roundtable: New way to label information on the Internet

roundtable: New way to label information on the Internet

New way to label information on the Internet

W. Curtiss Priest (BMSLIB@mitvma.mit.edu)
Tue, 19 Dec 95 15:59:35 EST 

Message-Id: <9512192059.AA01397@a.cni.org>
Date:         Tue, 19 Dec 95 15:59:35 EST
From: "W. Curtiss Priest" <BMSLIB@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject:      New way to label information on the Internet
To: Telecommunications Policy Roundtable <ROUNDTABLE@CNI.ORG>


UNTANGLING THE WEB
A new system for labeling Internet content, developed originally to 
provide a standard format for identifying objectionable material, could 
ultimately provide a way to sort Internet content according to topical 
categories, creating a sort of cyber Dewey Decimal system.  The Platform 
for Internet Content Selection (PICS), a product of the MIT-based World 
Wide Web consortium, would enable organizations to easily add descriptive 
or judgmental labels to newsgroups and Web pages, providing guideposts 
for surfers who want to steer clear of superfluous or objectionable 
information.  PICS itself is value-neutral, says the project's spokesman, 
but it will provide a standard for others to use in developing their own 
rating schemes.  "Ideally, the system will encourage rating not just by 
large-scale commercial services, but also by individuals, school boards, 
political organizations, and others," says Esther Dyson.  (Technology 
Review Jan 95 p11)

>From Edupage

_______________________________________________________________________________
|           W. Curtiss Priest, Ph.D., Director       *********************** |
|      Center for Information, Technology, & Society *  Improving humanity * |
|                                                    *  through technology * |
|                  466 Pleasant Street               *********************** |
|                Melrose, MA  02176-4522         BMSLIB@MITVMA.MIT.EDU       |
|                  Voice: 617-662-4044                                       |
|   Fax: 617-662-6882 WWW: gopher://gopher.eff.org/hh/Groups/CITS            |
_____________________________________________________________________________|

[CNI Home Page]