FamilySmart Filtering Policy

General Principles
FamilySmart Internet Services provides filtered Internet access for families and individuals that want certain objectionable content blocked from view. Our policy is to block sites that exhibit pornography, gratuitous full and partial nudity, violence, profanity, messages of hate, sexual acts, gross depictions, intolerance, satanic beliefs, cult beliefs, drugs, drug culture, militant and extremist beliefs. While we recognize the right of web sites to publish diverse content, we wish to provide a vehicle to those individuals who wish to avoid content that they find objectionable.

Content That We Do Not Block
Sex education, depictions of illegal acts, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, sports and entertainment are not blocked. Subscribers must recognize that they may find sites that we have not blocked that they personally find objectionable. We encourage subscribers to send us the addresses of sites that they feel should be blocked. If we agree that these sites fit the profile of sites described in our Filtering Policy we will block that site. Contact our offices during normal business hours is you wish to recommend sites for blocking. We do not block search engines and search results but will block attempts to access objectionable sites listed in search results.

Reporting Offensive Sites That Escape Our Blocking Attempts
Users of our service must be aware that we provide no guarantees that we are able to block all content that you may find objectionable. Thousands of new sites are introduced on the Internet each week. We detect them as quickly as possible but some may slip though un-blocked. If you find a site objectionable and it fits within our filtering criteria please report it at once. If we agree, we will block it immediately.

Definitions of Filtering Terms

Violence/Profanity: Violence: pictures exposing, text or audio describing extreme cruelty, physical or emotional acts against any animal or person which are primarily intended to hurt or inflict pain. Profanity: is definded as obscene words or phrases either audio, text or pictures.
These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Partial Nudity: Pictures exposing the female breast or full exposure of either male or female buttocks except when exposing genitalia. The Partial Nudity category does not include swimsuits (including thongs). These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Full Nudity: Pictures exposing any or all portions of the human genitalia.
These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Please note: The Partial Nudity and Full Nudity categories do not include sites containing nudity or partial nudity of a non-prurient nature. For example: web sites for publications such as National Geographic or Smithsonian Magazine or sites hosted by museums such as the Guggenheim, the Louvre, or the Museum of Modern Art. These sites are NOT blocked from view by our filter.

Sexual Acts: Pictures showing, text or audio describing anyone or anything involved in explicit sexual acts and or lewd and lascivious behavior, including masturbation, copulation, pedophilia, intimacy involving nude or partially nude people in heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian or homosexual encounters. Also includes phone sex ads, dating services, personal ads, adult CD-ROM's and adult videos. These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Gross Depictions: Pictures showing, text or audio describing anyone or anything which are crudely vulgar or grossly deficient in civility or which show scatological impropriety. Includes such depictions as maiming, bloody figures, autopsy photos or indecent depiction of bodily functions. These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Intolerance: Pictures showing, text or audio advocating prejudice or discrimination against any race, color, national origin, religion, disability or handicap, gender, or sexual orientation. Any picture or text that elevates one group over another. Also includes intolerant jokes or slurs.
These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Satanic or Cult: Pictures showing, text or audio related to the following two areas: Satanic material or cults. Satanic material is defined as: advocating devil worship, an affinity for evil, or wickedness. A cult is defined as: a closed society, often headed by a single individual, where loyalty is demanded, leaving may be punishable, and in some instances, harm to self or others is advocated. Common elements may include: encouragement to join, recruiting promises, and influences that tend to compromise the personal exercise of free will and critical thinking.
These sites are blocked from view by our filter.  

Drugs/Drug Culture: Pictures showing, text or audio advocating the illegal use of drugs. This includes substances used for other than their primary purpose to alter the individual's state of mind, such as glue sniffing. This category does not include material about the use of illegal drugs when they are legally prescribed for medicinal purposes (e.g., drugs used to treat glaucoma or cancer). These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Hate/Extremist: Pictures showing, text or audio advocating extremely aggressive and hateful behaviors. Topics include groups that advocate violence as a means to achieve their goals. Includes "how to" information on weapons making, ammunition making or the making or use of pyrotechnics materials. Also includes the use of weapons for unlawful reasons. These sites are blocked from view by our filter.

Sex Education: Pictures showing, text or audio explaining the use of contraceptives. This category will include discussion sites on how to talk to your partner about sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and respecting boundaries. These site are NOT blocked from view by our filter.

The Sex Education category is uniquely assigned; sites classified as Sex Education are not classified in any other category. This permits the user to block or allow the Sex Education category as appropriate, for example, allow the material for an older child while restricting it for a younger child.

Not included in the category are commercial sites that sell sexual paraphernalia. These sites are typically found in the Sex Acts category.

Questionable/Illegal & Gambling: Pictures showing, text or audio advocating materials or activities which may be illegal in some jurisdictions, such as illegal business schemes, chain letters, copyright infringement, computer hacking, phreaking (using someone's phone lines without permission), software piracy and "1-900" type numbers. These sites are blocked from view by our filter.