StopBadware: Google's Not Censoring PFF

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Berin Szoka [bszoka () pff org]
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 11:36 AM
To: David Farber
Cc: Amy Smorodin; Adam Thierer
Subject: StopBadware:  Google's Not Censoring PFF

Dave,

I’ve tried to post the text below as a comment on Richard Bennett’s blog but it’s not accepting comments for some 
reason.  We’re eager to clear-up the confusion about this incident, as I explain below.

Would you mind clarifying this for your readers?

Thank you.

-Berin

Everyone at PFF appreciates your concern, Richard, but what actually happened is quite benign; Google was not certainly 
censoring anyone!

Here’s what happened…  Unlike the rest of our site, our “Issues & Publications” system relies on an SQL database—which, 
like any SQL database, is vulnerable to certain kinds of attack.  We recently noticed such an attack and took steps to 
solve the problem.  This is standard operating procedure for anyone running a site with an SQL database.

The Google search engine relies on the “Badware Website Clearinghouse” kept by StopBadWare.org.  The StopBadware 
project is a very helpful “neighborhood watch” campaign led by the good folks associated with the Berkman Center at 
Harvard.  StopBadware works with Google to automatically identify sites that might contain badware, as their FAQ 
explains: http://www.stopbadware.org/home/faq#partnerwarnings-warning

Once a site is flagged, a warning message will arise when someone attempts to visit the site from the Google search 
engine or if one is using Google desktop or certain other firewall tools that aim to protect users from visiting 
dangerous sites.

The reason you encountered that warning page is that our site was quite accurately flagged as potentially dangerous and 
we had not yet completed the procedure for having our site removed from the Badware Website Clearinghouse, which is 
explained here:  http://www.stopbadware.org/home/faq#partnerwarnings-remove

We consider the StopBadware a valuable self-help tool for protecting Internet users from potentially harmful software 
and applaud Google for its leadership in this area.  If this incident demonstrates anything, it’s that an educational 
campaign would help users understand how the process works, why it’s good for all Internet users and that it is NOT 
censorship.
_______________________
Berin Michael Szoka
Visiting Fellow
Progress & Freedom Foundation<http://www.pff.org/>
1444 Eye St., NW | Suite 500
Office: 202.969.2954
Washington, DC  20005
[cid:image001.gif@01C8E5A5.45718050]<http://www.linkedin.com/in/berinszoka>
I blog at the Tech Liberation Front<www.TechLiberation.com/author/BerinSzoka%20>




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