Protecting children from mobile porn gets push from national governments

SAN JOSE & SUNNYVALE, USA: Mobixell Networks and Commtouch announced a new effort to support mobile operators worldwide to comply with proposed Web content regulation. Mobixell Seamless Access Mobile Internet Gateway, featuring Commtouch GlobalView URL Filtering offers advanced content filtering capabilities which enable telecom operators to improve security for mobile device users and ensure compliance with child protection Web content legislation.

National governments, including those in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia, are promoting legislation to protect children from pornography and other unsuitable Web content. The ability for mobile device users, many of whom are minors, to freely access the Web, has made this an especially critical issue for telecom operators. If implemented, legislation would require operators to actively block undesirable content and make certain types of content available only if users opt-in to receive it.

However, compliance with such laws could be challenging for operators, since Web pages and their content are constantly changing, and new sites are registered daily. In addition, some sites, particularly those with user-generated content (blogs, social networking sites, etc.), may contain a mixture of family-friendly and inappropriate content.

The Mobixell/Commtouch solution solves this problem, enabling telecom operators to block access to Web sites deemed unfit for children and comply with even the strictest child protection regulation. Content categorization from Commtouch is available as a module of the Mobixell Seamless Access Mobile Internet Gateway which enables telecom operators to manage complex content delivery policies, offering a variety of opt-in user protection services, including parental control, real-time rating and content verification.

“As the use of mobile devices to access the Web increases, it is essential that mobile operators provide increased protection for their users from potentially harmful Web sites,” said Noam Green, VP marketing at Mobixell. “The Mobixell/Commtouch solution lets us offer our mobile operator customers an important service for their customers to counter these threats and to ensure that operators comply with pending Web content legislation.”

The content categorization mechanism within the Mobixell platform is powered by Commtouch’s GlobalView URL Filtering solution and the cloud-based GlobalView Network. The technology continuously monitors and analyzes Web traffic to provide real-time, accurate categorization of URLs from anywhere in the world. The solution accurately categorizes dynamic user generated content and Web 2.0 sites. Commtouch’s GlobalView Network also features the largest source of real-time, accurate Web threat data via the Commtouch Security Alliance, a union of leading information security community organizations, companies and individuals that share Web threat data.

“The profusion of mobile devices and smartphones among children has increased the ease at which they have access to unsuitable content on the Web. Optional parental control solutions can be installed on mobile devices, but these would not absolve operators of responsibility when these new regulations go into effect,” said Ofer Tal, VP of international sales and business development at Commtouch. “We are pleased to work with Mobixell to provide the best possible protection for all mobile users, while ensuring service providers comply with new protection laws.”