A Parent's Quick Guide to Content Blocking Technologies

[Android1]

Or, "How to Keep Your Child Away from Porn and Postal 2."

The Federal Communications Commission's long awaited Report to Congress on Parental Control Technologies for Video or Audio Programming is finally out. The report compiles almost a year's worth of comments from industry and public interest groups on the state of content-filtering technology, and what does it conclude? By golly, the FCC says it needs to issue another study! The next one will be about why more parents don't use the wide range of content filtering apps and gizmos that are currently available.

"What remains unexamined is exactly why parents have not adopted the various advanced blocking technologies," says Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in her comments on the survey. "Are they simply unaware? Are the technologies too confusing?"

We at Ars hate for people to be confused about technology, especially this kind, because the next thing you know they're demanding that the government step in and expand the ratings system or censor something or whatever. And there's already enough of that kind of talk. So here's a review of what the report says is already out there, and where you can get some of this stuff, or at least learn more about it.

Source: Ars Technica

[Dr. Zhivago]

http://www.parentalcontrolbar.org/