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Kid Clicks For Sale
evenprime writes "Zdnet is reporting that
N2H2
is
selling statistics
from their
BESS
filtering software (a product designed for use in schools) to
marketing companies who are interested in students' browsing
habits."
N2H2's
stock price
jumped dramatically last month when they
put up a helpful website
to explain how schools can comply with the new federal mandate which
requires the installation of censorware. And just wait for the
profit reports once
Europe makes it mandatory too.
Anyway, this selling-traffic-patterns story is interesting because it's the
next logical step in the
continuing trend
to
cash in on kids
-- if anyone gets suspended for reading Coke.com on Pepsi Day, let us
know, OK?
I think N2H2 execs must not understand that The Simpons is a tragicomedy, and the episode on using kids' ideas and behaviour for marketing by subverting the school should *not* be the foundation for revenue streams.
They claim no schools have cancelled their service due to this. Did any of the schools KNOW about this? Is this tied to that wave program that got exposed during the initial voices from the helmouth series?
Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
Unless you can organize a substantial base of parents and community members to support you, you are pissing in the wind.
If you are a school district, what scares you more?
1. The threat of ultra-conservative/liberal parents suing you for their kids accessing pornography, Neo-Nazi message boards, or a chat room that hooks them up with a potential child molester...
OR
2. The threat of free speech zealots suing you because kids can't access some legitimate sites.
What most folks don't understand is that outside of the federal $$ issue that has recently appeared, most school districts have installed blocking software already to cover their asses in case of lawsuit (and districts are easy targets). Even if the stuff is flawed, at least a district can argue that they installed the best available safeguards.
While there are certainly an incredible amount of great sites that are blocked by proxies like Bess, you have to understand that a district isn't going to get sued because a student *couldn't* access a site.
I am continually shocked at our consumerist society, especially when it targets our poor, impressionable children. The corporate dominance of US culture must end at once. If selling traffic analysis of children's web viewing habits while at school isn't the last straw we need to motivate us into action then I fear our society of individual freedoms may be lost.
I know this is going to generate some flame, but the only way to stop these abuses of our fundamental rights to privacy is for the federal government to get involved. We need regulation of these cash-bloated demons who would sell their grandmother's dentures as long as there was a little gold in them. Freedom of speach does NOT mean freedom to market your damn products to my child while he or she is attending class!
It is truly sad that we have reached a point in history where it is now unavoidably necessary for us to encourage further governmental control of some of our communications mediums. But, there is simply no other way for us to throw off the yoke of our profit-driven, capitalist opressors.
>> First of all, the title of this article is *extremely* misleading
>> This article was written to intentionally put a shady, dishonest spin on N2H2's legitimate business practices and to try and spread Taco's own paranoid propaganda.
>> I am deeply offended that Taco would try to spread these slanderous lies!
You're new here, aren't you?
BilldaCat
You can gain access to this same information by utilizing the Freedom of Info act, since schools are operated by the Federal Govt.
Below is a letter I recently sent to my school district in Las Vegas, NV:
Freedom of Information Officer
Network Services
Clark County School District
2832 E Flamingo Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89121
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
Dear officer:
Under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) I would like to request the following materials from the Clark County School District (CCSD):
1) All documentation regarding the implementation of the Bess web proxy system provided to CCSD by N2H2. Including proxy configuration, network topology after installation, and the reasons for the Bess installation.
2) All access logs that are recorded by the Bess proxy filter. These logs should be provided in digital form, compressed using either ZIP or gzip compression algorithms.
3) Documentation regarding the effectiveness of Bess at blocking Internet sites deemed inappropriate for minors and sites that have been mis-categorized by Bess.
I am aware that I am entitled to make this request under the Freedom of Information Act, and if your agency response is not satisfactory, I am prepared to make an administrative appeal. Please indicate to me the name of the official to whom such an appeal should be addressed.
If my request is denied, I am entitled to know the reasons for denial.
I am aware that while the law allows your agency to withhold specified categories of exempted information, you are required by law to release any segregable portions that are left after the exempted material has been deleted from the data I am seeking.
I also request a waiver of all fees for this request. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, and is not in my commercial interest. I am classified as noncommercial news media under the Freedom of Information Act.
Sincerely,
xxx
Anyways, they responded back by sending me marketting materials from N2H2. Well, its time to re-request the information and "be more specific."
Anyways, this does work well for pissing them off and scaring them to death, plus you can see how ineffective the filters really are.
x
Ever need an online dictionary?
Lets summarize the situation:
Doesn't sound so cool does it?
Where does the line get drawn for what is OK to watch and monitor and what is private?