Carrier quietly implements policy to block content for young users, be it WAP, SMS or MMS - possible headache for users, content providers.
This month, Vodafone UK is to launch its Content Control product, which is designed to prevent minors accessing inappropriate content. Vodafone will take on the role of age validator for its customer base, meaning that after launch (e.g. WAP-push in March, Text in December), any customer whose request to access an adult service is passed through Vodafone to an aggregator has been age verified. Vodafone will collect age registration details for its customer at point of sale, or through a web and wap registration system. Once a customer has successfully opted out of Content Control, no further restrictions will be placed on their access to internet, voice, text or MMS.
Adult services are to be identified either by registration or by an algorithm and automatically blocked by Vodafone if the user is not known to be an adult. Adult text services are marked by their text short codes beginning with 69 or 89, and will be controlled automatically from December. Texts to and from these numbers from non-adult users will automatically be blocked and the user informed accordingly.
The Vodafone web and WAP gateways will be restricted by a filter comprised of an index of known sites and an algorithm. Unreadable content will automatically be blocked, which means that some innocuous content might be inaccessible. Vodafone has therefore introdued a white list for 'safe' content. If a site is blocked, Vodafone will inform the user.
Vodafone has also published a detailing what they deem to be restricted content.
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