FC: Web self-rating systems still a great idea, group insists

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Wed May 23 2001 - 13:02:21 PDT

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    And here I was thinking that this idea had about as much traction as an angry
    cat at an ice rink. See background on this issue, such seems, so, well, 1997:
    http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=rating
    http://www.politechbot.com/p-01601.html
    
    Michael Krantz, Bruce van Voorst and I had a article in Time magazine
    in 1997 talking about the problems of blocking software:
    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970811/business.censors_sensi.html
    
    On the facing page was another piece by Josh Quittner, talking about
    the perils of self-rating schemes for news sites:
    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970811/business.the_pres_muzl.html
    
    -Declan
    
    ---
    
    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/letters/010502/5014455.html
       
    Wednesday 2 May 2001
    
    Children's Web experience improved by right software
    
       Al MacKay
       The Ottawa Citizen
    
       Your April 26 City editorial, "Patrolling the Internet," resonated on
       several levels. Anyone with a passing acquaintance with current
       filtering technology appreciates that the systems being used by the
       various commercial programs available today are fraught with
       difficulties.
       
       Programs built to catch key words often stumble badly, blocking out,
       for example, anything to do with breasts, including recipes on how to
       cook ones made of chicken.
       
       There is a new initiative being undertaken by an international,
       non-profit organization that is developing a different type of
       filtering tool, one that involves assessing the content of a site,
       then providing an appropriate rating. The Web site's content is also
       put in context, so that nudity such as that contained in the Rubens
       canvas The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus won't be screened out,
       while the charms of the Hollywood Hooters girls, on display at some
       sites, will. ICRA, the Internet Content Rating Association
       (www.icra.org), has free, downloadable software available now, and is
       working to have Web content creators around the world voluntarily rate
       their sites to keep children from accessing inappropriate content.
       
       This type of filtering being developed by ICRA is very useful.
       However, as with most complex social issues today, there is no simple
       "one-size-fits-all" solution. Any parents interested in making sure
       their children's consumption of media -- in all its forms -- is a
       worthwhile experience, will have to be involved in teaching their
       children about interpreting the messages contained within the various
       media.
       
       Canada is a world leader in this new and growing field of media
       literacy. The Media Awareness Network (www.media-awareness.ca), which
       began as a modest clearinghouse for information on the issue of
       television violence, has evolved into an internationally acclaimed and
       award-winning Web-based resource on media literacy.
       
       Its comprehensive program on children and the Internet, Web Awareness
       Canada, is a rich source of useful information for parents, as well as
       for teachers who are now being asked to include media literacy in
       their course curricula.
       
       There is all kinds of stuff on the Web we would rather not have come
       into our homes. As parents, the easiest way to deal with it would be
       to adopt a turtle strategy and keep our kids off-line.
       
       But that's an approach that, in the long run, will cheat our children
       and keep them isolated from a new and exciting world of communications
       and culture.
       
       The challenge is to employ the practical tools that are now available,
       and make the Internet experience an enriching one for everyone in the
       family.
       
       Al MacKay,
       
       Ottawa
       
       Editor's note: Mr. MacKay is a policy and communications consultant.
       He is chair of the board of the Media Awareness Network, and a member
       of the Advisory Council of the Internet Content Rating Association.
    
    
    
    
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