But the Net community has moved ahead rapidly in the past two years to demonstrate that when technology creates knotty problems, technological solutions are possible. Now there are organizations that evaluate and rate Web sites and companies whose software selectively blocks them based on parents' concerns. The software is catching on with schools, libraries, even offices where bosses don't want employees surfing on company time. He notes software can block overseas porn sites, which U.S. laws can' t touch. The program not only blocks access to Web sites, it prevents kids from giving strangers information such as addresses and phone numbers.
Parents can add to or delete sites from the company's list.
But they aren't the only ones using the technology. SurfWatch, whose original market was schools, now has an estimated 380,000 users, including 10,000 school districts. About 3.4 million copies have been shipped with Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. But not everyone is convinced software is the answer. Technology never supplants the need for criminal laws.