Do Parental Controls Belong in Hardware or Software?

Filtering, blocking, and parental control software has been around for years. Some, like Yahoo's and AOL's, are free with the service; others, like CyberPatrol and Safe Eyes, are paid services.

Now hardware vendors are getting into the act. When parental control is built into hardware, it's more analogous to having a V-chip type of control. (V-chip is the generic name for the chip found in television receivers that allow content to blocked by category.)

Here are a few hardware devices that are getting into the content monitoring business:

Dory Devlin wrote about D-Link's SecureSpot, an Internet security device that provides anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-popup, and parental controls all from a small hardware device that sits between your broadband modem and their router. Parents can control multiple kids' machines using web-based controls to limit the child's time on the computer, block keywords and web sites, and filter known and unknown email senders. You can also generate helpful activity reports.

TiVo KidZone is a new service feature available for TiVo users. The TiVo device, as you know, records your favorite TV shows and stores them digitally until you're ready to watch. With KidZone, parents have access to experts' opinions and can make decisions about what to record and what to block based on recommendations and rankings. Ratings come from some of the best respected brains in the non-profit world focused on children and media, including Common Sense Media, Parents' Choice Foundation, and the Parents Television Council.

Microsoft's Xbox has parental controls built in to its gaming system. In an effort to educate (and promote the Xbox 360 this holiday season), Microsoft has begun its "safety is no game" initiative to inform parents of how to use the safety features in the Xbox. The guide is available on the Xbox site.

The advantages of having parental controls in your hardware rather than in your software are worth considering. Hardware takes no space on your drive and generally requires less fuss and effort for you. Upgrades and updates happen automatically. According to the manufacturers of these products, speed isn't compromised when parental controls are built in, either.

The big drawback? Parents haven't exactly flocked to using V-chips, so I'm not sure they'll take the time to use this either. It's great to see the consumer electronics hardware industry lending parents a hand in keeping their kids safe.

Where do you think parental control should be—in the hardware or in the software programs?