Family-Friendly
Internet Service Providers
When it comes to family-friendly features, not all
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are created equal. Some even advertise the fact that
they do not "censor" any pornography. The following reviews cover major
nationwide providers. If you select one of the hundreds of ISPs not mentioned here, use
these reviews as a guideline of what to look for -- and what to avoid. From those having
absolutely no family-friendly features to those with many such features, ISPs have taken widely divergent approaches to child safety.
While no ISP offers protection substantially better than
filtering software, there are two reasons that your ISP choice still matters. First, some
ISPs really are concerned with the issue of parenting online. They offer guidelines for
parents, provide clear help in setting up parental control features, provide kids-only
areas, block child pornography from their newsgroup servers, help find interesting kid
sites on the Internet and respond quickly to reports of online abuse. Others leave all of
these issues up to parents to figure out on their own. The second reason your selection of
an ISP matters is that the list price of filtering software can run as much as $70 per
year and this is in addition to the roughly $240 average annual cost for Internet
access. By using an ISP that bundles filtering software into its service package, usually
Cyber Patrol or SurfWatch, you avoid unnecessary costs.
An entirely different approach is taken by some smaller
ISPs -- they attempt to filter the Internet before it reaches your computer. Because the
filtering technology used by most of these "clean" ISPs is not 100% effective,
we recommend that you still use filtering software if you decide to use their service. If
a clean ISP offers service in your area, consider using them rather than the major
nationwide ISPs listed below. Click here to see a list of
clean ISPs.
Note that while some ISPs have been given the same
family-friendly rating (America Online and Prodigy both are rated 4, for example) these
ratings may represent different combinations of features. America Online rates high in
most categories but does not offer time management features. Prodigy, on the other hand,
offers time management but also carries child pornography on its newsgroup server. Read
"SafetyNet: Guiding and Guarding Your
Children on the Internet" for more detailed descriptions.
Overall Family-Friendly Rating and Contact Information for Major
Internet Service Providers |
ISP (Click on the Following Names to Go Directly to ISP Web
Sites) |
Overall Family-Friendly Rating |
To Place an Order Call: |
|
4
|
(888)
265-8001
|
|
0
|
(800)
400-1447
|
|
1
|
(800)
373-3676
|
|
3
|
(800)
638-2661
|
|
4
|
(800)
213-0992
|
Family-friendly
ratings are calculated on a scale of 0-5 (5 is best).
Family-Friendly Features of
Major Internet Service Providers |
ISP |
Free Filterware |
Kid Content
(rated 0-5) |
Number of Email Addresses per Account |
Newsgroup Policy for Child
Pornography |
AOL |
AOL/Cyber
Patrol |
3 |
5 |
No newsgroups devoted
to child pornography are allowed. |
AT&T |
None |
0 |
1 |
Carries child
pornography |
CompuServe |
Cyber
Patrol |
2 |
1 |
Blocks some child
pornography newsgroups |
MCI |
None |
0 |
1 |
Carries child
pornography |
MSN |
None |
3 |
1 |
Carries child
pornography |
Netcom |
SurfWatch
at reduced price |
0 |
1
(multiple email addresses can be had for an additional $5 per month) |
Caries child
pornography. |
Prodigy |
Cyber
Patrol |
0 |
6 |
Carries child
pornography |
Comparison of family-friendly
features. For detailed descriptions of filtering software, please see SafetyNet or KidShield's review of Parental Control Software.
Description of Family-Friendly Features
With the partial exception of AOL, no ISP uses its own
filterware to protect its users. Instead, they either ignore the issue or bundle another
company's software with their service. It is highly preferable to use an ISP that provides
free filterware for free given the expense of purchasing it at normal retail prices..
Blocked from chat rooms, newsgroups and other Internet
areas, kids need an alternative place to interact online. As of now, no ISP has developed
a completely safe place for kids to converse (it is difficult to verify that those
chatting with children online are really children themselves). However, some ISPs are
attempting to meet this need. Also, young children need guidance when online. It is hard
enough for parents to find interesting sites when surfing, for young children it can be
bewildering. An index of interesting sites makes a big difference. Of course, other sites,
such as KidShield, provide can provide lists of child-friendly
links.
Many ISPs only offer one email address per account. Mom
and dad share the same email address as the kids. However, some ISPs allow families to
have a separate email address for everyone in the family. This is a great feature for
older children who want to establish their own identity, not to mention that it keeps the
family mailbox from getting to cluttered. This has an additional benefit: you can setup
one email name to be the "public" address. I personally use one such address for
anytime I post to a newsgroup so that if any mass emailer or flamer gets my address it
will not clog up my real email address. If my "public" email address starts to
get unwanted correspondence, I just drop the name and create a new one. Some web sites
also require an email address in order for you to visit them. They may then start to send
you unwanted email pitching different products. You can circumvent this problem by giving
them your public address -- if it starts to get a lot of junk you just create a new one.
The vast majority of ISPs make no effort to weed out
newsgroups devoted to illegal material such as child pornography or bestiality. Hopefully
this is for philosophical reasons (no "censorship") rather than for profit
motives. When a user accesses a web site, the actual site where a computer is storing the
web pages can be anywhere in the world. However, newsgroups are different in that ISPs
store them on their own computers. Thus, if an ISP carries alt.sex.pedophile it is
breaking the law by storing child pornography. It is quite easy technically for an ISP to
block these sites, but few do so. Even if law enforcement agencies do nothing about this,
ISPs may change their policies if sufficient numbers of consumers switch to ISPs that do
not carry obscene material.
Note that even the best ISP does not block all pedophilia
on its newsgroups. This is because some deviants get a kick out of posting child porn on
newsgroups devoted to other topics. It would be difficult for ISPs to comb through every
newsgroup and verify the content of each individual message. However, blocking the
newsgroups devoted to these topics is still a giant step in the right direction.
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