The subject of 'building a better filter' reminds me of a presentation given by an official of Q-CERT before the summer. Q-CERT is the body responsible for internet security in Qatar (e.g. combating viruses, fraud, protecting banks and critical infrastructure).

He was talking about the problems with image searching, using the example of searching for an image of a falcon. Apparently, there is a US stripper named falcon, whose image may appear in search results. He seemed to be pitching for the business of building a more intelligent web filter, or at least for some consulting work.

Now, I'm happy for people to make money, but I'm not sure how many of his friends in the IT security community would think that censoring porn is part of their remit. I'm also sure that a more effective approach would be for parents to monitor their kids internet usage.

--nigel