Protecting Families from Pornography: Overview

The Lures of Internet Pornography
Pornography on the Internet shares the same lure of sexuality that makes all other forms of pornography popular. However, the Internet has some specific features that make it a more appealing venue for displaying and acquiring pornography.

• Anonymity
  Although pornographic magazines and videos have been around for years, the Internet has made pornography much more accessible. Previously, if a man wanted access to pornography he had to face another human being, the checkout clerk, and admit that he was interested in pornography. This human contact was enough to prevent some men from looking at the material at all, even if they were very tempted. Unfortunately, the Internet breaks down that barrier. A man interested in seeing pornographic pictures does not have to admit his desires to anyone, he can view whatever images he wants from the privacy of his own home.
• The Price
  Magazines and videos cost money. Pornography on the Internet is often free. Although many sites do offer "members only" privileges for paying customers, enough "free samples" and completely free sites exist to keep the curious seeker busy for a long time.
• Customized Options
  Not only has the Internet made pornography freely available, it has also categorized the available pornography so that a man can pursue any fetish or desire. Web sites and search engines break down the sexually explicit material by type of site (voyeur cams, nude pictures, interactive sex services), "degree" (bikini pictures, "soft core", or "hard core"), ethnicity (Latino, Asian, Black, etc.), body parts focused on, hair color, size, and more. So any whim or desire can be pursued by simply typing the appropriate words into a search engine.
• Notoriety
  A vast majority of pornography sites on the Internet are designed for men, and men are the ones who are most tempted to get involved with pornography from a spectator's standpoint. However, this pornography would not exist without the willing assistance of women. Not all pornography feature professional models; in fact, many sites promote the fact that they use only amatuers. Housewives, college girls, and anyone else claiming to be over 18 can post sexually explicit pictures of themselves online, and maybe even make money selling access to these pictures. While families need to be aware of keeping their men from viewing sexually explicit material, they should also keep in mind that their women may be tempted in quite a different way to get involved in the world of online pornography.

  It's also important to note that some men have posted nude images of the women in their lives (wife, daughters, etc.) without the knowledge or consent of these women. Women need to beware to never pose for nude photographs, even those a husband guarantees will be kept private. Posing for such photos may seem like a way to help your husband with his own temptations or problems, but once these pictures exist there is no way to assure that they will remain confidential.

Pathways to Pornography Unlike the neighborhood magazine shop, you don't have to reach up into the back corner of the magazine rack or ask a clerk for the copy behind the counter to access pornography on the Internet. Instead, the pornography is thrown at you from all over the place and you have to actively say "NO".

• Innocent Mistakes
  Looking for the official government site on the White house? Typing in www.whitehouse.gov will take you there, but whitehouse.com will take you to a porn site. A search for the "Pink Palace Museum" in Memphis can take you to the "Pink Palace" porn site. Looking for pictures of your favorite celebrity? A search engine will bring up plenty of options, and many will advertise "see this celebrity nude". Pornographic web sites are all over the Internet, and many can be brought to your screen by an innocent mistake.
• Unsolicited Email
  If you have an email address, chances are that you will receive emails promoting porn web sites. The emails are not subtle, using such subject lines as "Tina's Hot Little Pussy" and "Hot Teen virgins show all". If you ever reply to such an email, even to say "take me off your list", you are guaranteed to receive even more such propositions. People who may have never considered visiting a porn site are being propositioned daily through their own email.
  
• Personal Ads
  Another area that draws in a number people has nothing to do with pornography and more to do with relationships and self esteem. Some married folks, discontent with their current spouse, are turning to online personals to find and build relationships. These personal ads, facilitated by myriad online singles sites, can give a spouse an anonymous way to find out if there is someone else in the world with whom they might be more content. Through emails and chats the spouse can explore a relationship with another partner until they are convinced to leave their mate and start a new life.

Methods of Protection
There is no foolproof way to keep your family protected from pornography. There are ways to limit the risks of their exposure, but chances are that at some point they will come in contact with it. Listed below are some methods for helping to protect the innocent, along with the limitations of each suggestion. Perhaps the best suggestion is "be prepared".

• Web Filters
  Web filters attempt to block users from accessing sites that are deemed inappropriate by the filtering software. Such software filters usually keep a database of sites known to be inappropriate (playboy.com, penthouse.com, sex.com, etc.) and may also be configured to block sites by keyword (don't allow the user to view any sites that have the word "sex" on it). The software can generally be customized so users can add any other inappropriate sites they find, or set up the filter to fit their own policies and restrictions (no surfing after 9:00pm, no sites with the word "wrestling", etc). Many filters can also keep track of every site visited, giving parents a way to check.

  Filters are a good start for protecting the innocent. However, filters can be bypassed fairly easily, and will not be a significant deterrent for the determined. If the filter has a "parent" mode, anyone with access to that password can change or bypass the filter, including the "man of the house". Also, there are sites on the Internet set up as gateways to bypass web filters By logging onto one of these "proxy" sites users are able to bypass their filter and view content that would have been blocked otherwise. Finally, web filters are not perfect. With billions of web pages on the Internet it is impossible to catch every offending page. A filter that uses key words will not catch the site that has all nice words, and lots of pornographic images. Filters are a first step, but they are no replacement for parental guidance.
  A free web filter is available from WE-Blocker.

• Filtered ISPs
  Some Internet service provides (ISPs) offer a filtering feature for their accounts. With these services, the filter is controlled by the ISP and can be more secure than a home filter.
  
• Filtered Searches
  Google, and other search sites, offer filtered searching. By turning on these "family friend filters", search results that obvioulsy come from an "adult" site are excluded. So, with this filter on, that search for pictures of a popular actress or singer will not include the sites that say "see her naked". There are also search sites dedicated to limiting their results to only "kid friendly" sites. These kid friendly searches may be useful to younger surfers, but may be overly limiting to the older users. In general, the filtered search is a nice feature to protect the innocent and keep temptation away from those who do not want it.
• Computer Placement
  Since one of the lures of Internet pornography is its privacy and anonymity, moving the computer out into an open area can help make it more difficult to access pornography privately. Having a computer in a private room behind closed doors makes it more difficult to monitor. Although there is software that can keep track of where the user has been on the Internet, and even software that can show someone on another computer exactly what the user is seeing at any time, there is still more temptation when the computer is in a private area. Moving it out into the open can help alleviate some of this temptation.

  Being in the open is not a practical alternative for every family. Some family members may want the peace and quiet of being able to work in a private area, while other families may simply not have the open place to put a computer. And, even if the computer is in an open area, that does not mean that a computer user is being watched at all times. If other family members are busy elsewhere, or a night-owl is staying up late to work on his own while the family sleeps, having the computer in an open area loses some of its power.

• Spying Software
  Another way to revoke the computer user's anonymity is to use "spy software". Various types of software are available that will show every site a user has visited, even if the user has tried to cover his tracks. If there are multiple computers in a house, there is software available that allows the master user to view what is being shown on any other computer screen in the network (assuming that you have all the computers hooked together in a network). These spy tools can help keep track of what is being done on the computers.
• Answer to Mamma
  Most of the technologies above rely on having a "master user" account. In many families, the father will have access to this master account, either because he is the father or because he is the most technically savvy or both. In regards to pornography, however, it might be a better idea if the wife is the only one who knows the password. The members of the household that will be most tempted to view the pornography are the men, no matter what age. Husbands and fathers are not immune to the lures and temptations of pornography. Keeping these passwords from the husbands could help to keep them from their own temptations.

  If the mother is the only one knowing the password, she needs to make sure it is a good password. Most people use a very weak and easy to guess password, which defeats the purpose. If I know my wife uses the password "sweetie" for everything, I won't have too much trouble guessing her filter password. Use a password that the husband and sons in the house will not be likely to guess, preferably one with some extra numbers and symbols thrown in just to make it more confusing.

Signs Of Pornography Use
If you are wondering whether or not someone in your house is trying to hide an interest in online pornography, there are a few clues that you can look for.

• The Empty Screen
  If a user has been working on the computer, but when you come in all you see is a blank screen or an empty desktop, chances are that they have quickly exited out of something they did not want you to see. Programs can be minimized (hidden at the bottom of the screen) or exited with a quick mouse-click or by pressing a couple keys on the keyboard. In Windows, if the taskbar is not visible at the bottom, then it is possible that some open program has been minimized and is currently being hidden from your site. If you can never see what the computer user is working on, then they are working on something they do not want you to see.
• Odd Behavior in Web Browser
  Whenever you visit a website it leaves pieces of itself all over your computer. The pictures from the site are stored in cache, the address is stored in history, and there might be some special settings stored in "cookie" files on your computer. Computer users who know about these bits of web site residue are generally good at covering their tracks. They can erase the history, cache, and cookies. Erasing these files, however, can sometimes mess up some regular features of the computer. If you find that certain web sites that used to store your personal information (login name, etc.) are now asking for your name again, then it is likely someone erased the cookies. If you check the computer history and find it to be blank, then someone might be erasing the history to cover their tracks.

Seeking Porn History

• The History
  Web browsers keep a history of every site visited. Checking the history is usually just a matter of finding the "History" button and clicking it. This will bring up a list of all the addresses a web browser has visited. Since this history if very easily accessed, savvy computer users might erase the history to prevent from being discovered. There are software programs available to keep users from deleting this history.
  
• Cache
  Whenever you visit a website, the computer downloads a copy of the web page files onto your computer and stores it in an area called cache. These files are stored so that next time you return to the site the computer can load the files faster, retreiving them from your local computer instead of from the Internet. The names of the files in cache are not always revealing, but the pictures can be. To use the cache to check for a history of pornography, find the folder named "Cache" (for Netscape) or "Temporary Internet Files" (for Internet Explorer). Look through the file names, and point to the images one by one; a preview of the image may appear in the sidebar, or the address the picture came from will be displayed. Use this to search for pornographic pictures or web addresses.
• Cookies
  Cookies are special files used by web sites to remember something about you each time you visit the site. The files are created on your computer in a special folder called "cookies" and usually have the name of the website attached to them. The cookies are saved as text files, but they usually do not contain decipherable text. Instead, they contain coded information that allows a web site to recall your login name, when was the last time you visited a site, what areas you visited, or any other information the web site creators want to track. To check the cookies and see if someone has been visiting websites, find the cookie folder then just look at the files in the folder. Any file that has a questionable name is an indication that someone has been visiting sites they should not. Look for names that have the keywords "adult" and "sex".