~terry
Fri, Feb 20, 1998 (16:04)
seed
PICS is an infrastructure for associating labels (metadata) with
Internet content. It was originally designed to help parents and teachers
control what children access on the Internet, but it also facilitates
other uses for labels, including code signing and
privacy. PICS is a platform on which other rating services and filtering
software have been built. Parents who are interested in finding filtering
software or ISPs that offer filtering will probably want to consult
http://www.netparents.org
For introductory materials:
Technology Inventory:
http://www.research.att.com/~lorrie/pubs/tech4kids/
Lorrie Cranor and Paul Resnick
http://www.sciam.com/0397issue/0397resnick.html
Filtering Information on the Internet Paul Resnick.
Scientific American, March 1997, pp. 106-108.
http://www.si.umich.edu/~presnick/pics/intfree/faq.htm
PICS and Intellectual Freedom FAQ. Paul Resnick.
~terry
Fri, Feb 20, 1998 (16:07)
#1
Is PICS the devil? Does it do something to the architecture of the web
that makes it easier for some folks to control the architecture of the web,
is the question that Professor Weinberg asks.
Searching and blocking are two sides of a coin, and Winberg doesn't like
blocking when other people are designing it for him.
~terry
Wed, Mar 4, 1998 (07:16)
#2
Danielle Gallo:
Following the Thursday evening dinner reception and entertaining
speech by Nicholas Johnson, there were a number of BoFs held. I
attended the GILC (Global Internet Liberty Campaign) BoF. This
informal discussion group featured Mark Rotenberg from GILC
(http://www.gilc.org) and Barry Steinhardt, counsel to the EFF
(Electronic Frontier Foundation, http://www.eff.org). Among other
things, GILC has argued against PICS (Platform for Internet Content
Selection). The BoF had a surprise element in the attendance of Paul
Resnick, a professor at the University of Michigan School of
Information (http://www.si.umich.edu/). Resnick is one of the
developers of PICS. The discussion became a preview of the panel on
the neutrality of technology and the question of 'is PICS the devil?'.
~terry
Wed, Mar 4, 1998 (07:20)
#3
Lorrie Cranor:
Now, for the $64,000 question. Is PICS the devil? I don=92t think a
definite answer surfaced. Panelists included Paul Resnick and Andrew
Shapiro. Shaprio was highly opposed to PICS because it can be used to
facilitate censorship. Resnick rebutted by stating that tools for
censorship already existed before PICS. This question and answer
period was also lively, including many comments directed at
Resnick. Personally, I feel that PICS has provided a useful starting
point and foundation for the selection of Internet content.