Chapter Twelve. Step 9: Don t Browse Indiscriminately


Chapter Twelve. Step 9: Don't Browse Indiscriminately

"I am writing to tell you how disappointed I am with your Internet service," wrote Pamela to her ISP company, still fuming over the incident her son Matt had experienced the night before.

"We switched to your service recently, and my husband set up parental controls with content filtering to stop access to or search results that include Web sites we don't approve of. We are very careful to protect our three children.

"Imagine our horror when our 12-year-old son, while searching for information on skin diseases for a school project, was inundated with pornographic images. He tried to close them, but they kept appearing faster than he could shut them down. He was very, very upset by the experience, and so am I.

"My husband took a look at our settings again and realized he had neglected to click a final button that enables the changes, so our children were left completely vulnerable. Apparently your service sets access to filth as the default, rather than providing even minimal protections for new and existing members.

"Why aren't you protecting us? Do you think most people appreciate having pornography thrown at them or at their children? How can a company that claims to make products for families default their settings to the basest tastes for content? You should default to the highest family values and allow people to opt in to filth rather than shove it at the rest of us. If this is how you support family values, we will be inclined to opt out of the Internet entirely."

Pamela finished the letter, signed her name, and put it in an envelope. But the damage to her son had been done.



Look Both Ways. Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
ISBN: 0735623473
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 157
Authors: Linda Criddle

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