[FYI] Porn-Detection Software Scans Photos

["Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>]

http://www.currents.net/news/00/06/01/news2.html

-------------------------------- CUT -----------------------------

Daily News 

Porn-Detection Software Scans Photos

By Dick Kelsey, Newsbytes June 01, 2000  

Educational publisher Heartsoft Inc. is beta-testing pornography 
detection software--based on NASA technology--that uncovers online 
porn by scanning photographs for flesh tones and curves to detect 
nudity.  

The Oklahoma-based company has applied for a patent on image 
detection and analysis technology, "Evaluating Graphic Image Files 
for Objectionable Content," to be used in its new Internet Safari 
browser for children.  

"The patent that we filed is for software that looks at JPEGs (Joint 
Photographic Experts Group) and GIFs (graphics interchange format) 
and is capable of determining with 90 percent to 95 percent accuracy 
whether any photo contains pornographic images," Heartsoft Chairman 
and CEO Benjamin Shell told Newsbytes.  

Unlike filtering products that look at HTML (hypertext markup 
language), Heartsoft's new image-scanning software intercepts 
pictures and determines whether they are pornographic in nature. 
"Tones of flesh and curves" are among the features the software 
detects, said Shell. "Obviously when you have very advanced "Star 
Wars" technology it doesn't take those algorithms long" to find 
pornography, he said.  

[...]

-------------------------------- CUT -----------------------------