SurfWatch

SurfWatch, Inc. was a Los Altos, CA-based company which pioneered the first widely available filtering software that allowed users to block explicit content on the Internet. By disallowing computers from accessing specified sites and by screening for newsgroups likely to contain sexually explicit material, SurfWatch was able to aid parents, educators and employers in preventing access to offensive material from a specific computer. The Apple Macintosh version of SurfWatch 1.0 was developed starting in 1994, first shipped to the public in May 1995, and was followed by the Microsoft version in July of the same year.^[1]

Due to its specific locus of control, SurfWatch and various similar software programs played an instrumental role in helping to overturn the Communications Decency Act, as they offered an alternative to internet censorship. Because Surfwatch gave users a choice as to what should be blocked, it offered an alternative to broad censorship of online material.^[2] Surfwatch has been criticized by Peacefire for unfairly blocking gay and lesbian resource sites.^[3]