Boing Boing Blog Bounced

Last week, we had a listing in Boing Boing, the “Directory of Wonderful Things,” that called us a “killer free service.”  That’s not what this post is about, though.  Apparently, the SmartFilter product by Secure Computing has now deemed Boing Boing a “nudity” site because of a post or two (out of thousands).  As a result, companies that use SmartFilter like Halliburton, American Express and Fidelity now block Boing Boing. 

 I’ve never been a big fan of content filters, even though I have kids that are beginning to surf the net.  They seem to cast too wide a net.  For example. SmartFilter is reported to classify as nudity any sites that include photos of Michelangelo’s “David.”  Others are reported to block sites that talk about breast cancer.