Feb 28 2006
Let’s watch this one unfold
Secure Computing: SmartFilter web URL filtering and reporting
The folks at Boing-Boing — the world’s most popular blog — are a little annoyed that users in the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, and even American elementary schools are being blocked from seeing their site thanks to a web filtering app called SmartFilter from Secure Computing. Apparently a couple naked pix on Boing-Boing earned them the 404 treatment.
Knowing Boing-Boing’s terrier-like penchant for taking up a cause — the Sony rootkit for example — this ought to be fun to watch as Secure Computing gets whaled on by the blogosphere.
Today the folks at Boing-Boing are really stepping it up, pointing out that “Smart”Filter ain’t so smart and even blocks the Declaration of Independence.
I would be that the execs at Secure Computing are only beginning to become aware of the brouhaha.
Boing-Boing even came up with a boycott button — this taken from a public domain photo of Michaelangelo’s David:
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[...] I said to keep an eye on this story last week as an example of how a company can get Kryptonited (remember when the Kryptonite bike lock could be picked with a plastic pen and the company pulled an ostrich before issuing a recall?). Well, here’s the backstory. Boing-Boing readers (very popular group blog) started to notice they couldn’t get to the blog in certain Arab countries and Fortune 500 companies. The reason was some software, usually installed by clueless CIOs and IT departments, which blocks websites that display images of naked people. Seems Boing-Boing reviewed a coffee-table book about old men’s magazines and ran a thumbnail image of the cover, which, if you really, really squinted, would reveal some nudity. [...]