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I Wish I had written it. Enjoy!

As an enlightened, modern parent, I try to be as involved as possible in the lives of my six children. I encourage them to join team sports. I attend their teen parties with them to ensure no drinking or alcohol is on the premises. I keep a fatherly eye on the CDs they listen to and the shows they watch, the company they keep and the books they read. You could say I'm a model parent. My children have never failed to make me proud, and I can say without the slightest embellishment that I have the finest family in the USA.

Two years ago, my wife Carol and I decided that our children's education would not be complete without some grounding in modern computers. To this end, we bought our children a brand new Compaq to learn with. The kids had a lot of fun using the handful of application programs we'd bought, such as Adobe's Photoshop and Microsoft's Word, and my wife and I were pleased that our gift was received so well. Our son Peter was most entranced by the device, and became quite a pro at surfing the net. When Peter began to spend whole days on the machine, I became concerned, but Carol advised me to calm down, and that it was only a passing phase. I was content to bow to her experience as a mother, until our youngest daughter, Cindy, charged into the living room one night to blurt out: "Peter is a computer hacker!"

As you can imagine, I was amazed. A computer hacker in my own house! I began to monitor my son's habits, to make certain that Cindy wasn't just telling stories, as she is prone to doing at times.

After a few days of investigation, and some research into computer hacking, I confronted Peter with the evidence. I'm afraid to say, this was the only time I have ever been truly disappointed in one of my children. We raised them to be honest and to have integrity, and Peter betrayed the principles we tried to encourage in him, when he refused point blank to admit to his activities. His denials continued for hours, and in the end, I was left with no choice but to ban him from using the computer until he is old enough to be responsible for his actions.

After going through this ordeal with my own family, I was left pondering how I could best help others in similar situations. I'd gained a lot of knowledge over those few days regarding hackers. It's only right that I provide that information to other parents, in the hope that they will be able to tell if their children are being drawn into the world of hacking. Perhaps other parents will be able to steer their sons back onto the straight and narrow before extreme measures need to be employed.

To this end, I have decided to publish the top ten signs that your son is a hacker. I advise any parents to read this list carefully and if their son matches the profile, they should take action. A smart parent will first try to reason with their son, before resorting to groundings, or even spanking. I pride myself that I have never had to spank a child, and I hope this guide will help other parents to put a halt to their son's misbehaviour before a spanking becomes necessary.

1. Has your son asked you to change ISPs?

Most American families use trusted and responsible Internet Service Providers, such as AOL. These providers have a strict "No Hacking" policy, and take careful measures to ensure that your internet experience is enjoyable, educational and above all legal. If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider.

I would advise all parents to refuse this request. One of the reasons your son is interested in switching providers is to get away from AOL's child safety filter. This filter is vital to any parent who wants his son to enjoy the internet without the endangering him through exposure to "adult" content. It is best to stick with the protection AOL provides, rather than using a home-based solution. If your son is becoming a hacker, he will be able to circumvent any home-based measures with surprising ease, using information gleaned from various hacker sites.

2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?

Your son will probably try to install some hacker software. He may attempt to conceal the presence of the software in some way, but you can usually find any new programs by reading through the programs listed under "Install/Remove Programs" in your control panel. Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash".

The best option is to confront your son with the evidence, and force him to remove the offending programs. He will probably try to install the software again, but you will be able to tell that this is happening, if your machine offers to "download" one of the hacker applications. If this happens, it is time to give your son a stern talking to, and possibly consider punishing him with a grounding.

3. Has your child asked for new hardware?

Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request "faster" video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. If your son starts requesting these devices, it is possible that he has a legitimate need. You can best ensure that you are buying legal, trustworthy hardware by only buying replacement parts from your computer's manufacturer.

If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well.

4. Does your child read hacking manuals?

If you pay close attention to your son's reading habits, as I do, you will be able to determine a great deal about his opinions and hobbies. Children are at their most impressionable in the teenage years. Any father who has had a seventeen year old daughter attempt to sneak out on a date wearing make up and perfume is well aware of the effect that improper influences can have on inexperienced minds.

There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson; "Neuromancer" by William Gibson; "Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly; "Geeks" by Jon Katz; "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling; "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland; "Hackers" by Steven Levy; and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond.

If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately. You should also petition local booksellers to remove these titles from their shelves. You may meet with some resistance at first, but even booksellers have to bow to community pressure.

5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?

If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites. DOSing involves gaining access to the "command prompt" on other people's machines, and using it to tie up vital internet services. This can take up to eight hours. If your son is doing this, he is breaking the law, and you should stop him immediately. The safest policy is to limit your children's access to the computer to a maximum of forty-five minutes each day.

6. Does your son use Quake?

Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school.

If your son is using Quake, you should make hime understand that this is not acceptable to you. You should ensure all the firearms in your house are carefully locked away, and have trigger locks installed. You should also bring your concerns to the attention of his school.

7. Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?

As a child enters the electronic world of hacking, he may become disaffected with the real world. He may lose the ability to control his actions, or judge the rightness or wrongness of a course of behaviour. This will manifest itself soonest in the way he treats others. Those whom he disagrees with will be met with scorn, bitterness, and even foul language. He may utter threats of violence of a real or electronic nature.

Even when confronted, your son will probably find it difficult to talk about this problem to you. He will probably claim that there is no problem, and that you are imagining things. He may tell you that it is you who has the problem, and you should "back off" and "stop smothering him." Do not allow yourself to be deceived. You are the only chance your son has, even if he doesn't understand the situation he is in. Keep trying to get through to him, no matter how much he retreats into himself.

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.

If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.

9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?

If your son has undergone a sudden change in his style of dress, you may have a hacker on your hands. Hackers tend to dress in bright, day-glo colors. They may wear baggy pants, bright colored shirts and spiky hair dyed in bright colors to match their clothes. They may take to carrying "glow-sticks" and some wear pacifiers around their necks. (I have no idea why they do this) There are many such hackers in schools today, and your son may have started to associate with them. If you notice that your son's group of friends includes people dressed like this, it is time to think about a severe curfew, to protect him from dangerous influences.

10. Is your son struggling academically?

If your son is failing courses in school, or performing poorly on sports teams, he may be involved in a hacking group, such as the infamous "Otaku" hacker association. Excessive time spent on the computer, communicating with his fellow hackers may cause temporary damage to the eyes and brain, from the electromagnetic radiation. This will cause his marks to slip dramatically, particularly in difficult subjects such as Math, and Chemistry. In extreme cases, over-exposure to computer radiation can cause schizophrenia, meningitis and other psychological diseases. Also, the reduction in exercise may cause him to lose muscle mass, and even to start gaining weight. For the sake of your child's mental and physical health, you must put a stop to his hacking, and limit his computer time drastically.

I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it. Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously.

I just ran these new sites through the search engine, and again Cyberpatrol claims it's not blocking the sites! They must monitor these reports really closely, and quickly remove sites from the list when there's a question about how appropriate it is to block them.

This all ties in with their refusal to let people browse the contents of their lists. You could claim they're practicing corporate censorship, but really it just looks like incompetence on their parts, since they are banning sites regardless of political party.

--

On most of the softwares' web sites, you have some sort of "test" section where you can enter an URL and check if it's blocked or not. For example...

SurfWatch's "Test a site" page

CyberPatrol's "CyberNOT Search Engine"

CyberNanny's "Check a site" page

WebSense's "site look up" page

SmartFilter's SmartFilterWhere (this one's pretty nasty as it asks you for some personal info (name, phone, etc.) but I'm not sure if it's absolutely required to fill out those fields).

By the way, I only checked the blocking software mentionned on this peacefire page so if there are others, you're on your own. :-) Oh yeah, and I didn't find any test page for N2H2's Bess.

Greg

They sold most of it in 1997. For more information you can go to http://www.cyberpatrol.com/handiw/def ault.htm.

It used to include screen magnifiers, morsecode to ascii, key predictors, word completion, remote control of X10 devices.

Another option might be touch screen. It might be easier to touch than to move a mouse.

The Mattel / MSI press release states, "The company did not file the lawsuit to prevent publication of the CyberNOT filtering list". They also say, "Microsystems did not object to the essay or any of the other material posted by the defendants that was not obtained or derived by violating Microsystems' copyright.".

Since they have said that, I am asking the company if they have a problem if I publish the essay and the CyberNot list. If they are telling the truth in the press release, then they will authorize me to publish it.

I could fertilize my lawn for at least a year with it.

Mattel claims that it is not to prevent the publication of the CyberNot list or the Essay. They claim that it is to prevent the publication of the "copyrighted source code for the product" and "primitive software product derived directly from the reverse engineering of the source code"

Based on this, I guess that Mattel does not mind if websites put up the essay, or the CyberNot list.

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

Will Cyber Patrol be blocking oscars.org?

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100
P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100
P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100
P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I came to work today and what did I find?
/. was BLOCKED!
action has been taken and the problem is now fixed
Just a coincidence? I wonder.
Is your favorite site blocked?
Check here Cyber Patrol Search Engine

Instead of just talking about this here why not go to their website and tell them we want it removed:

http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/siter ev.asp

Be nice otherwise they won't take us seriously

http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp

Alternatively, why not suggest adding http://www.cyberpatrol.com/ and http://www.mattel.com/ as "inappropriate for the workplace" and "inappropriate for kids" respectively?

Or mail cybernot@microsys.com for more flexibility in giving your reasons for blocking these two offensive sites.

David

--
"We all know you're soft cos we've all seen you dancing.
We all know you're hard cos we've all seen you drinking from noon until noon again"

http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp

Alternatively, why not suggest adding http://www.cyberpatrol.com/ and http://www.mattel.com/ as "inappropriate for the workplace" and "inappropriate for kids" respectively?

Or mail cybernot@microsys.com for more flexibility in giving your reasons for blocking these two offensive sites.

David

--
"We all know you're soft cos we've all seen you dancing.
We all know you're hard cos we've all seen you drinking from noon until noon again"

CyberPatrol provides two potentially useful pages:

• Suggested addition to the block list -- that is, http://www.cyberpatrol.com/ itself, under the "Intolerance" category
• Removal request form -- easy enough to indicate, since Mr. Skala's page is inapropriate for the pornography category but blocked under it.

A few thousand (polite) submissions along these lines might raise a few eyebrows.

CyberPatrol provides two potentially useful pages:

• Suggested addition to the block list -- that is, http://www.cyberpatrol.com/ itself, under the "Intolerance" category
• Removal request form -- easy enough to indicate, since Mr. Skala's page is inapropriate for the pornography category but blocked under it.

A few thousand (polite) submissions along these lines might raise a few eyebrows.

.....................................

Posted this on :http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/siter ev.asp

Ok. I'm stumped. Hopefully you can help me. How am I supposed to find out that my site is on the CyberNOt list? Do I need to purchase a copy of every site blocker software just to verify that I haven't been put on a blacklist by accident?
Usually, I check out peacefire to see if anyone has decrypted the list, just so I can verify that my site has not been mislabled. (It contains no violence, profanity, or nudity, and I even took the Latin off just because the software was banning sites with the word "cum". [Which means anything containing Latin is normally mislabled as porn.])

Now your company has brought a lawsuit to people who tried to decrypt it's list so that it can be verified. Why? Do your company want your list to be unverifiable?
Up until now, I have dealt peacefully with web blockers as I understand it's purpose. However, your company's desire to use legal force has left me with no choice. Should I find my site mislabled in the future I will not just notify you. I will sue you for libel, and attempt recovery for damages in the form of lost hits, and therefore advertising in court.

Thank you.

Kenneth D. Boucher

-----

There is a form at http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/siter ev.asp that lets you ask why a given site had been placed on CyberNOTs list of banned sites. Use it...

Seems like they have clear-cut statements about what each category filters, but they also have a disclaimer about non-responsibility for errors and omissions. For example, the Violence/Profanity category (listed below) sure doesn't seem like it should block a program unless you routinely use "unsigned int fuck" or something.

From the CyberPatrol criteria site:
===============================================
The Learning Company has used what we believe to be reasonable means to identify and categorize CyberNOTs, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of our screens and we assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Please report errors and omissions using the Site Investigation Report.

Category Definitions - 1/20/99
Any on-line content that contains more than 3 instances in 100 messages. Any easily accessible pages with graphics, text or audio which fall within the definition of the categories below will be considered sufficient to place the source in the category.

Violence/Profanity:
Violence: pictures exposing, text or audio describing extreme cruelty, physical or emotional acts against any animal or person which are primarily intended to hurt or inflict pain. Profanity: is definded as obscene words or phrases either audio, text or pictures.
===============================================

The following is a rant I wrote on Saturday, when I first found out about Mattel being awarded the injunction. Anybody may feel free to copy or reproduce parts of it.

My mirror does not include any of the program files, but only the published analysis, Mattel's complaint, and an English translation of the Swedish copyright law 1960:729. I have no relation to the defendants in this case, and am only an interested third party.

- David Michael Turover(Perpetual Newbie)

(begin rant)

I am not in a good mood right now.

I've just had to troubleshoot NT's braindead permissions scheme, I've taken a test where several of the "correct answers" are wrong, my right wrist is aching(not good for a CS student), and it's barely noon. On my lunch break I crack open Netscape to read the news, and find that a United States federal judge has ordered two cryptology researchers to remove an essay that they had published on a Swedish website.

The two researchers in question are Matthew Skala, a Canadian, and Eddy L. O. Jansson, a Swede. They have reverse-engineered a program called Cyber Patrol, and described in detail the cryptography and computer file formats used by the program.

Cyber Patrol is a product made by Microsystems Software, which is a subsidiary of Mattel. The purpose of the product is to prevent any user of a computer where it is installed from accessing any of a list of several Internet web sites, ostensibly to prevent children from viewing pornography. As part of their report, Skala and Jansson offered a Win32 binary named cphack.exe, a utility which decodes Cyber Patrol's list of blocked URLs(website addresses).

Mattel promptly sued the authors of the report, charging them with copyright violations and ordering them to remove their program, report, and all supporting and related documents and materiel, claiming that the report and software will cost them over $75,000 in lost sales. On Friday March 17th, two days after Mattel's complaint was registered, Judge Edward F. Harrington awarded Mattel a preliminary injunction against the two. Jansson's internet service provider, though in Sweden and not subject to U.S. law, has removed his account and deleted the documents.

Reverse-engineering is the process of examining a product to see how it works. In almost every industry it is not only expected to occur but considered an integral part of the free market. In the software industry, however, products are often sold with "shrinkwrap licenses" that restrict reverse-engineering. A shrinkwrap license is a contract describing terms of use for a product, in which these terms cannot be read until after the product has been purchased, can not be disputed, and must be agreed to for the consumer to use the product which they have already paid for and in most cases cannot return. In most Western countries these shrinkwrap contracts are unenforcable, and in the U.S. their legality is disputed, although the upcoming UCITA bill will make them law.

In most Western countries, including Sweden, reverse-engineering of software is a right explicitly allowed by law that cannot be taken away by a contract(1960:729 26 g). Legal protections against reverse engineering can be obtained; they are called "Patents". Furthermore, an action undertaken in Canada and Sweden should be out of the United States' jurisdiction; However, the U.S. court did not refuse to hear the case as it should have done, and instead granted the injunction by weighing the action under U.S. law.

To make the situation more repugnant, Cyber Patrol doesn't work. And not just Cyber Patrol. It is well known that all content-blocking programs such as Cyber Patrol have a high rate of failure, and a high rate of erroneously blocking acceptable content despite any claims by their marketing departments of being 100% accurate.

This is not the first time Microsystems/Mattel's lawyers have been aggressive. A Microsystems software engineer who was fired from his job for seeking medical attention for his sore wrists has since been sued by Mattel for documenting his experiences. Outrageous lawsuits such as this have been happening often lately, and what is frightening is that in the United States' court culture, they have a good chance of succcess.

<Foreword>
Yes it's off topic, but don't moderate this down, or you will consign this important message to the very same "dead media" state this news story rallies against!
</Foreword>

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel take insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

<Foreword>
Yes it's off topic, but don't moderate this down, or you will consign this important message to the very same "dead media" state this news story rallies against!
</Foreword>

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel take insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

<Foreword>
Yes it's off topic, but don't moderate this down, or you will consign this important message to the very same "dead media" state this news story rallies against!
</Foreword>

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel take insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel take insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel take insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

I have a feeling that Mattel really is behaving unacceptably in this matter! But what if I'm wrong?

As a potential Cyber Patrol customer, I am sure that they would be more than happy to entertain an intensive dialogue with me (via phone and e-mail) in order so that I can better understand why it is that I should not know what sites their product will prevent me from seeing and why they are abusing the legal system in an attempt to supress customer-benefiting Consumer Reports-style reviews and analyses of their products.

During my lunch hour, I will call their Tech. Support dept. so I can get their side of the issue, and express my side. Who knows... I might even have to ask to speak with a "supervisor" (and perhaps even the supervisor's supervisor). If I can think of something to say to them tomorrow that I hadn't thought of today, then I will call them again. And so on.

Tonight, when I arrive home, I will send the company an e-mail. If and when they reply, I will send them another e-mail, responding to their points and adding any additional ones of my own. (And if they do not reply I will of course e-mail them to enquire as to whether or not they received my original e-mail). And so on. I think that it would mean a lot to them to know that I cared enough about their company and its product to want to get into a long-term e-mail Pen Pal-esque relationship with the company and its employees.

As as an added convenience -- that is to save them the trouble of having to Xerox(tm) duplicate paper copies of my enquiries for their files, I will send a fax version of each of my e-mails as well.

I will take advantage, so to speak, of Mattel's open invitation for me to submit recomendations for sites to be blocked via a website application (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) by using this interface to pose press-conference style questions such as: Why does Mattel take insult the good faith of its customers by making additions to its ``CyberLISTS'' for purely political reasons?

I assume that if they had wanted this form interface to strictly support only the transmission of URL's (and not insightful questioning) they would have programmed out the polymorphism that permits the latter.

Mattel has a corporate interest to serve the customer. And that's why I am sure that they would be most appreciative if YOU, humble Slashdot Reader, were to likewise contact them in order to let them know that you are interested in finding out more about how their software works and to express to them that it not acceptable for them to pad their list of blocked sites merely for the sake of corporate censorship.

Mattel / Microsystems / The Learning Company ... wants to hear from you! Call them, write to them, e-mail them! Let them know what they can do to better serve you, their (potential) customer!

They will thank you for it! :)

--------------------------------From the cyberpatrol website (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/central) :

If you're looking for support on your Cyber Patrol product, please contact:

Cyber Patrol technical support at (319) 247-3333 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 9pm EST,

or email help@tlcsupport.com, fax 319-395-9600,

or mail The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P.O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100

-----------------------------

P.S. If using the website interface (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/forms/lists ub.asp) to pose your questions (instead of URLs)is the only convenient way for you to contact Mattel, I am sure that they will understand. The important thing, as I am sure they would heartily agree, is to get the communications flowing! Let's make contact!

Of course, it did not get far beyond the joking stage. I do suspect that a few people at the company kept copies of the porn lists for their own use. ;). And no, I was not one of them.

It's a little hard for a company to keep a straight face when selling a list of porn site (or publishing porn themselfs) and selling an internet filter or blocker. It's along the line of a virus protection software company also selling a virus writing kit.

CyberPatrol does have a page to check their list to see if a site is on it. It does not do much good for seeing how good their list is, but at least you can check if your own site is on it.

I looked in to various filter products about six months ago. Be careful of your facts and assumptions. CyberPatrol can block by URL, IP, long-integer IP, and domain. As a concrete example, I recall at one point that they made it block some geocities porn sites but not all of geocities. Cyberpatrol's block list is also generated by hand, not automatically. It does not default to censoring automatically by finding bad-words in the URL/HTML/TCPIP stream. (It can be configured to do so, with a wordlist built by the customer, for those who want it, although that can obviously lead to various unintended automatic blockage of innocuous pages.)

So the problem isn't with CyberPatrol's technology, it's with a Cyberpatrol policy and/or employee's decision to filter the whole domain first, rather than poking through the domain and separating "OK" from "non-OK" content. So raise the ruckus with CyberPatrol for that.

You can request that Cyberpatrol remove your page(s) from their blocked list at their website. I'd recommend trying that first.

I work for a reseller of educational software, and just last week my boss gave me some press releases for CyberPatrol and asked me to "dumb them down" for our average customer. According to the material I was given, it can filter to the precision of a page. Therefore, they should be able to block www.generic.org/lookingupanoldfriend.html while allowing www.generic.org/churchpicnic.html Also, the individual adminstrator (parent, sysadmin, etc) should be able to go and change even the default CyberNOT list. Still, I would have to worry about an employer that's using censorware. I expect a certain amount of trust from an employer. How much are you going to enjoy the job if you feel like you're being watched all the time. And, if the job involves using the net, being unable to access the clean sites that get blocked by censorware is counterproductive.

I would rather see client-side products, but as currently configured Cyber Patrol is McCarthyism. The innocent are burned with the tainted. I may not want my child accessing some of the stuff that is out there, but at the same time I would not want my business to suffer because some company who is crying "nazi" is not too careful about who they point the finger at.

I went to www.cyberpatrol.com. They have a search / submit link for finding out if you are banned. Unfortunately, I do not trust their answer. If their search engine is a sloppy as their exclusion policy, then it may be that my site itself is not banned, but my ISP is.

Militant/Extremist:

Pictures or text advocating extremely aggressive and combative behaviors, or advocacy of unlawful political measures. Topics include groups that advocate violence as a means to achieve their goals. Includes "how to" information on weapons making, ammunition making or the making or use of pyrotechnics materials. Also includes the use of weapons for unlawful reasons.

Well, I guess that kills off all of the .gov web sites.