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Scope of Problem
- 53% of teens have encountered offensive Web sites that include pornography, hate or violence. Of these, 91% found the offensive sites unwittingly while searching the web. (Source: Yankelovich Partner survey, The Safe America Foundation; 9/30/99)
- A May 1999 survey found that 47% of American teens are online - the top two activities being email (83%) and search engines (78%). (Source: Newsweek; 5/10/99)
- While 75% of parents say they know where their children spend time online, survey data indicates that 58% of teens say they have accessed an objectionable web site; 39% offensive music, 25% sexual content and 20% violence. (Source: WebSense, USA Today, 10/10-12/99)
- 62% of parents of teenagers are unaware that their children have accessed objectionable Web sites. (Source: Yankelovich Partners Study, September 1999)
- Online pornography is the first consistently successful e-commerce product. (Source: C-Net; 4/28/99)
- Students were most at risk for cybersex compulsions due to a combination of increased access to computers, more private leisure time, and a developmental stage characterized by increased sexual awareness and experimentation. Both computer classes and colleges might need to recognize this increased vulnerability and institute new primary prevention strategies. (Source: MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne Study, 2000)
- There are in excess of 40,000 individual URLs containing child pornography, pedophilia and pro-pedophilia content. (Source: Safeguarding Our Children-United Mothers & CyberAngels “Our Kids In Danger List,” 2000)
- There are now at least 40,000 porn sites on the World Wide Web and probably thousands more. No one has been able to count them all. (Source: U.S. News & World Report, 3/27/00)
- 30% of all unsolicited emails contain pornographic information (Source: Choose Your Mail.com study, October 1999).
A Total Solution: Safe Internet Access through the FamilyClick Internet Service Provider (ISP) and a Dedicated Web site for Families at
- Best available protection from offensive Internet content via FamilyClick's advanced multi-layered filtering technology.
- Filtered email system blocks spam and objectionable text within messages.
- Chat rooms are filtered for offensive material and predatory activity.
- Top quality, original content that is both educational and entertaining.
Technology
- Best available server-based filtering technology involving a comprehensive two-step process:
- Site Review Filtering: Filtering system checks sites against a database, updated daily, of blocked sites containing an extensive list of reviewed URLs – both filtered by technology and human-reviewed – which contain inappropriate content. The list is updated daily by UR Labs and by FamilyClick staff. Site review is the standard process by which most server-based filtering solutions operate.
- Dynamic Document Review™ (DDR): Second step of the FamilyClick solution provides additional protection, via its next generation of filtering technology provided by Symantec Corp., which scans pages in real time and reviews the proximity of words to each other. If inappropriate word patterns are detected, the filter blocks access to the site. By using this technology, FamilyClick can provide a superior level of filtering while ensuring that sites with suitable content are not inadvertently blocked. The DDR filters "on the fly" in real time, inappropriate text found in Internet search results, email and HTML-based chatrooms.
- FamilyClick filters all Newsgroups.
- FamilyClick offers two ways that users can search the Web:
- Smart Search Engine: FamilyClick's default search engine for ISP subscribers, powered by LookSmart, filters out offensive material, lists only the best sites and eliminates the thousands of junk sites. The Smart Search Engine is integrated with the Dynamic Document Review and only includes within its search results the sites that have passed the FamilyClick layered filtering system.
- Filtered Search Engine: FamilyClick members are also free to access any search engine they choose as all results are filtered through the two-step process at the appropriate access level. That way, subscribers can continue using their favorite search engine and trust that the search results will filter offensive material.
- Although FamilyClick's filtering technology is not 100% guaranteed, users can obtain search results free from offensive content by searching the FamilyClick site of pre-approved content.
Access Levels
Five different access levels are offered so that parents can customize the Internet experience for their children of different ages. For its most restricted level, FamilyClick has developed a “Children's Playroom” that only contains sites approved by FamilyClick as appropriate for children. The Children's Playroom is 100% safe. The five access levels from most restrictive to least restrictive include: The Children's Playroom, Kids, Preteen, Teen and Full FamilyClick Access.
- Monitored Chats: FamilyClick only provides access to chat rooms that are HTML-based so that the Dynamic Document Review can be used to block out inappropriate language that may occur in chat rooms. There is currently no technology that is able to detect a disguised predator who does not use offensive language.
- SecureClick: FamilyClick has established a proprietary SecureClick network between each member household, the filtering servers and the Internet to help ensure that the filtering technology cannot be disabled or circumvented by tech-savvy young people.
Filtered Email
- The same systems that examine Internet material also filter all email messages sent to FamilyClick accounts - based on the access level. Additionally, Dynamic Document Review scans email text while messages are being read by a subscriber.
- Parents have the option of blocking unwanted email from ever reaching their in-boxes through FamilyClick's proprietary "Mail Block."
- FamilyClick's spam prevention process will continually update lists of known "spammers" and block messages sent from their addresses or alias addresses.
Instant Messaging Capabilities
- FamilyClick allows users to access their favorite instant messaging packages including: AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Excite PAL and Microsoft's MSN Messenger. FamilyClick provides safety instructions that may be applied to these and other instant messaging packages.
- The user interface will allow the Account Administrator to turn this functionality on or off, and the default is always set to off.
Top Quality Content
- Nine channels of original content include: ParentingClick, Home & GardenClick, MoneyClick, Family FunClick, LearningClick, FoodClick, KidzClick, TeenClick and SportsClick.
- 's Top Clicks contains EXCLUSIVE lists of "best of the Web" sites and licensed "Net-Mom Approved" sites, personally reviewed by Jean Armour Polly, the original "Net-Mom®" and author of The Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages.
- Additional services include personal web pages, games, news updates, weather, and stock quotes.
Tech Service Features
- FamilyClick provides service and support options that are available 24 hours a day/7 days a week via a toll-free number and online help option. Average response time for service and support is less than 5 minutes.
- FamilyClick provides 56k speed delivery of service, with DSL and other high-speed options in 2000.
- FamilyClick allows users to retrieve their email from any computer via a password-protected access point on the site.
Partners
- The FamilyClick network consists of the FamilyClick ISP and Web site and its partner affiliates including Oracle, Symantec Corp., Network Appliance, Software.com, Concentric Network, and F5 Network. FamilyClick uses equipment from Cisco Systems. Sun is also a FamilyClick strategic technology vendor.
Pricing and Availability
- The subscription fee is $21.95 a month, with the first month free. The annual fee for the service for those signing a year contract is $234.95 - an 11% discount off the monthly rate.
- FamilyClick began nationwide ISP service on October 18, 1999.
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