Mandated Mediocrity

I took some time over the last few days to sample what kind of political speech is censored by a typical filtering software package. The result is a report released jointly by EPIC (EPIC's copy) and Peacefire (Peacefire's copy). The software this time is N2H2 Bess, and if you're an American K-12 student, there's roughly a one-in-three chance you're forced to surf the net with its 'help.' It bans political speech ranging from campaign finance reform to the Second Amendment to Minnesota newspapers' election coverage.

My favorite block was the Traditional Values Coalition. Can I say "you reap what you sow" or would that just be rude?

In other news:

(an unrelated) Coalition To Promote Voluntary Net Filtering, Standards

"A new coalition of high-tech companies and industry groups is hoping to shift the focus of the national debate over Internet filtering by promoting the value of filtering software as an exclusively voluntary parental tool. ... the Committee on Internet Management and Safety will tout the value of filtering products while at the same time opposing legally mandated filtering."

Did they say "exclusively voluntary"? Good on 'em! Let's have a real debate about the value of this software, so that people can make up their own minds rather than having the government decide what's best for our schools and libraries. A level playing field would be a lot better than what we have now.

Comments

Bravo!

[NecroPuppy]

It can't block the porn, but it can keep those awful psychopathic, raving, criminal politicians away from the kids. Way to go!

How to Deal With Filtering Software

[Homebrewed]

They do this at my kid's school, first, I'll find out what software they're using. Then, in the privacy of my home network, I'll sit down with my 12-year-old and we'll figure out how to break it.

Re:How to Deal With Filtering Software

[Just Some Guy]

Why not? Should we be good sheep and go along with whatever the government wants us to do?

Not a chance. I would rather teach my daughter to base her decisions on independent thought than some arbitrary "It's for the children, Tipper!" standard. If some law conflicts with my (or my children's) rights, then I don't have a problem with practicing civil disobedience. That's how we Americans got what few liberties we still have left.

Getting Past the Censorware with Long Ip's

[Lostman]

I quote my sourceS: 2600 Magazine

Obtain the IP address of the server you are attempting to connect to (through networksolutions whois if you wish). Then, take the individual octets and convert them to their binary equivalent (make sure to pad them with leading zeros to get the full 8 digits). Next string the binary numbers together and convert that (I suggest scientific calculator) to base 10 (decimal). Then you can just take that number, and go to http://thatnumber.

WalkThrough
www.2600.com
207.99.30.230
207 01100111
99 01100011
30 00011110
230 11100110

11001111011000110001111011100110(base 2)
equals 3479379686 (base 10)
http://3479379686 to get to 2600.com

Bess, NH2.

[kev-san]

I'm 15 years old and attend a public high school here in suburban Denver. We surf through the Bess proxy which has blocked articles from Wired [the infamous Courtney Love speech], Salon [these articles are "constantly changing" and often include "sexual content." In my opinion, we go out in the hallways and hear far worse.], and even /. [some quickies have been blocked]. Luckily, the sysadmin isn't the brightest guy. A few other /.ers at the school and I have edited netscape.cfg so we could change the proxy at will. Bess involves censorship of unpopular ideas and must be stopped immediately.

[stock rant #64]

[Speare]

I think this may be preaching to the choir here, but this is my take. I'd love to hear any other refinements of this brief rant aimed at those less familiar with the concepts.

[stock rant on the subject]

1. Computers cannot be offended: it's not the censorware computer program that is doing the filtering of offensive material.
2. If it's not the censorware, it's the proponents of the censorware, that chooses what to hide from you. What political slant or prejudices are you entrusting with the filter?
3. Government-mandated filtering via a commercial product means a private company becomes a government bureacracy: think of the complexity of ensuring several million, if not billions, of websites are blocked or allowed according to government-mandated standards.
4. If a government sets the standards for what to filter, then the government opens itself for lawsuits. Millions of lawsuits where website creators feels they are being censored unfairly.
5. [T]he Constitution of the United States
   Amendment I
   Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of sXXXch, or the right of the people peaceably to XXXemble, and to peXXXion the government for a redress of grievances.

[end of stock rant on the subject]

Bad assumptions go too far back?

[dmccarty]

Somewhere along the line, someone assumed that having Internet access in public libraries and public schools was a good thing. Why? I can't think of very many good reasons to give a K-12 school unmitigated access to the Internet.

So far, the Internet has turned out to be:

• Commercial marketing material
• Everything you wanted to know and more about the PC industry
• Up-to-the-second news; email
• Lots of profitibility-or-bust e-commerce sites
• Innumerable personal interest pages
• Acadamia and research
• General entertainment
• Adult content

Of the above items, the only two that I think would be useful for a grade- or high-school student would be the news and academic research. And how is accessing this information via the Internet better than picking up the newspaper or research journal?

I agree that filtering software shouldn't be installed at schools and libraries. What libraries and shools need isn't a filter, it's a brick wall. Dissalow all Internet access except for what public schools and libraries are supposed to be used for: academic and intellectual amaterial. All commercial, personal and adult content should be forbidden.

--

Re:Details?

[jafac]

it's worse than "doesn't work".

You think the IT labor shortage is rough now?
We're raising a whole generation of technical cripples.

How?

I spoke to my son, and several other members of his class, ages range from 12-13yrs. They all have nice computer in the lab, and decent internet connections, and N2H2 filtering software. Every single one of these kids said that the internet was a useless waste of time, there was nothing on it worth seeing or reading that wasn't filtered. There were a few lame "educational" and commercial sites, and that was it.

In other words, kids aren't using computers, (except to learn Word and Excel). They aren't interested in the internet, only a few, and I'm guessing those are the ones who have access at home to unfiltered connections, who may or may not be looking at goatse.cx, but at least have the wide world of news and information at their disposal through the web.

Basically, all these billions we're spending to wire the schools and libraries is a big waste of money and time.

A cgi converter for the lazy:

[Anne Marie]

xdata.org/ip.html. Just type in the domain name, and off you go. The output for slashdot.org, for example, is:

Decimal
8/8/8/8-bit. http://64.28.67.48
8/8/16-bit.. http://64.28.17200
8/24-bit.... http://64.1852208
32-bit...... http://1075594032

Octal
8/8/8/8-bit. http://0100.034.0103.060
8/8/16-bit.. http://0100.034.041460
8/24-bit.... http://0100.07041460
32-bit...... http://010007041460

Best way to beat Censorware

[doublem]

Most radical ways to demonstrate your point about censorware

1. Go to Library. Use a black marker to "protect" everyone else from printed content that would be blocked by censorware the library uses
2. Do the same at school
3. In public places (Classroom of teacher who advocates censorware, floor of the house or Senate) use a loud air horn to "protect" everyone from anything that censorware would block. This means Dick Army never gets to speak. Ever.

There are a number of really good ways to beat censorware.

1. Lawsuits. Sue the people trying to keep your child from seeing dangerous things like the Writings of Rush Limbaugh
2. any trick found on 2600.com
3. Bootable BEOS CD reconfigured to use the school's or Library's internet connection
4. Bootable BSD CD reconfigured to use the school's or Library's internet connection
5. Bootable Linux CD reconfigured to use the school's or Library's internet connection
6. Bootable QNX CD reconfigured to use the school's or Library's internet connection
7. I'd say Do your web surfing from home but that is not an option for students who cannot afford a computer at home.

This is all an annoyance for people who have a home computer with an Internet connection, but a real disaster for people who do not.

I cannot believe this

[jayfoo2]

sorry about the re-post, I formatted poorly, bad me.

I just read this on N2H2's site. I cannot believe that they actually say this publically.

"Own the Education Desktop Own the education desktop by reaching teens and tweens where they learn the most--the classroom.

N2H2 is the leader in filtering Internet content for schools all across the United States. In doing so, we reach over 13.5 million* students who view 4 billion online pages a year. And our sponsorship and advertising opportunities let you be a part of every Web page they explore.

Through our various properties, including Searchopolis.com, the N2H2 ResourceBar and the filtered search and homework resource channels of StarWarsKids.com, we deliver you unprecedented penetration, exposure and public relations opportunities in the difficult-to-tap education space. And because we deliver the largest online audience of tweens and teens in an educational environment, we know what students are doing online.

In the classroom, 1800 different sites comprise 80% of the page views, making it virtually impossible for a company to launch an effective online advertising campaign during the school day--except with N2H2. To learn more about what students are doing online, and what this means to your brand, download a free copy of the N2H2 1st Quarter Learnings Report White Paper.

Experience the success that N2H2 has delivered to leading companies such as Nickelodeon, Microsoft, Chevron Cars, Family Education Network, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and more. We invite you to navigate through our site, view our Online Media Kit, and contact us to receive more detailed information on how your brand can own the education desktop."

Can a company actually be classified as evil?