Why do many people want filtering?
The Internet contains a wide range of materials, some of which may be offensive or even illegal in many countries. Unlike traditional media, the Internet does not have any obvious tools for segregating material based on content. While pornographic magazines can be placed behind the counter of a store, and strip-tease joints restricted to certain parts of town, the Internet provides everything through the same medium. Filters and ratings systems are seen as tools that would provide the cyberspace equivalent of the physical separations that are used to limit access to “adult” materials. In rating a site as objectionable, and refusing to display it on the user’s computer screen, filters and ratings systems can be used to prevent children from seeing material that their parents find objectionable. In preventing access, the software acts as an automated version of the convenience-store clerk who refuses to sell adult magazines to high-school students. Filters are also used by businesses to
