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Editorial Week of September 2, 2001
Internet 'Scumware' Why Your Senators' Websites May Be Linking to Pornography
by Philip Roberto
If parents think they already have a hard enough job keeping their children from stumbling across pornographic and hate websites, they'll soon be in for a big surprise. Their job has just got even tougher!
Several companies have begun distributing, usually for free, software which alters the way virtually ALL webpages appear in the most popular web browsers. These companies then sell, without the authorization or even the knowledge of millions of websites around the word, many of the 'words' that appear on such webpages, linking them to whatever their advertisers want them to link to.
The result: breast cancer and women's issue sites have been found linking to pornographic websites. We even found that the biography page on the website of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was linking to pornographic sites when users install such software. So are the websites of many other elected officials.
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Official federal government websites appear to endorse specific financial corporations. Search engine advertisers have their advertisements defaced. Auto dealerships and office supply stores link to their competition.
Webmasters and website publishers around the world are outraged over such tactics and are beginning to fight back. In fact, a new word has been coined on the Internet to describe such programs: scumware.
The makers and distributors of such software argue it's a freedom of choice issue. They argue that the computer owner, by virtue of downloading and installing such software, has 'chosen' to override the existing copyright laws designed to protect websites from defacement.
Poppycock!
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft should begin enforcing existing copyright laws by going after the makers and distributors of such insidious products.
Philip Roberto is the Editor of PoliticsOL.com and a veteran political activist. Sign up to receive his FREE valuable e-book on E-Activism, How to Advocate Your Cause on the Internet, at: http://www.politicsol.com/ebook.html
The result: breast cancer and women's issue sites have been found linking to pornographic websites. We even found that the biography page on the website of U.S. Senator 
How can website owners and webmasters fight this? Join 
Philip Roberto is the Editor of