SURFWATCH STUMPS GOVERNMENT EXPERT IN INTERNET DECENCY TRIAL

Expert witness admits not being able to search Internet sex sites with
SurfWatch enabled.

Philadelphia, Penn., April 15, 1996 - Under cross-examination during the
legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act, Department of Justice
expert witness, Howard Schmidt admitted that had SurfWatch Internet
filtering software been running, he would have been unable to search for
Internet sites containing sexually explicit material.

Schmidt originally testified that he had found sexually explicit Internet
sites which SurfWatch did not block by searching for terms such as "sex"
and "xxx" on popular Internet search engines, such as Yahoo and Lycos.
During cross examination by Citizen's Internet Empowerment Coalition
(CIEC) attorney Ann Kappler however, Schmidt revealed that he had run his
initial searches WITHOUT SurfWatch running. Kappler noted that SurfWatch
prevents searches for terms like "sex" or "xxx", and that had Schmidt been
running the program when he conducted his initial search, he would have
been unable to find any of the sites he claimed SurfWatch didn't block in
the first place.

In response to relentless questioning by Kappler, Schmidt reluctantly
admitted that "SurfWatch would not have allowed the [initial] search".

Throughout the course of the court proceedings, the government has sought
to show that minors can inadvertently stumble upon "indecent" or "patently
offensive" material in the normal course of using the Internet, and that
parental control software such as SurfWatch is not effective at preventing
minors from accessing such material.

"Tens of thousands of parents and teachers are using SurfWatch every day to
prevent inappropriate material from reaching children," said Ann Duvall,
president of SurfWatch Software, Inc. "After my testimony two weeks ago, I
hope that we have convinced the court that parental control software like
SurfWatch is a much more effective and less restrictive solution than
excessive government regulation"

SurfWatch's unique Dynamic Filtering Technology not only blocks sexually
explicit Internet content, but it also keeps children from initially
searching for material in many of the popular Internet search engines.
This powerful feature has helped to make SurfWatch the market leader in
Internet filtering and parental control software.

SurfWatch runs on both Macintosh and Windows-based personal computers. As a
founding member of the PICS consortium, SurfWatch is also supporting the
development of industry-wide Internet rating systems. The software is
available directly from SurfWatch or through software distributors and
retail outlets.

For more information on the CIEC challenge, including the text of the
complaint and other relevant materials, contact the Center for Democracy
and Technology at 202-637-9800 or via the World Wide Web at
http://www.cdt.org/ciec/

SurfWatch Software, Inc. based in Los Altos, CA, is pioneering the
development of new technologies for the Internet. Founded in January 1995
with a vision of creating high-quality technology products which have a
positive impact on peoples' lives, SurfWatch Software, Inc. was the first
company to ship Internet software for blocking access to inappropriate
material and has licensed Internet filtering technology to the on-line
services industry. SurfWatch Software can be reached at 415-948-9500,
info@surfwatch.com or via the World Wide Web at http://www.surfwatch.com.

Jay Friedland                           E-mail: jay@surfwatch.com
SurfWatch Software                      Phone:  415-948-9500
175 S. San Antonio Rd, Ste 102          Fax:    415-948-9577
Los Altos, CA 94022                     http://www.surfwatch.com
 
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