contents

• Where to Start: Parental Guides, Online Safety Handbooks, and Positive Examples
• Reviews of Blocking Software
• Where to Get Filtering Software: Makers of Blocking Software
• Evaluating Quality On The Net
• Legal Requirements of Texas ISPs: Your Legislature At Work

Net Filters and Tools to block objectionable material

 

Welcome to the Texas ISP Association's  resource site for families and individuals seeking information about blocking software and filtering tools. The Texas Internet Service Providers Association (TISPA)develops and maintains this copyrighted content for TISPA member ISPs  to help their customers provide an appropriate and educational online environment for children and families.  NO LINKS TO THIS SITE are permitted without prior documented permission from TISPA.

Please note TISPA, along with other Internet organizations, does not routinely recommend use of online content blocking software. In our hope to empower you by providing you with full information, and in compliance with Texas state law, these links are provided to assist parents with information to help guide decisions about blocking and filtering software.

It's true that objectionable content, even garbage, is available on the Internet, just as it is in many parts of a free society. But no blocking software is 100% successful in filtering all "bad" sites. And blocking software often includes a hidden cost -- censorship of genuinely worthwhile, wholesome information, and perfectly "good" sites.

The Texas ISP Association feels parents can be most effective in protecting their children by spending time discussing the values and risks of free access to information. Information to aid these discussions is available below. Please be warned: there is a great diversity of opinions about blocking and filtering software. Some parents find blocking and filtering software to be a useful tool for reducing the risks of objectionable materials coming into the home via the Internet, while other parents find "censorware" to be ineffective, offensive, expensive, and disruptive of the essence of the parent-child bond.

When you are deciding whether or not to use blocking and filtering software in your home, please remember that buying and installing software on a computer cannot be an adequate substitute for spending quality time parenting your child. Many experts and successful parents who have survived the Internet experience agree that Internet-connected computers cannot be safely used as electronic baby-sitters, regardless of the sales pitch of some software vendors.

Where to Start: Parental Guides, Online Safety Handbooks, and Positive Examples

Get Connected to Learning Using the Internet
Resources for teachers, kids, and parents; includes a free online course on "Internet Basics"
The Kids on the Web
Fun Stuff, Homework Tools, Things for Adults, PenPals, Educational Sites, Children's Books/Stories, Things for Teens
KidsConnect
KidsConnect's research toolbox for students
 Interesting.Places.to Browse for Kids
Finding your way, art, literature, music, museums/exhibits, science/math, arts/crafts, toys/games, movies/TV shows, Web pages by kids or for kids
Not Just For Kids
Animals, Chat and Key-Pals, science, fun and games, sports, interesting places, music and radio, kids' creations, not just for parents, movies and television, holiday pages
KidsClick Web Directory for Kids by Librarians
Facts/Reference, Science/Math, the Arts, Weird & Mysterious, Health/Family, Popular Entertainments, Religion/Mythology, Home/Household, Sports/Recreation, society/Government, Machines/Transportation,Literature, Reading/Writing/Speaking, Computers/The Internet, Geography/History/Biography
On-Lion for Kids
Events, arts/games, people/places, holidays/celebrations, reading/books, science/technology, Internet search, sports, and stuff for for parents/teachers
TeenLink
For Teen readers, writers, and dreamers
The Librarian’s Guide To CyberSpace for Parents & Kids
Solid, common-sense advice from The American Library Association.
Parents' Guide to the Information Superhighway
Advice from the Children's Partnership
Protecting Our Children From the Internet (and the World)
Excellent analysis and advice from a leading educator

Reviews of software, advice and related information

Blocking software, like any other kind of software, varies in quality, and different packages are intended for different sorts of users. Furthermore, every publisher of blocking software has a different opinion of what kind of pages they should "censor" . . . some have political or social agendas which they don't necessarily advertise. Others "accidentally" block pages that you may want to see.

 

Access Denied : An Impact of Internet Filtering Software on the Gay and Lesbian Community
Thoughtful points and analysis from one part of the human family.
Privacy on the Internet: Concerns Grow, Laws Lag
A cogent discussion from the Internet Legal Practice Newsletter of important privacy concerns for families and individuals.
Blacklisted by Cyber Patrol: From Ada to Yoyo
A highly credible December 1997 report on the details of Cyber Patrol blocking errors.
Censorship, Freedom of Speech, Child Safety on the Internet
An award winning mixture of advice and links to further information.
Censorship Of The Internet
Censorship Resource Guide, links to organizations against and two sites in favor of censorship. Specializes in U.S. government information and alternatives to censorship.
Cookie Central
Ever wondered what Internet browser "cookies" are about? Cookie Central explains these tricky devices, and helps you understand the threat they can be to your families' privacy.
Children's Advertising Review Unit (Better Business Bureau)
When children's advertising is found to be misleading, inaccurate or inconsistent with the Guidelines, CARU seeks changes through the voluntary cooperation of advertisers.
CRADLE - Cyber Rights And Digital Liberties Encyclopedia
An interactive encyclopedia of terms related to Internet users' rights.
Cyber Angels (Guardian Angels)
The online version of the Guardian Angels organization, heavy on what could go wrong online.
CYBERsitter: Where Do We Not Want You To Go Today?
This page exposes bias used in one filtering program -- CYBERsitter blocks access to sites that have information about safe sex, feminism, gay/lesbian rights, and progressive political causes, for instance.
Fahrenheit 451.2: Is Cyberspace Burning?
How Rating and Blocking Proposals May Torch Free Speech on the Internet
Factual and logical American Civil Liberties Union position paper.
Faulty Filters:
How Content Filters Block Access to Kid-Friendly Information on the Internet
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) demonstrates several unflattering filter flaws
Filtering Companies Assailed For Blocking ‘Unpopular’ Voices
News from the New York Times newspaper. [Readers must register for a "free" subscriber ID and password to access this site.]
Filtering Information on the Internet
A special report from Scientific American. "Look for the labels to decide if unknown software and World Wide Web sites are safe and interesting."
Information Filtering Resources
A librarian's scholarly approach to filtering information.
The Internet Advocate
This is one of the best resource sites. It contains links which debunk inaccurate perceptions of pornography on the Net, links which promote positive examples of youth internet use, and links which will help you understand blocking software.
Internet Family Empowerment White Paper
How Filtering Tools Enable Responsible Parents to Protect Their Children Online (July 17, 1997)
This extended report builds a case for filtering Internet content.
The Internet Filter Assessment Project
This is the most scientific and comprehensive attempt to evaluate the blocking software programs to date.
Internet Filters and Monitoring Software
This site has links and brief reviews for many of the blocking software programs.
Internet Free Expression Alliance
Excellent resources from a large coalition of free-expression advocates.
Internet Online Summit: Focus On Children (December 1-3, 1997), Washington, D.C.
Hosted by AT&T, America Online, Microsoft, The Walt Disney Company, and Time Warner, this media event even has its own web site!
Is My Child Safe on the Internet?
This site has online safety basics and guidelines for kids, and links to blocking software.
Links to Sites with Internet Safety Software
Brief reviews of blocking software are available here.
The Net Labelling Delusion: Protection or Oppression?
Australian views on the labeling "solution" to censorship.
Parental Control Software -- Comparison of Features
A compact, useful table of features for six filtering programs.
Parental Control Software
This site is fearful of a "proliferation of indecency" on the Net, and offers links and reviews for several of the blocking software programs, in an effort to empower and educate parents.
Parental Discretion Advised (from Scientific American CYBER VIEW) A brief, informative review of the current filtering landscape by Paul Wallich. "...it appears that blocking software neither allows people using it to reach all the information they should, given its criteria, nor does it keep them from all the information they shouldn't see."
Platform for Internet Content Selection
"PICS" is one of the content rating systems being promoted.
PeaceFire
Teenagers advocating for human rights.
SafeSearch
Another filtered search engine -- I usually get an "unable to connect" error.
Talk to your kids; silence is far more dangerous than any information
A large collection of free speech links.
Teen Net Anti-Censorship Alliance
Teens fighting censorship.
United Federation of ChildSafe Websites
An organization of websites labeled as "childsafe." Began activity in Fall 1997.
Why Censoring Cyberspace Is Futile
This 1994 article shares advice from a wise father (best selling author, Howard Rheingold) to his child and to other parents. "This technological shock to our moral codes means that in the future, we are going to have to teach our children well."
X-Rated Ratings? An in-depth article, published first by the American Journalism Review in October 1997.

Where to get filtering software:
Makers of software which blocks or screens Internet material

These are links to companies that sell blocking software or "censorware." Neither TISPA nor your Internet Service Provider (ISP) endorses any of these products -- this section is provided to fulfill obligations of your ISP under Texas state law. Please see the previous section for independent reviews and scientific evaluations of the quality and effectiveness of some widely-sold blocking packages. Please read the disclaimer.

Access Control
Bess
Crayon Crawler
Cyber Snoop
CyberSitter
Internet Filter
Net Nanny
PlanetView
For more, here is Yahoo

Evaluating Quality On The Net:
Okay, I found this information on the Net. How do I know if it's any good?

It's not called the "Net of a Million Lies" for nothing. The Internet gives access to information from all over the world. Some of it is vital and valuable. Some is incomplete . . . or erroneous . . . or out of date. Some is marketing hype presented as fact. And many pages are unsupported opinion, or political demagoguery. A few are, quite literally, the ravings of madmen!

It's all there on the Net. How do you, and your child, divide the information from the raving? The same way you do when you pick up a newspaper or a magazine: Consider the source.

Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources
From Nicole J. Auer of Virginia Tech University Libraries.
Evaluating Web Resources
Checklists for evaluation of five kinds of Web pages.
Librarians Information Online Network
A large collection of annotated links to valuable resources.
Library Selection Criteria for WWW Resources
The latest revised version of Carolyn Caywood's classic 1995 essay.
Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources.
This is a refereed article by Alastair G. Smith which was published in The Public-Access Computer Systems Review.
Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
Points to consider from Esther Grassian of the UCLA College Library.
Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
Advice for Internet users from Elizabeth E. Kirk at Johns Hopkins University Entrepreneurial Library Program at Sheridan Libraries.
Resources for Evaluating Information on the Internet
Resources for Evaluating Information on the Internet from the University of Iowa Libraries.

 

Texas Legislature At Work

 

Texas State law requires all Texas Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to link to blocking and filtering software sites. In 1997, during the 75th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, House Bill 1300 (HB 1300) was passed. HB 1300 requires Internet Service Providers to make a link available on their first world wide web page which leads to Internet "censorware" software, also known as 'automatic' blocking and screening software.

The two most important portions of the law are shown here:

 

• Sec. 35.102. SOFTWARE OR SERVICES THAT RESTRICT ACCESS TO CERTAIN MATERIAL ON INTERNET.
  (a) A person who provides an interactive computer service to another person for a fee shall provide free of charge to each subscriber of the service in this state a link leading to fully functional shareware, freeware, or demonstration versions of software or to a service that, for at least one operating system, enables the subscriber to automatically block or screen material on the Internet.

  (b) A provider is considered to be in compliance with this section if the provider places, on the provider's first page of world wide web text information accessible to a subscriber, a link leading to the software or a service described by Subsection (a). The identity of the link or other on-screen depiction of the link must appear set out from surrounding written or graphical material so as to be conspicuous. \ . . . \

• Sec. 35.103. CIVIL PENALTY.
  (a) A person is liable to the state for a civil penalty of $2,000 for each day on which the person provides an interactive computer service for a fee but fails to provide a link to software or a service as required by Section 35.102. The aggregate civil penalty may not exceed $60,000.

  (b) The attorney general may institute a suit to recover the civil penalty. Before filing suit, the attorney general shall give the person notice of the person's noncompliance and liability for a civil penalty. If the person complies with the requirements of Section 35.102 not later than the 30th day after the date of the notice, the violation is considered cured and the person is not liable for the civil penalty.