Content area
Full text
From the US to New Zealand and many places in between, bills of censorship have stirred controversy between government and Internet users. A new Silicon Valley company believes it can make such debate redundant and has developed what it claims is the first filtering product for the Internet.
SurfWatch Software, Inc, a Californian-based company formed in January of this year, recently released SurfWatch 1.0 for the Apple Macintosh and for Microsoft Windows. The software allows parents and educators to block out sexually explicit material from minors who would like to surf the Internet. According to SurfWatch Software spokesperson Jay Friedland, corporations are also interested in the package.
By searching for keywords such as 'erotica' or 'pornography', the SurfWatch Software's database can identify those Internet addresses that might contain inappropriate material. The appropriate addresses are then sent to the SurfWatch software and the user.
"This is not an easy task," says Friedland, citing problems with words that have multiple spellings. "But [SurfWatch] lets children learn about the Net while giving parents and teachers peace of mind."
Since Internet sites are constantly changing, SurfWatch has to be updated every month. Users register with SurfWatch Software, receive updates over the Internet, and are billed accordingly. Currently SurfWatch blocks over 1,300 Internet addresses.
Employers, both in the US and internationally can...