This column appeared in the March 5, 1999, issue of the Industry Standard. Here’s the version that appeared in the Industry Standard.

When it comes to shopping online, who deserves your trust?

The big guys, certainly: Amazon, CDnow. But what about small outfits you’ve never dealt with? How do you know whether you’re dealing with a reputable Web merchant or a fly-by-night operator? And if they are legitimate, are they also reliable?

Users seeking to size up an online merchant can go about it in different ways: independent research; queries to a Usenet newsgroup; relying on a seal of approval by a private watchdog group; or visiting an independent Web site that monitors e-commerce retailers. [Read more…] about Online shopping: Who deserves your trust?

The Clinton administration & Internet industry are championing voluntary ratings for Web sites

This in-depth look at the controversy over PICS labels appeared in the October 1997 issue of The American Journalism Review.

When President Clinton challenged the high-tech industry this summer to create a “family-friendly Internet” by cleaning up cyber-smut and other offensive content, newspaper editorials applauded the president’s decision to forgo government regulation and let private industry police the Net.

Few realized that the White House’s “parental empowerment intitiative” would plunge online news publications headlong into the thorniest thicket of free-speech issues in the history of cyberspace — and lead to the news media’s rejection of the president’s proposal when it comes to their own Web sites. [Read more…] about Ratings for news sites?

Unbeknown to the public, filtering programs block out much more than pornography

This column appeared in the September 1997 issue of The American Journalism Review.

When the Supreme Court struck down the pernicious Communications Decency Act this summer, the online community roundly celebrated the victory as a milestone for free speech in cyberspace.

Well, it’s time to put down the champagne glasses. Two new threats — nearly as insidious as the CDA — now loom over freedom of speech on the Net: censorware and Internet ratings.

“We’re seeing a move toward the privatizing of censorship,” warns David Sobel, legal counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C. “It’s likely to destroy the Internet as it’s existed until now.”

Overstated? Perhaps not. [Read more…] about Censorship devices on the Internet