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Content-control software, also known as censorware or web filtering software, is a term for software designed and optimized for controlling what content is permitted to a reader, especially when it is used to restrict material delivered over the Web. Content-control software determines what content will be available on a particular machine or network; the motive is often to prevent persons from viewing content which the computer's owner(s) or other authorities may consider objectionable; when imposed without the consent of the user, content control can constitute censorship. Common use cases of such software in his school district [5].
Seth Finkelstein, an anti-censorware advocate and recipient of the EFF Pioneer Award, described what he saw as a terminology battle, in a hearing at the Library of Congress in 2003:
I think the best public relations that the censorware companies ever did was to get the word "filter" attached to their products. When you think of something that you do not want to see.
But, again, as I said earlier, censorware is not like a spam filter. What censorware is, is an authority wants to prevent a subject under their control from viewing material that the authority has forbidden to them. This description is general. [6]
In general, outside of editorial pages as described above, traditional newspapers do not use the term "censorware" in their reporting, preferring instead to use terms such as "content filter," "content control," or "web filtering"; the New York Times [4]. However, two other terms, "censorware" and "web filtering", while more controversial, are often used.
Companies that make products
