Vodafone Deploys Solution to Protect Minors from Pornography and Prevent Illegal Internet Content on Mobile Phones; Prevents Malware and Enables Premium Content
European cell phone giant Vodafone is introducing a new content filter that could be used to block subscribers from using competitive phone services.
A Vodafone spokesman scoffs at such a notion. He said the new feature, and another content filter that the company has had in place for the last 18 months, are only to keep those underage from viewing illicit Web sites on their phones.
"We must act in a socially responsible way," the Vodafone spokesman said.
Blue Coat Systems, the leader in secure content and application delivery, recently announced its SG series and AV series appliances can be deployed by mobile operators to prevent minors from receiving pornography on Internet-enabled mobile phones. The solution, deployed within the mobile operator’s network, also enables protection against viruses, spyware and other malware created for the mobile handset; protects against illegal child pornography; enables premium content services; and accelerates content.
Consumer and business advocates fear that Vodafone and other network operators introducing content filters have more in mind than just meeting a social or moral mandate.
The argument seems loudest among companies that provide VOIP (voice over IP), which is a means of using the Internet to make a phone call, thus avoiding having to pay traditional phone companies anything.
VOIP is a big threat because of how much cheaper long distance and international calling rates are. The cut-rate prices are largely due to the efficiencies of using the Internet rather than the usual telephone technology created a century or so ago.
Blue Coat is the content filtering provider for Vodafone worldwide, protecting children and those with policy requests from accessing inappropriate content and services. Vodafone live! – provides access to a range of information and entertainment content from world-leading brands. The content standards of this service are based on Blue Coat’s appliances and Blue Coat WebFilter to provide a "safety first" service. This service is being rolled out to all of Vodafone’s 17 operating companies worldwide.
URL Filtering with User Understanding; Blocking Illegal Content
Mobile operators can combine Blue Coat appliances with its popular onboard WebFilter database for accuracy, speed and comprehensive filtering of Internet content. WebFilter incorporates Dynamic Real Time Rating (DRTR) technology that can categorize "on the fly" new Websites as they are being requested and then block or allow them accordingly. Operators can block access to adult content until they can confirm that the user is over the legal age.
As full Internet access becomes available on mobile telephones, operators have a mandate to protect minors from pornography and harmful content-and all users from illegal child pornography, said Craig Hick-Fraser, vice president, service providers, for Blue Coat Systems. "Mobile operators also need a solution in place to defend against future viruses and malware that will specifically target the mobile handset. Blue Coat is now fully proven as a solution for mobile operators to meet today’s challenges of content filtering, content acceleration, security protection and the ability to create future services."
But VOIPers such as Skype, a division of eBay of San Jose, Calif., and Vonage Holdings of Holmdel, N.J. must rely on the good graces of some of their biggest competitors.
That’s because VOIP operators usually do not own a network, like Vodafone does. Rather, VOIP customers must provide their own Internet connection, which leaves them at the mercy of the network owners.
Delivering Premium Content; Blocking Conflicting Service
Content filtering at the individual subscriber level is ultimately what every mobile operator wants to achieve. The Blue Coat platform is unique in that it understands the concept of an individual subscriber by simultaneously correlating information from the operator’s subscriber database, RADIUS attributes and customer details contained in the Mobile Subscriber ISDN (MSISDN). Once the MSISDN is associated with a user, policy can be applied to the session in accordance with factors, such as whether the customer is a minor, an adult or a corporate user. The service also employs the Internet Watch Foundation child pornography list to keep all customers from accessing illegal content.
The argument at the heart of this issue is about who controls the Internet.
Network owners generally believe they should be able to control what goes over their pipes, by virtue of all the investment, time and financial risk. They believe this will help them meet social and moral mandates, and allow them to better protect their business interests.
Critics of such thinking said this thinking contradicts the more Utopian ideal behind the Internet, which is to connect anyone at anytime from anywhere.
"I think this walled-garden approach that many network providers would like to create, would fundamentally change the way the Internet works," Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said during a recent Net neutrality debate in Congress.
Accelerating Web Content
In addition to providing security and services, the Blue Coat solution typically accelerates Internet content and applications by a factor of ten through use of sophisticated caching and pipelining technologies. The Blue Coat family of appliances can scale to accommodate millions of subscribers in centralized or decentralized deployments.
With the Blue Coat platform’s ability to combine awareness and understanding of subscribers with content control, mobile operators can create new revenue-producing services involving premium-rate, personalized content. The solution can block usage of Skype or other Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services that conflict with an operator’s telephony services.