RSAC/Netscape joint release

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 Contacts:
 
 Kate Castle/Pat Arcand   Maggie Young
 Copithorne & Bellows for RSAC                   Netscape Communications
 617/450-4300 x264    650/937-2370
 kate.castle@cbpr.com    maggie@netscape.com
 
 
 RSAC ANNOUNCES NETSCAPE SUPPORT OF RECREATIONAL SOFTWARE ADVISORY COUNCIL’S
 LEADING INTERNET CONTENT RATING SYSTEM
 
 Netscape Communicator Users Gain Ability to Monitor Content
 Viewed by Children With NetWatch
 
 Washington, D.C. –June 17, 1998 – The Recreational Software Advisory Council
 (RSAC) today announced that Netscape Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:
 NSCP) will integrate RSAC’s objective, Internet content advisory system into
 its market-leading client software.  Working as a part of Netscape’s
 recently announced NetWatch feature in Netscape Navigator 4.5, RSAC’s rating
 system for the Internet (RSACi) will provide parents and consumers with an
 advanced tool to monitor the content viewed by their children on the World
 Wide Web.  NetWatch is a feature of Netscape’s Smart Browsing™ capabilities
 and provides a mechanism for screening Internet content, allowing control
 over Web page viewing so users access only the Internet content they want to
 see.
 
 RSACi is a PICS-compliant (Platform for Internet Content Selection) system
 that provides labels to Web masters based on a detailed questionnaire
 regarding the level, nature and intensity of the sex, nudity, violence or
 offensive language (vulgar or hate-motivated) found on a particular Web
 site.  By integrating the RSACi rating system into Netscape Communicator’s
 NetWatch system, Netscape users can now anticipate Internet content and
 block any materials they deem inappropriate or offensive.
 
 Using the NetWatch feature on the Netscape Navigator browser, parents and
 consumers will be able to select RSACi  as the system to set the levels on
 the amount of nudity, sex, language and violence that they consider
 appropriate for users in their household.  If there is more than one
 Internet user in the household, NetWatch will enable parents to set
 different levels for each user.
 
 "Netscape is committed to empowering the user without diminishing the
 Internet experience," said Dave Rothschild, vice president of client
 products at Netscape.  "The RSACi advisory system gives Navigator users a
 tool that will allow them to shape their Internet experiences to fit their
 own values.  Web enthusiasts will be pleased to see that they will have a
 new tool for anticipating and blocking content they would prefer not to see,
 but that also preserves the ability of content creators to say what they
 want and how they want is not in jeopardy."
 
 "We’re very pleased that Netscape has chosen to bring the RSACi content
 advisory system to the Communicator family," said Stephen Balkam, executive
 director of RSAC.  "Given Netscape’s commanding presence in the browser
 market, it’s exciting to see the company’s commitment to providing users
 with a reliable tool for controlling Web content through the RSACi content
 advisory system."
 
 RSACi empowers parents and consumers to make informed choices about what
 they and their children experience in cyberspace.  The RSACi rating system
 is a fully-automated, Web-based system that relies on a quick, easy-to-use
 questionnaire that the Web master completes at RSAC's home page
 [http://www.rsac.org].  The questionnaire runs through a series of highly
 specific questions about the level, nature and intensity of the sex, nudity,
 violence or offensive language (vulgar or hate-motivated) found within the
 Web master's site.
 
 Once completed, the questionnaire is then submitted electronically to the
 RSAC Web server, which tabulates the results and produces the HTML advisory
 tags that the Web master then places on their Web site.  A standard Internet
 browser or blocking device that has been configured to read the RSACi system
 can recognize these tags, enabling parents who use the browser to either
 allow or restrict their children's access to any single rating or
 combination of ratings.
 
 RSAC
 
 The Recreational Software Advisory Council is an independent, non-profit
 organization based in Washington, D.C. that empowers the public, especially
 parents, to make informed decisions about what they and their children
 experience on the Internet by means of an objective content advisory system.
 RSACi is the world’s leading rating system for the Internet.  It has now
 been integrated into Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
 RSAC's system provides consumers with information about the level of nudity,
 sex, language, and violence in Websites.  More information on RSAC and the
 RSACi rating system is available at http://www.rsac.org.  To date, more than
 75,000 web sites have rated with the RSACi system, with over 4,000 sites, on
 average, rating each month.
 
 RSACi has been nominated by an international committee of experts to receive
 the Carl Bertelsmann Prize 1998. The Prize, which has been awarded since
 1988 for innovative approaches to important public policy challenges, this
 year has the theme "Communications 2000 - Innovation and Responsibility in
 the Information Society". The final decision of the Prize jury will be
 announced on September 10, 1998 in the presence of German President Roman
 Herzog.
 
 The Bertelsmann Foundation which holds 68% of equity in Bertelsmann AG, the
 third largest media conglomerate in the world and the largest publishing
 company in the US, strives to tangibly contribute to the solution of current
 social challenges. The Foundation is based in Gutersloh, Germany.
 
 Netscape
 
 Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider of open software
 and services for linking people and information over enterprise networks and
 the Internet.  The company offers a full line of clients, servers,
 development tools, commercial applications and professional services to
 create a complete platform for next-generation, online applications.  Traded
 on NASDAQ under the symbol NSCP, Netscape Communications Corporation is
 based in Mountain View, California.
 
 Additional information on Netscape Communications Corporation is available
 on the Internet at http://home.netscape.com, by sending email to
 info@netscape.com, or by calling (650) 937-2555 (corporations) or (650)
 937-3777 (individuals).
 Netscape, Netscape Navigator, Netscape Certificate Server, Netscape ONE,
 SuiteSpot and the Netscape N and Ship's Wheel logos are registered
 trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation in the United States and
 other countries. Other Netscape logos, product names, and service names are
 also trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation, which may be
 registered in other countries.
 #    #    #
 

___________________________________________________________

Joseph Reagle Jr.  W3C:     http://www.w3.org/People/Reagle/
Policy Analyst     Personal:  http://web.mit.edu/reagle/www/
                   mailto:reagle@w3.org

Received on Wednesday, 17 June 1998 15:04:17 UTC