Since parental empowerment tools limit that which is available to children at the receiving end, as opposed to what can be published by speakers, freedom of expression is preserved for adults while parents are able to shield their children from inappropriate material. Instead, he called on the industry and the Internet community to continue to develop products and services to assist parents, and stressed the importance of multiple, independent rating systems and choices for users. Users and parents have a variety of effective, easy to use options available today to control their children's access to inappropriate material online based on their own family values. Blocking and filtering technologies are far more effective and far more flexible than any law. The tools are designed to be easy to use for parents who may not be as computer savvy as their kids.
Technology is only part of the solution to parents concerns.
Parents must also learn how to use the available technology and impart their own values. CDT is pleased that the President and Vice President have endorsed the user empowerment approach and we look forward to working with the Administration, the computer and communications industries, public interest and family groups, Internet users, and Congress towards solutions which preserve the free flow of information and constitutional guarantees of free expression online, while at the same time assuring that concerned have access to the tools they need. CDT believes that this characterization fundamentally misunderstands the evil of government censorship. Censorship is when the government seeks to take control over what citizens can see, hear, say, and write. The use of blocking and filtering software, on the other hand, enables users to choose what material comes into their homes and what stays out.