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Programs that prevent access to parts of
the internet deemed to be objectionable, sometimes called censorware or
filtering software. Blocking software can stop people accessing particular
websites, newsgroups, mailing lists and chat lines, and can
even prevent them from typing names, addresses or offensive words.
Originally designed to protect children from pornography and other
perceived dangers on the
internet, blocking products are now widely used in the corporate world, and
most school and public libraries routinely use them on computers connected
to the internet. Most browsers, for example Microsoft's internet
explorer, contain facilities for controlling access to websites that
have been rated using the Pics scheme.
Blocking software has
been heavily criticised for mindlessly discriminating against many harmless
sites and interfering unnecessarily with people's online activities.
Some products, for example, have blocked access to any site or newsgroup
containing the word "breast" irrespective of its nature, preventing access
by anyone seeking advice on breast cancer. A 2002 study by the Electronic
frontier foundation and the online policy Group found that blocking software
in US school could block up to 70% of search engine result for
state-mandated curriculum topics. Outraged by such idiocy, two hackers
reverse-engineered the Cyber Patrol blocking software package in 1999
and distributed a program allowing people to see the list of sites being
blocked. Matthew Skall and Eddy Jansson to hand over the program and refrain
from distributing further copies. But the hanker community continues to take
a dim view of such software and many public sites exist that explain how to
disable the commonly used programs. Meanwhile, many parents have been
dismayed to discover that their children have been able to disable them
without any outside help whatsoever. (see also content filter.) |
