Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/05/04/fears_grow_over_web_perverting/

Fears grow over web harming kids

Filtering software selling like hot tomalleys as parents bid to protect kids from cyber filth

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 4th May 1999 15:33 GMT

Parents are becoming increasingly worried about what their children may stumble across on the Internet, according to the company that produces the Internet filtering software CyberPatrol.

It reported that sales of CyberPatrol have shot through the roof as worried parents have tried to protect their children from the Net's darker side. Sales of the software have increased by 188 per cent during the last three months -- a rise that coincides with the massive take-up of Net access in the UK due mainly to the proliferation of subscription-free services.

"The issues that surround Internet content have been around for some time, however, the influx of free services into the market means that this is now an even more pertinent subject," said Jim Mackonochie, MD of The Learning Company which publishes the software.

"The concerns Prince Philip raised while on the recent Royal tour of South Korea regarding the eclectic nature of the Internet, and the potential hazard that the Internet as a medium presents to society, further brings this issue to the attention of all our minds," he said.

CyberPatrol allows adults to block material from a dozen different dozen categories such as violence, nudity, explicit sexual material and hate speech. It can also stop kiddies releasing personal information such as names, addresses -- and mummy and daddy's credit card details. ®