Ten years ago, Internet users would stumble across pornography constantly.  There seemed to be no way to avoid it.  In fact, had you typed in http://whitehouse.com (instead of .gov) to go to the President’s website, you’d have been taken to a porn site.  Same for whitehouse.net, whitehouse.org…well, you get the drift.

As a result, a huge market was ripe for web filtering software to protect themselves from the onslaught of porn.  Some folks bought it to protect their kids.  Some simply to protect themselves. 

But, as with all Internet software that depends on keywords, there were downsides.  Superbowl XXX?  The poetry of Anne Sexton?  Breast cancer?  All were blocked by at least some Internet filtering software.  Indeed, the University of Kansas Medical Center library installed net filtering software on all their public computers…and users suddenly were unable to get into the library’s own website. 

Why?  Because it was the Dykes (pronounced “dikes”) Library…not to mention that it was a medical library website, so would have all sorts of “inappropriate” content…and the filtering software they had just paid to have installed blocked the entire website as porn!

Not only that, but some early filtering software companies went a little too far in their filtering efforts, with one conservative firm deliberately blocking the National Organization of Women (NOW) and many blocking the websites of their competitors.

Today it is difficult to accidentally stumble into a porn site.  Search engines used to be easily fooled by behind-the-scenes attempts to fool the search engine into thinking a site was one thing when it was actually a porn site.  This doesn’t work anymore.  And paid search (such as Google Adwords and Yahoo) is filtered by the search engines themselves to weed out porn. 

If someone stumbles into a porn site nowadays, it’s usually because they were at a somewhat shady site to begin with.  For example, someone going to a crackz and warez site to illegally download software may be taken to a porn site before the download link so that the sponsor of the site can earn money.  For the most part, though, people nowadays who arrive at porn sites do so because they’ve chosen to.

So, why still use Internet filtering software? 

Because the best of today’s Internet filtering software offers many more features.  In addition to email filtering and popup blocking, which you may already have, it allows the filtering, monitoring and blocking of chat rooms as well as the ability to block P2P sites, newsgroups, IM ports…even personal information.  You can set up individual user profiles with passwords.  Some even come with stealth features so you can check on someone’s online behavior without their knowing.

If you decide to use Internet parental control filtering software, make sure you research it carefully and read the reviews to make sure that the filtering software you purchase is the filtering software you need.

However, you may find that you want to block other sites as well.  For example, you may decide you don’t want your child accessing social networking sites…or you might just wish to block them from one site due to problems on that particular site.   Or you may want to block sites temporarily as, say, a punishment.

If you have a newer operating system, such as Windows Vista, you can use Parental Controls (in Vista this is located under Start/Control Panel/User Accounts and Family Safety) to block websites by site or by content.  These controls also allow you to restrict how many hours your children can be on the computer, what games they can play and what programs they can run.   Should you desire, you can even generate reports on their online activities.

Commercial Internet filtering software can also be used to block websites, keywords, and types of access (e.g. blocking chat rooms or P2P networks) from your children’s computer.  In fact, if your family shares a computer, you can create varying levels of access, allowing the adults one level of access, teens another, and younger children yet another level of access. A few of the better filtering programs are WebWatcher and Spector Pro among others.

Many Internet blocking software programs also allow parents to receive reports, even email notifications, when your child receive inappropriate contact, such as inappropriate emails or IMs.

Before deciding to purchase software to block websites from your children’s view, be sure to check out the built in protection that comes with your operating system.  Often you might find those parental controls are sufficient.  If not, make sure you read reviews to determine what software best meets you and your family’s needs.

Depending on the controls or software you use, you can filter out specific websites, IP addresses, websites by keywords, (such as adult keywords) or even websites by categories, such as blocking adult sites, crackz and warez sites, and chat sites.

Not only that but you can filter out types of access, such as blocking instant messaging, playing online games or even simply surfing the web. Alternately, you could block all website access except to those sites you’ve whitelisted (in other words, approved) as well as restrict or only allow contact from specific people.

Filtering software also allows parents to set up varying levels of control, so that kids can access certain things, teens can access more, and parents can have unrestricted access. Good filtering software can also filter constantly changing websites, such as CBSNews.com. It also allows you to block out the release of personal information…the number one way predators can pinpoint your child.

Another thing to look for in filtering software is the ability to monitor, not just filtering or blocking because sometimes you, the parent, simply need to check to see if you need to take more drastic action.

And, of course, you want software that is easy to install and use. After all, if it’s hard to figure out, you are unlikely to use it as effectively as you could. Completely blocking everything isn’t always the answer, particularly when perfectly legitimate sites are blocked along with the ones you want to protect your children from. So check out filtering software and your computer’s built-in parental controls thoroughly to make sure they meet your needs.