A new OpenDNS service will allow anyone to tag Web sites with various labels, such as "gambling" or "social networking." Once enough people tag a site a certain way, the label is forwarded to a system used by companies to block access. Open DNS says more eyes makes for better filtering, but others warn about users' ability to stuff the digital ballot box.
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You can now help decide what Web sites your boss should block.
A new service from OpenDNS lets users tag sites under categories such as "gambling," "hate" and "social networking." Others can weigh in on whether they agree with those classifications. If there are enough votes, the site gets added to a system used by companies, schools and other organizations to block access.
OpenDNS says its approach is better than commercial software because more people are reviewing sites and can do so quickly as new ones pop up.
4 Million Users
OpenDNS already has a filtering system for "phishing" scam sites using a similar, community-based approach. It contracts with a vendor, St. Bernard Software, to filter pornography sites, and those sites will not be part of the new tagging program.
The system is free to use. The filters are part of OpenDNS' main service providing the directories necessary to translate a Web site's domain name into its actual numeric Internet address. OpenDNS estimates it has more than 4 million users worldwide.
'High-Tech Lynch Mobs'
John Palfrey, a professor of Internet law at Harvard University, said community-based filtering may prove more accurate overall, but he said users aren't always right.
"And when they are wrong, the crowds can function as high-tech lynch mobs," he said. "It is frontier justice, without recourse under classical law."
'Stuffing the Digital Ballot Box'
Marjorie Heins, founder of the Free Expression Policy Project research group, worried that "one ideological group can impose its tastes and ideas by stuffing the digital ballot box and labeling content that other users of the system might not think is objectionable."
OpenDNS says it has a built-in trust mechanism, giving more weight to users who have submitted accurate tags more often in the past than those who have submitted fewer tags or have never done so.
because more people are reviewing sites and can do so quickly as new ones pop up.
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