Hack works around parental control software
from the Is-there-ever-too-much-porn dept
Some jack-asses have created a scheme to allow kids to deduce the passwords that have been installed to prevent them from viewing porn sites. The software companies that make the filtering software are suing the jack-asses and I hope they win. I’m all for free flow of porn and access, but if the parents have gone to the trouble of installing the software, let’s not be idiots and make it even harder for them to control the crap their kids see.
Comments on “Hack works around parental control software”
No Subject Given
the thing that I thought was really ingenius was that not only does the crack allow access to porn, it also dumps out the entire list of sites that were blocked in the first place… I wonder who’s job it was to make that list, that’s what I want to know…
Kids and the net
Kids should not be allowed on the internet..pause…….unless a parent is there. Same thing with TV/movies. But……it goes deeper then that. /rant/ I enjoy movies, I am 20 and constantly see 10 year olds in a R-rated movie [non US equiv to 17+ to view] and….that really sux. They scream or cry, and I went postal once….and got a free movie ticket, but that still is lame.
Re: Kids and the net
Kids should not be allowed on the internet
Wouldn’t that put slashdot out of business? 🙂
Re: Kids and the net
I agree that parents should supervise what their children are seeing, just like they keep an eye on what they’re watching on TV. And I definately agree about kids in movies. I’d also like a “child free” section of restaurants, because bratty kids are way worse than cigarette smoke.
On the other hand, I can see Dan’s point, in that distributing a crack tool that would allow children to break the firewall software and see epidermis.smut is just STUPID POLITICS. It’s guaranteed to bias people against you, especially the parents you’re supposed to be convincing not to use the software.
Jon
Thought You Guys Were, Like, Slashdot Hip
I’m a little surprised by your reaction to this story. If you’ve been following the great filter debate in Slashdot for awhile, the argument is not that kids should necessarily have free access to Jugs Online on a nonstop basis, but that one, there are attempts by governmental institutions to use these same filters on adults and two, there’s a fundamental question as to how they go about censoring sites. Sure, the Best of Seka may not be something you want your 11 year old to look at, but how about the High Times website? Or websites that are critical of George Bush?
According to Slashdot, these filters not only eliminate porn but a lot of good information that kids might find useful. I don’t think people are “jackasses” for simply pointing this out by releasing code, that, well, points that out.
Re: Thought You Guys Were, Like, Slashdot Hip
Dan’s views don’t necessarily represent the views of Techdirt as a whole. In fact, Dan’s views almost never represent the views of others at Techdirt. That’s why we keep him around. We’d be pretty fucking boring if we all posted the same exact thing and all agreed with each other. Personally, I’m against filtering in general. I think it’s important to teach children how to distinguish good information from bad information and “censoring” info only leads to more problems in the long run – as you’re just cutting off information and hurting critical reasoning ability. Kids aren’t as stupid as everyone seems to think they are.
NO censorship...
What is the real effect of kids seeing “adult” sites? I doubt anyone has done *that* study. (Imagine purposely showing little kids porn, and monitoring their responses…) I’m sure most kids discover porn eventually, so what’s the big deal? Kids who are too young to understand won’t understand, and kids old enough to understand will figure it out….
I find your use of words a bit disturbing?
?Some jack-asses have created a scheme to??
I would just like to say that before I even talk about the whole censorship / no-censorship issue, that I find your use of words disturbing. I am not saying that I am shocked when people say anything in a bit of a ?not so high social class accepted manner?, fuck I?m mostly against the whole higher class crap anyway. 🙂 But I do go to Techdirt because I want to read things of interest that will be represented to me in a fair manner. Many times I do see strong opinions from posters and that never bothers me. But this specific attack on the people who created this scheme a bit disturbing and one sided. Just because you don?t agree with what these people, I don?t appreciate you calling them ?jack-asses?. That just shows nothing more then intolerance to me, they did nothing that new or revolutionary, nor that offensive, and being that you are in a way a reporter at the site that isn?t all about rants, but about reporting things in the economic and technology sector, I guess I just do expect a higher standard from you, then I would from the posters at badassmofo.com.
Now in terms of censorship, I agree with mike, kids should be given the proper instructions and knowledge to be able ?to distinguish good information from bad information?, and that censorship just won?t work on this crazy information super highway in the longer run.
I do hope you won?t get upset at me for this post Dan, I really do not mean to attack you and understand that this site is not exactly a full fledged publication with so called higher standards and that?s what I like about it so much anyway, at least most of the time. But in this case I just did find it necessary to post my opinion, which this great site does allow for me to do as well.
Thanks for reading,
Dmitry L
New York City.
ASP Programmer.
Re: I find your use of words a bit disturbing?
Ok, although I’m not going to apologize for the note, I apologize if it offended anyone. My point is that parents have a tough time raising kids in today’s information age. If they choose to use a tool to help them get a handle on the information on the Web, they shouldn’t have to keep up on all the latest programs that work around that tool. That’s just not fair to them. All it does is invite government intervention.
Re: Re: I find your use of words a bit disturbing?
Its not a prefect world Dan. The government shouldn?t have to spend millions of dollars to stop counter fitters from making fake money, Amazon doesn?t have to patent everything they can think off, and certain big companies shouldn?t bully smaller ones into destruction, but all this happens. Sure it would be nice if in this perfect world a piece of software could be created that wouldn?t have a crack for it tomorrow evening, but that is the life we live in.
And besides, since when did software ever stop kids from doing things anyway? 🙂
Re: Re: Re: re: jack-ass
I applaud the editorializing Dan employed by use of the term “jack-ass”. I think that label is spot-on for the group he described and I generally like to see some ballsy editorializing here at techdirt. Raises the bar for some of us less-frequent posters…
Well, I do not know exactly but this parental controls on android helped me a lot. Just see for yourself.