Re: [OS:N:] Re: School Filtering

[Evan Leibovitch <evan telly org>]

On Fri, 20 Sep 2002, Eric Harrison wrote:

> Not only are the open source filtering solutions significantly cheaper, more
> reliable, and more effective, but the user of the technology has complete
> control over its use. This is an extremely important point: by using open
> source software for filtering, I have absolute control over what is filtered.
> ANY TIME a freedom-of-speech issue arises, I can fix it. Period. I can
> publish, for the whole world to see (and use), EXACTLY what is filtered[1].

Indeed. Because the commercial services use proprietary lists (it is,
after all, their 'bread and butter'), such lists are usually encrypted or
otherwise not easily examinable by users. And there have been cases where
companies have included competitors' and critics' sites amongst those
blacklisted.

In an open source realm none of this is an issue, because such entries
could be easily exposed and/or purged.