July 21st, 2007
OLPCs Used to Browse for Porn
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Small wonder that U.S. parents put filters on their children’s laptops. These are children who haven’t grown up with the technology we are used to in the U.S., yet they knew enough to surf to precisely the wrong sites …
Nigerian schoolchildren who received laptops from a U.S. aid organization have used them to explore pornographic sites on the Internet, the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported Thursday.
A representative of the One Laptop Per Child aid group was quoted as saying that the computers, part of a pilot scheme, would now be fitted with filters. Source: Reuters
We Say: I was surprised, but my wife wasn’t. I suppose, naively, I figured these OLPCs just wouldn’t get that sort of use … now, since these kids are obviously tech-savvy, I wonder how long before those filters are bypassed? 
ed3 says:
Keeping in mind Nigeria is the home of the 419 scam, is it any wonder? If the statisics are correct, for being such a poor technologically backwards country, they seem to have suficient resources (and Internet cafes) to scam people out of millions of dollars over E-mail.
Might want to install some Fedware on them too in the unlikely event the OLPC laptops end up part of a 419 scam ring.
July 21st, 2007 at 3:12 am
Jim says:
Hmmm…
It is pretty much inevitable that without a filter you will eventually see porn. This enforces my “uneasiness” in this whole laptop per child initiative.
I really don’t see much educational value in the internet, it is more just another source of entertainment and advertising.
The only way to do education well with a computer is to have a comprehensive educational system in which the computer can be a part. It could even have an internet component.
The idea of giving a truckload of computers to a bunch of kids and expecting a positive outcome is awfully naive.
July 21st, 2007 at 4:17 am
» “$100″ Laptop Production Ramps Up » Blog Archive Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech says:
[…] First proposed in 2002, despite seeing its cost rise to $176 and its uses expand to, oh, porn, the OLPC (AKA the XO-1) is ready for mass production. Hardware suppliers have been given the green light to ramp-up production of all of the components needed to build millions of the low-cost machines. Source: BBC News […]
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:28 pm
» H.S. Students Use School-Issued Laptops to Create, Send Porn » Blog Archive Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech says:
[…] Look, if the OLPC can be used to surf for porn, why would this surprise anyone? These are MacBooks, after all … built-in webcam … and as Apple likes to say, great for multimedia! […]
November 8th, 2007 at 9:29 pm