Version 1.0; June 1, 1996
PICS is an industry-wide response to attempts to regulate content on the Internet. Coordinated by W3C, PICS is a pair of specifications that allows content to be labeled. It provides for both self-labeling (by the author or publisher) and third party labeling. PICS is "values neutral" in the sense that it does not specify the content of labels, just their format and how they can be transmitted.
The PICS specifications (version 1.1) have been completed and are being adopted industry-wide. W3C is participating in a set of major publicity tours to raise the awareness, worldwide, of the significance of labeling as a regulatory tool for Internet content. Netscape and Microsoft have announced that their browsers will support PICS before the end of 1996. All major filtering software vendors have announced their intention to ship PICS-compliant software in 1996. All major on-line services have announced their support for PICS, including distribution of PICS-compliant filtering software to their customers. Two PICS-compliant rating services (RSACi and SafeSurf) are in operation, allowing content publishers to self-label using their systems. A number of companies (including NewView, Net Shepherd, SurfWatch, and CyberPatrol) are providing third-party labels using their own PICS-compliant rating systems. CompuServe has announced that all content it produces (world wide) will be labeled using the RSACi rating system (which is PICS-compliant) beginning in July 1996.
W3C has distributed reference code for three systems that can read a PICS description of a rating system and produce a user interface for configuring filtering software. W3C has implemented and is making available reference code (in portable C) for parsing PICS label lists and PICS rating service descriptions. Jigsaw, W3C's new Java-based HTTP server, contains reference code for both distributing PICS labels with (not just in) documents and acting as a PICS label bureau.
W3C is working with the on-line publishing industry to speed the adoption of PICS. W3C is also working with the on-line services industry to create and support the public label bureau infrastructure that is required to support third-party rating using the PICS system.
As the industry becomes aware of the PICS infrastructure, it is finding new areas in which PICS can be used. W3C will almost certainly be asked to explore the use of PICS in areas ranging from code signing (see the W3C Digital Signature Initiative) to privacy (see the W3C Privacy and Demographics activity) to intellectual property protection (see the W3C Intellectual Property Rights activity).
One June 20 and 21, 1996, W3C is sponsoring the first PICS Developers Conference. The first day will be devoted to considering extensions to PICS. One issue is to allow search engines to access information about filtering criteria. Another is to allow additional forms of queries to PICS label bureaus. The second day will address the question of formal standardization of PICS and will include an interoperability testing session.
W3C's involvement in PICS is extremely visible worldwide. Our
major outstanding commitment is to help the industry deploy the
third party infrastructure and to continue working with government
and industry groups (internationally) to promote the adoption
of PICS as a regulatory tool instead of censorship.