On Monday, November 24, 2008 NetNanny released the latest version of NetNanny. New features mentioned in the release where.
Russ Neumeier who contributes to the GeekDad blog for Wired Magazine recently conducted a review of Safe Eyes. Calling Safe Eyes a “Safe Bet for Home Internet Filtering.” Unlike many reviewers he actually installed and used the software in his home instead of doing a “Lab” style review. You can read the full review by clicking the link below.
There has been much talk about the availability of Internet access while in flight. The airlines were already planning on filtering high bandwith applications and things like VOIP that might be an annoyance onboard. However, the idea of filtering for content has been a different issue.
American Airlines was originally saying that they were going to rely on the good judgment of their customers not to look an inappropriate content. However, American’s flight attendants began to put pressure on the company to filter out pornography. American most recently said it is examining its options.
Meanwhile Delta announced on Friday that they will block pornographic websites on its in-flight Internet access. Kent Landers, a Delta spokesman, said it like this:
Blocking will be limited in scope and will be for sites that few, if any, would question are inappropriate to be viewed on an aircraft, our focus is to achieve a balanced approach.
The in-flight Internet access will be provided by AirCell, there is no indication yet of how the filtering will be accomplished.
There has been some talk that the new IE 8 feature called InPrivate has the ability to bypass Internet filters. When I first heard this I dismissed the idea since Safari has a similar “Private Browsing” mode and it doesn’t allow you to bypass Internet filtering. FilterFacts.org thought the same thing but asked for someone from a filtering company to weigh in, so I figured I would share what we have found.
Internet Explorer 8 with InPrivate Browser enabled does not bypass the filtering in Safe Eyes. Since there are so many varying technologies used by different vendors, I can’t make the blanket statement that it doesn’t circumvent all Internet filters. However, I find it very unlikely.
Basically all that InPrivate does is limit the browser from storing browsing history, cookies, browser cache (Temporary Internet Files), etc. The idea is that it leaves fewer tracks about where you visit. The nickname “Porn Mode” doesn’t come from its ability to help you access porn, but rather for its ability to help you cover your tracks if you don’t want someone to know.
But being able to delete your web history, cookies and browser cache isn’t anything new. You have been able to do this with pretty much every browser out there. InPrivate just makes that process a little easier. This is one reason why we recommend to parents that they don’t rely on simply checking the browser history as a means for keeping track of where their kids go online. But rather use a system like Safe Eyes, which runs at a much lower level than a browser. These lower level systems are still going to be able to log where you visit even if InPrivate is enabled.
On Thursday, T-Mobile sent thier CTO to Washington to ask the FCC to delay its plans for the free filtered wireless broadband network. They are asking that it be delayed to allow more time for testing potential interferance issues, suggesting that it be delayed until after the November elections.
It is expected that the FCC will delay the AWS-3 auction as the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has made comments that the auction could be put off until next year.
In a recent review by About.com, Safe Eyes was once again awarded very high marks, receiving a 4.5 stars out of 5. This was a very thorough review of the software. About.com’s Bottom Line is:
If you’re concerned about your kids’ online activities, Safe Eyes provides excellent protection. Simple to set up and with lots of built-in help available, even parents who are not overly tech-savvy will find this easy to manage.
Recently I noticed a post on David Burt’s blog, filteringfacts.org, that NetSweeper had told him they had exceeded 1 billion URL’s in thier database. They estimate that they will be to the second billion within 6 months.
I’m often asked in interviews “How big is your database”. What people are really trying to ask is “How effective is your filter.” URL count, simply can’t be used as the only method of determining if an Internet Filter is effective. Here is an example why:
http://www.internetsafety.com/
http://www.internetsafety.com/safe-eyes-parental-control-software.php
http://www.internetsafety.com/ethershield-internet-filter.php
http://www.internetsafety.com/internet-safety-tips-for-parents.php
There are four URL’s. But from an Internet Filtering point of view there probably isn’t a use case where I really want to treat one of those pages differently than the other. So one company could have the 4 URL’s listed above in their database, and another company could have just internetsafety.com in their database and inherit the categories down to the other URL’s. Both databases are just as effective, the extra URL’s are just database bloat.
So how can you know if your Internet Filter is effective enough? Again David Burt has compiled a really comprehensive list of Internet Filtering effective tests that have been performed.
However, after spending nearly 10 years in the Internet Filtering industry I have found that main stream filtering providers are only going to be separated by 1 or 2% difference in filtering effectiveness. That just is not going to make a really big difference in the blocking capabilities for your organization.
If you are looking at products from InternetSafety.com, Secure Computing, 8E6 Technologies, or Websense you are better off making your purchase decision on other functionality in the solution, support options, or pricing rather than how many URL’s are in the database.
While at a conference, I recently had the opportunity to meet with a group of programmers in a related industry. Over dinner, we got on the topic of countries like China that censor the Internet. However, in reality there are many more countries that are involved in Internet filtering than just China.
The involvement can range from simply promoting and supplying filters like the government of Australia did in 2007 with the PAFO/NetAlert project, to full mandated filtering and Internet censorship as is the case in China.
The OpenNet Initiative has studied Internet filtering on a global level and charted the level of filtering an reasons for the filtering onto a map of the world. Internet filtering world map.
LAPTOP magazine recently tested Safe Eyes, NetNanny and Webroot Child Safe. Once again Safe Eyes achieves 4.5 out of 5 stars and wins the Editors’ Choice Award…this time from LAPTOP magazine. The article is feature in the July 2008 print edition as well as online. LAPTOP’s final word was “Safe Eyes’ easy-to-control interface and powerful controls, especially for social networking protection, will leave parents anxiety-free.”
ICANN will vote on Thursday in Paris on a new resolution that would allow the creation of generic TLD’s. The impact of this is that instead of just .com, .org, .info, etc. companies would be able to register thier own extensions. So for instance www.something.apple or www.something.coke. Pricing isn’t determined, but rumors are saying it could be as high as $50,000 to deter cybersquatters and limit it to only serious candidates.
For some time special interest groups have been working to create a .xxx domain, saying that it would make it easier to keep minors away from pornography. While that probably isn’t actually the case, ICANN has voted against an .xxx domain so it has never been created. However, the new generic TLD program could open the door for .xxx, .porn or whaterver other types of extensions enterprising companies would come up with. ICANN will still have to approve the new extensions, but at this point, the rules seem pretty wide open.
Expected launch would be sometime in Q2 of 09.
Read the full details of ICANN’s gTLD program.
Aaron Kenny
As the CTO of InternetSafety.com I have led the design and development of ISP, Consumer, and Business level Internet filtering products. More About Me
