PICS Scenarios
Prepared by Paul Resnick, AT&T Bell Labs
Outline
- Mission
- Solution outline
- Scenario 1: parent subscribes to a
third-party labeling service.
Scenario 1a: filtering at browser.
Scenario 1b: filtering at Proxy server run
by on-line provider.
- Scenario 2: teachers collaborate on
lesson-specific boundaries.
The technical working group will devise a values-neutral
infrastructure for Internet content labeling.
The three primary goals are to:
- enable content providers to voluntarily label the content they
create and distribute.
- enable third-party labeling services to associate additional
labels with content created and distributed by others. Services may
devise their own labeling systems, and the same content may receive
conflicting labels from different services.
- enable parents and teachers to use the labels to control the
information that children under their supervision receive.
Almost everything available on the Internet has a name (e.g., a
URL). A content provider or third-party service can associate a label
(e.g, a rating) with the name of an item. More generally, labels can
be associated with collections of items. For example, an entire site
can be labeled by associating a label with the site's name.
The technical working group will define a format for a label,
indicating required and optional fields. The format will not specify
which words or categories will be used for labeling or the criteria
for assigning labels to items.
We will define at least three label distribution methods:
- along with a document or other item (probably in the document
header).
- through a label server that is available on a computer network.
- in files that are distributed, perhaps over a computer network or
perhaps by CD-ROM.
Our agreements will address the issues of label authenticity and
the contents of items changing over time without their names
changing. Our solutions, however, may not be 100% foolproof on these
dimensions. Where possible, we will rely on existing technologies and
standards.
Our agreements will not specify who can provide labels. In
particular, a content provider may self-label its material, and third
parties may also label the same material.
The resulting infrastructure will allow content providers,
independent third party labelers, and parents, to make choices which
reflect their own values. The infrastructure developed by the
technical group, however, will only facilite these choices, not make
any content-based choices itself.
We will provide some advice to implementors of software that
interacts with the labeling infrastructure on ways to use the labels,
but that advice need not be followed. In particular, we will not
specify the user interface of Internet browsers, though we may suggest
desirable functions to include.
Parent subscribes to a third-party labeling service
1a: Filtering at browser.
A parent (for the sake of concreteness, we will assume the mother)
would like her son, age 10, and daughter, age 14, to explore the
wealth of information that is available through the Internet. She is
concerned, however, that the children may retrieve text or images or
participate in interactive chat sessions that they are not mature
enough to handle.
- The parent installs labeling-compliant browser software on the
home computer.
- Using the computer, the parent reads about several labeling
services. Some services charge a fee for their use, while others are
free. Each service describes its labeling system and illustrates it
with examples. For example, some services rate only on the presence of
nudity and have very concrete criteria, while others take into account
multiple factors. Some services rely on computer analysis of text and
images to assign labels, while other services employ people to assign
the labels.
- The parent finds that a service called GoodCleanFun is most
compatible with her values. GoodCleanFun employs people to label items
by the minimum age of children that should, according to its values,
be exposed to the items.
- The parent configures the browser so that it checks with the
labeling service before downloading text or pictures, or connecting to
chat channels. She configures it so that her 10 year old son can
access only information that GoodCleanFun marks as appropriate to his
age group. She believes that her 14 year old daughter is mature for
her age and can safely be exposed to materials labeled for 16 year
olds; the parent configures the browser software accordingly.
- GoodCleanFun attempts to label everything available on the
Internet, but inevitably misses some things. The parent configures the
browser to block the younger child's access to items that GoodCleanFun
has not labeled. For the 14 year old, she configures the browser to
consult the publisher's own labels. The parent is not thrilled with
the rating criteria used by most publishers to label their own
content, and she knows that some publishers deliberately mislabel
things. Still, for those items that GoodCleanFun has not labeled, she
decides that the publisher's labels are an acceptable backup.
- Either child may use the computer without the parent present, but
the browser software always checks GoodCleanFun's labels and enforces
the rules that the parent has set. The browser may either retrieve the
labels from GoodCleanFun over the Internet, or read them from a
CD-ROM.
- The browser may indicate to the child which links are available,
perhaps with a color coding scheme. If the child attempts to retrieve
something that is blocked, the browser offers an explanation of why
the item is blocked. At the child's urging, a parent can enter a
password to temporarily override the block.
1b: Filtering at proxy server run by
on-line provider.
This scenario provides parents and children with the same
look and feel as the one above, but the underlying technology differs
slightly.
- The parent purchases Internet access through an on-line
provider. Rather than providing unrestricted access, the provider
offers access through a proxy server.
- The parent specifies access rules for her children exactly as in
the scenario above. Here, however, the proxy server rather than the
browser enforces the rules.
- In this scenario, children can not bypass the parent-specified
access rules simply by loading software for a different browser onto
the home computer. Once the parent has conveyed rules to the proxy
server, the on-line service can enforce them even if the software on
the home computer changes.
Notes on Scenario 1
- A key element of this scenario is that it must be easy for the
parent to configure the browser. The user interface for doing so will
not be specified by this group, but will instead be a point of
competition among providers of on-line services, Internet browsers,
and browser accessories.
- Vendors will also compete based on how difficult they make it for
children to bypass rules that parents set. Passwords or other
authentication schemes will prevent children from reconfiguring
rules. In the implementation of scenario 1b, loading a new browser
does not disable the rules; future operating systems may prevent
children from loading new browsers at all. Even the best
implementation, however, will not provide complete security. In
particular, children will be able to bypass their parents' rules by
using computers at the homes of friends who have more permissive
parents.
Teachers collaborate on lesson-specific boundaries.
The social studies teachers in a Middle School plan to use the
Internet as part of a series of lessons on how the U.S. government
operates. The teachers would like to conduct supervised sessions where
students explore the materials prepared by Federal agencies and
political interest groups. The teachers are concerned, however, that
the students may wander off the intended topic. Some materials, such
as comic strips, may be acceptable for students to look at during free
time, but not during the social studies lessons.
- Prior to the lessons, the teachers identify a number of sites,
documents, and chat rooms that they believe are relevant to the
topic. Using an Internet browser or a special-purpose software
package, the teachers create labels for those sites, documents and
chat rooms.
- The teachers create access rules in much the same way as the
parent in the scenario above. The difference here is that the
teachers' rules rely on their own labels, rather than a third party's
labels.
- During the social studies lessons, students are able to access
only those documents and sites pre-approved by the teachers. During
free times, the teachers may configure a different set of rules that
permits access to a wider range of materials. As in the first
scenario, the enforcment of rules may happen either on each individual
computer or at a proxy server.
Created by Rohit Khare, 11 September 1995. Comments to Jim Miller or Paul Resnick.