HIGHLANDS TODAY

Tribune_v1_copy02

By Kelly Icardi
kicardi@highlandscountytoday.com
Excerpts Reprinted from
SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2004

      Lake Placid resident Greg Gustin is trying to give parents an alternative to the traditional Internet filtering and blocking software which can be easily outsmarted by children, The founder of safetosurf.net has developed software and a Web site that filters out inappropriate materials.
      We developed the protocol that was not only effective but also efficient and easy for parents to use,”

      Gustin said. “Effective means that it’s near impossible for the most clever youth to circumvent the process. It doesn’t do any good to have a process in place that the kids can get around.”
         His program SafeToSurf.net isn’t just standard software, it’s an Inter net service provider with filters.
      So instead of subscribing to

Please see Danger on Page 9a

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Greg Gustin, the founder of safetosurf.net,
has developed Software and a Web site
 that filters out inappropriate materials.

DANGER

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providers like AOL or Earthlink and then additionally purchasing filtering software, you get it all in one. Safetosurf uses a program called Videte, from the Latin word meaning to “watch over,” which records everything that appears on the computer screen.
“Realizing that for those families who have children who spend an inordinate amount of time trying to beat the system, we developed Videte,” he said.
     Videte is used as a backup to the filtering part of the program. He said it’s similar to time lapse photography and every keystroke is recorded and available for review.
     While there are hundreds of programs that record keystrokes, it takes hours to review. Gustin’s program has a time compression mode -  which means what would normally take four hours to review computer usage would now take four minutes, he said.
     The program also records e-mail, instant messages, chat rooms and file sharing for parents who want to monitor their kids’ use.

Not all programs have the ability to record chat rooms and instant messenger. Gustin said the reason the program cannot be beat by children is because the filter is at the corporate location and not in the computer itself. Parents have the controls to set the program to record only what they want it to.
     Another feature of the program is that no matter where people are on the Internet, if an Amber Alert or other breaking news comes through, the user will be alerted immediatley.  Also, if a child installs a recording program on top of it, they can tell.
     Gustin said he developed the program for those who are not necessarily net savvy. The program does not interfere with the performance of the computer it is installed on and it’s undetectable.
     It doesn’t overblock Web sites, because a human reviews every site that is blocked. People also have the option of purchasing the filter portion of the program if they do not want to give up their current provider.
In the fall of 2002, Gustin was approached by friends to help develop SafetoSurf. At the time he said he was unaware of the problem.

of pornography and child abuse on the Internet. And when he realized that he had the technical skills needed to complete the job he did.
      In June of last year, John Walsh, TV host of “America’s Most Wanted” wrote a letter of support of Gustin and his program Safetosurf.net. A portion of all that company’s revenues will go to Child Watch of North America.
      Gustin said he developed the program because he feels the Internet is dangerous and that the current products out there are not effective enough. The statistics are frightening” he said.