Microsoft has Internet Explorer.  Mozilla has Firefox.  Apple has Safari.

And now, finally catching up to the pack, Miss America has released her own internet browser, called the “Miss America Kid-Safe Web Browser.” 

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting a web-browsing experience brought to you by the winner of a beauty contest, and now your wait is over.

But seriously, the Miss America Kid-Safe Web Browser is two products in one:  a web-filtering system that keeps the bad content away from your kids eyes, and a marketing tool for the pageant. 

A bit about the filtering:

“The browser permits access to 10,318 Web sites, all of which were prescreened and determined to be kid-friendly by the Miss America Organization and the Children’s Educational Network, which developed the software for it. It has a feature enabling parents to lock the computer and prohibit Internet access with any other browser, and it lets parents add sites to the approved list.”

And regarding what I’m calling the marketing angle:

When a surfing session begins, the theme song “There she is, Miss America” plays as an animated version of Nelson walks forward on the screen in a gown, complete with a tiara that glistens every few seconds. The image floats around the screen as her arm and hand do the sweeping pageant wave.

“Hi, it’s your Miss America, Lauren Nelson,” the image says. “Let’s hang out and surf the Web!”

Try going to an unapproved site, and the animated Nelson gently rebukes, “This Web site is not on the master list. Please ask Mom or Dad to add this site for you.”

She also offers reminders like “Don’t forget to e-mail your parents now and then!” She also gushes, “I love getting e-mail!” or “Great! No spam!” when the e-mail icon is clicked.

The browser is available as a free download at this website.

I’m all for Miss America doing what she can to help keep kids safe online, but I’m not terribly crazy about a browsing session hosted by an animated beauty queen.  But I suppose I’m not the target audience for this one.