Topic: Parental Control Bar is free Parental Monitoring Software for the Internet

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Parental Control Bar is free Parental Monitoring Software for the Internet

http://download.cnet.com/ParentalControl-Bar/3000-27064_4-10539075.html

Parental Monitoring Software for the Internet

The Parental Control Bar is a free public service that helps concerned parents prevent their children from accessing adult-oriented web sites. Complete our simple three-step installation process and start controlling your family's online activity.

Our Mission
To build the world's most simple, effective filtering software and distribute it for free.

Our Goal
To empower parents with greater control over the forms of content their family accesses online.

Who We Are

The founders of WRAAC, all of whom have families and children of their own, have come together from diverse backgrounds and varying industries. Their mission is to build the world's most simple, effective filtering software and distribute it for free. The members of WRAAC.org realized that although many websites are self-labeled with the ICRA label, there has been no major effort to date (government nor corporate) to provide the public with free and effective child filtering tools. WRAAC.org is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

Recent government attempts at internet content control have been grossly ineffective. Focused mostly on webmaster fines and penalties, lawmakers have been attempting to solve the issue by defining what is morally acceptable to its public instead of empowering parents to make their own choices.

Commercial filtering has fallen short. Many parents wish to control the content their family views online, but the tools to date have been complex, inflexible, and costly.


A Brief History

A system for 'website labeling' was created by the World Wide Web consortium in 1998. They designed a system known as PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection). It was originally designed to help parents and teachers control what children access on the internet.

in 1999 the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) used the PICS system to create a well-defined content vocabulary for site labeling. To state simply, they made it easy for webmasters to describe the content of a website by allowing the label to be embedded directly in the html code of the site.

What We Do

We developed the Parental Control Bar. We make no moral judgments with regard to websites or website content. What we simply do is label the content and nature of the most popular websites on the internet. Our website labeling data (together with our simple, free browser filtering tool) empowers parents to make their own decision on the forms of content that enters the home.

How It Works

When your child attempts to access a website the toolbar first checks if the site is self-labeled, compares this site label to your parental settings and determines whether to block or allow access. If the site is not self-labeled, then the toolbar scans our extensive list of 3rd-party labels before deciding whether to block or allow. The toolbar also allows parents to add specific websites to a personal 'always blocked' or 'always allowed' list. Although no system is ever perfect and we cannot guarantee that all unwanted websites will be blocked, parents will be able to more effectively control the types of websites their children access with this tool. WRAAC continues to promote website self-labeling and is constantly 3rd-party labeling the most popular unlabeled sites on the internet, so that this tool remains and effective browser filtering tool.


Help control what your family views online

Parental Control Bar is a simple, powerful tool to help shield your children from explicit websites. Simply activate Child-Mode while your children surf the internet, and the toolbar will block access to adult-oriented websites.

A free public service

Parental Control Bar is provided free of charge to the public by WRAAC.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free, effective internet control tools.
System requirements:

    * Windows XP*, Vista*, Windows 7*, NT4, SP6,
    * *Will not work with multi-user accounts. Toolbar will only work on a single user system.
    * Internet Explorer 7 & 8
    * New! - Safari 10.4
    * File Size: 4.7MB


1. Control Bar Help Menu
Clicking this button opens the toolbar menu where parents can access tutorials, help menus or change your password.

Parental Password
A single password makes it easy for you, the parent, to enable or disable Child-Mode. There is a hint to help you remember your password, or if you forget it completely have it sent to a parental email address.

2. Child/Parent Mode
This status indicator make it easy to tell if your computer is in Child-Mode of Parent-Mode. When in Child-Mode, control features are enabled and web sties are blocked based on your parental settings. When in Parent-Mode, control features are disabled and you, the parent, have unrestricted access to the internet.


3. Easily Block Adult Sites
Our Toolbar helps block a significant amount of adult-oriented websites. In addition, you may select specific sites to block by clicking this button. Once you have added a website to the 'blocked sites' list it is only accessible in Parent-Mode.

Add Web Sites to Safe List
Clicking this button adds the website you are currently visiting to the 'safe site' list. Once a website is added to the 'safe site' list it can be accessed from either Child-Mode of Parent-Mode (regardless of site label).


4. Change Parental Settings
Clicking this button opens the parental settings menu where you can specify the types of content you wish to block your family from accessing in Child-Mode. You can also manage your personal list of 'blocked' and 'child-safe' sites from this menu.

Parental Alert - What your Child Will See
When the toolbar is in Child-Mode, this parental alert blocks your child from accessing adult-oriented websites (based on your parental settings).

http://www.parentalcontrolbar.org/