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BOOT CAMP 111
SAFETY ON THE NET, Part 1
Pornography and technology go back a long way. Virtually
every development in visual communications, from the printing press, by way of
photography, movies and video, to the Internet has been used to distribute
words and pictures that at various times society and governments have deemed
offensive. What makes the Internet different is that it is easily accessible.
Books, magazines and videos can be hidden away or put on the top shelf; the
Internet is available to anyone with a multimedia PC and a phone connection. To
make matters worse the very things that make the Internet such an important
resource – as a repository of information, a medium for exchanging ideas and the
lack of regulation - means that a small but significant proportion of the
material available goes well beyond accepted boundaries into some thoroughly
unpleasant and undesirable aspects of human behaviour.
Naturally this is a big concern for parents and teachers. On
the one hand the Internet is an invaluable source of information and a powerful
research tool, on the other it makes it easy for almost anyone to view
disturbing and potentially damaging material, either deliberately or by
accident. This week we're looking at ways of configuring your existing Internet
software to control web browsing on your PC, next week we'll consider some of
the third-party software packages and on-line options that are available.
Both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator -- far and
away the most popular Internet browsers -- have built-in screening facilities
that can be set to restrict access to certain types of information or images.
At the moment it’s a bit haphazard and is largely dependent on content
providers – the individuals and organisations who put pages on the Internet –
adhering to a set of voluntary codes and ‘rating’ the material they publish by
inserting labels into the page. Almost all parts of the Internet industry are
keen to see this sort of initiative succeed, in preference to mandatory
regulation and censorship. Access can also be controlled by domain names,
keywords and even things like flesh tones in images, but more about that in
part 2.
The most widely used systems are SafeSurf and RASCi. The
latter was developed by the Recreational Advisory Service Council, a non-profit
making organisation based in the US that works in collaboration with content
providers, and companies like Microsoft and others responsible for browser and
‘web filter’ software. The RASCi ratings are broken down into four levels. For more information refer to the RASCi web site at http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html
SafeSurf has a similar background to RASCi but it is a more
detailed system. It is used on Netscape’s NetWatch filter and it can be
installed in Internet Explorer by downloading a small file from the SafeSurf
site: http://www.safesurf.com/ or from
Microsoft: www.microsoft.com. SafeSurf
contains significantly more options, defined using PICS (Platform for Internet
Content Selection) ratings or labels embedded in web page data (on a voluntary
basis) by content providers. For example, it can be set to allow the download
of pictures containing nudity, if they’re in the context of medical
illustrations, paintings or illustrations from the web site of a content
provider like National Geographic.
To set up RASCi filtering in Internet Explorer (versions 4
and 5) click on the View or Tools menu, select Internet Options and the Content
tab and click on the Enable button. If you haven’t used the facility before you
will be asked to enter a Supervisor Password, which will prevent anyone else from
changing the settings. After that you can work your way down the list on the
Ratings tab (language, nudity, sex and violence), setting the level for each
one with a simple slider control. The approved Sites tab lets you set up a list
of web sites that can be viewed, or blocked, it’s also possible to use
‘wildcards’ to allow or deny access to sites with a particular type of domain
name. For instance, anything ending with .edu (educational) and .org
(organisation) would be okay, but all .com, .co.uk sites etc, would be off
limits.
Setting up Netscape is a little more involved since it uses
both RASCi and SafeSurf, moreover the initial settings and changes are made
on-line. Start by clicking on NetWatch on the Help menu, Navigator should
automatically dial-up the Netscape web site and download various files and
present you with a fairly long list of menus and options, after which you will
be asked to choose a password. When you’ve finished click the Save button and
log off, the settings will be stored when you exit Navigator and applied the
next time it is used.
Both systems work reasonably well, though obviously only on
web sites that carry the appropriate ratings. Next week we’ll look at some
other methods but remember the most effective parental control is you!
Next week - Web filters and search engines
JARGON FILTER
BROWSER
An Internet access program, such as Microsoft Internet
Explorer or Netscape Navigator/Communicator
DOMAIN
The unique name or address given to a server computer
connected to the Internet, i.e. www.telegraph.co.uk
WILDCARD
A wildcard is an asterisk ‘*’ which in PC language means
literally anything. In this context a wildcard in place of the first part of an
Internet address – i.e. *.com – signifies all addresses ending in .com
TOP TIP
Here are two more good reasons to install our favourite
Windows customising tool, Tweak UI. You can use it to stop the Windows 'splash
screen' appearing every time you start your PC and if your machine has been
playing up, there's an option to display the 'Safe Mode' start-up menu for a
preset time, before going on to load Windows. Both items can be found in the
'Boot' section of Tweak UI, and it's on both Windows 95 and 98 versions.
If you haven't already got Tweak UI you'll find it on the
Windows 98 CD-Rom (version 1 only) in Tools/Reskit/Powertoys. It was omitted
from version 2 of Windows 98 for some reason but the v1 release works fine on
all of our PCs, so you'll have to get chummy with someone who's using V1. The
Windows 95 version can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.
In both cases please make sure you read and understand the
download or installation instructions!
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