Kids across America have made a sport out of evading the censorware that restricts which websites they're allowed to visit, handily outsmarting their IT departments and the indiscriminate filters that block whole swathes of the Web, including sites vital to the common curriculum, in the name of keeping them from seeing boobies.
Ryan had apparently set up a so-called Web proxy from his home computer so that when he was at school, he could direct requests for banned sites like MySpace through a Web address at home, thereby tricking the school's filter. (Web, or CGI, proxies can be Web sites or applications that allow users to access other sites through them.)
"I eventually tracked down the (Internet Protocol) address, so that it doesn't work for him anymore," said Don Wolff, tech coordinator in the Phoenix-Talent School District, adding that Ryan didn't face disciplinary action. "It's against our acceptable-use policy, but he's not going to quit trying, (and this way) we can keep learning."
"This is a hot new trend among kids for getting around Web filters," Wolff said.
(Thanks, Mike!)
