A system and method for updating a filtering system which controls access
to a website/page between a local area network (LAN) and an Internet. The
LAN includes an Internet gateway system coupled to a workstation and
configured to receive a URL request. The system controls access to the
website/page associated with the URL based on one or more categories that
are associated with the URL. The Internet gateway system can determine
the category that is associated with the URL by referencing a master
database or requesting the category from a database factory. The database
factory can receive URLs from multiple Internet gateway systems. The
database factory determines whether the identifier was previously
categorized by the database factory and provides the category to the
Internet gateway system. Once the Internet gateway system has the
category, it applies rules associated with the category and user to
filter access to the requested website/page.