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RSAC shelves news rating, bowing to criticism from journalists (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 14:51:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: fight-censorship-announce@vorlon.mit.edu
Subject: RSAC shelves news rating, bowing to criticism from journalists
---
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,14139,00.html
RSAC shelves news rating
By Tim Clark and Courtney Macavinta
September 10, 1997, 5:55 p.m. PT
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Recreational Software Advisory
Council, which has created an Internet ratings
system for Web sites, has put its controversial plan
to create a special label for news-oriented sites
on hold.
RSAC's decision came after resistance from news
organizations, particularly from established players
in offline media, which raised First Amendment
concerns about the so-called "N" label.
"We are not aggressively pursuing the 'N' label at
this time," RSAC executive director Stephen Balkam
told CNET's NEWS.COM.
Earlier this year, RSAC asked the Internet Content
Coalition (ICC)--whose members include technology,
entertainment, and online news companies--to develop
guidelines outlining who should be able to use the
label, which was designed to circumvent browsers
that screen violent or sexual Net sites by "reading"
the voluntary ratings. (See related story)
But during an August 28 meeting organized by the ICC,
most news sites declared that they wouldn't rate
their content or use a news label. With the ICC
votes in, RSAC essentially lost its market for the
label.
"We will pursue discussions with other potential
partners," Balkam said. "We might talk to mainstream
press, we might talk to international press. We are
conducting a thorough review of the issue."
[...]