[3614] in WWW Security List Archive
Re: Message not deliverable
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Casti, CQA)
Fri Nov 22 19:10:17 1996
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 17:05:58 -0500 (EST)
From: "Bill Casti, CQA" <quire@casti.com>
To: www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu
In-Reply-To: <9610218486.AA848646031@mfi.com>
Errors-To: owner-www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu
SurfWatch has a version that you can install on a server, rather than on
a desktop. It utilizes their database of pre-reviewed sites and which you
can update periodically from their server. Check their website
www.surfwatch.com for more information. I imagine that other
site-blocking software manufacturers will be coming out with server-based
software tools, too, so you might want to contact some of the other
manufacturers of that kind of software, like Net Nanny, etc.
And, yes, I do believe that freedom of information includes all
information, not just that with which I agree.
Regards.
Bill
On Thu, 21 Nov 1996, Administrator wrote:
> Henry Lim Chee Wee wrote:
> >
> > Perhaps I would need to clarify the situation here.
> > My question was posted over the www-security mailing list
> > because of a genuine concern regarding public access.
> > The machines to be fitted with the website restricted access
> > software ( or accessed the Internet through a proxy server
> > and/or firewall ) are not meant for adults working within
> > an organisation. It's for pubic access areas (i.e. Libraries)
> > where both adults and children mingle freely.
> >
>
> Dear Mr. Wee,
>
> There are tens of thousands of web sites with questionable
> content, and I don't see how each one can be restricted until
> someone has reviewed each site and made a determination as to
> acceptability based on local laws. Provided you were given a
> list of I.P.'s that have been somehow "pre-qualified" or
> pre-determined to be unsuitable in content for children, then
> to my knowledge most web-proxy servers can block users from
> having these banned I.P.'s delivered by the web-proxy to their
> workstations. My advice is to search the Internet for books
> specifically addressing your server. For example, if you have
> the Apache server, there are some excellent books found at
> http://www.amazon.com, one of the largest Internet booksellers.
> Simply search under key-words "Apache" and "server."
>
> > The main concern here is porno sites. I am sure adults like you
> > and me are fully capable of getting whatever information we will
> > like by whatever means possible. And I can tell you that most
> > porno sites in the Internet has no security whatsoever. Even
> > the $$$ charging farce is poorly done (which means that teenagers
> > and children can bypass it if they do not want to pay).
> >
>
> I'm still puzzled as to who is deciding which sites qualify as
> "porn" and how this effort is being undertaken? This is probably
> the one obstacle to banning sites, because you first have to know
> what sites qualify as "unsuitable" content. Playboy is an easy
> target for most countries, but other sites can be accidentally
> stumbled upon that aren't on the proxy's list of banned I.P.'s.
>
> > We have a responsibility towards the youngsters. Don't tell me
> > that a picture of a naked woman in suggestive pose is free information
> > and everyone has the right to ogre at it. There are possibilities
> > to access such stuffs in Singapore, be it from BBS, pressed cd-roms,
> > pirated video-cds,LDs,video cassettes, smuggled x-rated magazines, ftp
> > sites and the web sites. All I wanted to do is to reduce this
> > possibility, if only through the web.
> >
>
> This is a commendable effort on your part, although unpopular and
> likely to get you some flames (and myself for agreeing publicly
> with you here). The unfortunate part is that kids tend to find
> ways around tamper-proof solutions.
>
> > Just for your info, we have a firewall in place for them
> > (everyone is asking for one, *sigh*) and a proxy server as well.
> > But they are asking for something more to ease their minds and
> > hence my question.
> >
>
> I almost deleted my email when getting to this point, because
> had I known they were asking for more than technology is capable
> of delivering, I would have withheld comment. Oh well, I'll send
> it anyway, with the comment that if configuring your proxy is not
> sufficient for them, then nothing that I know about is.
>
> --
> ___
> | ._ _ ._ _.._ _ ``I do not fear computers
> _|_| |(_|| (_|| | | I fear lack of them.'' -Isaac Asimov
> _____ _| _______________________________________________________
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> Subject: Re: configuring a site to ban porno/violence www access... (fwd)
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