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StopBadware: Google's Not Censoring PFF
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:36:36 -0700
________________________________________ From: Berin Szoka [bszoka () pff org] Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 11:36 AM To: David Farber Cc: Amy Smorodin; Adam Thierer Subject: StopBadware: Google's Not Censoring PFF Dave, I’ve tried to post the text below as a comment on Richard Bennett’s blog but it’s not accepting comments for some reason. We’re eager to clear-up the confusion about this incident, as I explain below. Would you mind clarifying this for your readers? Thank you. -Berin Everyone at PFF appreciates your concern, Richard, but what actually happened is quite benign; Google was not certainly censoring anyone! Here’s what happened… Unlike the rest of our site, our “Issues & Publications” system relies on an SQL database—which, like any SQL database, is vulnerable to certain kinds of attack. We recently noticed such an attack and took steps to solve the problem. This is standard operating procedure for anyone running a site with an SQL database. The Google search engine relies on the “Badware Website Clearinghouse” kept by StopBadWare.org. The StopBadware project is a very helpful “neighborhood watch” campaign led by the good folks associated with the Berkman Center at Harvard. StopBadware works with Google to automatically identify sites that might contain badware, as their FAQ explains: http://www.stopbadware.org/home/faq#partnerwarnings-warning Once a site is flagged, a warning message will arise when someone attempts to visit the site from the Google search engine or if one is using Google desktop or certain other firewall tools that aim to protect users from visiting dangerous sites. The reason you encountered that warning page is that our site was quite accurately flagged as potentially dangerous and we had not yet completed the procedure for having our site removed from the Badware Website Clearinghouse, which is explained here: http://www.stopbadware.org/home/faq#partnerwarnings-remove We consider the StopBadware a valuable self-help tool for protecting Internet users from potentially harmful software and applaud Google for its leadership in this area. If this incident demonstrates anything, it’s that an educational campaign would help users understand how the process works, why it’s good for all Internet users and that it is NOT censorship. _______________________ Berin Michael Szoka Visiting Fellow Progress & Freedom Foundation<http://www.pff.org/> 1444 Eye St., NW | Suite 500 Office: 202.969.2954 Washington, DC 20005 [cid:image001.gif@01C8E5A5.45718050]<http://www.linkedin.com/in/berinszoka> I blog at the Tech Liberation Front<www.TechLiberation.com/author/BerinSzoka%20> ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- StopBadware: Google's Not Censoring PFF David Farber (Jul 14)