First 4 Internet, a UK-based developer of software, has launched Image Composition Analysis (ICA) software to find e-mailed pornography.
First 4 Internet, a UK-based developer of software, announces the launch of its Image Composition Analysis (ICA) software. This new technology is designed to protect organisations and individuals from pornographic images. Its accuracy means it can even differentiate between an artistic nude and a pornographic photograph, the firm claims. A recent report by Sextracker found that 70 per cent of pornography is downloaded from the Internet between 9am and 5pm – the working day. This indicates that businesses can suffer serious losses in productivity from such misuse of the internet. Recent cases of employee dismissal involving large corporations also highlight the legal implications of the distribution of pornographic images in offices.
Protection at work
First 4 Internet?s software is helping to protect against pornographic imagery being sent over e-mail servers. Recent reports by TesCom, the leading independent software testing company, concluded that First 4 Internet?s ICA software prevents 95 per cent of pornographic images from reaching the computer screen and confirmed that it can scan more than 20 images per second (based on a test of 3,000 images over a server). Similar tests reveal that other technologies can only achieve accuracy of 67 per cent. Mathew Gilliat-Smith, managing director of First 4 Internet, says: ?ICA is a breakthrough in the fight against intentional and accidental misuse of the internet. It gives employees, businesses and the government the necessary tool to combat the growing threat from pornographic images.? ICA differs from other filter technologies by intensively analysing the images on a number of levels. It uses over 22,000 different algorithms to assess wide-ranging content without interrupting the flow of acceptable information. The firm is also developing ICA products for Internet images, CD-ROM or disc material and web-surfing, both in a commercial and home environment.
