| :: Recognition for content filtering The mobile industry is under pressure to find ways to protect children from pornography, cyber-bullying and unwanted Internet content on their mobiles. Carriers are effectively both Internet Service Providers and Content Providers, and as such are targeted when children, Internet pornography and mobile phones appear in the same sentence. At the recent ‘Secrets of Australian ICT Innovation’ awards, an Australian company Leopard Labs was presented with a ‘Highly Recommended’ award by Senator Coonan for the content filtering solution it has developed and patented. This solution is client-side therefore no changes are required to a carrier’s network infrastructure and there is no need to apply blanket content policies within the carrier network. It is the end-user who is empowered to manage their own content and that of minor’s in their care. Age appropriate lists are used as a basis for its “Family Friendly approved” content filter. The filter can be personalized by the customer to filter Internet content, SMS and MMS messages and can be used to block messages from unknown senders to eliminate costly premium MMS Spam and prevent all forms of mobile cyber bullying. It can also stop specific applications from being launched on the phone, for example, Instant Messaging, Chat and Bluetooth. In addition, a standard mobile anti-virus can be included avoiding any customer dissatisfaction due to increased risks with downloads. This solution can also be used by businesses. It can help ensure company’s content and security policies are being respected when staff members are out of the office and on their mobiles. It enables an administrator to apply policies to the whole company, departments or individuals, depending on the needs of the business. Families and businesses should be able to use their mobile phones to access the Internet in a safe and controlled way. This solution provides means for meeting that objective. That can only be good news for carriers, regulators and mobile phone users. Meg Dennis |
