[I rather think the Starr Report should be rated indecent, and thus off-limits to library patrons. And cnn.com reports of atrocities in East Timor? Definitely violent and off-limits for teenagers. Oh, wait, a news exemption to the ratings? I'm sure Playboy will love that. Sigh. --Declan] >Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 11:30:30 -0400 >To: Declan McCullagh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Barry Steinhardt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Cybertimes on International Ratings > >Declan, > >The International movement to rate the net grows. Attached is a piece from >Cyber Times. > >Barry > > > >http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/cyber/articles/25ratings.html > > >September 25, 1999 > > > Internet Rating System Plans to Globalize > By PAMELA MENDELS > In response to the increasing globalization of the >Internet, > a content rating and filtering system that was originally > developed primarily for the United States will be >expanded > to encompass a more global audience. > > > Sometime next year, the Internet Content Rating >Association > is scheduled to launch a re-vamped version of a major > ratings and filtering system called RSACi in the hope >that > it can appeal to parents and Web publishers worldwide. > "RSACi was an American response to an American concern," > said Stephen C. Balkam, executive director of the >Internet > Content Rating Association, a four-month old organization > that has offices in the United States and Britain. "We >need > to internationalize the system and governing structure." > RSACi was launched in 1996 largely in response to federal > government attempts in the United States to regulate > indecent content online. The system was an offshoot of an [...] > The idea behind a re-vamped RSACi is to develop a rating > system that considers the sensibilities of parents around > the world, not just American parents, as the Internet >begins > to attract a bigger global audience. For example, Balkam > said that Europeans as a whole have less concern about > online nudity and more concern about violence than their > American counterparts. In addition, he said, Europeans > harbor a stronger consumer resistance to the idea of > personal information being bought or sold, and so >might want > ratings to reflect Web sites' privacy protections for > children. > The possibility of an international rating system has >been > in the spotlight lately, because of an ambitious but > controversial proposal released at a conference in Munich > earlier this month. > The document, drawn up by the Bertelsmann Foundation, a > German policy research group, recommends a number of >ways in > which the Internet industry could police itself to help > parents prevent their children from accessing potentially > harmful material online. Among them is the creation of >a new > international system whereby Web publishers would rate >their > own content and parents could then choose either to >block or > allow access to material based on how the ratings mesh >with > their values. [...] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe: send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this text: subscribe politech More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------
