FC: Burger King gives away CD-ROM with lists of thousands of porn sites

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

********

>From: Paul McMasters <Pmcmasters@freedomforum.org>
>To: "Declan McCullagh (E-mail)" <declan@well.com>
>Cc: Adam Powell <apowell@freedomforum.org>
>Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 08:27:26 -0400
>
>Declan,
>
>         Adam Powell may have sent you this already. He is in London for some
>meetings and pulled this story down from the front page of the computer
>section ("Connected") of today's (Thursday's) UK Telegraph. As he puts it,
>"the heart-warming account of Burger King giving out NetNanny porn filtering
>disks, which actually... well, read on, dear reader, read on... ."
>
>-pkm
>
>
>--
>
>Burger King gives away porn addresses
>By Jonathan Lambeth
>
>
>BURGER KING has been forced to withdraw a CD-Rom given away with children's
>meals this week after complaints that the disc contained internet addresses
>for more than 2,000 pornographic websites.
>
>The restaurant chain, which has 630 stores in the UK, acted after customers
>complained that their children could have easily accessed the addresses,
>which include sex-related internet discussion groups and hardcore
>pornographic websites.
>
>More than one million CDs had been given away before the promotion was
>pulled on Monday, according to Burger King.
>
>Anyone purchasing a children's meal since the offer began more than two
>weeks ago would have received a CD supplied to Burger King by the internet
>service provider KZuk.net, which offers secure internet usage for children.
>
>The CD includes software called Net Nanny, designed to provide parents with
>a filtering mechanism to block certain websites. Unfortunately, once
>installed from the CD, it only takes a couple of mouse clicks to view the
>global list of pornographic web addresses.
>
>The software is extremely easy to install, particularly given that many
>teenagers understand their PC better than their parents.
>
>The disc does include a warning in the small print saying that it must be
>installed by persons of 18 years or over, despite featuring a photo of teen
>pop star Louise, whose new single is on the CD.
>
>Steve McLean, a spokesman for Net Nanny, the American company that makes and
>sells the software of the same name, was shocked to hear about the free CD
>offer from Burger King, which he had not been aware of. He said Net Nanny
>had signed a deal only with KZuk.net for a CD that would be sent to adults
>to install for their children.
>
>He said: "This news has dismayed us terribly. We would not sign a
>promotional deal for our product that would be marketed to children."
>
>The reason that the website list is available to view, he said, is so that
>adult users can make a free choice about which sites they choose to block.
>
>Burger King executives refused to discuss the issue, instead releasing a
>prepared statement. It said that the company believed the instructions
>clearly stated that the software should be controlled by someone over 18 and
>was password protected.

[...]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology
To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------