The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-United States Activities represents the interests of 240,000 U.S. electrical and electronics engineers who are members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. One of our roles is providing advice to policymakers in government and in the private sector.
The Internet provides access to a vast range of information resources on a potentially unlimited variety of subjects. Besides its growing use for research, commerce and public information, the Internet holds great promise for helping children explore knowledge and participate in education as a collaborative knowledge discovery process.
Recently, concerns have been raised about the availability of materials on the Internet which are not suitable for access by children. Particular concerns have been expressed about materials on Internet bulletin boards (often referred to as ``Newsgroups'') and on the rapidly growing World Wide Web (WWW or simply ``Web''). The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers-United States Activities (IEEE-USA) wishes to provide a clarification with respect to technical means -- software and/or hardware -- that are available, which in combination with voluntary ratings system and the ability of responsible adults to control access to materials considered inappropriate, could provide a practical way to effectively influence access by children.
We recognize, of course, that it will be difficult to completely deny children access to materials on the Internet which may be deemed unsuitable for them -- just as it is difficult to fully deny children access to printed materials that may be deemed unsuitable. Nevertheless, technical means exist not only to block access to entire classes of Internet sites, but also to facilitate access to sites specifically created for and/or certified as suitable for children. The same technology can be used by other individuals and organizations that want to restrict their own access to certain Internet resources without impeding the free flow of information to and from other users.
Information on the Internet is stored on computers (known as ``servers'') that are set up and managed by organizations or individuals. Every information server on the Internet, including Newsgroups and World Wide Web sites, has its own unique digital address.
Internet users have software resident on their computers (``client software'') that allows them to choose Newsgroups or other information sources from on-screen menus. Other software, known as Web ``browsers'' initially connects a user to a pre-selected Web site, known as a ``home page,'' which then offers links to other Web servers. A user can also directly key in the address of a requested site. In each case, the user's software translates the request into digital packets that contain the requested site address. The packets then go to a local ``router'' where they are scanned and sent onto the Internet toward their destination.
One can thus constrain access to Internet sites by using software that sets up packets only to pre-selected addresses, or rejects packets destined for certain other addresses. This can be done at either the client (user) or router (organization) level. Many business and other organizations today restrict access to some Internet Newsgroups from computers within their organization. This does not prevent other users from accessing these Newsgroups, nor does it deny employees the ability to access these sites from home.
Similarly, Web browsers and other client software can readily be adapted to restrict children's access at school and home to ``suitable'' Internet sites only. Since most parents and classroom teachers (and, indeed all of us) find it difficult to keep current on what information is available on the Internet, organizations will likely emerge to identify and/or certify the suitability of Internet sites for particular age groups or grade levels. A variety of school-based, nonprofit and commercial entities can establish their own ``home pages'' for children and provide assurance that they maintain links only to other suitable Internet sites. Schools and parents can then set their Web browsers to access the home pages they find acceptable.
Even with these controls, it would still be possible for a child to obtain access to ``unsuitable'' Internet sites by using a computer with unrestricted software. This is equivalent to a child obtaining access to unsuitable printed materials by browsing unattended in a bookstore or in an adult's library. It would also be possible for someone, accidentally or intentionally, to place inappropriate materials on a server certified as suitable for children. This would be similar to placing inappropriate printed materials in the children's section of a public library. These examples do not vitiate the idea of user controls on Internet access. They simply point out that technology alone cannot substitute for adult supervision or common sense.
Another approach to facilitating user control of Internet access would be to establish content classification and ratings, analogous to those developed for movies or computer games. For example, video stores organize tapes by category (drama, comedy, ...) and provide ratings (G, PG, PG-13,...) for each tape within each category. If similar categories and ratings were established for content on the Internet, it would be technically straightforward to build browsers and other client software to seek out appropriate content and block unwanted (or unrated) materials.
Although the necessary software technology is available today, questions remain as to who would develop ratings standards and implement them in the rapidly growing, unstructured environment of the Internet. IEEE-USA cannot answer these questions, but we believe this approach deserves attention and consideration as an alternative to legislative or regulatory restrictions on information transmission over the Internet.
Using relatively straightforward technology, it is possible today to facilitate the development of Internet information sources that are deemed suitable for children, and to create control mechanisms that limit access to only those approved sites. More generally, it is possible to give users greater control of their own access to Internet content without limiting the free flow of information to other users or infringing on the First Amendment rights of content providers.