• "The First Amendment?"
• "That's included in the $29.95, sir."

  THE ADL^® (Anti-Defamation League) will team with The Learning Company on a conversion of its Cyber Patrol "parental control" Internet filtering software that will also screen out hundreds of Websites the ADL says promote anti-Semitism and other hate speech. Available in 1998 on the ADL Web site (www.adl.org), the software will send surfers who try to access hate sites to the ADL's anti-hate site. Cost $29.95

  --news item

Surfwatch, going hand-in-glove with the New-York based ADL, is producing software to enable schools to block access for curious minds to "bad sites".

PEOPLE ARE always fascinated by any evidence of the ADL's so far unsuccessful search for objectivity. Example: You yourself can key our Website's URL:

into the Surfwatch engine [CLICK for the above search page] where you will learn that this very site, which you are even now visiting, is blocked and categorised under

THE FPP WEBMASTER submitted to SURFWATCH on Monday, June 22, 1998 that this categorisation is libellous -- a gratuitous smear -- and invited them: "Please justify these libellous definitions to enable us to review the site's contents ourselves. Webmaster, FPP."

"SurfWatch Core Category Criteria" May 1,1998 Evaluation Policies SurfWatch criteria are reviewed with our Advisory Committee on a monthly basis to ensure responsible filtering. A site will be blocked if it meets the following guidelines: 1.A disclaimer indicating restricted access; a screen or warning that identifies the site as adult-oriented or containing information unsuitable for those underage 2.The publisher has requested that his/her site be blocked 3.Any page or site which predominantly contains links to sites matching the following criteria: Sexually Explicit sexually-oriented or erotic full or partial nudity depictions or images of sexual acts, including animals or other inanimate objects used in a sexual manner erotic stories and textual descriptions of sexual acts sexually exploitive or sexually violent text or graphics bondage, fetishes, genital piercing

adult products including sex toys, CD-ROMs, and videos adult services including vidoeconferencing, escort services, and strip clubs NOTE: We do not block on the basis of sexual preference, nor do we block sites regarding sexual health, breast cancer, or sexually transmitted diseases (except in graphic examples). Hate Speech sites advocating or inciting degradation or attack of specified populations or institutions based on associations such as religion, race, nationality, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation sites which promote a political or social agenda which is supremacist in nature and exclusionary of others based on their race, religion, nationality, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation Holocaust revision/denial sites coercion or recruitment for membership in a gang* or cult** NOTE: We do not block news, historical, or press incidents that may include the above criteria (except in graphic examples). [...]

Hello, Thanks for submitting this site to be reviewed for unblocking. The site does meet SurfWatch blocking criteria for Violence/Hate Speech, namely the line item regarding Holocaust revision/denail sites (see our criteria online at http://www.surfwatch.com/filteringcriteria/core/). [FPP-WEBSITE NOTE: SEE GREY PANELS AT LEFT] The site will remain blocked in our filters. Thank you for your interest in SurfWatch. Christine Meginness SurfWatch Content       SurfWatch Software, a Division of Spyglass Inc. Phone: 650-948-9500 175 S. San Antonio Rd, Ste 102 Los Altos, CA 94022 Fax: 650-948-9577 http://www.surfwatch.com http://www.spyglass.com

To which unparallelled impertinence we replied, June 24, 1998:-

Dear Ms Meginness Please indicate to us which specific files on our Website www.fpp.co.uk are alleged to fall foul of your criteria relating to Holocaust revision/denial, in order that we can review them ourselves with a view to meeting your criticisms. Meanwhile we shall post our correspondence with Surfwatch on our Website so that all unblocked visitors are able to assess your objectivity. Yours faithfully Webmaster, FPP

The considered response ("Hello!") of the Surfwatch censors arrived a few hours later:

 

Hello, There are numerous files on the http://www.fpp.co.uk which meet the above indicated criteria, including http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/index.html and http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/Dachau/Brudehl280198.html. Please let me know if you have any further questions.   Christine Meginness SurfWatch Content

We do not claim that our blocking criteria are objective criticisms, but are subjective criteria posted publicly for SurfWatch users, both current and prospective, as well as any curious Internet user, to read and review.

SurfWatch does not receive funding from, or backing by, any political or religious groups; nor does SurfWatch have any hidden political or religious agenda. The sites we block include only those that match our publicly posted criteria. Our Test-A-Site program (http://fido.siv.spyglass.com/testasite) provides a place where any Web site can be tested against our latest filters to see if the site is blocked by SurfWatch, and users can submit feedback regarding sites.

We do not expect that every person will agree with everything that we block or don't block, which is why it is so important that users be able to customize their blocking. SurfWatch filtering is completely customizable, and any user can choose to allow or block sites that we do not.

From Jamie McCarthy, an anti-Real History fanatic who however equally opposes mindless censorship, this Website received this comment, also sent to other Free Speech fighters.

Mr. Irving,

SurfWatch's posted criteria for "Violence/Hate Speech" include "Holocaust revision/denial sites." David Irving is one of the world's leading figures in that field, if it can be called a field. He asks SurfWatch to explain why his site has been so categorized:

You'll have to excuse me saying this, Mr. Irving: to nit-pick about this would seem a little silly. Your Focal Point Publications website offers "Revisionist essays" and promises details on the "First FPP Revisionist Conference" taking place next year.

In this case, even I would admit that those who buy the product are getting what they paid for.

SurfWatch might want to clarify for Mr. Irving that their company in fact has nothing to do with the ADL. Cyber Patrol, not SurfWatch, has the ill-conceived filter that directs surfers to the ADL website.

Jamie McCarthy
jamie@mccarthy.org
http://jamie.mccarthy.org/

To: Focalp@aol.com,
fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu, sites@surfwatch.com

This Website has Replied:-

VERY WELL, we shall leave it at that. Any person finding the two URLs mentioned by you objectionable is in my view quite a sick bunny. I shall post your reply on my SurfWatch page, with hyperlinks to the two URLs concerned, and the rest of the world can now form their own opinion about your objectivity. Maybe they will applaud; perhaps they will not.

David Irving
Webmaster, FPP

THOSE WHO visit our FPP Website and appreciate the quality of documents and debate which are available here, and only here, might wish to bring their views to the attention of the self-appointed censors at Surfwatch; alternatively, if they applaud this censorship, they are also free to do so.

CORRESPONDENTS have pointed out that SurfWatch software does NOT block the Websites of either the Jewish Defense League (JDL), which is listed by the FBI as a terrorist organization or Anti Racist Action (ARA), which provides rabid mobspitters and preaches violence against law enforcement personnel.

Website visitors might like to ask Surfwatch to explain that inconsistency.

Click here to submit an e-mail message to Surfwatch

Website visitor John Boyle protested on October 19, 1998 to Surfwatch.

You block a non-violent site such as FPP, but don't block a very violent site that is even considered a terrorist organization the JDL and that by the FBI of this nation! Where is your logic? That is the most non-sensical piece of thinking and speaking ever to come out of the mouth of a supposedly intelligent person I know of!

Surfwatch (Christine Meginness) responded with this Delphic utterance:

Hello, SurfWatch's site blocking criteria are posted on our Web site at http://www1.surfwatch.com/filteringcriteria/core/. The FPP site does meet the criteria for Hate Speech, while the jdl.org site does not.

If you wish to customize SurfWatch to allow the FPP site and/or block jdl.org, you can do so by adding custom sites in your SurfWatch Manager. For more information on the SurfWatch Manager, please consult the manual that came with your software. Thank you for your interest in SurfWatch.

Christine Meginness
SurfWatch Content
SurfWatch Software,
a Division of Spyglass Inc.
Phone: 650-948-9500
Fax: 650-948-9577
175 S. San Antonio Rd,
Ste 102 Los Altos,
CA 94022   USA