FC: When life hands you a lemon -- firms respond to Consumer Reports

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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To: declan () well com
From: "David Smith" <davidsmith () austin rr com>
Subject: When life hands you a lemon........

Source:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-15-2001/0001429223&EDATE=

Two Cheers for Consumer Reports Article on Internet Filtering
Products

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internet Safety Association
(ISA), the trade association for the Internet filtering industry,
applauds most of the upcoming Consumer Reports article, "Digital
Chaperones for Kids," to appear in its March issue.  Consumer
Reports carried out a helpful, if unscientific, survey of a handful
on filtering products and a handful of objectionable sites.
It found that products filtered a substantial majority of objectionable
sites, a big difference from the early, first generation products
they tested some years ago.  While ISA asserts that a comprehensive,
scientific analysis of filtering efficacy would show that filtering
products
block even more sites than the Consumer Reports informal survey
found, the larger point remains the same -- filtering goes a
long way towards protecting children from inadvertent exposure
to unspeakable, often illegal content on the Internet.
    The bottom line is that filtering works.  The general public
has spoken loud and clear on this point -- millions of satisfied
filtering customers attest to this fact.  This was also the conclusion
of the Congressionally chartered Child Online Protection Act
Commission, which recently released its report.
    While filtering is not a substitute for strong parental involvement
since no filtering product can block 100% of objectionable sites,
it is an extraordinary useful tool to help parents.  Internet
access without filtering offers no protection. One in four youths
reported unwanted viewing of
pornographic material on the Internet in 1999 according to the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  That is
the real tragedy.

SOURCE Internet Safety Association




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