Parental Control Software and reviews
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Content Protect

Content Protect from Content Watch permits both remote management and remote reporting functions, and is
the only product to offer these features.   The remote function allows you to be anywhere in the world and be
able to look at all activity logs as well as make any configuration changes.   Anything you can do at home, you can also do at work or on vacation without the software.   All you need is an Internet connection and password.  
There is also a graphical drill-down reporting of all detailed activity.

Additionally, Content Protect uses dynamic filtering; while a website might be blocked in the morning because
of a violent story, once the website content changed, the site would no longer be blocked. Content Protect
also permits a “warning” as well as a “blocking” function, essentially noting that something objectionable
may be displayed, but permitting activity to continue, depending on filtering settings. Parents can be instantly notified via email, if attempts to objectionable material are attempted.  If you as a parent want to access a
blocked website, you can override the block as long as you have the password.

The program has been deemed both easy to use and easy to install. If installed on multiple computers, it
keeps customized settings from one installation to the next. Few instances of overblocking (websites that
should not have been blocked) and underblocking (websites that should have been blocked, but were not)
were reported. One downside is that e-mail filtering is not available in Content Protect, so objectionable
e-mails could still pass through the filters.

ContentProtect has been on the market for approximately a year and a half, yet is already one of the most
highly regarded programs available. It is important to note, however, that its purchase must be renewed
annually.

CYBERsitter

CYBERsitter from Solid Oak Software is another excellent product. The overblocking (websites that should
not have been blocked) and underblocking (websites that should have been blocked, but were not) worked
pretty well in most cases. One feature unique to CYBERsitter was that it was the only product to include a
basic email-filtering option.

Additionally, CYBERSitter has the ability to scan your hard drive for objectionable material. It also will find
any types of spying programs that may have been installed on your computer, either inadvertently or
intentionally. CYBERsitter also had the most features out of any of the products reviewed. CYBERsitter was
the only product to include a basic email-filtering feature, even though this feature wouldn't replace a typical
Spam filtering product.

Setting it up can be tricky in order to get the browser to work in conjunction with the filtering. Making sure
you have the correct settings with the "Default to Active Filtering Mode" turned on will make the application
work smoothly. During the setup process, email notification does not work in Windows 2000 (but does in
Windows XP).

CYBERsitter could consider as an improvement to have a message appear when something got blocked. When
a blocked site is encountered, sometimes a blank browser appears with no text or message. Other times it
displays a "Page Not Found" message. Some would argue this is a good feature, because children don't
realize they are being filtered. This could be a little confusing until you get used to it. Overall, CYBERsitter
is an excellent product with a few minor weaknesses. The purchase price is a one-time deal.

NetNanny

Net Nanny from BioNet Systems LLC is a very good program. It is the most popular Internet filtering product
in the marketplace. It has as many or more features than the other competitors. One aspect that Net Nanny
stands out in is the ability to block online games, something the other competitors have not dealt with. The
other is email filtering. Even though it is not an anti-Spam product, it does filter out objectionable content in
an email while still allowing you to read the email without the filth.

Net Nanny states that it blocks and filters Instant Messaging, but tests did not show that this functioned. You
can also view the restricted and permitted URLs and URL wildcards and add to or remove from these lists. Customization is also available for special words or phrases that you may want filtered.

The Internet blocking function that Net Nanny has implemented works differently depending on how you are
surfing the web. If you type in a URL, it displays an error message. If you are using a search engine and
type in an objectionable word, it just omits the results, without a block message.

Setup can be time-consuming, but is essentially simple.

Net Nanny has improved the filtering effectiveness as well as how they handle the blocking functions and
warning functions. The overblocking (websites that should not have been blocked) worked extremely well,
with a few exceptions. The underblocking (websites that should have been blocked, but were not) works
very well with the English web sites, but non-English sites still occasionally slipped through. The purchase
must be renewed annually.

CyberPatrol

CyberPatrol from SurfControl is another good program. The profiling for individual family members could have
had a few more features, but it did allow you to profile for sites and keywords. Compared to some other
products, it was missing many features. Reporting of Internet activity was one important feature that was missing—in other words, if your children do something objectionable, CyberPatrol won’t notify you of this.
More problematic is that when a website or Instant Messenger is blocked, there is no immediate override
function; instead, proxy settings have to be put into place.

Setup is simplistic, but problems have been reported regarding the need to reboot twice during setup.

The underblocking (websites that should have been blocked, but were not) works well in most cases. The
program does allow quite a few foreign objectionable sites through its filtering mechanism. Another concern
is when a website is “allowed” through, any link on the website going to any other website was allowed as
well, even if it should have been blocked. The overblocking (websites that should not have been blocked)
work extremely well. This software, too, is an annual subscription price.

FilterPak

FilterPak is a good program, even though it lacks quite a few features. This product is extremely easy to
install, setup, and begin using. There is no customization of URLs and/or keywords features which most of
the competitors have.

There are no reporting functions and the family profiles are a bit weak as far as features. While there is an immediate override function that permits you to get past a blocked website, there has been a reported
problem with the blocked message looping. It is, however, easy to install, setup and begin using. The
underblocking and overblocking worked extremely well. Overall, this product was a good product; this
software is an annual subscription.

Cyber Sentinel

Cyber Sentinel is another good product. The product has a number of options as far as setting up how
you want blocked sites handled; either blocked, warned, closing of the browser, capturing a copy of the
screen, or a combination of these. You need to look closely at these options to make sure the behavior of the application is what you are expecting.

There are no profiles so you don't have a choice to set up the application differently for the parents as
opposed to the children. There is no real reporting function. You do have the ability to look at screen
captures of various blocked sites. The screen capture function is a little cumbersome to use. Other than
that, it's a fairly easy program. Installation and setup is simple. Overblocking/Underblocking is good, but
not great. It allows a number of sites through that it should have caught, especially in the foreign language websites.

Overall, a good product that is easy to use; again, the software is an annual subscription.

McAfee Parental Controls

While McAfee is noted for its anti-virus software, its parental control software is not as noteworthy.

Even though there are a plethora of options as far as setting up ratings, sensitivities, and individual profiling,
they are very difficult to understand. The overblocking/underblocking is very good, but when you did get a
blocked website and performed an override function, there was an occasional looping of override options. Additionally, there are numerous options and acronyms that most users would not understand. This is not for
the novice computer user. McAfee is also difficult to setup; if the computer is not setup with separate users, installations grows exponentially more complex.

The application is very visual in its graphics, a very nice design. Overall, a good product, but more work
needs to be done. Again, the software is an annual subscription.

Norton Parental Controls

Norton Parental Controls is a good product, and Norton has a great reputation for building great products. However, this one is not yet worthy of being considered "great".

With Norton's knowledge of port controls, it is surprising that no peer-to-peer blocking was implemented. The overblocking works extremely well. Even though there was no override function for a blocked site, most of the
time you wouldn't need an override. The underblocking (websites that should have been blocked, but were not) leaves a lot to be desired. Many websites that should have been blocked are allowed through. Most foreign objectionable websites are allowed right through.

This product isn't as easy to use as some of its competitors' products. You have to look for certain functions
and they are not where you would expect them to be. Additionally, major problems during installation and web access attempts have been reported.

Additionally, currently you can't just buy the parental controls; you have to buy the entire suite. If you are
buying this product, buy it for the Anti-Virus and Firewall, not the parental controls. This is a one-time purchase.