Selecting online content that is age and interest appropriate may get a lot easier – and far more difficult to justify censoring or banishing to a domain extension ghetto – if the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) has its way.The international, non-profit organization designed to brainstorm ways to protect Free Speech on the internet while simultaneously keeping potentially harmful material from minors has announced a new system for content labeling that will streamline the process for webmasters who have complex, page rich websites. The proposed labeling system is based on the more recently developed and increasingly popular W3C Resource Description Framework (RDF) standard and is a move away from the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS).

The newer format is appearing with increased frequency in some of the hottest and hippest web applications, including RSS feeds, blogs, shared bookmarks, and wikis. It demonstrates an intention to alter the technology architecture of the ICRA (www.icra.org) system so that it resembles that underlying Semantic Web, which is an extension of the web as it is now that allows computers and humans to work together more efficiently by receiving well-defined information.

The new system includes a revised questionnaire that is more in line with the changeable nature of digital content, thus permitting content providers to more accurately describe the material presented, and to place it within a larger context. Thus, explicit material that serves a medical, scientific, educational or other purpose can be more effectively separated from explicit material designed for erotic enjoyment.

Short cut buttons also allow for quickly creating labels for gambling and adult sites.

RDF is expected to be especially helpful to those in academia and who produce and distribute digital materials online and, by hooking up with the semantic web, encourage the use of trust marks and other quality labels which will make it even easier to identify the type of content available to view.

What this means for those who hope to keep more mature content from minors is an increased ability for end users to employ search engines and other online tools to filter content based on their personal preference. No more stumbling across unwanted racist, political, sexual, religious, or other content deemed unsuitable or undesirable. No need for a “safe” domain containing exclusively child appropriate or sexually explicit content. No need for governmental regulations.

Current members of ICRA include AOL Europe, Bell Canada, BT Openworld, Cable & Wireless, the GSM Association, IA Japan, MadeSafe, Microsoft, PAGi, T-Online, and Verizon. Hustler, Yahoo, T-Online, AOL, and Microsoft are among the 100,000 websites that have already self-labeled using RDF.