USATODAY.com. Filtering firm stops selling lists of sites kids visit WASHINGTON (AP) — A major Internet filtering company will stop collecting and selling the Web habits of millions of schoolchildren who use its product after privacy groups howled and the Defense Department had second thoughts.
N2H2, which makes the "Bess" Internet filtering software, said Thursday it has stopped selling its "Class Clicks" lists that report the Web sites students visit on the Internet and how much time they spend at each one. After N2H2 announced its deal with marketing research firm Roper Starch last September, privacy groups called the filtering company a "corporate predator" and were incensed over reports the information would be sold to the Defense Department for recruiting.
TalkTalk Homesafe logging data. Slightly Right of Centre: Industry sources: ISP porn filter plans have been blown out of all proportion, ISP bosses "livid" The massive web porn filter story is not what it appears, multiple industry sources tell me.
News broke late last night of a government-sponsored plan to block pornography by the country's four largest ISPs. The Daily Mail ran a story that bore no relation to the position sources close to discussions with government had kept me abreast of over the last few months. Internet providers offer parents bar on porn. 11 October 2011Last updated at 19:52 David Cameron said parents could feel ''it is a jungle out there'' Four leading web providers are to offer customers the option to block adult content at the point of subscription.
BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin will offer the protection for smartphones, laptops and PCs. It comes as David Cameron on Monday met industry representatives amid concern over sexualisation of children. Porn-Free Filtered Internet Connections Proposed by "Big Four" UK ISPs. BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin are working on plans to block adult material, with the option to bar rude content set to appear as part of your broadband package options when you sign up.
The ISPs are implementing guidelines outlined in this summer's Bailey Report, which, among many other things, suggests parents are offered "a choice at the point of purchase over whether they want adult content on their home internet, laptops or smart phones". So instead of an easily bypassed software filter or site blocking solution that sits on your desktop, the new system will filter content deemed rude at ISP level.
Censorware or child protection? October 11, 2011 | Jim Killock Today's news that Internet Service Providers are going to offer to "block" pornography may be an extreme example of "spin", designed to satisfy morally outraged MPs: but it could still pose significant dangers.
ISPs are discussing what they call “Active Choice”: that is, to insist that adults are given a yes / no choice before installing or using parental controls when they set up a new broadband connection. Now, there is a world of difference between offering sensible child safety, and trying to persuade adults to live with layers of censorship. Thus the devil is therefore in the detail, and how “options” are presented. Biggest four UK ISPs switching to 'opt-in' system for pornography. Subscribers to four of the UK's biggest internet service providers will have to "opt in" if they want to view sexually explicit websites, as part of government-sponsored curbs on online pornography.
The measures will be unveiled on Tuesday as David Cameron hosts No 10 meeting with the Mothers' Union, a Christian charity. At the government's request the group's chief executive, Reg Bailey, led a review in tandem with Department of Education staff into the commercialisation and sexualisation of children. The Bailey report earlier this year produced a raft of proposals to shield children from sexualised imagery. The prime minister is expected to announce other moves in line with the review, such as restrictions on aggressive advertising campaigns and certain types of images on billboards. There will also be a website, Parentport, which parents can use to complain about television programmes, advertisements, products or services which they believe are inappropriate for children.
Where's the porn, we're British? “The Supreme Court says pornography is anything without artistic merit that causes sexual thoughts; that’s their definition, essentially.
No artistic merit, causes sexual thoughts. Hmm. . . . Sounds like . . . every commercial on television, doesn’t it?” Bill Hicks Later today we’re expecting a speech from the Prime Minister on internet adult content and how four of the UK’s biggest internet service providers (ISPs) are agreeing to implement an opt-in to adult material online. We should tread very carefully when developing state-sanctioned censorship of the internet. Four major providers to offer network based content filtering. Not that long ago, TalkTalk launched its HomeSave content filtering service to help parents keep their children safe online.
Today, BT, Sky and Virgin Media are poised to join them by offering customers a similar service to block adult content. Blocking of adult content has been possible for many years through the use of software installed on computers, however this requires parents to be knowledgable enough to do so. This type of solution also only protects the computers on which the software is installed, leaving games consoles, mobile phones, tablets and any other computers unprotected. Scare tactics, blocking sites can be bad for kids. Scaring children about the dangers of the Internet and blocking access to social-networking sites can do more harm than good, according to a report released Friday by a committee tasked by the U.S. government to explore online safety.
Parents, teachers, government agencies, and other organizations should promote online citizenship and media-literacy education, and actively encourage the participation of children in the process, concludes the report entitled "Youth Safety on a Living Internet. " It was produced by the Online Safety and Technology Working Group, which was created by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The report addresses some misperceptions about the dangers children face using the Internet. For instance, sexual predation exists "but not nearly in the prevalence once believed," according to the 148-page report. The report cites studies, including research funded by the U.S. BT ordered to block links to Newzbin 2 website. 28 July 2011Last updated at 10:15 BT and the Motion Picture Association give their reaction to the order for BT to block Newzbin 2 A High Court judge has ruled that BT must block access to a website which provides links to pirated movies.
Newzbin 2 is a members-only site which aggregates a large amount of the illegally copied material found on Usenet discussion forums. David Cameron's 'porn filter' will make no difference, say ISPs. Claims that David Cameron has forced a new "porn filter" on UK internet content have been disavowed by internet service providers, which said that the vast majority of customers will see "absolutely no difference" to their web content. Confusion arose after it was suggested that a new "filtered feed" system will be applied to everyone using internet connections provided by the biggest four ISPs – BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky, which between them have 17.6 million of the 19.2 million broadband customers in the UK.
It was claimed that the prime minister would unveil the measures on Tuesday as he hosted a No 10 meeting with the Mothers' Union, which earlier this year produced a raft of proposals to shield children from sexualised imagery.