Best free parental controls
Best free parental filter
Subscriber Dan Briggs writes "I read your posting on the best free parental filter and I agree with you that there is not much to get excited about - in fact most of it is junk. However, I did find a very good free package that I have been using for a while and it works great. As far as I can tell, it is very good regarding what it blocks. It blocks what it should and doesn't block what it shouldn't. It's called K9 Web Protection by Blue Coat Systems. You'll want to check it out. " Well Dan I did check it out and you are quite right, it's a first class product and definitely the best free filter available. It's a web based service that uses a special driver installed on your PC to redirect all your browsing through K9's servers where it is filtered for content. This means that the filtering works for any browser installed on your PC. The actual filtering itself is highly customizable from a password protected control panel at K9's web site with over 15 selectable categories plus the ability to restrict or permit individual sites. Full reports on sites visited are also available from the control panel. The filtering seems quite accurate; I only found one site in an hour of browsing which I felt should not have been blocked. I also liked the optional blocking of Spyware and Adware sites. I tried a few obvious ways of crippling the filter such as uninstalling the product or disenabling the driver, with no success, which is comforting to parents. I suspect though, that a determined tech-savvy teenager might eventually find a solution. The only real downside was the slowing down of my browsing as a result of it being re-routed through the K9 servers. That aside, it's an effective free filtering solution that can be heartily recommended.
http://www.k9webprotection.com/