SafeSurf Seeks Restrictions on Internet Access

It’s called the information superhighway--a global network of computers teeming with information both serious and silly. But for two San Fernando Valley residents, the Internet also represents a source of cyber-smut easily accessed by children.

In response, Ray Soular and Wendy Simpson have formed SafeSurf, an organization that plans to educate parents about the sexually explicit sections of cyberspace.

Soular, a Van Nuys computer consultant, said that although he encourages his 6-year-old daughter to use their home computer, he restricts her access to the Internet. “There’s no warning,” he explained. “You can gain access to any kind of material without any preparation.”

Citing the recent case of a Sun Valley man charged with possession of child pornography downloaded from Internet bulletin boards, Soular noted that explicit images are often available to anyone with the tools to retrieve them.

“A 12-year-old could have downloaded that same material,” Soular said. “That’s the part that really scares me.”

Through SafeSurf, Soular and Simpson plan to create a set of ratings that will notify parents of cyberspace locations with potentially offensive content.

“Our goal is to locate and rate sites on the Internet,” Soular said, adding that they hope to work with software developers and Internet access providers to create ways that parents can lock out explicit sites in the same way 976 telephone numbers and sexually explicit cable television programs can be blocked.

“We’re not saying we want you to stop doing what you’re doing,” he said. “We just want you to do it in a responsible way.”

For several months, Soular and Simpson have been collecting suggestions from parents via America Online and have created a site on the World Wide Web (https://www.safesurf.com/wave/) to spread the word about SafeSurf.

Soular and Simpson, who met at an Internet conference, came up with the SafeSurf idea after finding they had similar concerns about explicit material.

Protecting children from what she considers harmful material is a deeply personal issue for Simpson. Traumatized by abuse she said she suffered as a child, the 26-year-old Agoura Hills secretary explained that SafeSurf is an extension of her belief in the innocence of children.

“The most precious thing a child has is, of course, their innocence,” she said.

Acknowledging that critics have bemoaned the presence of bomb-making instructions and “hate speech” on the Internet, Simpson said that for now SafeSurf will focus its energy on sexually explicit material.

David James, co-owner of Vivid Video, a Van Nuys-based adult entertainment company that has its own “home page” on the Web, said that he supports the idea but added that he hopes any ratings system will be broad enough to encompass all forms of potentially offensive material.

“I do feel that all the product should be categorized so that people who may be offended will know not to go into that Web site,” he said.