Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to offer a new safety service, called Windows Live™ Family Safety Settings, as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to help protect families online through user education, industry cooperation and technology innovation. Family Safety Settings is being designed to go a step further than traditional parental controls and will help consumers better guard themselves and their families against online content and communications they might find inappropriate.

The service will help enhance customer safety by making family protection tools free, widely available and flexible through the Web-based Microsoft® Windows Live service, complementing related technologies from Microsoft, such as family settings to be available in Windows Vista™ that will help families customize their experience with both PC- and Web-based protection. Family Safety Settings will include content filtering for the Web, contact list management tools for communication services, and online activity reports. Service features will begin rolling out in phases worldwide throughout 2006 and will become available to customers using Windows® XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista.

gOnline safety for children is a crucial issue facing families today. Wefre designing Windows Live Family Safety Settings to help open the lines of communication between parents and children and in the process, give them a safer Internet experience,h said Blake Irving, corporate vice president of MSN. gWefve heard a universal concern about exposure to unwanted content regardless of age, and Windows Live Family Safety Settings will help here as well. Wefre providing tools to put people in control so they can explore the Web more safely.h