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05:10am 05-Feb-2012 Home · Contact |
Webilant \Web'i*lant\, n. [Compound word: World-Wide-Web + vigilant fr L. vigilare to watch, Attentive to discover and avoid danger, or to provide for safety.] A server-based web content filtering/blocking device manufactured by ISP Ltd. of Victoria, British Columbia that blocks web sites and content which transgresses the morals of the Holy Bible.
The Webilant is software that runs on a proxy server to decide which web sites to allow or block. The server can be owned by a business or organisation, or families can use the servers we have over the Internet. The goal of Webilant is to eliminate some of the "darkness" and worthless distractions found on the Internet.
Starting with a set of rules based on the morals of the Bible, rather than personal opinion, businesses can use the software and change the filtering rules as required (e.g., to block job hunting web sites). Likewise families can choose to block or allow sites as their needs and values dictate.
With the Webilant parents can feel less anxious about their children doing research on the Internet. Likewise, corporate HR departments can greatly reduce the task of policing employee Internet use, and employees can be relieved of the stress of using the Internet since these days an innocent search with the 'wrong' search terms can yield unexpected and unwanted results.
For businesses: We provide a server that is pre-configured, ready to install on your network. The server is purchased -- you own it and have full control of it.
For Christian families: We are offering the use of our Webilant proxy server for free at this time. Just send us a note and we will send instructions.
Please use the "Contact" link at the footer of your browser window to contact us.
More and more world governments, universities, and private groups are endorsing, implementing, or calling for the implementation of content filtering such as this, especially for children but also for the mental health of all of society. The governments of Yemen, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, Thailand, Singapore, and the UAE are a few of the ones which have mandated content filtering at the national level. In the USA, libraries and schools are required to filter Internet content under the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
As reported in a Sept. 2002 Reuters news article, abuse of e-mail and the Internet, including the downloading of pornography, has overtaken theft of office supplies and lying to the boss as the top disciplinary action reported in the workplace. More disciplinary cases have been brought against employees for violating company e-mail and Internet policies than for acts of dishonesty, violence or health and safety breaches, according to a survey by KLegal, a law firm associated with global accounting group KPMG, and Personnel Magazine.
The Computer Security Institute stated in their Computer Crime and Security Survey 2002 that among 503 companies surveyed, 78 percent detected employee abuse of Internet access privileges (for example, downloading pornography or pirated software, or inappropriate use of e-mail systems).
Christians everywhere are bombarded with subtle persecution by being forced to accept principles which are contrary to God's commands such as homosexuality, adultery, lying, stealing, prostitution, disrespect of parents, disrespect of God, and so forth. The ISP Family Fitler serves to ease the burden of our Christian brothers and sisters in their use of the Internet.
If our content filter were based on the opinion of a group of people, such as our company, then we would naturally end up making politically-motivated decisions based on our personal biases. For example, in a product review one content filtering company was found to have placed their competition in their content filter.
Our content filtering rules are based on the ethics laid out in the Holy Bible, a commonly available guide that remains constant, with the aim being to restrict viewing of material that would psychologically and/or spiritually damage a child or adult. Thus, viewing pornography is blocked because it can psychologically harm a child and it can also damage an adult couple's relationship, whereas viewing information on the Islamic religion is not blocked because even though it is not Christian it is educational and not psychologically damaging to read about it.
We have a special set of servers which act as proxies for you, meaning that they fetch the web sites you request. If they spot inappropriate material, a special message is displayed. You don't need to install or update any software. Every day (except Sundays) we update the content filter rules for everyone.
The ISP Webilant contains hundreds of thousands of addresses, domain names, and pattern matching rules. These rules are sufficiently advanced to block the majority of newly published offensive sites before anyone is even aware they exist.
The Webilant can display partial content on web sites that contain a mix of acceptable and unacceptable material (e.g., some game sites). Such sites will often begin loading, allowing the visitor to read the text, but offensive advertisements or other graphics will be blocked.
The ISP Webilant allows medical research and educational sites through while stopping deceptively advertised sites in their tracks.
The Webilant leans toward safety rather than freedom, which results in occasional false-blocks. Whenever a web site is blocked, a special screen appears which informs the user of the reason the content was blocked and allows them to report the block to an administrator who will check the site and correct the filter if appropriate. Users can report false-blocks anonymously or may identify themselves and receive an e-mail response.
Here are some bits of information from the Pew Internet & American Life Project as well as some other Internet research articles to inform you further on the matter:
Webilant is available free of charge for non-commercial use (you can use it within a company, but reselling it as a service requires a licence). The software requires a Linux server — a dedicated server is best, although not essential in small companies. Please contact me to request a copy. Consulting services to install or keep the filters updated are also available, but are not required.