Friday, July 30, 1999
New site gives parents Web filtering information
Rivals unite, spend $1M to allay fears of what's out there
The Associated Press and Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Some of the Internet's most visited sites are putting their rivalry aside for a project to help parents keep their children away from pornography and drug or alcohol Web pages.
After months of discussions and nudging from President Clinton and Congress, industry representatives said the $1 million Web site — www.getnetwise.org - would allow parents to be “one click away” from the resources they need to safeguard children on the Web.
America Online, Lycos Inc., The Walt Disney Co., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo! and others launched a Web site Thursday that includes details about more than 80 commercial software programs parents can use to block Web sites inappropriate for children.
The site also provides information on:
• Internet safety tips for parents, teen-agers and children.
• How to report crimes or inappropriate behavior online, including links to local law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline.
• Web sites that are fun and educational for all ages.
Companies in the campaign, which claim almost 95 percent of the Internet's traffic flows through their sites, will offer prominent connections to www.getnetwise.org or recompile the information and present it themselves. That's partly a conces sion to ultracompetitive high-tech companies, which struggle to keep consumers from spending time at Web sites not under their control.
Vice President Al Gore and Commerce Secretary William Daley joined company executives at a news conference to unveil the $1 million site.
“There is so much out there that's good on the Internet, it would be a pity for a parent to tell a child not to go on the Internet because they were afraid,” said David Baker, a vice president at MindSpring Enterprises Inc., one of the largest Internet providers nationwide.
Although some companies that design Internet filtering software helped pay for the site, details about all such technology tools are listed.
Ernie Allen, chief executive officer for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said organizers sought to design the Web site for parents anxious about what children might find online.
Participation in the campaign was so broad that it brought together otherwise bitter rivals: Microsoft and AOL — feuding over software that lets consumers send electronic “instant messages” — as well as AT&T and the nation's Internet providers, which are battling over the future of high-speed Web access over cable-television lines.
The Internet industry's decision to join forces to provide parents with tools to protect kids represents an effort to stave off federal regulation and calls for censorship.
At a White House meeting two years ago, President Clinton urged the industry to provide parents with better tools to protect kids online in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that overturned the Communications Decency Act.
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