Worried about your kids seeing inappropriate material on the Internet? Two Bay Area firms think they have a better alternative than filtering programs or constant monitoring.

Silvertech in San Francisco has the most ambitious scheme, essentially creating a second Internet full of educational and entertainment content for kids. "We've cached over 20,000 Web sites of millions of pages," says Silvertech CEO El St. John, a former TV producer who also once headed a telecommunications firm. The company claims its distributed hardware capacity is four times larger than eBay and Amazon.com combined. It's also distributed 13 million of CD registration discs.

Silvertech's received equipment and $20 million in funding from HP. Other partners include Cisco, AboveNet, Ask Jeeves and Headbone Interactive. Silvertech says its eKids Internet is the first of several "private net engines" for communities and other groups. Educational concerns eager for feedback and exposure are "throwing content at us," for free, says St. John.

On the other side of the Bay is another contender for kid's favorite: Oakland-based The Children's Internet. TCI is headed by Nasser Hamedani, who founded Sybervision in 1978, which offered a series of educational programs for adults and he grew to a $100 million company.

TCI says it offers "unrestricted access to hundreds of thousands of actual Web pages" that have been screened by its staff of "content watchdogs." The screening process checks for material harmful or offensive to kids. Also the sites must meet the company's criteria for safety, learning and entertainment.

Both companies are subscription services that require a CD for security and to access certain elements of content.

"The advantage of these kind of systems is that they tremendously reduce the odds of kids being exposed to inappropriate material," says Larry Magid, who runs Safekids.com, a Palo Alto-based Web resource for helping parents and kids surf the Net safely.

But as extensive as the screening and scope of these systems is, Magid is bothered by their limitations, especially for older kids. "The Net works as well as it does because its inclusionary," says Magid. "It's as if you had a telephone that could only dial certain numbers and couldn't dial certain friends." Both sites offer passwords for parents to allow kids access to the broader Internet.

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Silvertech's eKIDS Internet and The Children's Internet offer online demos that don't require a CD. You can register for the eKids CD and six months of free access at the site. After that the cost is $12 per month, or you can get another free disk for referring someone else to the service. TCI charges a flat $69.95 annual fee.

Content is key to the success of either venture and both companies tout their educational programs, games, and protected email services. eKIDS Internet is free of commercial advertising. TCI plans "a limited number of commercial and public service banner ads. "Our focus in sponsorships," says a TCI spokewoman.

While not as appreciated by kids, parents may be just as interested in the security features as the content. According to a report in USA Today a recent government-financed study concluded that, "One in five adolescents and teens who regularly socialize on the Net have encountered a stranger there who wanted ''cybersex."

Says St. John: "It's not safe out there."