Japan Ramps Up Mobile Web Security

• Posted: Monday, July 07, 2008
• |
• Author: pradhana
• |
• Filed under: Mobile Web Security

By Jason Ankeny

Japanese mobile content providers agreed to institute a series of safeguards to protect young consumers after authorities ignored details of a mass-murder plot posted to the mobile web. Content providers this week agreed to a list of 22 criteria that would allow brands to label their mobile websites suitable for minors--sites wishing to adopt the seal of approval must closely monitor user posts and report suspicious messages to authorities.

The knee-jerk reaction follows a recent spate of bad publicity across Japan as a segment of users have turned to the mobile web to arrange group suicides or announce their plans to commit crimes--last month, 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato killed seven people and injured 10 others by swerving his truck into a crowded pedestrian area and then stabbing random passers-by, a tragedy he foreshadowed in a series of web messages.

Authorities were roundly criticized for failing to spot Kato's warnings, with the Japanese government agreeing to research new technologies designed to filter similar web messages. [FierceMobileContent]

• Permalink
• RSS 2.0
• 
• 
• 
• 
•