LIMITING INTERNET EXPOSURE : BROWSER LETS ON-LINE USERS AVOID TOO MUCH SEX, VIOLENCE.Byline: Elizabeth Weise Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. What'll it be? Chaste romance or explicit sex? Harmless conflict or wanton Grossly careless or negligent; reckless; malicious. The term wanton implies a reckless disregard for the consequences of one's behavior. A wanton act is one done in heedless disregard for the life, limbs, health, safety, reputation, or property rights of and gratuitous violence? The newest version of Microsoft's Web browser The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the browser's Location field; for example, www.computerlanguage.com, and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. lets computer users be as nasty as they wanna wan·na Informal 1. Contraction of want to: You wanna go now? 2. Contraction of want a: You wanna slice of pie? be. Internet Explorer Microsoft's Web browser, which comes with Windows starting with Windows 98. Commonly called "IE," versions for Mac and Unix are also available. Internet Explorer is the most widely used Web browser on the market. It has also been the browser engine in AOL's Internet access software. 3.0 allows parents to decide exactly how much sex and violence they - and their children - can see while on the Internet. Users control four categories: violence, nudity, sex and language. They select settings in each category on a scale of 0 to 4 - 0 for the mildest content, 4 for the most extreme. Once the settings are adjusted, the Web browser will automatically filter out unacceptable sites. When a user tries to enter a prohibited site, this message appears: ``Sorry! Content Adviser will not allow you to see this site. . . . If you want to see this site anyway, you must get somebody to type in the supervisor password.'' The ratings system was developed by the Recreational Software Advisory Council The Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) was an independent, non-profit organization founded in the USA in 1994 by the Software Publishers Association as well as six other industry leaders in response to video game controversy and threats of government regulation. of Lexington, Mass., a nonprofit industry group formed to rate computer games and the Web. More than 4,000 Web sites have already registered, and 100 a day are joining the system, said Stephen Balkam, the council's executive director. Netscape plans to incorporate the rating system in the next version of its browser, said spokeswoman Donna Sokolsky. America Online See AOL. and CompuServe users will be able to use the rating system within the year. ``I accept certain levels of sexuality or nudity in TV and movies for my 11-year-old daughter, but I don't like her playing Doom because of the violence,'' Balkam said. ``But I know parents who feel exactly the opposite: Blood and gore are fine, but no sex, please.'' In the sex category, for example, users can set their system to Level 0, romance, no sex; Level 1, passionate kissing; Level 2, clothed clothe tr.v. clothed or clad , cloth·ing, clothes 1. To put clothes on; dress. 2. To provide clothes for. 3. To cover as if with clothing. sexual touching; Level 3, nonexplicit sexual activity; or Level 4, explicit sexual activity, sex crimes. Under violence, the choices range from: ``harmless conflict, some damage to objects'' to ``humans injured or with small amount of blood'' and ``wanton and gratuitous violence; torture; rape.'' Getting guidance in software content These choices are available under the rating system of the Recreational Software Advisory Council: Violence rate descriptor (1) A word or phrase that identifies a document in an indexed information retrieval system. (2) A category name used to identify data. (operating system) descriptor : Level 0: Harmless conflict, some damage to objects. Level 1: Creatures injured or killed; damage to objects, fighting. Level 2: Humans injured or with small amount of blood. Level 3: Humans injured or killed. Level 4: Wanton and gratuitous violence; torture; rape. Nudity rating descriptor: Level 0: No nudity or revealing attire. Level 1: Revealing attire. Level 2: Partial nudity. Level 3: Nonsexual frontal nudity. Level 4: Provocative frontal nudity. Sex rating descriptor: Level 0: Romance, no sex. Level 1: Passionate kissing. Level 2: Clothed sexual touching. Level 3: Nonexplicit sexual activity. Level 4: Explicit sexual activity; sex crimes. Language rating descriptor: Level 0: Inoffensive slang; no profanity Irreverence towards sacred things; particularly, an irreverent or blasphemous use of the name of God. Vulgar, irreverent, or coarse language. The use of certain profane or obscene language on the radio or television is a federal offense, but in other situations, profanity . Level 1: Mild expletives. Level 2: Expletives; nonsexual anatomical references. Level 3: Strong, vulgar language; obscene gestures; racial epithets. Level 4: Crude or explicit sexual references; extreme hate speech. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.0 can lock outracier Web sites. Associated Press Box: Getting guidance in software content |
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