A family group whose battles have included trying to stop Larry Flynt from opening Hustler stores in the Cincinnati area says some software companies are ready to give schools "almost 100 percent effective" e-porn blocking software at no cost.
"There are companies that are prepared to install 'second generation' filtering software that is almost 100 percent effective against pornography in school computer systems for free," says Kathy Valente, director of Citizens for Community Values, to Conservative News Service.
One is DotSafe, a Phoenix filtering company, who will install filtering software at no charge in school computers around the U.S. - including Illinois, CNS says, where lawmakers are wrestling with a bill to mandate porn filtering in schools. DotSafe CEO Robert Maynard tells CNS he thinks it's the right thing to do as well as a smart investment.
"On a cost basis," he tells CNS, "we've already invested in the technology development. Making the first one is what is so expensive in any new technology. Additional copies of our technology cost us little or nothing in the long run. We also believe that by doing this, those schools and states that we have served will become evangelists for our company and our technology and that will build more brand awareness for our commercial and consumer products than any TV ad campaign ever will."
Filtering critics worry not only about free speech issues but about wrongful blocking, with previous filtering software often said to have blocked legitimate publications online. But Valente tells CNS a company blocking all Utah school computers found only 64 wrongful blocks out of about 53 million sites volunteers accessed in a month's period.
"The technology is really getting sophisticated and it's able to do what it claims it can do," she says.
This week, Wisconsin became the fifth state to require filtering software in school computers, CNS says, with lawmakers voting 76-23 in favor.
