Industry Group Fights Cell Phone Smut

Major U.S. mobile operators will identify and label adult content and equip their customers to block minors from accessing it, according to an industry pledge.

The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), which includes all the major U.S. mobile operators, unveiled the voluntary pledge on Tuesday. In the first phase of the commitment, the companies will classify the content they deliver in at least two categories: Generally Accessible Carrier Content, to be available to all users, and Restricted Carrier Content, accessible only to users over 18 or with a parent or guardian's authorization. Only items provided by carriers would be covered; content provided by end users or accessed via the public Internet would not be classified under those rules, according to guidelines published by the CTIA.

None of the carriers provides content today that would be restricted under the guidelines, said CTIA spokesperson Roxanne Robbins. Before they offer those types of content, they are committed to providing controls to prevent users from accessing it, so parents can keep their children from it, the group said. Restricted content might include offerings such as lotteries, gambling, and violent or sexually explicit material.

However, mobile phones that have Web browsing access may be able to access adult content on the Internet. A variety of tools are available for parents seeking to restrict access to such content.

Next Steps: Standards

The guidelines call for standards that would be based on existing classification criteria from third parties. They would be used to classify content in the categories of video and images, music and audio, games, text-based entertainment services, and lotteries and gaming.

In the second phase, the operators would provide filters for restricting access to content that comes from the Internet or other public networks, according to the guidelines.

Beyond the two basic classifications, the carriers committed to later rating the available content in more detail to give customers more information about the offerings. As much as possible, they will use current ratings systems familiar to consumers, the guidelines said.