FC: Web self-rating systems still a great idea, group insists

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

And here I was thinking that this idea had about as much traction as an angry
cat at an ice rink. See background on this issue, such seems, so, well, 1997:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=rating
http://www.politechbot.com/p-01601.html

Michael Krantz, Bruce van Voorst and I had a article in Time magazine
in 1997 talking about the problems of blocking software:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970811/business.censors_sensi.html

On the facing page was another piece by Josh Quittner, talking about
the perils of self-rating schemes for news sites:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970811/business.the_pres_muzl.html

-Declan

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http://www.ottawacitizen.com/letters/010502/5014455.html
   
Wednesday 2 May 2001

Children's Web experience improved by right software

   Al MacKay
   The Ottawa Citizen

   Your April 26 City editorial, "Patrolling the Internet," resonated on
   several levels. Anyone with a passing acquaintance with current
   filtering technology appreciates that the systems being used by the
   various commercial programs available today are fraught with
   difficulties.
   
   Programs built to catch key words often stumble badly, blocking out,
   for example, anything to do with breasts, including recipes on how to
   cook ones made of chicken.
   
   There is a new initiative being undertaken by an international,
   non-profit organization that is developing a different type of
   filtering tool, one that involves assessing the content of a site,
   then providing an appropriate rating. The Web site's content is also
   put in context, so that nudity such as that contained in the Rubens
   canvas The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus won't be screened out,
   while the charms of the Hollywood Hooters girls, on display at some
   sites, will. ICRA, the Internet Content Rating Association
   (www.icra.org), has free, downloadable software available now, and is
   working to have Web content creators around the world voluntarily rate
   their sites to keep children from accessing inappropriate content.
   
   This type of filtering being developed by ICRA is very useful.
   However, as with most complex social issues today, there is no simple
   "one-size-fits-all" solution. Any parents interested in making sure
   their children's consumption of media -- in all its forms -- is a
   worthwhile experience, will have to be involved in teaching their
   children about interpreting the messages contained within the various
   media.
   
   Canada is a world leader in this new and growing field of media
   literacy. The Media Awareness Network (www.media-awareness.ca), which
   began as a modest clearinghouse for information on the issue of
   television violence, has evolved into an internationally acclaimed and
   award-winning Web-based resource on media literacy.
   
   Its comprehensive program on children and the Internet, Web Awareness
   Canada, is a rich source of useful information for parents, as well as
   for teachers who are now being asked to include media literacy in
   their course curricula.
   
   There is all kinds of stuff on the Web we would rather not have come
   into our homes. As parents, the easiest way to deal with it would be
   to adopt a turtle strategy and keep our kids off-line.
   
   But that's an approach that, in the long run, will cheat our children
   and keep them isolated from a new and exciting world of communications
   and culture.
   
   The challenge is to employ the practical tools that are now available,
   and make the Internet experience an enriching one for everyone in the
   family.
   
   Al MacKay,
   
   Ottawa
   
   Editor's note: Mr. MacKay is a policy and communications consultant.
   He is chair of the board of the Media Awareness Network, and a member
   of the Advisory Council of the Internet Content Rating Association.




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