As parents upgrade to newer models of computers, the old ones end up in the kid's bedroom - out of parental
sight. Many of these computers have full-time Internet connections too because of the popularity of broadband modems and
Internet connection sharing devices (broadband routers).
Some schools of thought say that children should simply be 'taught' what content to stay away from. Others say that no matter how
much teaching you do, they're kids and w
ill look at the stuff anyway. In the end, it is a parent's choice. The level of censorship, blocking and monitoring are family decisions that should be decided and handled in the home - not in the courts. This series of
articles will explain the tools available to parents wishing to exercise their right to censor and block what their children
have access to on the Internet.
Classes of Tools and Methods
There are four primary categories for Family Internet Control. They are:
Physical Monitoring
Access Blocking
Censorship
by ISP (including aol)
by Hardware
by Software
Electronic Monitoring
Physical Monitoring
This is the old standby. Simply put the computer in a public area of the house and walk by now and then. Your kids will understand
that they need to stick to the family agreeable Internet content. They will still sneak stuff in, but the intimidation factor
will be enough to deter most things. If the kids are ever home alone, you need to pair this with Access Blocking.
Access Blocking:
In Windows:
Simply put, add user ID's and passwords to your computers and don't give them to the kids! This does not work with Windows 95/98/ME
since simply pressing 'cancel' at the login prompt will bypass anything that looks like security (nice going Microsoft).
Windows 2000 and Windows XP have robust security models that can not be easily bypassed. When you want your kids to have
access to the computer, log in for them.
In a broadband Router:
Access blocking can also be done on the ROUTER level. Some broadband routers will allow you to specify times that the Internet is
accessible. Others allow different ports to be accessible under one schedule and other ports under other schedules. Using one
of these routers, email and IM traffic could be allowed while web traffic is blocked. Some research needs to be done to find a
router that works for you if you need port based and time based Internet access blocking.
Censorship Censorship is the most popular form of Internet control. It can also be done on the hardware or software or even the ISP level. Keep
in mind that censorship can't solve everything. Some software does not block enough, some software blocks too much.
Companies that write censorship 'block lists' have come under fire for blocking political sites and statements critical of their
practices. Censorship is a HOT topic but I would like to keep things focused on the HOME - not schools, libraries or anything
else. Censorship is a parents right to exorcise as they see fit.
http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Censorware/
ISP Based Blocking
ISP's with parental controls fall into two cagegories. AOL and everyone else. AOL's parental controlls are some of the best and do
not require any extra expense on the parents side to set up. They are also very easy to configure.
QUOTE FROM AOL:
"AOL has four Parental Controls catagory levels.
You can choose from the Kids Only (ages 12 and under), Young Teen (ages 13-15), Mature Teen (ages 16-17), and General Access
(ages 18 and older) categories. Each category has a different level of access to information on AOL and the rest of the
Internet and to features that allow member to communicate with others online (including Instant Message conversations, chat
rooms, newsgroups and e-mail). Using the Custom Controls accessible from the Set Parental Controls window, you can adjust the
controls to best suit your child's maturity.
You can change the Parental
Controls categories or Custom Controls at any time. We recommend that you periodically review the Parental Controls settings
for your child. You may find that child has grown beyond the settings or that you are not taking full advantage of Parental
Controls."
Mark, a HomeNetHelp reader writes:
"AOL's
parental controls are great. You can set time limits that the children are online each day. You can restrict the hours they
are online by time of day & day of week (Monday & Tuesday's are big homework nights so you must be offline by 9PM). You can
restrict viewing of website entirely or you can allow age-specific websites. You can restrict Instant Messaging or whether the
child can send or receive e-mail (you can even restrict e-mail coming from specific domains or mailboxes). You can restrict
access to chatrooms and only allow "kids" chat rooms."
Link:
AOL Parental Controls
There are also other family oriented ISP's out there that do content filtering for parents. None of these support broadband - only
dial-up service. Usually religious in nature, these ISP's have come under a lot of criticism for blocking more than profanity
and violence. Remember these ISP's will block content from you as well as your kids. Since they only support 56k modems, I
will not delve into them much further. To find an ISP that supports censoring, click this link:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=family+ISP
Hardware Based Family Control
Broadband routers are becoming more and more family friendly. Networking companies are starting to recognize the need for advanced
blocking and filtering capabilities in today's home - not just in corporate America. We have yet to see widely adopted family
access control in broadband routers but there are a few companies making some progress.
Hardware Solution Categories
Port Blocking Hardware
Applications like WEB, email, FTP, on-line games and even most IM programs use specific TCP/IP 'ports'. Many broadband routers allow
the blocking of specific or ranges of ports. Using port blocking, access can be granted to some applications while keeping
others blocked. This feature is most effective when combined with access control lists (ACL). ACL's allow you to specify what
computers are subject to the port blocking rules and what computers can bypass them. Some routers even include the ability to
'time' the rules.
Port blocking can provide a part of the solution but can not be considered complete since it is simply access control, not content
control (censorship).
String Filtering
String filtering in broadband routers is fairly useless. By adding 'strings' of letters and words to the filter, sites can be blocked
by URL. For instance a filter of 'xxx' will block many porn sites with xxx in their name but will do nothing for other porn
sites. Maintaining a comprehensive list of strings to filter out is exhaustive work and impossible for a parent. If there's
one or two sites you don’t want your kids to get to, string filtering works but fails for any larger plans. 
Routers with CyberNOT
Category blocking A few manufacturers have worked with
CyberPatrol to include their
CyberNot content blocking software right into the broadband routers themselves.
CyberPatrol catches a lot of criticism about its use in schools and libraries but I think it is a great solution for parents
when integrated into a broadband router.
The current firewall/router manufacturers that support CyberPatrol are ZyXEL, NetGear, WatchGuard and SonicWall. A CyberPatrol
subscription can cost $50-$100 a year on top of the cost of one of these advanced routers. The subscription service allows the
router to keep itself updated with the latest 'block
lists ' from the CyberPatrol web site. Once set up, these router solutions are easy to maintain and are very
effective at what they do.
Limitations:
Cyberpatrol classifies objectionable Internet content into 16 categories. These categories can be enabled and disabled by a parent.
The lists of sites themselves are 'controlled' and can not be viewed by the parent. Also, cyberpatrol lists provide WEB SITE
blocking. It does nothing for any other services like chat rooms, email and instant messengers.
In the Future
There are many companies working on 'family gateways' to the Internet that will include internet sharing, content blocking, privacy
security and more. Most of these solutions are still in development but I expect a whole new class of 'family gateways' to
arrive on the market soon. See:
http://www.dobox.com/Software/index.php?c=Family_Firewall
