Rating Systems

-filtering level set by user

-self rating may be inaccurate

-may become regulated

-PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection)

Keyword blocking

-simple to create

-readily available

-indiscriminate block

-who made the decision?

Protocol blocking

-absolute block

-great for resource allocation

-may miss great resources present on the protocol (ie: news)

-may need technician to configure hardware

-often used to address resource allocation concerns

Host blocking

-someone actually looked at the site and made an intellectual decision to block

-reactive rather than proactive

-requires updates

-will never be able to rate entire Web

-who made the decision?

-what was the criteria?

Characterized Content Rating

-someone actually looked at the site and made an intellectual rating of the content

-can filter based on local community choices

-answers freedom of information/censorship considerations by not blocking

-can create a local rating community

-can still access inappropriate content

-requires learning to use and/or configure the required search engine

-will never be able to rate entire Web

-productivity tool more than filtering tool