Technology
Web Content Filter

Batavia Public Schools filters all outbound Internet web traffic for content to comply with federal mandates as outlined in the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection Act (NCIPA). Currently, we use SurfControl, a web content filter that boasts the world's largest database of Internet URLs and IP addresses. SurfControl covers over 19 million sites and 3 billion web pages, classifying each into 54 content categories. Currently, as per our policy, we block 20 potentially harmful categories of websites (below).

To determine how a URL or IP address is categorized, you may Test-a-Site. If you believe that a site has been miscategorized, please contact the webmaster.

 

Blocked Category Description
Adult/Sexually Explicit
  • Adult products including sex toys, CD-ROMs, and videos
  • Child Pornography/Pedophilia
  • Adult services including videoconferencing, escort services, and strip clubs
  • Erotic stories and textual descriptions of sexual acts
  • Explicit cartoons and animation
  • Online groups, including newsgroups and forums, that are sexually explicit in nature
  • Sexually-oriented or erotic full or partial nudity
  • Depictions or images of sexual acts, including animals or inanimate objects used in a sexual manner
  • Sexually exploitive or sexually violent text or graphics
  • Bondage, fetishes, genital piercing
  • Naturist sites that feature nudity
  • Erotic or fetish photography, which depicts nudity
NOTE: We do not include sites regarding sexual health, breast cancer, or sexually transmitted diseases (except in graphic examples).

Alcohol & Tobacco
  • Alcohol and tobacco promotional Web sites
  • Distributing alcohol or tobacco free or for a charge
Blogs & Forums
  • Weblog (blog) sites
  • Newsgroups
  • Opinion or discussion forums Business
Chat
  • Web-based chat
  • Instant Message servers
Criminal Activity
  • Advocating, instructing, or giving advice on performing illegal acts
  • Tips on evading law enforcement
  • Lock-picking and burglary techniques
Dating & Personals
  • Singles listings, matchmaking and dating services
  • Advice for dating or relationships; romance tips and suggestions
Gambling
  • Online gambling or lottery web sites that invite the use of real or virtual money
  • Information or advice for placing wagers, participating in lotteries, gambling, or running numbers
  • Virtual casinos and offshore gambling ventures
  • Sports picks and betting pools
  • Virtual sports and fantasy leagues that offer large rewards or request significant wagers
Hacking
  • Promotion, instruction, or advice on the questionable or illegal use of equipment and/or software for purpose of hacking passwords, creating viruses, gaining access to other computers and/or computerized communication systems
  • Sites that provide instruction or work-arounds for filtering software
  • Cracked software and information sites; Warez
  • Pirated software and multimedia download sites
  • Computer crime
Illegal Drugs
  • Recipes, instructions or kits for manufacturing or growing illicit substances for purposes other than industrial usage
  • Glamorizing, encouraging, or instructing on the use of or masking the use of alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, or other substances that are illegal to minors
  • Information on "legal highs": glue sniffing, misuse of prescription drugs or abuse of other legal substances
  • Distributing illegal drugs free or for a charge
  • Displaying, selling, or detailing use of drug paraphernalia
Intimate Apparel & Swimware
  • Lingerie, negligee and other intimate apparel modeling
  • Swimwear modeling
  • Model fan pages
  • Modeling information and agencies
  • Fitness models/sports celebrities
Intolerance & Hate
  • Advocating or inciting degradation or attack of specified populations or institutions based on associations such as religion, race, nationality, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation
  • Promoting a political or social agenda that is supremacist in nature and/or exclusionary of others based on their race, religion, nationality, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation
  • Holocaust revisionist/denial sites and other revisionist sites that encourage hate
  • Coercion or recruitment for membership in a gang or cult
  • Militancy, extremist
  • Flagrantly insensitive or offensive material, including lack of recognition or respect for opposing opinions and beliefs

NOTE: We do not include news, historical, or press incidents that may include the above criteria (except in graphic examples).

Peer-to-Peer
  • Peer-to-peer file sharing clients
  • Peer-to-peer file sharing servers
Phishing & Fraud
  • Phishing
  • Phone, service theft advice
  • Plagiarism & cheating, including the sale of research papers
Proxies & Translators
  • Remote proxies or anonymous surfing
  • Search engine caches that circumvent filtering
  • Web-based translation sites that circumvent filtering
Spam URLs
  • URLs found in spam, including these topics:
    • Computing
    • Finance & Stocks
    • Entertainment
    • Games
    • Health & Medicine
    • Humor & Novelties
    • Personal & Dating
    • Products & Services
    • Shopping
    • Travel
Spyware
  • Sites that provide or promote information gathering or tracking that is unknown to, or without the explicit consent of, the end user or the organization
  • Sites that carry malicious executables or viruses
  • 3rd party monitoring and other unsolicited commercial software
  • Spyware and Malware "Phone Home" destinations
Tasteless & Offensive
  • Offensive or violent language, including through jokes, comics or satire
  • Excessive use of profanity or obscene gesticulation
Violence
  • Portraying, describing or advocating physical assault against humans, animals, or institutions
  • Depictions of torture, mutilation, gore, or horrific death
  • Advocating, encouraging, or depicting self-endangerment, or suicide, including through eating disorders or addictions
  • Instructions, recipes or kits for making bombs or other harmful or destructive devices
  • Sites promoting terrorism
  • Excessively violent sports or games (including video & online games)

NOTE: We do not block news, historical, or press incidents that may include the above criteria (except in graphic examples).

Weapons
  • Online purchasing or ordering information, including lists of prices and dealer locations
  • Any page or site predominantly containing, or providing links to, content related to the sale of guns, weapons, ammunition or poisonous substances
  • Displaying or detailing the use of guns, weapons, ammunition or poisonous substances
  • Clubs which offer training on machine guns, automatics and other assault weapons and/or sniper training
Web-based Email
  • Web-based e-mail accounts
  • Messaging sites (SMS, etc.)

Source: SurfControl Knowledgebase, Internet Threat Categorization Process.