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NYT/CyberTimes on CWD article
"We are writers, not crytographers."
-Declan
---
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/0706patrol-reporters.html
July 6, 1996
Reporters Claim to Have
Lists of Blocked Sites
By PAMELA MENDELS
Reporters Brock N. Meeks and Declan B.
McCullagh say they've got a little list.
Several actually.
The lists
are of Internet
sites that,
in the eyes
of several companies making parental control
software, could be considered inappropriate
to children. The lists are supposed to be
secret.
But Meeks and McCullagh say they have
obtained lists compiled by Microsystems
Software, Inc., the Framingham,
Mass.-based manufacturer of Cyber Patrol;
Los Altos, Calif.-based SurfWatch
Software, a subsidiary of Spyglass, Inc.,
and Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Solid Oak
Software, Inc., maker of CYBERsitter --
three of the leading producers of parental-
control filtering software.
McCullagh said that he and Meeks were able
to view the complete Cyber Patrol and
CYBERsitter lists and part of the SurfWatch
list.
In an article published this week in
CyberWire Dispatch, a report on
Internet-related issues distributed through
e-mail, Meeks and McCullagh wrote that
they had taken a peek at some of the sites
contained on the lists and had then contacted
groups that might be concerned about the
listings.
Representatives of organizations ranging in
advocacy from feminism to gun lobbying to
animal rights said they been disturbed to
learn that some sites they endorse had made
the lists.
Kim A. Gandy, executive vice president of
the National Organization for Women, said
Friday that she was upset to learn that
CYBERSitter blocks access to NOW's Web
site. Further, she said she did not like the
company's rationale: that the NOW site
contains links to, among other things, sites
about homosexuality.
"It's ridiculous," Gandy said. "It's insulting.
And I think most parents would not approve
of that kind of censorship. Lots of parents
don't want children surfing pornography,
but would not think of denying them access
to legitimate information."
Marc E. Kanter, director of marketing for
Solid Oak, confirmed Friday that NOW's
site had been included on the CYBERsitter
not-for-children list because of its links
leading to "sexual preferentation" sites. "This
is what our users want," he said. "If they
don't want to restrict access to this material,
they don't have to buy it or they can simply
turn it off. We are not trying to play any
political role. We are simply providing a tool
for parents." Officials of the Gay & Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation were also upset
that the Cyber Patrol list blocked several
Internet discussion groups devoted to news
of interest to the gay community.
"We feel that this is the kind of thing
important to gay and lesbian youth, to read
about our community," said Lauren R.
Javier, director of information systems for
the Gay & Lesbian Alliance, adding that the
newsgroups contained little if any sexually
explicit material.
Javier added that Cyber Patrol officials had
been responsive in the past to complaints, so
he wanted to give them "the benefit of the
doubt" and intended to contact them about
the matter.
For his part, Nigel R. Spicer, president of
Microsystems, said he had not examined the
reasons that all the gay newsgroup sites
named by the article were included on the
Cyber Patrol list. The one site he did check
after reading Meeks' report, however, was
on the list because it contained links to
personals ads, he said.
McCullagh is keeping mum about how he
and Meeks got the lists in the first place,
although he denies that either of them
personally decoded the software. "Brock and
I are not cyptographic analysts," he said.
"We don't spend our days de-encrypting
files. We are writers, not crytographers."
Spicer was less than happy about the
prospect that Cyber Patrol's list may have
fallen into outsiders' hands. He said that, so
far, he had been unable to confirm whether
the reporters had the true list for Cyber Patrol
and, if so, how they had managed to obtain
it.
"It's always a concern if you believe people
are getting access to material you've gone to
the trouble to not make available," he said.
"If we believe the encryption scheme has
been compromised, we will make another
one."
Kanter, of CYBERsitter, said the list
mentioned in the Cyberwire Dispatch article
was, indeed, his company's. "I hope that list
doesn't get out beyond where it was," he
said.
Jay S. Friedland, vice president of marketing
for SurfWatch products, said Friday that he
had not yet read the article. He said the
blocking companies keep their lists secret for
two reasons: to prevent their misuse and to
keep their competitive edge.
"Clearly, each company has a proprietary
advantage," Friedland said. "One of our
competitors could take and use the same
information."
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