Local Internet provider North Rock Communications is now offering a pornography-blocker to stop computer savvy children from getting an eyeful.

And for those parents who still want to roam freely on the web without the restraint needed for their children the filtering-system allows an "adult override capability''.

General manager Tom Coelho told The Royal Gazette yesterday that the company was responding to customer demand for family-friendly Internet access in providing the new service.

He said the system, called Bess, allowed families to enjoy the "richness of the Internet while preventing access to pornography and other objectionable sites''.

Millions of school children and libraries across the US already use Bess which North Rock claims is the most advanced, accurate and reliable filtering system available.

"Bess frees parents from the hassles of software installations, administering block list updates and complicated computer configurations,'' he said.

"Parents simply sign up for the service and we set up the filtering automatically. It works with any computer and any connection to the Internet.'' The system uses a retriever dog to guide children to safe areas and block access to "inappropriate sites''.

It serves both children and adults, allowing adults to turn the filter off.

He said the service was available from North Rock for $4 a month.

Unlike less sophisticated filters it does not require parents to install software on their home computer and run it with their Internet browser.

Instead the system uses leading-edge proxy server technology to block sites at the Internet provider level.

Updates to the block list are managed centrally and currently include hundreds of thousands of individually reviewed pages of pornography, graphic violence, profanity and adult-only content.