Censorware Search Engine update and request for files

Over at the Netly News Network, we've decided it's time to update our
Censorware Search Engine. For those of you who haven't checked it
recently, it's a one-of-a-kind web site that lets you see if you've been
blocked by filtering software:

  http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/spoofcentral/censored/

We're planning to update this with newer decrypted lists from some of the
vendors like SurfWatch, CyberPatrol, and so on. If you have a list and
you'd like it to be included, please send it along.

-Declan

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In <Pine.GSO.3.95.971218143713.5527C-100000@well.com>, on 12/18/97 
   at 02:37 PM, Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> said:

>Over at the Netly News Network, we've decided it's time to update our
>Censorware Search Engine. For those of you who haven't checked it
>recently, it's a one-of-a-kind web site that lets you see if you've been
>blocked by filtering software:

>  http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/spoofcentral/censored/

>We're planning to update this with newer decrypted lists from some of the
>vendors like SurfWatch, CyberPatrol, and so on. If you have a list and
>you'd like it to be included, please send it along.

Just out of curiousity I did a search on pathfinder.com :)

CyberPatrol:
    http://binone.pathfinder.com/cgi-bin/boa SexActs

CyberSitter:
    pathfinder.com

SurfWatch:
    http://bubblemouth.pathfinder.com/@@srbndqaaaaaaaeeg/vibe/archive/independant/blackspot
    http://mouth.pathfinder.com/@@srbndqaaaaaaaeeg/vibe/archive/independant/blackspot


No surprise that Cybersitter has the entire domain blocked. Odd the
SurfWatch blocks the archives for Vibe magazine yet does not block
www.vibe.com. The URL blocked by CyberPatrol is invalid.

There was someone who did this awhile back and promptly had his domain
blocked by these self appointed protectors of "Truth, Democracy, and The
American Way".

I was rather disappointed (though not surprised) watching the Censorship
Summit a couple of weeks ago that no one took these self appointed Censors
to task on the fact that they block sites not mearly on the type of
information contained (sex,drugs,violence,...ect) but also block based on
political content that disagrees with their own beliefs. Sure fire way to
get a site blocked is not to put "dirty" pictures up on it but to put up
anything that brings to light the actions of these groups.

An intriguing side note is that ALL these groups considers their Censor
Lists to be IP. Add that with the new Criminalization of copyright
infringement and we may see Declan sharing a cell with Jim Bell. :)


- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://users.invweb.net/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://users.invweb.net/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
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CyberSitter now blocks part of the CSE URL ("/spoofcentral/"), if I
remember properly. Of course it also blocks any other site that has the
word "spoofcentral" as part of the URL. Talk about shotgun-style
approaches.

CyberPatrol's "boa" blocking is abbreviated. I think the cgi script is
used for our bulletin board discussion areas, usually devoted to such
purient topics as the First Pooch.

> CyberPatrol:
>     http://binone.pathfinder.com/cgi-bin/boa SexActs
[...]
> An intriguing side note is that ALL these groups considers their Censor
> Lists to be IP. Add that with the new Criminalization of copyright
> infringement and we may see Declan sharing a cell with Jim Bell. :)

They already tried. See:
  http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/editorial/0,1012,453,00.html



                          To Milburn's mind, our act of revealing the
truth
                     about his company's product was, literally, criminal.
In
                     August, he told us that he had asked the U.S.
Department
                     of Justice to launch a criminal investigation into
the
                     publication of our article. He was particularly upset
with
                     one paragraph that included a fragment of his
database
                     demonstrating that CyberSitter expressly bans info
about
                     gay society and culture. 

                         He wrote: "Your willful reverse engineering and
                     subsequent publishing of copyrighted source code is a
                     clear violation of US Copyright law. While we would
                     easily prevail in a civil court in seeking damages...
we will
                     seek felony criminal prosecution under 17 USCS sect
                     503(a) of the Copyright Act, and are preparing
                     documentation to submit with the criminal complaint
to
                     FBI (sic)." 


-Declan

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In <Pine.GSO.3.95.971218153509.5527I-100000@well.com>, on 12/18/97 
   at 06:40 PM, Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> said:

>CyberSitter now blocks part of the CSE URL ("/spoofcentral/"), if I
>remember properly. Of course it also blocks any other site that has the
>word "spoofcentral" as part of the URL. Talk about shotgun-style
>approaches.

>CyberPatrol's "boa" blocking is abbreviated. I think the cgi script is
>used for our bulletin board discussion areas, usually devoted to such
>purient topics as the First Pooch.

>> CyberPatrol:
>>     http://binone.pathfinder.com/cgi-bin/boa SexActs
>[...]
>> An intriguing side note is that ALL these groups considers their Censor
>> Lists to be IP. Add that with the new Criminalization of copyright
>> infringement and we may see Declan sharing a cell with Jim Bell. :)

>They already tried. See:
>  http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/editorial/0,1012,453,00.html

I wonder if we can't turn the tables on him an file both civil and
criminal fraud chrages against him. Last time I looked it was still
illegal to sell an apple and deliver an orange even if you convice the
buyers that it is an apple. :)

- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://users.invweb.net/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://users.invweb.net/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
- ---------------------------------------------------------------

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One comment in this article:

>  http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/editorial/0,1012,453,00.html
>
 may be incorrect. The comment is:


>    I have one major objection to all of the
>                   software filters currently on the market: Consumers
>                     have no way of knowing what's being blocked.
>                     Without knowing what's on the filter list, parents
>                     can't know what Junior will or won't be seeing.

 NetNanny (www.netnanny.com) says that its lists are fully viewable and
editable.  If so, perhaps we should support them as the alternative.

At 14:37 -0800 12/18/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>  http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/spoofcentral/censored/

Some of the pathfinder servers seem to be having problems. If you keep
reloading the page, it should work.

-Declan