Re: Belkin router parental control feature no longer works

On 27 Nov 2005 10:14:45 GMT, jKILLSPAM.schipper@math.uu.nl wrote:

>While dejablues may have been a little more expressive than necessary,
>it *is* the general consensus here that content filtering does not work
>- or at least, that it will block some of what you want it to, miss
>quite a bit it should have blocked, and block quite a bit that you don't
>want it to. (For example: how many content filters allow access to
>www.virgin.com?)

Yep. I know the problem. My domain is LearnByDestroying.com which I
thought would not attract any undue attention. However, I was banned
by some content filters as an ultraviolence site due to the term
"destroying" in the URL.

It also causes some undue problems with online purchases, where the
purchase URL tends to be rather long and include the kitchen sink. One
of my clever customers setup an email address something like
xxx@example.com to remain anonymous. However, xxx is deemed a sex
site. He goes to make his purchase, but because xxx@example.com is in
the ultra long URL his browser is sending, the gets a blocked site
message. I had the same think happen when I added my last name into
the block list just to see what happened. Nothing happened until I
tried to make an online purchase.

Note that there is a distinction between content filters and URL
blockers. Content filters are installed on the computah and scan both
the URL and the words on the web page. URL blockers just look at the
requested URL for key words and are usually imbedded in the router
firmware.

Of course, the federal government is here to protect us from ourselves
with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA or CHIPA).
  http://www.cdt.org/speech/cipa/
making it a requirement for libraries that receive federal money to
install content filtering. It is my understanding that the local
libraries consider it a waste of time and effort.

I've been installing and repairing computah systems since 1983 and
have seen very few applications of content filters and URL blocks that
were successfully used for more than a few weeks.

-- 
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558