting children's access to indecent online materials. Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.