Mobile firms to block child porn

[Sarah_MaxCash]

Mobile firms to block child porn

Mobile firms from across the world have launched a new alliance which aims to block paedophiles using phones to send or receive child sexual abuse images.

The GSMA, the global association for mobile firms, has launched the Mobile Alliance, and says it is vital to act as web access via phones improves.

Among planned measures will be a block on mobile phone access to websites which host abusive content.

There will also be hotlines to report services carrying inappropriate images.

Swift removal

The Alliance has been founded by the GSMA, Hutchison 3G Europe, mobilkom austria, Orange FT Group, Telecom Italia, Telefonica/02, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile Group, Vodafone Group and dotMobi.

It says its primary aim is "to create significant barriers to the misuse of mobile networks and services for hosting, accessing, or profiting from child sexual abuse content".

The Alliance says that, while the vast majority of child sexual abuse content is accessed through conventional internet connections, safeguards need to be in place as broadband networks being rolled out by phone firms could lead to similar misuse by paedophiles.

Among the measures is a commitment by members of the Alliance that they will implement "Notice and Take Down" procedures that will enable the swift removal of any child sexual abuse content which they are notified about on their own services.

"As our industry rolls out mobile broadband networks that provide quick and easy access to multimedia Web sites, we must put safeguards in place to obstruct criminals looking to use mobile services as a means of accessing or hosting pictures and videos of children being sexually-abused," said Craig Ehrlich, GSMA chairman.

"We call on governments across the world to support this initiative by providing the necessary legal clarity to ensure that mobile operators can act effectively against child sexual abuse content and to step up international enforcement against known sources."

The initiative was welcomed by Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

Her role encompasses regulations on e-communication in Europe and she said: "This gives a very clear signal that the mobile industry is committed to making the Mobile Internet a safer place for children."

British success

Arun Sarin, chief executive of Vodafone, said the initiative was one of a number of measures Vodafone was implementing to combat misuse of its network. "Protecting young people wherever they are is of paramount importance to Vodafone," he said.

Joachim Horn of T-Mobile pledged that his company would "continue to be at the industry's forefront to maintain a high level of child safety," while Orange's Olaf Swantee said it was important for all telecoms firms to "share key learnings" to address the issue.

Sarah Robertson, spokeswoman for The Internet Watch Foundation, said the move would back up work already done in Britain, where she said the watchdog "already had an excellent working relationship" with all the major mobile phone providers.

"We're in the business of helping to block access to sites which carry these images. We welcome the support of the GSMA and look forward to establishing any relevant relationships with international providers."

She predicted use of the "Notice And Take Down" procedures would prove vital, saying that it had helped to police online content in the UK, with figures showing that the proportion of the world's child sex sites that are hosted in the UK had been cut from 18% to 1% over a six-year period.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Mobile firms to block child porn

[daedal]

I like the fact mobile phone companies are taking an active measure. When ISP's act as well it will ensure less child porn.

[ArseWithClass]

I hope there isnt much anyway!

But to be honest I wished phones couldnt connect to the net.

My son was caught with a naughty download. Obviously with computors we have net nannies & can keep an eye on our children. Its hard with phones

[daedal]

Originally Posted by ArseWithClass

I hope there isnt much anyway!

But to be honest I wished phones couldnt connect to the net.

My son was caught with a naughty download. Obviously with computors we have net nannies & can keep an eye on our children. Its hard with phones

T-Mobile and Vodafone don't allow access to any adult sites without content control being taken off, sadly the other networks have not put a propery content control system in place.

That does not stop other people sending things or them downloading them to a pc and putting them on the phone.

Mobile Internet is excellent, I use it on my laptop so I can still work while travelling and while away, without it I would not be able to do half of my work, and I do a lot of adult site based work.

[ScreaM]

Originally Posted by daedal

T-Mobile and Vodafone don't allow access to any adult sites without content control being taken off, sadly the other networks have not put a propery content control system in place.

That does not stop other people sending things or them downloading them to a pc and putting them on the phone.

Mobile Internet is excellent, I use it on my laptop so I can still work while travelling and while away, without it I would not be able to do half of my work, and I do a lot of adult site based work.

The cops are strict here about having adult content on your phone. If they catch you you're put in prison.

[zeuse]

Originally Posted by ArseWithClass

My son was caught with a naughty download. Obviously with computors we have net nannies & can keep an eye on our children. Its hard with phones

You should get him a cheap ass phone like mine. Theres no internet or bluetooth on it, in fact its that basic the screen is in black and white.

[TgpfactoryMike]

I guess I am confused why people would be using their mobile for adult purposes in the first place. What are they going to rub one out on the bus or something?

[ScreaM]

Originally Posted by TgpfactoryMike

I guess I am confused why people would be using their mobile for adult purposes in the first place. What are they going to rub one out on the bus or something?

Beats me. First of all, I'd hate to watch porn on a 2" screen.

[ArseWithClass]

I can never understand it, I think its more for the crack at the pub with the lads and all that!

[TgpfactoryMike]

Originally Posted by ArseWithClass

I can never understand it, I think its more for the crack at the pub with the lads and all that!

Yeah that is a valid point. However, if you are at a bar with a bunch of friends why would you be on your phone when there are real girls just waiting for you to buy them a drink?

[daedal]

Mobile doesn't cover just Mobile Phones, It covers Mobile Internet, its actually cheaper in the UK to get Mobile through a mobile phone network than the UK's largest broadband supplier. An example £7.50 a month on T-Mobile on BT its £8.95.

I think people forget Mobile Broadband on PC's and Laptops is big business. So the new changes will be a good thing imho.

But yeah people probably download porn on their phones to show off in the pub lol

[ArseWithClass]

Your absolutely right though... I forgot about mobile internet for places like overseas, on boats & countries with hardly any internet... bulgaria etc!

Do you know if 02 do mobile yet???

[daedal]

Originally Posted by ArseWithClass

Your absolutely right though... I forgot about mobile internet for places like overseas, on boats & countries with hardly any internet... bulgaria etc!

Do you know if 02 do mobile yet???

Currently only T-Mobile or Three offer a true mobile broadband service for everyone, but if I remember rightly Orange have launched theres recently as well. Vodafone only do it for business customers. O2 offer data packages but they are expensive and they don't offer USB modems.

[ArseWithClass]

So vodafone do but only for business... is the adult business ok?

[daedal]

Originally Posted by ArseWithClass

So vodafone do but only for business... is the adult business ok?

Providing you lift Vodafone Content Control you can access porn on Vodafone. i.e confirm your credit card in a vodafone shop.

[Dupont]

Originally Posted by daedal

I like the fact mobile phone companies are taking an active measure. When ISP's act as well it will ensure less child porn.

Indeed. This is good news.

[mikesinner]

It will be hard for them to enforce since sites like those pop up and drop in a day or two usually. Plus I think most people would be trading stuff directly so I guess they will have to get all isp's on board to make it work.

[gecko]

That is good to hear..least they're taking a pro active approach

[lyno]

I call it bullshit. It's somehow like the statement of a german prosecutor that
there are thousands of well known, commercial cp sites. Give me a fucking
brake, "known commercial cp sites"?. If the authorities know why don't they
do something? All german news the last years showed that those sites are
using mainly credit cards and dialers. Why don't they invest some time and
follow the money? Also it's hard to belief that there still is a country where
it is legal to operate a cp biz. (a country that is developed enough to
provide reliable hosting)

Simply putting up a DNS filter is like sombody is selling cocaine and grenade
machine guns on some streets of your city and all the city does to solve that
problem is that they put up some road blocks to complicate access to that
streets. Of course only for the citicens but not for the criminals.

Some EU politicians demand that the blacklist should not only contain cp but
also other 'harmful' sites and that could be the main reason behind it: If the
isp follow (and since it's for the children, how could they refuse) they have
established a EU-wide instrument for internet cencorship.

[mikesinner]

Originally Posted by lyno

I call it bullshit. It's somehow like the statement of a german prosecutor that
there are thousands of well known, commercial cp sites. Give me a fucking
brake, "known commercial cp sites"?. If the authorities know why don't they
do something? All german news the last years showed that those sites are
using mainly credit cards and dialers. Why don't they invest some time and
follow the money? Also it's hard to belief that there still is a country where
it is legal to operate a cp biz. (a country that is developed enough to
provide reliable hosting)

Simply putting up a DNS filter is like sombody is selling cocaine and grenade
machine guns on some streets of your city and all the city does to solve that
problem is that they put up some road blocks to complicate access to that
streets. Of course only for the citicens but not for the criminals.

Some EU politicians demand that the blacklist should not only contain cp but
also other 'harmful' sites and that could be the main reason behind it: If the
isp follow (and since it's for the children, how could they refuse) they have
established a EU-wide instrument for internet cencorship.

I don't want to make anyone mad but I think the money trail will lead right to the Russian government