A Proposal for a New Standard in HTML 3.0

John-Paul Clark (jpaul@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu)
Tue, 11 Apr 1995 19:15:46 +0500


First of all, let me thank all of you for yur responses to A GREAT HTML
EDITOR. I'm pleased to say that most all of the suggestions sent (I
received nearly 60 letters) will be incorporated in some way. The only one
request not being done is WYSIWYG. The professional consensus seems to be
NOT to include it. (Sorry to thoughs who requested it.) BUT... I PROMISE...
you will LOVE the way we're going to differentiate the tags!

Anyway... while working with this project, as well as playing with ideas of
becoming an internet provider in the area, I had an idea for an inprovement
to HTML 3.0.

If the WWW becomes the consumer playground business would like, we may soon
find ourselves in a censorship (or at least 'parental control') quandry.
What I propose is a parameter placed within the HTML text. Specifically,
the tag could be incorporated as follows:
<BODY PC=ON>

Where 'PC' represents 'Parental Control'. This tag would VOLUNTARILY be
placed in HTML documents by people such as Penthouse or Playboy... anyone
with an adult or explicit content.

The next step is to make a MINOR modification in web browsers. As they
would read the document, the PC flag would alert the browser to check a user
specified option to determine if 'PC' documents could be displayed.
Obviously, a parent would be able to set a password within Netscape or
Mosaic, allowing these documents to be retrieved. Also, if 'PC' were
activated, the browser would not allow the documents source to be viewed,
nor could the user do a SAVE AS of the doucment.

I believe such a feature would have the following benefits.
1) Minimal HTML document modification by adult sites. (Only 1 line
per doc.)
2) No modifications to HTTP servers.
3) Minimal modifications to existing web browsers.
4) Still allowing freedom of speech across the net.
5) Providing a secure method for parents to control what enters the
household.

I welcome your comments to this suggestion, as well as advise on how to
propose this to the WWW community as a whole.

Thank you.

Cordially,

John-Paul Clark
jpaul@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu

HTTP://nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu/~jpaul