Marketing in the wake of a massacre.

Less than 24 hours after teenage gunmen ran amok in a Littleton, Colo., high school, Solid Oak Software,makers of the Internet filtering product Cybersitter, sent out a press release touting "an informational Web site for parents concerned with what their teens are accessing on the Internet." It is not the first time Solid Oak has adroitly taken advantage of a shocking news event to promote its software. Shortly after the Heaven_s Gate mass suicide in 1997, the company sent out a similar release. In January 1998, after a California teenager committed suicide, another Solid Oak press release announced that Cybersitter "blocks Internet sites providing information on methods of committing suicide." And the day after the full text of the Starr Report was released online, Solid Oak immediately announced that Cybersitter would "probably" automatically block access to the report, based on its lascivious content.Cagey marketers with a sharp eye for good PR opportunities, or soulless ghouls out to capitalize on any remotely Internet-related tragedy to hawk their censorware? You make the call. M. Kanter, vice president of marketing for Solid Oak Software, says, "We try to make parents aware of the technology that is out there to assist them. If we can help parents in any way, shape or form prevent these kinds of tragedies, we will do so."