|
Clinton, Internet execs meet
|
 |
July 16, 1997: 4:33 p.m. ET
SurfWatch chief says children can be both empowered and protected
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - President Clinton and computer industry representatives Wednesday met at the White House to discuss ways for parents to control the places they visit on the Internet.
The gathering came amidst the industry's efforts to solve the needs of parents to keep objectionable material away from children, but to steer clear of overly burdensome regulations.
Among those meeting with Clinton was Michael Sears, president of Los Altos, Calif.-based SurfWatch, a unit of Spyglass Inc.
Appearing Wednesday on CNNfn's "Digital Jam," Sears said the industry wasn't interested in coming up with a V chip-like content regulator for personal computers.
"This is a software and policy solution. We are joining with the president and policy organizations to empower kids on the Internet and keep them safe," he said.
One of the preferred ways to move in that direction lies in a new standard called the Platform for Internet Content Selection, or PICS, he said.
PICS is a rating system that associates labels with Internet content. The standard is already included with Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser and will soon be in rating programs such as SurfWatch, NetNanny and others.
Sears said SurfWatch uses a combination of technology and content advisors who develop guidelines used in the program's filtering mechanism. The company's five key criteria: sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling and hate speech.
Users can also contact the company about sites they find objectionable for children. Those are viewed by content advisors and, if unsuitable for children, added to the software's filtering list.
"We search sites and ideas, but we don't actually block sites just on technology. Our competitors do it about the same way. As we go forward and move to PICS, we're actually moving to a much more standards-based approach," he said.
Sears said he realized libraries and schools that need to use computers and the Internet as learning tools are often placed in the difficult position of trying to guard what children view. Ultimately, parents must take responsibility for what their children see on the Internet, Sears said.
"We can empower kids and give them the technology to make them safe, but parents have to be involved. The library is not a parent and the government is not a parent.
Ultimately, Sears said, any filtering or rating selection that puts decisions in the hands of parents is better than government intervention. (322K WAV) or (322K AIFF)
Sears admitted some intelligent children could circumvent the technology. For that reason, SurfWatch employs some of those children as well as computer professionals to make sure its software program lives up to its purpose.
"You have to move very quickly. We don't just block sites. We block pattern-matching concepts ....We're blocking certain ways of getting many places on the Internet," he said.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
