SurfWatch Software, whose Net-blocking package ostensibly prevents kids from downloading naughty pictures, has caught the eye of another overreaching patriarch: Big Brother. Phone companies from Asia and Europe have asked about industrial-strength versions of the software that can be fitted to national phone networks.
The inquiries from the Singapore Broadcasting Authority and Deutsche Telekom create a sticky situation for SurfWatch. "We're all First Amendment absolutists," says co-founder Jay Friedland. "But sometimes we feel like gun sellers: you're never sure whether the customer is buying the weapon to defend their home or to knock off the corner liquor store."
SurfWatch has yet to sign a deal, but Friedland says it'd reluctantly sell to either.
Singapore and Germany aren't the only countries interested in monitoring electronic highways. Friedland says it's fielded similar inquiries from AT&T.
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