Putting Up a School Block

When it comes to kids looking at porn on the Internet, the folks at Sex.com have only one thing to say: Go away.

To help ensure youngsters are barred, the adult-entertainment Web site is taking an usually proactive approach and offering to block Internet addresses that are used by schools or other child-oriented centers.

“Filters aren’t perfect and we all know it,” said Daron Babin, president of the management group that runs Sex.com. “So we can all stand around and ignore the issue, or we can be responsible and do something about it. Seeing that I’m a parent myself, I wanted to make sure that we did something.”

Enter the Sex.com School Network Protection Program. Educators and others can go to the site, at https://schools.sex.com, and fill out the free, automated form and request that the computers at their schools or businesses be blocked from Sex.com.

Company officials said that, within a week, they will investigate to make sure the request is valid and the specified addresses are truly tied to the school. The company will block those addresses once they are confirmed.

“It’s very simple to do and makes complete sense to us,” Babin said. “If we do this, maybe other people will follow us.”

The self-imposed filter is also a very savvy political move, considering that the adult-entertainment industry is waiting to see what stance the White House will take on online erotica. The Republican platform at last year’s convention called for prosecutions for Internet obscenity, and Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft recently pledged to help local prosecutors with cases dealing with online porn.