"9 out of 10 children aged between 8 and 16 years have viewed pornography on the internet. In most cases, the sites were accessed unintentionally when a child used a seemingly innocent sounding word to search for information or pictures."  (London School of Economics, 2002)

WHAT IS NAOMI ?

Naomi is an advanced internet filtering program, easy to use and totally free, intended for families, and kids in particular.

Naomi is able to constantly monitor all internet connections, protecting children from inappropriate online material - such as obscene or violent contents; pornography, pedophilia and erotism in the form of images or texts; sites that popularize drugs; gambling games; terrorism; hate propaganda; occultism; sects; blasphemy, etc.

Naomi does not rely on a simple list of banned sites; instead, it examines in real-time all the data being transmitted and received through any internet application - such as web browers, chat programs, news readers, etc.

The filtering technology employed in Naomi features:

• Heuristic analysis capable of recognizing new material automatically.
• Semantic analysis of web pages contents and analysis of their addresses and links.
• Recognizes all the major languages (10+).
• Recognizes ICRA labelling system.
• Monitoring is not limited to web sites, but covers the whole local internet traffic.
• Works with all service providers and software applications, and does not alter settings.
• Allows blocking of file-sharing applications.
• Password-protected (the password is chosen during the installation).
• Easy to use: does not require configuration.
• Can be used on slow connections (it does not perform any download in background).

For detailed information please refer to the included user manual (you can also read the online FAQ here: frequently asked questions).

 

Distribution: From time to time I receive emails from people who ask permission to include Naomi on CDs/DVD (for computer magazines etc.) You are allowed to freely distribute Naomi. However, you can only charge a reasonable cost for the media (cd, dvd, or floppy disk) and/or the magazine. You may NOT sell Naomi under any circumstances (Users: if you have payed for Naomi, please contact me immediately) - "Freely you have received, freely give."

Webmasters: If you have a web site, please link this page only. Avoid linking directly Naomi's installation files, as I could change the domain name, file names or directory paths in the future.

Donations: If you can, please donate to Compassion to help children in need. Thanks.

UPDATE (May 20, 2006):

Dear friends of "Naomi",

With this message I wish to thank you all for your help with this project.

It's been a long time since I have released the first version of Naomi, and your comments and suggestions have been determinative. Unfortunately, though, I don't have time to devote to Naomi anymore as I'm busy with my job. Since I don't have any collaborators, I cannot work on this project anymore.

I have received a proposal from a Firm that wanted to buy Naomi, but I refused because the very reason for which I have developed Naomi was the lack of FREE content filters - not making money or producing another commercial filter. Luckily, it seems things are slowly changing, as Microsoft has finally announced that they are planning to release a free family filter for Windows. It was about time that an operating system for home use included a free family filter! I don't know what it will block and how. You can find more information here: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/mar06/03-13WLFamilySettingsPR.mspx

But why filtering? Often, people equate filtering with censorship. Honestly I don't understand why a kid that wants to search the web for his/her favourite cartoon, has to see countless websites containing porn, simulated rape, hate, violence, often even trojans and dialers. Anti-censorship advocates insist on waging war on all forms of content filtering; but if people have the right to publish WHATEVER they want on the internet - the same internet that my children use for studying and staying in touch with their friends - then I do reclaim the right for my children to surf the web safely.

I can only hope that more people will take this matter seriously. There are literally thousands free, open source projects, and many skilled programmers are devoting their spare time to these projects - often, clones of instant messengers, games, antiviruses, linux-based distros and so on. Without doubt, if they wanted, they could create a free, sophisticated content filter, to protect children from all kinds of inappropriate content, and yet easy to use for parents. That's what I've tried to do with Naomi.

Ren (author of Naomi)

(note: for more free filtering software, please visit the sites listed below)
 

Care2's Race for Children - click daily (for free) to help provide children in need with food, medical attention and education

K9 Web Protection - a free internet filter
Safe Families - free internet filtering and parental control software
Reveal - a free program for finding if porn files are stored on your computer
File Sharing Sentinel - free parental control tool for blocking file-sharing programs
SurfPass - free version of the SurfPass filter, which also allows time limits, logging, etc.
B Gone - free web filter based on keywords list
NoWorrys - allows access to trusted sites (list) only (see also: PpGuard)
ICRA Plus - free tool, offers control over access to labelled sites
WebWatcher - one of the best commercial parental control tools
X3 Watch - free accountability program (informs about accesses to questionable sites - for PC and MAC)
KidRocket - web browser for young kids (limits access to web sites)
Hosts-File.net - easily block scammer, phishing and other malicious websites (Windows only)
LogProtect - prevent your child from transmitting his personal coordinates (can be bypassed, though)
Popup blockers - free software for removing unwanted pop-ups
FraudEliminator - anti-phishing (email frauds) toolbar
SpyBot - free program to remove dialers, spyware, and other malware from your pc
HiJackThis - invaluable tools for removal of hijackers, dialers, and more (download CWShredded and HiJackThis)
Free tools - listing free filters, website is in French
Squid - proxy/blacklisting for administrators
Censornet - a free filter for Linux (another alternative: DansGuardian)
Spyware Blaster - immunize your pc against spyware and dialers
N2H2 Database - submit URLs for inclusion in the Bess/N2H2 blacklist
Babelfish - free online translator

Information:

Family Friendly Sites - excellent directory of websites and other resources suitable for both families; includes a selection of search engines that are kids friendly
CyberTipLine - report here child sexual exploitation and unsolicited obscene mail
RitalinDeath.com - say no to psychiatric drugging of children for ADD and ADHD
Chatdanger - how to keep safe while chatting online (mobiles, email, email, messenger, games)
Personal safety for children - A guide for parents
AMBER alert - America's missing: broadcast emergency response
Parasite Prevention - a must-read: guide to online parasite (spyware, trojan, etc.) prevention
Section 21 - an organization devoted to fighting online pedophilia and abuse
FraudWatch Int. - learn how to protect yourself from internet frauds, scams, phishing, id theft
Aumha.org - Windows support center, parasite removal, error messages, tutorials