From: declan@well.com (Declan McCullagh)
Date: Sun, 7 Jul 1996 03:27:14 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: NYT/CyberTimes on CWD article
Message-ID: <v01510102ae044ed3a7e6@[204.62.128.229]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


"We are writers, not crytographers."

-Declan

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http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/0706patrol-reporters.html



              July 6, 1996



              Reporters Claim to Have
              Lists of Blocked Sites

              By PAMELA MENDELS

              Reporters Brock N. Meeks and Declan B.
              McCullagh say they've got a little list.

              Several actually.

              The lists
              are of Internet
              sites that,
              in the eyes
              of several companies making parental control
              software, could be considered inappropriate
              to children. The lists are supposed to be
              secret.

              But Meeks and McCullagh say they have
              obtained lists compiled by Microsystems
              Software, Inc., the Framingham,
              Mass.-based manufacturer of Cyber Patrol;
              Los Altos, Calif.-based SurfWatch
              Software, a subsidiary of Spyglass, Inc.,
              and Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Solid Oak
              Software, Inc., maker of CYBERsitter --
              three of the leading producers of parental-
              control filtering software.

              McCullagh said that he and Meeks were able
              to view the complete Cyber Patrol and
              CYBERsitter lists and part of the SurfWatch
              list.

              In an article published this week in
              CyberWire Dispatch, a report on
              Internet-related issues distributed through
              e-mail, Meeks and McCullagh wrote that
              they had taken a peek at some of the sites
              contained on the lists and had then contacted
              groups that might be concerned about the
              listings.

              Representatives of organizations ranging in
              advocacy from feminism to gun lobbying to
              animal rights said they been disturbed to
              learn that some sites they endorse had made
              the lists.

              Kim A. Gandy, executive vice president of
              the National Organization for Women, said
              Friday that she was upset to learn that
              CYBERSitter blocks access to NOW's Web
              site. Further, she said she did not like the
              company's rationale: that the NOW site
              contains links to, among other things, sites
              about homosexuality.

              "It's ridiculous," Gandy said. "It's insulting.
              And I think most parents would not approve
              of that kind of censorship. Lots of parents
              don't want children surfing pornography,
              but would not think of denying them access
              to legitimate information."

              Marc E. Kanter, director of marketing for
              Solid Oak, confirmed Friday that NOW's
              site had been included on the CYBERsitter
              not-for-children list because of its links
              leading to "sexual preferentation" sites. "This
              is what our users want," he said. "If they
              don't want to restrict access to this material,
              they don't have to buy it or they can simply
              turn it off. We are not trying to play any
              political role. We are simply providing a tool
              for parents." Officials of the Gay & Lesbian
              Alliance Against Defamation were also upset
              that the Cyber Patrol list blocked several
              Internet discussion groups devoted to news
              of interest to the gay community.

              "We feel that this is the kind of thing
              important to gay and lesbian youth, to read
              about our community," said Lauren R.
              Javier, director of information systems for
              the Gay & Lesbian Alliance, adding that the
              newsgroups contained little if any sexually
              explicit material.

              Javier added that Cyber Patrol officials had
              been responsive in the past to complaints, so
              he wanted to give them "the benefit of the
              doubt" and intended to contact them about
              the matter.

              For his part, Nigel R. Spicer, president of
              Microsystems, said he had not examined the
              reasons that all the gay newsgroup sites
              named by the article were included on the
              Cyber Patrol list. The one site he did check
              after reading Meeks' report, however, was
              on the list because it contained links to
              personals ads, he said.

              McCullagh is keeping mum about how he
              and Meeks got the lists in the first place,
              although he denies that either of them
              personally decoded the software. "Brock and
              I are not cyptographic analysts," he said.
              "We don't spend our days de-encrypting
              files. We are writers, not crytographers."

              Spicer was less than happy about the
              prospect that Cyber Patrol's list may have
              fallen into outsiders' hands. He said that, so
              far, he had been unable to confirm whether
              the reporters had the true list for Cyber Patrol
              and, if so, how they had managed to obtain
              it.

              "It's always a concern if you believe people
              are getting access to material you've gone to
              the trouble to not make available," he said.
              "If we believe the encryption scheme has
              been compromised, we will make another
              one."

              Kanter, of CYBERsitter, said the list
              mentioned in the Cyberwire Dispatch article
              was, indeed, his company's. "I hope that list
              doesn't get out beyond where it was," he
              said.

              Jay S. Friedland, vice president of marketing
              for SurfWatch products, said Friday that he
              had not yet read the article. He said the
              blocking companies keep their lists secret for
              two reasons: to prevent their misuse and to
              keep their competitive edge.

              "Clearly, each company has a proprietary
              advantage," Friedland said. "One of our
              competitors could take and use the same
              information."

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