MUNICH, Germany -- The participants at the Internet Content Summit sounded a lot like Carl Sagan talking about the billions and billions of little, tiny worlds in space.
Soon there will be billions and billions of Web site worlds out there, a number beyond anyone's imagination, they agreed. And Internet users will consider filtering mechanisms part of their computer experience.
Given the ongoing explosion in content, the pertinent question is not whether ratings and filters will be used but when and how they will work. And the questions will apply to everyone, not just to parents concerned about their children viewing risque´ material.
"Most of the potential Internet users in the world have yet to get online," said George Vradenburg, AOL's senior vice president for global and strategic planning.
"It's still small enough that we can shape it," he said. "We have to find a way to speak to the millions -- and indeed billions -- of people and meet their needs. In a world in which people are rained upon by all these media images, they are looking for a medium over which they can assert some control."
Views differed so much in discussions at the weekend summit that participants were nowhere near reaching consensus on the key question of what constitutes self-regulation of Internet content.
Fresh reminders showed technology has a way of shifting the terrain of debate. That might have been expected as conferees discussed a proposed filtering and rating system introduced at the conference, sponsored by German media giant Bertelsmann.
More than anything, a contrast emerged between the views of the guardians of the Internet -- the people who have been deeply involved with it for years -- and the contingent of just-regular-folk.
"I get something like 600 emails a day from parents and I know what they want," said Parry Aftab, organizer of Internet rating efforts and author of the forthcoming Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace. "They don't want censorship. They support free speech. They need help organizing this thing, this Internet ... Rating is a great option.
"It hasn't worked so far," Aftab acknowledged. "I have 250 cybermoms who tell me what they like. They are volunteers. What we need is more options. The more options we give parents, the more chance there is that parents will let their kids use the Internet."
