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Why Web Filters Do Not Work

To whom it may concern at The Southern Institute of Technology.

I own and run 8bitJoystick.com and am a profesional multimedia designer of several years.

As an Internet professional I publish my web site as a service to like minded people all over the world including down in New Zealand. It has come to my attention that you have add my site to those who you block with Internet filters to the computers at your campus. I have several readers who attend your fine school and they are upset and feel that it is unjustified. My web site is a Internet magazine that covers several subject including, trends in web development, technology advances and trends, interactive digital entertainment and digital freedoms and those who work to remove the inalienable human right of freedom of speech and the press. I understand that the company that works as your web filter also provides their services to several local high schools and while I agree that some of the language and content on my web site is not appropriate to some minors it is hardly unacceptable to the mature students that are attending your fine institution.

My web site is considered a magazine in Yahoo and was honored as a site of the day and your students can't read it. You are treating your students like children.

So is a lesson of digital freedoms on the black board or is Orwellian censorship the lesson plan for today. I attended a high tech institution and was fortunate that our Internet connection was free and unedited.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has the following to say as to why web filters do not work.

Here are ten good reasons why:

1. Underblocking
No blocking technology is clever enough to block even 10% of the pornography on the Internet unless it effectively blocks most or all of the materials on the Internet. This is because of the inherent complexity of human language and thought, not a matter of simply improving blocking technology.

2. Overblocking
Blocking technology always blocks more material than the small proportion of pornography it is able to block, thus significantly damaging the most basic and practical uses of the Internet, not to mention the free speech rights and civil liberties of every person accessing, publishing, or broadcasting on the Internet. Most of the material on the Internet is informative and useful and should not inadvertently or intentionally get blocked.

3. "Expert" Control
Even the simplest blocking technology is difficult to operate in a way that permits local control over the specific type and scope of materials blocked, so people who have to use blocking technology depend on "experts" in blocking technology companies who decide what they should and should not see, then keep this information secret even from those using the blocking technology. (Only one blocking technology company makes the list of blocked sites available to customers or the general public.)

4. Subjective
Criteria used to block materials are vaguely defined and subjectively applied to everyone who accesses the Internet, rather than designed and customized to meet the needs of particular communities.

5. Error-Prone
Blocking technology companies make lots of mistakes in assigning sites to block lists and almost always rely on automated systems for making content decisions. The process is fraught with error and there is usually no effective means to check whether a site is blocked inappropriately, to correct the problem, to override the blocking, or to appeal the multitude of incorrect decisions made by blocking technology companies.

6. Censorship
When the U.S. government requires blocking in public schools and libraries, the government mandates censorship in direct conflict with the U.S. Constitutional guarantees to free expression and freedom of association. Laws prohibiting the production and distribution of child pornography and obscenity already apply to the Internet.

7. Discrimination
Blocking technology blocks "controversial" materials related to certain issues or communities disproportionately more than other materials, thus unfairly discrimination against whole communities of people accessing, publishing, or broadcasting on the Internet.

8. Vulnerable
Blocking technology operation can be relatively easily bypassed even by children.

9. Problematic
Use of blocking technology causes problems with computers during installation, maintenance, upgrades, and removal that negatively impacts the use and performance of the computers, including computer crashes, access time delays, web display errors, and other problems impacting negatively the ability to access the Internet effectively.

10. Wrong Focus
Internet blocking technology is an unsuccessful panacea to an important problem that requires a more thoughtful solution. Parents, teachers, librarians, administrators, and local communities must work together to come up with Constitutionally acceptable solutions that encourage learning in a safe environment on the Internet, rather than relying on an unworkable technological fix. The focus should be on determining local standards and on education for all parties about how to use the Internet effectively.

I thanks you very much for hearing me out and I know that your intentions are good and fair.

Jake at May 9, 2003 WebDev

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