Filtering Software: Regular or Decaf?
Christine Peterson

The Internet has invaded both our personal and professional lives. Who can read a magazine or watch a television advertisement without seeing cryptic phrases like http://www.toyota.com or http://www.aclu.org? The information found on the Internet can be stimulating. It is important for citizens to be able to read the President's State of the Union address minutes after hearing it on television. For those miles away from large communities, the ability to discuss, plan, or just ask questions of someone outside their immediate environment can be vital.

However, in addition to these significant uses of the Internet, there is a darker side. One of the reasons the Internet is so phenomenal is that anyone can post information to the Internet. Initially, no one considered that the Internet would be available for public use. It was created for a specific purpose and for a limited audience. Over the years, both its purpose and its audience have been expanded. During its creation, the focus was not on barring its clients from information. Quite the contrary, it was an open system, meant to provide information for its clients.

Nearly everyone can have access to this network and its resources. In academic libraries, the Internet has been commonplace for a number of years, while for school and public libraries this remains a relatively new tool. There are Internet sites that are informative: http://www.irs.us treas.gov (IRS Tax Forms); http://www.spectra com.com/islist/ (Yanoff's Internet Services List). There are sites that are fun: http://www.northpole.com (North Pole); http://www.virtualflorist.com/ (Virtual Florist).

There are sites that can be annoying: http://www.fl.net.au/~parasail/joeyhate.htm (The I Hate Joey Lawrence and his Big Squeaky Voice Page); http://www.rru.com/rru/ (Roadkills-R-Us). And there are controversial sites: http://www.playboy.com (Playboy) http://burn.ucsd.edu/~mai/TEXT/aol_cookbook_ faq.html (Anarchist Cookbook).

Each type of library has a mission to serve its audience or clientele. For public and school libraries, this audience includes children. Providing public access to the graphic-based Internet can put a library in an awkward position. Should the library try to block information deemed inappropriate by part of their audience? Should the library leave this decision to the parents? Are there other practical options?

A whole new software industry has been created to partially answer these questions. Filtering software, also called blocking software, provides some controls of what is displayed. Just as decaffeinated coffee removes the caffeine and, some would say, some of the rich coffee taste, filtering software exists to remove inappropriate material from the patron's view while also removing the "flavor" of the medium. Whether your library uses filtering software or not, it is important that you understand what it is and how it works.

What is filtering software?
Most vendors define filtering software as that which blocks, filters, or monitors Internet use. Most vendors market to consumers concerned with children's exposure to sexually explicit material on the Internet. In addition, vendors may target grades K–12 school use; business use; violence and hate speech information; alcohol and illicit drug information; gambling information; racist and ethnic information; satanic and cult information; militant and extremist information. Depending on the software purchased, information or sites may be blocked entirely, may have the offending words and phrases replaced with X's, or the transaction may be logged to an administrative file.

The software usually costs about fifty dollars per computer; however, most of the vendors have educational or bulk pricing programs that can lower the cost considerably. Updated lists for filtering are normally available at a monthly price.

How does filtering software work?
Most filtering software uses lists created by either the vendor, the customer, or both. Let's look at a few of the ways filtering software works.

Filtering by phrase. Sites on the Internet are censored according to actual text on the Web pages. Usually, the vendor provides a starter list which can be modified. For example, the word "breast" is usually blocked by most filtering programs of this kind. An advantage: you can be sure that the patron will not see any site having this phrase in it, or, depending on the software used, the site might be available, but the phrase would be blocked. A disadvantage: you will be blocking many sites that are very appropriate for many of your patrons. In this case, you would be blocking sites containing information on breast cancer, breastfeeding, and recipes that use chicken breast.

Two actual — if comical — circumstances have been noted where innocuous sites have been unintentionally blocked. In the first, the White House site (http://www.whitehouse.gov) was blocked for a few months because it referred to Bill and Hillary Clinton as a "couple." In the other, any site referring to the state of Virginia was blocked for a time because the word "virgin" was also blocked.

Filtering by domain name. Some packages have a list of domain names or Internet addresses the software will filter. If anyone tries to get to these sites, they are blocked from seeing them. An advantage: if a domain name is on the list, you will not be able to get into that site. For example, "www. playboy.com" is on nearly every list of this type. A disadvantage: sites change addresses constantly. Today, all you need is $100 to obtain a domain name for two years. This type of blocking is never 100 percent guaranteed because your update of the list will never be 100% up-to-date. Filtering by file extension. Other packages filter by the extension on the file name. For example, the "txt" extension on a file called "chris.txt" indicates that this is probably a text file. The "doc" extension on a file called "chris.doc" indicates that this is a document file, possibly a Microsoft Word file. There are also file name extensions for graphics. Two of the most common — but by no means the only — extensions are .gif and .jpg. If the software detects a file on the web page with these types of extensions, the graphic will not be shown. An advantage: no sexually oriented or other objectionable graphics be displayed to age-inappropriate audiences (or anyone else). Disadvantages: sites offering graphics that may be beneficial to your patrons might include art and art history, weather images, or museums. The major focus of these sites would have disappeared. Also, inappropriate material (including sexually explicit) can be textual. This type of blocking would not block these sites.

Some software packages feature a combination of filtering methods. Initially, most vendors were reluctant to share the list of what actually was being blocked. Now, most not only provide you with the list, but allow you to modify it to fit your situation. However, there is at least one vendor (SurfWatch) that currently will not allow you to modify or inspect their list. They have said this will be remedied in a future release.

Who is filtering software written for?
Most vendors address two or three distinct categories when defining their audience:

Notice that libraries are not explicitly included in the above list. School libraries can be included by reference, but public access in public libraries is definitely not. This is the reason that public libraries often have had to "work around" this software in order to use it.

For example, some public libraries use the software only on workstations in their children's areas. Others use it on workstations that are more private, and therefore less monitored by staff, while the more public stations do not. Some libraries turn it off when a patron asks to do specific research. When the patron is finished, the software is again activated.

How difficult to install is filtering software?
It is relatively painless. If you can install a computer program, you can install this. Most ask you to place the disk in the floppy drive, open File | Run, and type in the setup or installation file name.

They will usually step you through the setup process. The only difficulty is in understanding the ramifications of the blocking parameters you are setting. Fortunately, there is always a way to return and revise your parameters.

Net Nanny is the only one of these Internet blocking software packages that require you to install the DOS version before the Windows version. They have said this will be remedied in a future release.

Can you turn off the filtering software?
Most filtering software uses a simple password command to allow you to activate or deactivate the software. At least one package, Net Nanny, also has a separate "administration disk." To change any settings, you must run a file from this disk.

Can my patrons get around or disable filtering software?
It is always possible. This software is no more or less secure than any other Windows-based software. Most are activated by default when you turn on the workstation. But again, if a password is all that is necessary to enter the activation/deactivation functions, some patrons may be able to discover your password.

If the functions are on a separate disk, it may be a simple matter for someone to copy that disk, or to purchase the software themselves and disable your software with their disk. If you would like to find other ways to defeat this software, put a couple of precocious 13-year olds in front of an activated workstation — then time them!

What other functions are available in filtering software?
Some packages have no other function than to block content on the Internet. Others, however, can block access to specific applications on the workstation or block specific phrases (phone number/address/credit card number/social security card number) from being sent from the workstation.

So what is the bottom line?
No filtering software is 100 percent effective. If you use it, you must be aware that the time will come when one of your patrons will see an image or a site which should have been blocked. You will want to be sure that your library patrons and supervisors are fully aware of this. Filtering software is not written with libraries in mind. We have discussed public libraries here, but school, academic, and special libraries have their own issues and will have to work around it as well. So, you've got the Internet. That's great! The question is: do you want regular . . . or decaf?

Most Popular Filtering Software Packages
Cyber Patrol. Microsystems Software, Inc., 600 Worcester Rd., Framingham, MA 01702, (508) 879-9000, (800) 828-2608, Fax (508) 626-8515, e-mail: info@ microsys.com, Web site http: //www.microsys.com/

CYBERsitter. Solid Oak Software, Inc., P.O. Box 6826, Santa Barbara, CA 93160, (805) 892-2557, Fax (805) 967-1614, Web site http://www.solidoak.com/

Net Nanny. Net Nanny Software International Inc., 525 Seymour Street, Suite 108, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 3H7, (604) 662-8522, Fax (604) 662-8525, e-mail: netnanny@netnanny.com, Web site http://www.netnanny.com/

SurfWatch. SurfWatch, 330 Washington Blvd., Suite 403, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, (310) 577-3212, Fax (310) 577-3215 e-mail: info@spyglass.com, Web site http://www.surfwatch.com/