I think it is such a bad idea to install content filtering at the network services level, but this is exactly what Open DNS does. Basically, the DNS is the services that resolves the 'address' of the URL you type into your web broswer. It's a bit like an automatic phone book. But this services steps right into the mix, interrupting the resolution of 'unacceptable' addresses. Now it can be configured by an administrator, which is good. But I think that like pretty much all of these services the values represented are perverse. There is an emphasis on blocking sex, with separate filters even for things like bikinis. Nothing there to block images of violence, war, militarism, propaganda, commercialism, consumerism, and a whole range of things that are much more damaging than a bikini. But all of that said, I honestly don't understand how people decided that filtering was the best response to objectionable content. If it's really objectionable, remove it from society at the source, otherwise let it through; the abuse created by filtering systems is much worse than any harm they prevent. More from Mark Berthelemy.
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