Children, Mobile Phones and theInternet: the Mobile Internet andChildren
Proceedings of the Experts’ Meeting in Tokyo, Japan
Thursday 6th and Friday 7th March 2003

Co-hosted byChildnet International and theInternet Association, Japan
Internet Association Japan

With grateful thanks to NTT Do Co Mo, KDDI, Vodafone Group Foundation, J Phone, NEC,
Panasonic, Fujitsu and Nifty Corporation for their generous sponsorship of this event.

CONTENTS
SessionIntroduction
Children, Mobile Phones and the Mobile
Internet – and introduction to the issues
How young people use mobile phones
Academic Perspectives
Media on the Move: A research PerspectiveChildren and Mobile Technology: theJapanese Experience
Constructing a Specific Culture: Young
People’s use of the Mobile Phone as a Social
Performance
Respondent

Speaker
Nigel Williams, Chief Executive, Childnet International

Page
3
4

A discussion with three Japanese young people, Miki,
Yuriko and Aato.

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Professor Kirsten Drotner, Centre for Child and YouthMedia Studies, University of Southern Denmark
Professor Masanao Takyama, Faculty of Environment
and Information Studies, Mushashi Institute ofTechnology, (until March 2003), Keio University (from
April 2003)
Professor Andre Caron, University of Montreal – (outline
provided by Jane Tallim of Media Awareness Network,
Canada as Prof Caron was unable to travel)
Professor Sonia Livingstone, Department of Social
Psychology, London School of Economics

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Discussion
Future use of Mobile Phones – Industry perspectives
View on Evolution of Mobile Phone usage
Dr Yukata Yusada, General Manager, Service
Development Department and Strategic Planning
Division, KDDI Corporation
Ethical Principles for mobile Internet services Hideaki Nagata, Manager, i-mode Businessand I-mode contents
Department, NTT DoCoMo Inc
Mobile Trends as they might affect Children – Angus Cormie, Head of Portals – Products O2
A European PerspectiveChild Protection on the Mobile Internet
Linda Criddle, Product Planner, Microsoft
Respondent
Professor Kenji Naemura, Graduate School of Mediaand Governance, Keio University
Discussion
Opportunities and Challenges
A Broadcaster’s perspective
Greg Childs, Head of Future TV, CBBC, BBC
Children the Mobile Internet and Helplines
Dr Ute Navidi, Head of Policy, Childline, UK
A US Perspective
Dr Larry Magid, founder of Safekids.com and
Safeteens.com
Discussion
Dating Sites and the Japanese Experience
Mr Yasumasa Kioka, National Police Agency, Japan(followed by brief discussion)
Current and future safety issues
John Carr, Associate Director, Children and Technology
Unit, NCH, UK
Mobile Phones, Young People andDennis Nelthorpe, Consumer Law Centre, Victoria,
Consumer Issues
Australia
Respondent
Trond Waage, Norwegian Ombudsman for Children
Discussion
Regulatory and Self Regulatory Responses
The potential for labelling and filtering of
Akio Kokubu, Vice-President, Internet Association Japan
content on Mobiles
Contact, Content and Cost
George Kidd, Director, Independent Committee for theSupervision of Standards of Telephone Information
Services (ICSTIS), UK
A European Approach
Richard Swetenham, Programme Co-ordinator, Safer
Internet Action Plan, European Commission
Respondent
Professor Bernard Tan, Chairman of the National
Internet Advisory Committee, Singapore
Discussion and Final Remarks
Appendix 1
List of Participants

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15
16
17
18
20
21
24
26
27
29
31
33
35
36
38
40
43
44
45
47
51
53
54
55

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INTRODUCTION
The Experts’ Meeting was held in the Mitsubishi Research Institute and was attended by 81
people (see Appendix I for the list of participants).
Childnet International and the Internet Association, Japan have been co-operating for someyears on issues that affect child safety and participation on the Internet. The two organisations
held a joint meeting at the Second World Congress on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation ofChildren in Yokohama in December 2001. At that meeting some of the challenges posed by
the new 3G mobile services in Japan were first discussed. Childnet and IA Japan decided that
it would be helpful to invite a group of experts from a range of sectors to come to Tokyo andlook more closely at how children might benefit from the opportunities these new services
offered and be protected from the potential dangers they posed.
We are very grateful to all the participants who gave of their time and contributed to thediscussion and especially to those who spoke. We especially appreciate the input of three
Japanese young people, Miki, Yuriko and Aato, who not only patiently answered all ourquestions, and demonstrated their expertise in using new services, but also attended
throughout all the sessions. Thanks go to their parents and schools who supported theirattendance.
Thanks also to the sponsors of the meeting NTT Do Co Mo, KDDI, Vodafone Group
Foundation, J Phone, NEC, Panasonic, Fujitsu and Nifty Corporation, without whose support
we could not have held these important discussions.
Nigel Williams of Childnet International chaired the meeting and his presentation gives an
overview of the purpose and nature of the meeting.
Disclaimer
The sessions covered at this meeting are outlined on the following pages. These notes havebeen prepared by Will Gardner, Research and Policy Officer of Childnet International. They are
a summary of the presentations made and discussions held. While every attempt has been
made to be as accurate as possible some inaccuracies may remain for which Childnet accepts
responsibility!
Many of the Powerpoint presentations are available on the Conference web site at
http://www.iajapan.org/hotline/2003mobilepro-en.html

3Thursday 6th MarchMORNING SESSION: 9am
Current use
Akio Kokubu, the Vice-President of the Internet Association Japan, welcomed everyone andintroduced the background for the meeting. He highlighted the importance of the safety ofchildren on new mobile technologies, and his hopes that this meeting would try to resolve thisissue. At the same time he also hoped that kids could better enjoy the new technology and use
the phones in a positive way, and that the meeting would seek to find some balance between
the potential positives and negatives of the new technology
Children, mobile phones and the Internet –An Introduction to the Opportunities and Issues
Nigel Williams, Chief Executive, Childnet International
Nigel Williams began his presentation by highlighting the rapid and far-reaching advances in mobile
technology, and he also referred to the capabilities of phones, particularly in Japan, at the present time.
He explained about Childnet International and its work. Childnet is a charity established in 1995 andworks around the world with many organisations in many different countries to help make the Internet agreat and safe place for children. Childnet is very positive about the Internet and the opportunities it
offers children to connect, create and discover. However, Childnet recognises that in order for theInternet to be ‘great’ for children it must also be safe. Childnet puts great importance on finding thebalance between encouraging the positive and responding to the negative. The Cable and WirelessChildnet Awards programme is an example of promoting the positive of the Internet, rewarding young
people, and those working with them who are developing outstanding, innovative online projects which
directly benefit other children worldwide. Nigel Williams pointed to Childnet’s Kidsmart website(www.kidsmart.org.uk ), a website containing practical Internet safety advice and access to offline
resources for parents, teachers and kids, as an example of Childnet’s work responding to the negative.
Why is this meeting being held?
It is an opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other. This meeting is looking at the social
use of mobiles by children. Though there is a debate to be had around the important issues of young
people’s health, this fell outside the scope of this meeting. The rapid uptake of mobile technologies bychildren was undeniable, and we needed to understand and respond to that reality.
Why is this meeting being held in Japan?
Because Japan has been an early adopter of the latest 3G technologies, and Japanese children were
the first children to take up the Internet services accessed via mobile phones. It is therefore important tocome and learn from the experience here. Rather than dismiss Japan as being too different to be able
to learn from, we would rather look at what is different and what is the same with the Japaneseexperience.
Why are you here?
The meeting is cross-sectoral, and includes representatives of industry, both Internet industry andmobile companies, child welfare organisations, academics, regulatory bodies, policy foundations andlaw enforcement. The different types of participant will hopefully enable us to learn from the different
sectors. The meeting is also international, and participants have come from a range of countries in
Europe, North America, Australia, Japan and Singapore.
Nigel Williams also said a word of thanks to the sponsors of this meeting.

4He went on to explain that the meeting was a private meeting but was not secret. This was toencourage people to be open and free in their discussion. He also pointed out that though the meeting
was representative it was not comprehensive – in other words, not everyone that matters is present.
Other companies were interested and organisations in different countries were interested in coming but
it was necessary to limit the numbers. The composition of the meeting as it is will ensure there will be abroad ranging discussion.
The findings of the meeting will be published. A report will be produced capturing the main points of thepresentations and discussions. In the discussions there will be no quoting by name. The meeting has
not courted media coverage of this event, and it was explained that Larry Magid’s participation was due
to his position as founder of Safekids.com rather than as a journalist.
The Fixed Internet:
The Internet connects you to the world, and thus brings with it a wealth of possibilities for children. It is
like bringing the world into your classroom or home, and thus it brings with it both good and bad. Nigel
Williams outlined both the opportunities that the fixed Internet has offered to kids and also outlined thedangers for children, and asked whether it was going to be the same issues when looking at mobile
services, or will the issues change, or will some become more or less important?
The opportunities offered to kids by the fixed Internet, he grouped into three activities. He mentionedthat kids have been quick to exploit these.
• Discover – relating to searching for and finding information, for homework or projects forexample, describing the Internet as the biggest library in the world• Connect – bringing kids together cheaply via services such as e-mail, groups/communities,
chat, and instant messenger.
• Create – anyone can be a publisher on the Internet, in the form of websites, text/art orsounds.
The dangers for kids which have shown themselves with the fixed Internet can be grouped under 3 Cs:• Content – content that can be inappropriate and disturbing for children, such as pornography
and race/hate sites, or content that may be inaccurate or misleading.
• Contact – this can vary from threatening e-mails, to hassling messages, even to contact from
paedophiles in chatrooms.
• Commerce – this covers both concerns about privacy but also the misleading nature of some
online advertising where it is pot always obvious what is advertising and what is content.
What are the attractions of mobiles for children?
• They are personal and private. Children do not need to ask for permission from their parents to
use it. The personal nature of the device means that it is not like the PC in terms of possibilitiesof parental involvement and supervision.
• Image and fashion. There is a perceived need to have the latest phone and evenembarrassment to have an old phone.
• Constant communication, wherever you are, at any time, people are able to get in touch withyou.
• Price – this influences how people use their phones. For example, if text is cheaper, then they
will use that rather than voice.
• The services offered – for example SMS, games and ring tones.
It is difficult to prioritise these attractions as they will vary not only from country to country but also fromyoung person to young person.
Global differences
There are easily noticeable differences in the take up of existing services globally. The US has beenslow in comparison to Japan and Europe; why are young people in the US only now beginning to havesignificant uptake of mobile services?
There are several factors which may account for global differences:

5

•
•
•
•
•

Technical differences – in places where fixed networks (or land lines) are limited, mobiles are
the main means of communication, for example Cambodia or parts of Africa.
Competition with fixed networks – in the US local calls are very cheap. Children in fact often
have telephones in their bedroom and so to some extent already have the vehicle for personalcommunication offered by mobile phones.
Marketing has an influence to why there is a difference to take up.
Culture and fashion
Price

With the passage of time it is very possible that these differences may not be significant. However, for
now it is important to listen to the Japanese experience.
The G-Factor
Nigel Williams referred to a recent newspaper article that suggested 3G referred to Gambling, Girls andGaming, He was not so sure that these would be the key services, but he felt that it was necessary todefine the terms 2G, 2.5G and 3G for the purpose of this meeting. He used a slide designed by Mike
Short of O2 to do this. Broadly speaking 2G includes peer to peer communication and SMS, 2.5G
carries some digital content and adds MMS (Mutli-media Messaging Service), Java Games and WAP
Push, and 2.5G/3G adds increasing digital content, rich media, streaming, video, audio and graphics.
In Europe we have 2.5G and some 3G services. In Japan there has been 2.5G and 3G for some time.
However, we are interested in the use rather than the technicalities. What are the different things thatchildren want to use from the new services offered and how will they use the new services?
What services will be of most interest to young users?
Services likely to be of interest to adult and business users, and also to young users.
For Adult and business users:• Office e-mail• Information• Mapping• Sending data
• Banking• Entertainment
We don’t know how the balance wilI be, whether the key service of interest will be business orentertainment.
For young users:• Being in touch with each other• Meeting new people, eg dating• Entertainment and games• Links with television – voting, competitions• Anything fun….
What opportunities will new services offer to young users?
• Empowerment – for example voting and participating; mobile services can and have in somecontexts already been a way for young people to express their views• Bridging the digital divide – this can be the case in areas where the fixed Internet is weak; forexample, will 3G mobiles offer Internet access for young people in parts of the world where nolandlines exist?
• Calling for help – this is relevant to accessing helplines, and there is also the potential for GPS
location devices if a young person is in trouble/difficulty, for example by tracking emergency
calls• Health –there is an example of mobile technology being used to communicate the blood sugar
levels of a diabetic at home to the hospital, and the doctor communicating back, evenadministering the relevant level of insulin via the phone.

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•
•
•

Education – there are opportunities raised in various forms, one of which can be for use infieldwork, perhaps using the camera function.
Richer communication with friends – the opportunities could lead to a changing nature offriendship and of expressing friendship.
Lots of fun …. and many more opportunities we haven’t thought of!

What dangers will new services pose to young users?
• Meeting exploitative adults• Predators knowing where they are• Bullying• Pornography• Advertising• Financial pressures
Essentially the dangers consist of all those that the fixed Internet poses to children, but over a mobile
platform these dangers are present all the time wherever you are.
So what can we do?
• We can anticipate and monitor the issues and opportunities, very much the reason why all of us
are here today.
• We can promote the positives• We can learn from each other and also from the fixed Internet experience• We can strive for an integrated approach with different sectors working together. Industry needs
to think as a whole industry and put aside marketing issues when it comes to child safety.
Response strategy:
There are four main areas of response with the fixed Internet which may be relevant, but questions areraised by how they will apply to mobiles:• Legislation and law enforcement: Is legislation comprehensive in covering new mobile services?
Are law enforcement trained?
• Self-regulation and hotlines: Who will regulate? Will hotlines and providers cooperate?
• Filtering and technical tools: Server level filtering? Who holds the password? What about having
handsets designed for kids?
• Education and awareness: who are the target audience? What medium to use – eg via
handsets? An industry campaign?
A final plea….
Let’s adopt a realistic, informed and balanced approach to new mobile services, and ensure thatchildren benefit rather than are exploited. We should make sure that the good stories outweigh thescare stories.

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How young people use mobile telephones:
A discussion with three Japanese Young People
Three Japanese High School students came to the Experts’ meeting to talk about how they use theirphones. They were 17 and 18 years old. Miki, Yuriko and Aato.
Nigel Williams asked them several questions about their phones and how they use them, and there
were also many questions from other participants.
How do you use your phone?
Miki explained that she uses her phone for telephone calls, e-mail and accessing the Internet. She also
has her school schedule and diary function on her phone which she uses a lot. She chats with her
friends, and exchanges ideas and opinions, and also with friends of friends. She plays games anddownloads music off the Internet. She is in touch with her parents most often and then her friends. She
uses e-mail and makes phone calls about the same and described them as equally important functions.
Yuriko explained that she chats with friends using her phone and uses her mobile to phone clubmembers to notify them of meetings and schoolmates. She explained that there was no restriction on
using mobiles in school. On school premises is OK and there is even no restriction on using phones inclass though students know that they are not supposed to. Some students check their e-mail in class.
Aato also said there was no restriction on using phones in school. He values the timeliness of thedevice – he can call his friends at the moment he wants to. He also uses the e-mail function. He has a
dictionary function on his phone, Japanese to English which he finds useful. He can access the Internet
for extra information, though this is not allowed during exams. He knows of many students who playgames during class.
Aato’s phone has a camera. He uses it to play with his friends. He takes photos of the blackboard inclass and also of his exam schedule. Taking notes by camera and then e-mailing them to the PC is theeasiest way.
How often do you change your phone?
Miki – she changed her handset last October. She had her previous phone for one and a half years
before that. She was teased by her friends so she changed it to a colour one. She would usually have aphone for 2 years.
Yuriko – she only got her first phone a year ago. Her phone is not cool looking now but she won’tchange it for the next 6 months at least.
Aato – He changed his handset in January this year. Before that he had used one for one year. It got
broken after one year - the hinge went. He felt that the longevity of the phone depends very much on
how you use it. The hardware gets broken after a year or so.
Other information:
E-mail is distinct to SMS, as in Japan it is not possible to SMS to users of other providers.
Chatting – the display is slow and the charge is high. Though Aato has used chat he prefers to do thison his PC.
It is possible to send messages to a PC and vice versa.

8

A question was asked about spam. Yuriko explained that her e-mail address was rather complex, so no
one can think of it, and she had received no unwanted mail. On the occasion she had received
unwanted messages she can confirm the caller’s number and reject any she doesn’t know. However,she has friends that had simple addresses that received 50 abusive messages per day.
Mobile technology has made life easier and more efficient, particularly social life. It is possible tocontact friends about trivial matters without disturbing family members.
A question was asked about comparing your social life before you had a phone, and whether young
people without a phone would be socially disadvantaged. Yuriko felt that there was no segregation
whether you had a phone or not. Some of her friends don’t have mobiles. Sometimes people forget
their phones. This doesn’t disturb friendships, and having a phone doesn’t affect social life at all.
Costs: How do you pay?
Yuriko – my father pays the charges. He does this by direct debit from his account. I have never seen
the bill, and did so for the first time only in preparation for this conference and I was surprised at how
much it was. My friends pay from their pocket money. Others use public phones, and only use mobiles
when they must. My parents have never complained but I communicate mostly with my parents on mymobile.
Miki – she explained that her parents paid the basic fee and she paid anything over that, so she wascareful with her use of the phone.
Aato – he explained that the bill is left on the table for him to see when he gets home. Pocket money
tends to fluctuate if he uses his phone too much.
Negative things: receiving bad messages, dating sites – have you or your friends had any badexperiences?
Aato explained that before he had his present phone he was unable to change his e-mail address, andthus once spammers had his address he would receive 20-30 unwanted e-mails per day. He had to pay
charges for this. He didn’t even know who was the sender. He also mentioned ‘one ring’ messages,
whereby his mobile rings once and then cuts off. When you ring back the number that rang, you areconnected to a premium rate number.
A friend of his had used a dating site, and found that the person they met was 30 years old.
Miki said that it was not just dating sites which posed the problem of anonymous contact. Hobby sites
also provided a similar platform, and a friend of hers had become friendly with someone via such a site
who then started sending malicious e-mails.
Yuriko mentioned that she and others had never received any education about dating sites. In fact
fashion magazines make reference to such sites and encourage meetings and encounters throughthese sites. In junior high school children start reading these magazines. Thus kids think it is not a badthing. The magazines only give the positive side of these sites and so kids are not so aware of thenegative or dangerous side.
Have mobile phones changed your relationship with your parents? Has it led to greater freedom
or are your parents more controlling?
Yuriko felt the latter was the case. ‘My Mum asks where I am at least 5 times a day, and she is also
asking what would I like for dinner. Parents would be concerned if I didn’t have a mobile, as with after
school activities I come back home late. They monitor me and it is a sense of comfort for them. They
were worried all the time before I had the phone’.

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Do you consider the health issue?
Aato agreed that he was aware of this. However he felt he could not defend himself, particularly as
there a so many radiating devices in the home such as TV, PC and microwave. He felt he couldn’t giveup his mobile. He does have concerns with 5-6 year olds, and primary school children, evenkindergarten students having and using phones.
Is there a time when you think communication via mobile is not appropriate, and you would
write a letter instead for example?
A letter remains once the person has seen it and is thus less private. E-mail is used for love messages
within the peer group. E-mail can be done remotely whereas a letter must be delivered.
It is inappropriate to use the phone during class time. If a friend is on a break in school and sends me amessage and I am in class then there is an issue.
The young people had never heard of a case of bullying via mobile, or of using mobiles to cheat inexams.
Do your parents ask you what you are using your phone for?
None of the young people had parents that intervene, or interfere.

10Media on the move: A research perspective
Professor Kirsten Drotner, Centre for Child and Youth Media Studies, University of Southern
Denmark
Kirsten Drotner began by outlining two dominant trends in media culture today: Media convergence andMedia mobility. These two things coming together bring about a shift in media today and reflect theincreasing complexity of communication.
It is not possible to speak of mobile phones in isolation. Mobiles are integrated into everyday life. In
northern Europe 90% of children 12 and over have mobile phones, and half of younger children.
SMS (Short Messaging Service or texting) is very important. Statistics say that there are 5-6 messages
sent per day per capita, but as older people don’t tend to use SMS much one can conclude thatchildren use it a lot, perhaps to the level of sending 20-30 messages per day.
Cameras phones are available but not popular as yet. It is possible to download images off the internet
onto the phones at present.
TV programmes are using SMS for audience interaction and participation – for example the TV show
Big Brother where the audience are encouraged to vote via SMS to evict members of the show –invigorating the participation of younger audience.
In older media, such as magazines, it is possible to access new ring tones.
Research development:
There needs to be a shift from:• a focus on single media, for example on TV in isolation, to a focus on media milieus.
• a focus on media as a technology to more on a focus on media as a content/media ascommunication• a focus on production or provider to a focus on users.
What should be our research approach?
A complex media development must be matched by a complex research approach – we need a joint
research approach bringing a social perspective focussing on the user, uses and practices, andinteraction, but also bringing a media perspective, including content, meaning-making, interactivity, andthe way you can do new things.
Empirical trends: social perspective:
Access does not equal use (Livingstone & Bovill, eds. 2001) – who has access, what is it used for.
Reconfiguring use in public and private spheres (Habermas, Goffman). A move to public for a what
were previously in the private sphere. ‘Front stage’ ‘Backstage’. Reconfiguring boundaries of public andprivate media uses irrespective of spheres. The mobile phone is used for private communication in a
public sphere. This leads to both Private media uses and discourses on intimacy, and also Public media
uses, and discourses on participation and power.
Social Perspective: Discourses on intimacy:
Gendering of discourses – there is a perceived difference in mobile usage between the genders:• Boys and young men: sexualised discourses directed at the opposite sex. Conversations thatwould be difficult face to face are easier via mobile phone. Thus it makes perhaps a good way
to test out intimacy of discourse with girls. Images display sexualised playfulness.
• Girls and young women: desexualised discourses directed at the same sex. Keeping contact
with best girl friend. It is not the factual importance of what is being communicated but the
being in contact which is important. Cuddly images are displayed.

11Social perspective: discourses on participation and power:• Sports clubs and after school care: adults circulate official messages, sending out collective
SMSs, using mobile communication as an official noticeboard. Children use messages toundermine the official messages, circulating illicit messages and irreverent rumours. Testing theboundaries of authority and of generations, seeking to undermine what is thought of as
appropriate.
• Schools: in Northern Europe there is an official ban on phones in class. Some schools even ban
phone use in break. Teachers however can undermine school policy by using the mobile
technology – for example, if a pupil is ill at home in bed, and a decision is needed on a projectfrom them, or an update on their work, they can be reached by mobile.
An adult perspective is on safety and security, being in contact with pupils and kids. Children’s
perspective is one of autonomy: the mobile is ‘my own property’ and is important for my being a person
in my own right. On the other hand, one is starting to see among 16-18 year olds that forgetting theirmobile is a way of asserting autonomy when they are going to a party, and then parents can’t reachthem.
Empirical trends: media perspective• Relevance of substance is central to interest (Livingstone and Bovill, eds. 2001). It is therelevance of content on media that is important for kids’ uses, and not the technology in itself.
Most users are interested in the content and this is the driving force for the take up of newtechnology.
• Production of signs central to meaning-making (graphics, text, sound – and mixtures of these).
Mobile technology makes it possible to make and change graphics, text as you go along andyou can do it all the time. The Internet on the move. Expressiveness is an important aspect ofinterest for users. Receive an image, put it on the PC, change it and put it back on the phone forexample.
• Interactivity is expressive ‘sign play’• Possibilities of personalised expressions as well as collective communication.
The technology is not just individualising. Young people speak alone on their mobiles though with 2 or 3
people standing around them and making comments/feeding into the conversation. Thus it is not just a
personal communication tool. It is very much part of their youth culture and their interactive culture in
general. The public discourse on individualised media culture needs to be balance against the empiricalreality. Mobile technology is a part of a peer culture that focuses on collective use.
There is a public discourse in Denmark and elsewhere that focuses on disintegrating literacies due to
SMS, which is ‘accused’ of mainstreaming a written pidgin language. This needs to be balanced withthe empirical reality that is in fact much more versatile.
Mobile futures?
In the convergence cycle, for the user mobile phone communication resembles Internet communication
more than fixed phone services. They are multi-modal in a way not like the fixed phone:• multiple-sense communication,• both synchronous and asynchronous communication• playful interactivities• personal as well as collective interaction
They are convergent interactivities on the move – the Internet on the mobile phone.
Implications for future research:• there is a need for more convergent media and ICT research, and it is important we face this.
• We need to acknowledge multiple theoretical perspectives• We need to find new ways of studying this media and of following methods of communication.
• There is a need to forge alliances with regulators and industry in a way not done before.

12Children and mobile technology: the Japanese experience
Professor Masanao Takeyama1, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Mushashi
Institute of Technology (until March 2003), Keio University(from April 2003)
Mobile phone use in Japan
In Japan, mobile phone penetration is 62% of the total population, which means about 80 million people
have and use mobiles, and 60 million phone users have IP connectivity. Every year the number ofphone owners increases. Looking at the age range 12-30 one finds mobile phone use amongst 21% of
the 12-14 age group, 64% of the 15-17 age group, 92% of the 18-22 age group, and 86% amongst the
23-30 year olds. In the three younger age groups girls mobile phone use is marginally higher than boys
– 28% in 12-14 group, 68% in the 15-17 group, and 95% in the 18-22 group.
Generations trying to adapt to New media/Generations growing up with New media
Looking at Internet access by mobile phone, one can see that the younger users have the highest
proportion of those mobile phone users who access the Internet via their phone. 78% of the 10-20 year
olds, and 72% of the 20-30 year olds. The use of the phone is different from generation to generation,
as for example those in the 50-60 age group, only 21% of mobile phone users access the Internet via
their phone, while 33% of this age group who could access the Internet via their phone do not. The
older generations face more difficulties adapting to the new media. High school students and younger
are growing up with new media technology. They are a born digital network generation and thus theway they communicate with other people is very different to older generations. It is interesting to see
how the Digital generation – defined by Prof Takeyama as those that grew up in the time between thearrival of Sony’s first home VCR in 1975 and the arrival of Sony’s Playstation in 1994 (a period that also
saw the Sony Walkman in 1979, the music compact disc 1982, Nintendo’s mobile video game ‘Game
Boy’ in 1989), technologies that were multimedia, individual, interactive, and on demand - are able toadapt to the Net Generation technologies. Net Generation technologies are from the Internet boom in
1995, along with the mobile phone boom and the popularisation of digital cameras, DVDs DoCoMos imode, Windows 98, camera equipped mobile phone (2000), and 3G mobile phones and GPS equipped
mobile phones in 2001, which display the characteristics of networking, self-navigation andcollaboration.
Lessons learned from Multi-media camps
Professor Takeyama described multi-media summer camps organised and run by university student
staff and sponsored by the National Youth Centre for primary school kids and their parents, in which thechildren experienced and experimented with new digital media through playing and learning. The
children were given mobile technology to try out. The interest was to observe how the kids interactedwith the new technology. The idea was not to teach them how to use the technology, but to watch them
explore it themselves.
There were two camps held, first in Tokyo in 1999, and second in Okinawa in 2000. On the Tokyo
camp, the children were using GPS, PDAs, digital camera and the Internet and the theme was‘Exploring Tokyo with wearing digital media’. The kids were given assignments and control centres
would receive the information the kids sent in and they would compute a kind of homepage from theuploaded information. The GPS functionality enabled the kids to know where they were and for theorganisers to know where the kids were. It was found that the kids were able to learn how to use thenew equipment quickly. They didn’t use all functionalities, though the children were able to teach eachother. On the Okinawa camp, the children we using i-mode, digital cameras and notebook computers,
and the theme was mobile collaboration.
The experiments in the camps provided new learning for the organisers and for the kids. The children
were very adaptive to the new technology. At the same time however, the new media could be used to1

Professor Takeyama also gave credit to his co-researcher Tomohiro Kawamura of Child Research Net.

13

hand down older culture. The new media can be a tool in the communication across generations. The
mobile Haiku contest was designed so young people and older people can pair and express
themselves by creating Haiku, 17 syllable poems, while walking around town. The same experiment
was done throughout the nation. The poems were uploaded, and it was possible to evaluate and scorethe poems. Any one could participate and act as a judge.
Camera-equipped mobile phones:
The penetration rate of the phones amongst mobile phone users: About 27% of boys between 10 and
20 have camera-equipped phones, and of these 24% use the camera, and the figure is 23% have, and
21% use, for girls of the same age. This age group has the highest penetration level of all.
Typical use of the camera function:• Using facial image to express their feeling, to send to their boyfriend, girlfriend or best friend – eg
‘Do you like my new hairstyle?’• Personification – using pets or toys as a proxy for a message. Dolls speak to you and in return,dolls speak back to you.
• Reporting the current situation through one’s perspective – pictures can be taken and used to be‘live’ reporting of your current situation, or example images can say ‘I’m stuck in traffic’, or ‘ I am
having curry for dinner’, ‘I have arrived at school’ etc.
• Live expressions of emotions and feelings – for eg a picture of a front door can convey themessage ‘Oh my god! I forgot to bring a key and I am waiting outside’
Characteristics of Mobile Photo Messaging:• Live and instant expression eg Reporting what is happening to myself right here; The message isonly meaningful to send now; Instant emotions and feelings• A photo sent to a particular person eg a photo meaningful particularly to the receiver, sharing
one’s experience with some special person• A rich combination of image and text. A photo can alter the meaning of the text.
Mobile video communication:
The latest phone provide the new capability of mobile video communication. This enables vicarious
experience via mobile – people can experience by mobile what other people are doing, experiencing
their body movements such as walking, pointing etc, and also their experience of personal
consciousness, following their mental process, seeing what takes their attention or interest. One canshare this with others in a remote location. One can envisage teleconferencing via mobile. Perhaps
uses for this includes remote consumer interview and survey, or live teaching in a classroom, remotelycollaborated fieldwork, visual navigation and guidance etc. The next generation will come up with new
applications for this technology.
Children and Mobile Visual Communication:
There are great possibilities of this new technology for children:•••

Promoting the understanding of others: eg Attention to other person’s perspective andinterest; sympathy with other person’s emotions and feelings; diminishing egocentric thought;
Supporting remote assistance and collaboration: eg fieldwork, training, education;
cooperative problem solving; and mobile network intelligence’
Possibility of new culture and arts: eg a new and rich way of expression and interpretation;even art can be facilitated by the phones; visual poem, diary

In Japanese society we have also seen malicious use of new technology, and one can see how photos
have been linked to dating sites, and it necessary to take care of the negative side in order to fully
grasp the positive.

14

Constructing a specific culture: Young people’s use of the mobile phone as a social
performance
Prof Andre Caron, University of Montreal

Unfortunately, Dr Andre Caron had been advised by his doctor not to travel so he was unable to cometo Japan to give his presentation. He had, however, shared his presentation with Jane Tallimm of Media
Awareness Network, Canada, and she agreed to give a broad outline of his presentation in order tofeed into the discussion.
Though cell phone use in Canada is traditionally behind that of Europe and Japan, Canadian use isquickly catching up. Perhaps other technologies had previously filled a gap here, such as pagers.
Prof Caron’s study is looking at the interface between young people and technology and not looking at
the demographics of phone ownership and use. For example, looking at the etiquette, the aesthetics,
and the identity-making of mobile phones. The research is at the preliminary stage, and this paper
comes from analysis of qualitative discursive data coming from the first exploratory part of the study.
Young people are pro-active in policing their peers. Those who are politically incorrect are frowned
upon for example. Some have taken a non-adopting stance with regard to the new technology, the ‘wedon’t need them’ attitude. But once they are older they are more likely to see them as a necessity.
The study has discovered some new elements: ‘On’ technology for example - The technology must be‘on’ for young people. If not on then this must be explained to peers. Also cell phone use in public as aperformance.
The research will monitor and record young people’s use of mobile phones, even recording theirconversations and messages. The transcripts of the conversations will be deconstructed. People tend
to forget they are being recorded after a couple of days. The need for this is to know how kids
themselves see things. The kids chose the questions and also the technology. Young people should not
be underestimated. They use technology to micro-manage their social interaction.

.

15

The RESPONDENTProf Sonia Livingstone, Department of Social Psychology, London School of Economics
The research context:
There needs to be an attempt to counter the hype that surrounds new technology. We often read that
we are at the edge of a precipice.
The new medium must be contextualized with the old media and other aspects of people’s lives.
Do the lessons from old media apply?
• We don’t see displacement of old media use by new media use. We see supplementing• Each new medium becomes associated with moral questions and panic• Remediation. A new medium enters, old media change position.
• New media will mean new social practices. In fact use new media in traditional ways.
Do these apply to mobile technology?
We are striving to understand what is new, both socially and technologically. How does the technology
change society and how does it get used within the social context.
What is the balance between the public and the private:This is understood in different ways in different cultural contexts. The relationship between public andprivate leads to different kinds of concern and opportunity. Private can be very individual. For example
like the Walkman bubble now we have the mobile bubble, disconnected from what is shared andcommon. But the new technology also serves as an opportunity for sharing experiences and connectingwith others.
What is private is not the same as what is secret. One can see some young people’s use of mobile
phones as a means of evading adult interference, yet adults use mobile phones as a means to monitor
their children, thus we have secrecy vs surveillance.
There is private as commercial. The technology may be a way in which children are drawn into a morecommercialised world.
There is something of the idea of gift-giving in sending texts and receiving images. A young person canbe in a system of obligations, having to be connected. Is that culture positive, and freely created bykids?
Sonia Livingstone expressed a concern for those that are left out. It may only be 10% who do not havemobile phones, but it remains important to know who these 10% are. Are they from low-income
families, particular ethnic groups for example.
The research community is taking a child-centred approach. This raises two kinds of question. Why are
we talking about children? Children as pioneers, leading the way in the use of the new technology.
Children as a vulnerable group. And to industry, children are an exciting new market.
How do we pursue the balance between opportunities and dangers in the context of research?
Is Media literacy a key part of the answer?

16

DISCUSSION
With reference to how to regulate against the negative side, it was mentioned that there is at present novisible restriction on the activity of kids photos being posted on dating sites in Japan.
The physical dangers of distracted children on the street looking at images/video were mentioned.
In Japan, video-enabled phones are still very new so there have not yet been many cases of thecirculation of disturbing images. There are some issues surrounding children’s photos being posted on
dating sites. And there is some child pornography on sites.
It was asked if there was a new kind of creativity, different to the fixed Internet, by people using the newtechnology. It was mentioned that it is difficult to research the area of creativity as it is very difficult to
get at the data. Reasons of privacy come into play here, and sometimes the data available has beencollected by commercial companies for their own purposes.
It was felt that the new technologies bring us back to the old questions of how to equip children to face
and work with the whole media ensemble. The hype is that ‘children know everything’, and parents buy
into this hype and do not engage. Many teachers want media education, but there is an uphill struggle
here as it is not considered as important.
There is a distinction between creativity and content creation. The old scares include TV being acontent receiving experience only. With mobile technology you have senders as well as receivers. We
don’t yet know about creativity. The more the technology develops, the more enabling of creativity it willbe.
There is a difference between creativity with regards a website and with regards mobile technology.
With the latter children can be on site, dispatching information at the same time that the event ishappening. Mobiles can also be connected to desktop activities to give more creative opportunities.
The socio-economic differences amongst children was not something that formed part of the researchin the media camps in Japan. It was mentioned that in Japan there are a smaller number of children
born in each household. Grandparents can buy and pay for phones of their grandchildren. This is due todemographic changes.
With regard to socio-economic status of users and access, one saw a freeing up of access to theInternet when there was a shift from a charge per minute to a set charge, and there is hope that mobile
technology will show this too.
In Scandinavia mobile technology is so pervasive, that you can see a social difference in uses rather
than in access, particularly with pictures, which are more expensive to send. In Scandinavia public
libraries are important for poorer children. The libraries have to equalise all medias – music, Internet
access, printed matter – and perhaps public service access can equalise here. This led to the questionof whether it was possible to have public mobile devices.

17

AFTERNOON SESSION: 1.45pm
Future Use
View on Evolution of Mobile-Phone usage
Dr Yutaka Yusada, General Manager, Service Development Department au Strategic Planning
Division, KDDI Corporation
The mobile communication service is growing. There has been a steady increase in the numbers ofmobile handset subscribers with access to the Internet in Japan to 60.2 million in January 2003 (out ofa total mobile handset subscribers figure of 73.9 million). This figure of 60.2 million is made up of threeservices, i-mode 36.6 million, EZweb 12 million and J-SKY 11.7 million.
Dr Yusada described the evolution of Data Transmission Rate and Prospect, showing rates of 384 kbps
and 2Mbps, and he referred to 4G which could be 100Mbps including high speed wireless LAN.
The mobile handset market is close to saturation. But the consumer market goes further than people.
Phones can be embedded into objects, such as cars. A car connected to the Internet can enable thedriver and passengers to receive traffic information, the location of a friend, provide music, exchange
information with other cars, input or monitor surveys on accidents, take part in market research, send
photos, connect to the office.
The handset market trend will be from a growth in quantity to a growth in quality. Dr Yusada outlined
three trends in handset evolution, which included• remote control for applications such as a TV or remote monitoring of places.
• utilising local information such as enabling car and human navigation and management of
personnel products and vehicles,• and substituting for a wallet or a commuting pass thus containing personal and attribute
identification.
An example of remote monitoring can be monitoring your home, school or office, your pets, or yourchild’s nursery, while you are outside of these via your mobile handset. The location would be viewed
through a USB camera connected to a PC which in turn is connected to the Internet and thus
accessible by the phone.
Location and locating information can be provided to the handset wherever one may be, outside, bothin town or in the countryside, indoors, even underground, via network bases and/or GPS.
Dr Yasuda gave the example of a handset being used as a substitute for a wallet. Showing yourhandset can pay for traffic passes, items from vending machines, tickets from train stations etc. Clearly
the handset would have communication security and identity with it, via a UIM (User Identification
Module) card.
He spoke of a totally connected age, where there would be a seamless service deployed between fixed
and mobile services (Fixed Mobile Convergence – FMC), where collaboration between communication
and broadcast would be to the extent that one could watch your sports programme on your handset for
example. The roadmap for such provision of seamless service was given as before 2006 there wouldbe ‘tie up’ between fixed, wireless, cellular, and digital broadcast, and we would enter the genuine
ubiquitous broadband era in 2008. The mobile phone will play the role of linking all these together. The
handset would be the gateway for the individual, enabling the individual to access and communicate
and much more, all the time and anywhere, for example in or outside the home or office, or in the car
etc. The handset would be a wallet/card/identification, a commuter pass or ticket, a media player,
personal navigation – both location notification and a navigation service - a remote controller of TV andother appliances, a PDA, and a personal gateway to the office, the Internet and home PC andappliances.

18

Dr Yasuda gave other examples of potential usage of mobile handsets in the future:• The handset can be used to send a photo or a movie in place of a postcard while you are on holiday
abroad by simply attaching the file to an e-mail.
• Automatic translation service will enable you to communicate with friends all over the world, and thiswill be possible voice-wise in the future, which, if it is in real time, will be a very natural conversation.
• The school newspaper can be assisted by the GPS handset. Local news sent in by kids can beedited straight away, even as the news happens.
• Aroma communication. By adding aroma to the communication it is easier to communicate one’s
feelings and emphasize one’s presence. The example given was a mother sending a message toher son that tonight’s supper was curry rice, telling him to come home at once, and the effect of thearoma contained in the message made the child hungry and return home straight away. This is apotential possibility as research work is ongoing.
• Communication with animals. If one was able to understand the feelings of one’s dog, for example,
the possibilities of having the dog able to communicate with you via your handset while you wereout of the house, at work for example, is there. This could be useful if the owner was able to tell if
the dog was acting strangely, as this could signal an intruder in the house. This could then be
confirmed by access the camera at home and enable the owner to notify the police. And the GPS
system would enable the owner to keep track of their pet, especially useful if the dog had got lost in
the park.
Dr Yasuda ended with KDDI’s slogan:
Designing the future.

19

Ethical principles for mobile internet services and i-mode contents
Hideaki Nagata, Manager, i-mode Business Department, NTT DoCoMo Inc.
Mr Nagata began his outline of the ethical and business guidelines for official i-mode content by giving
an overview of the portfolio of i-mode content. He outlined the i-mode services available via thehandset:• Mail services, incl. E-mail• Transaction-related menu: including banking, security trading, ticket reservation, airline
information/reservation, credit card information, book sales etc.
• Database related menu: telephone directory search, restaurant guide, dictionary service, cooking
recipe etc.
• Information related menu: news updates, weather information, sports news, stock quotes,
business/technology news, town information, horse racing information etc• Entertainment-related menu: network game, character download, horoscope, karaoke
information, FM radio information, club event information etc.
• Internet websites
Also voice services are available.
Mr Nagata described DoCoMo’s portal sites oriented for kids, including cartoon characters, ringtones
and games. These are very popular amongst children.
There is a terms of service for official i-mode content, and there is a screening process which screensout the ‘bad’ stuff. There is a responsibility on the part of the carrier here. Official i-mode content must
follow ‘accepted social ethics and shall not violate any laws or regulations’. The examples of
unacceptable content are:• Content that may promote, affirm, or support crimes or violation of laws or regulations.
• Content that trades in obscenity or child pornography, or that might be construed as promoting
adult or child prostitution.
• Content that provide, promote or affirm gambling or illegal lotteries• Contents that promote multi-marketing or similar pyramid sales schemes• Contents that trade merchandise obtained from burglary, banditry, cheating, blackmail,abstraction, defalcation, or other illegal means.
Mobile technology means that kids can access certain sites away from the supervision of their parents.
Dating or meeting sites for example are a concern – these often are free for women and men are
charged. An image of a pretty lady is often used to entice people to the site.
It is possible for parents or guardians to set internet access limits on their kids mobile phones. The
launch of this service is scheduled for the summer. This allows access of the user to i-mode official
sites, which number about 3400, but not access to other sites. The access is limited unless there is arequest from the parents. It is not a permanent measure, and can be used just until kids reach a certainage.
The taking of photographs (i-shots) and posting them to personal websites is popular. NTT propose aservice to limit the browsing of the i-shots to 50 times for privacy reasons. An I-mode awarenesscampaign provides a warning to children about potential dangers on the Internet on the DoCoMo
homepage and via pamphlets, using cartoons.Mr Nagata also spoke about a system for preventing
spam movie mails being sent randomly and universally to the general public, including children. Users
have been able to send movie mail since January 2003. At the server level the attached file –thepornographic image – of the i-motion mail is deleted.
From the user’s perspective DoCoMo provides a safe and ethical environment of mobile internet
throughout Japan and worldwide. The service was, in Mr Nagata’s opinion, safe, accurate andconvenient.

20

Mobile trends as they might affect children A European perspective
Angus Cormie, Head of Portals – Products O2
About O2
O2 is a network operator in the UK and has 11 million customers in the UK and 6 million in Europe. It
has the largest SMS traffic of any UK network (4 billion messages per quarter), has the leading
European WAP portal, and is able to deliver content to all other UK networks. O2 has UK network and3G licences in Holland, Germany, the Irish Republic and the Isle of Man.
Angus Cormie drew attention to the negative press attention given to new technologies, and had apress cutting which he showed the seminar, and mentioned that this was a reason why we need tothink carefully about the approach to protecting the vulnerable. The cutting related to the interpretationof 3G as ‘Gaming, Gambling and Girls’.
Latest trends
Device developments
In the UK we have seen the mass uptake of pre-pay mobiles – representing about 50% of allpurchases. These phones are now available in supermarkets and off-the-page, all fully SMS andInternet enabled. With these devices it means that the company does not know the names andaddresses of the user base.
Historically black and white and text based technology has limited the potential for content for adults,
however, more capable mobile devices are coming out, and we are starting to see access to colour
images via WAP or MMS animations and soon there will be video.
It is important for there to be usability improvements, to make it easier for people to get the Internet and
WAP etc via their phone, and this has the inevitable effect of making it easier for kids to get it too.
In the UK the launch of 2.5G (GPRS) prompted a huge push on ‘fast’ Internet access.
Service and application developments• The mass uptake of SMS and the evolution of 2-way interactive SMS capability has resulted inservices like SMS Chat.

2•

Personalisation is key in the under 18 market. There are plenty of adult icons and logos formobiles phones which are widely advertised in national newspapers and men’s magazines.

•

There are a new wider range of content services supporting broader content choice, including
self-generated content. ‘Create your own WAP page’ is very popular. This has led to asignificant number of adult sites. There has been a growth in content providers willing to workwith operators or stand alone using IVR2/Premium rate SMS as their method of payment.

•

Access to mobile Internet and development of search engines, for example Mopilot.

•

Evolution of lower-end, highly featured handsets•

Development of colour content – icons/logos, as well as colour WAP

Interactive Voice Response.

21

UK Adult market facts
Estimations for adult profitability on mobiles are huge. Experience from the Internet and WAP indicate
the there is strong mass market demand. 41.2% of all sites visited in June in the UK were of an adultnature. About 20% of all WAP gateway traffic is to non-O2 adult sites. The operators are thinking ofrevenues. Visiongain research company estimates that the value of the global pornography market will
be some $70 billion (£43 billion) in 2006 and that $4 billion of the total could come from mobile
telephony. Estimates allude to a UK market in excess of £1billion in the next three years alone.
Infotainment – general web or WAP browsing, location services, fun, ringtones, icons etc, adultentertainment, information alerts and news feeds, sport and games - is forecasted to be the main
mobile data revenue in 2008, ahead of messaging and M-commerce.
Angus Cormie mentioned that the characteristics of the target market that form the core customers areshared to some extent by children, although adults are the target, which means that operators see theneed to be proactive in protection strategies. The shared characteristics belong to the ME generation –the ‘I know what I want’, ‘give it me now’, entertain me, no limits, demand choice, etc. Operators realisethat the issue of child protection is very important, and that their reactions are under the microscope, sothey need to be careful.
UK operators approach to protecting the vulnerable
The industry is keen to be proactive• The industry has recognised the absolute needy to protect the vulnerable and to combat against
illegal content and activities.
• And to find a very careful balance between brand reputation and developing and promoting a
new revenue category.
• The government and other stakeholders (eg child protection charities) expect self-regulatory
approach, and government is reserving backstop powers to intervene if necessary.
• Consequently the industry is taking a proactive position in initiating cross-industry and regulatory
discussions.
• It is critical that both consumer, regulator and other stakeholder confidence is maintained –working to official codes of good practice.
Self-regulation should cover• Rating of content – whether the content is ‘18’ or not. If not rated then assume to be ‘18’.
• Barring facilities for parents and guardians – or other blocking and filtering enablers to prevent
access to ‘18’ content on a mobile number basis – a one stop shop (per network)• Prevent illegal content – create ‘notify and take down’ procedures. Work with the relevant bodies
here.
• Public awareness – and creating information and advice – eg about parental controls, safe use of amobile, routes of communication.
Self-regulation considerations:• This will not cover peer to peer communication, which remains a private matter for the individual.
• Establishing an ‘independent’ body to manage an industry-agreed rating framework• To cover all media types – SMS, WAP, MMS, PDA, Web. (O2 is launching SMS barring thismonth).
• To cover gaming/gambling and adult services.
Timing: a code will be launched mid-2003. The mass market for devices and services will be late 2003
2004.
We must ensure that our services have the appropriate capability to prevent misuse (for example toaddress concerns that chatrooms can be used as ‘grooming grounds’).

22

It is essential that our investigation teams (be it Nuisance call and police liaison) can support local law
enforcement authorities.
Since there are also a large number of pre-pay SIMs in the market (active or potentially active) – any
approach which relies on parental registration must ensure that this cannot be overcome byswapping/exchanging SIMs or by the purchase of alternative SIMs by under 18’s for use in avisual/internet capable device. SIM swapping can skip parental controls and there is a need to think ofmeasures to deal with and prevent this.
O2’s position
Protecting the brand:
The operators are not the arbiters of taste, but from a branding perspective, O2 and other networks
must take the high ground in the proactive development of filtering and barring capabilities – in order toprovide the option for a safe environment for the vulnerable. With these safeguards and controls inplace, networks will be able to offer content that customers demand while protecting brand values.
Competitive advantage:
All the network operators are thinking about:• Revenue – deriving ‘safe’ revenue but not at the cost of exposing the vulnerable and the brand• Channels – ensuring that the vulnerable are protected in the channel – how this is done is still
being discussed• Technology – providing robust and easy to use technology, enablers to bar access on media type
• Customer choice – allowing customers to access a wide range of appropriate adult content• Brand – bring services to you without damaging the brand reputation… how we do this forcompetitive advantage• Customer care – simple access to set up barring, and complain etc
The challenge is to find the balance between being prescriptive, outlining what all the operators should
do, and competitive advantage, leaving the companies to decide how to do things.

23

Child protection on the mobile Internet
Linda Criddle, Product planner, Microsoft
There are 300 million users of hotmail and MSN’s service on a monthly basis. Microsoft are looking at
how to bring this to the mobile platform. Microsoft is committed to building solutions for the wirelessInternet that protect children and young people with regard to content, contact and commercial issues.
Mobiles offer great opportunity to young people. Mobile devices enable autonomy through freedom,
individuality, connection to friends and even romances.
Other positive opportunities of mobiles are• Safety, including both being able to reach and to be reached, and acting as a location finder for
emergency services.
• Information - the age for information is becoming lower and lower.
• Entertainment
There are also opportunities for harm:• Exploitation• Abstraction – children’s ability to multi-task both impresses us and raises concerns. Cheap
entertainment filling kids minds rather than thinking through things.
• Stalking – physical/psychological harm
• Threats/bullying
Areas of risk:
Several technology areas need careful consideration:• Peer-2-peer functionality – at MSN this is through Instant messenger protocols, but we see it as ahigh risk area.
• Location scenarios – there is a need for universal guidelines to protect the whereabouts of children
and young people.
• Presence/state – as users can define presence and state, how do we allow parents to control whosees this information. ‘Presence’ here refers to ‘I’m online now’. Can there be differing presences –i.e. be online to my friends and offline to my family. ‘State’ here refers to being able to express
social state/emotions, eg happy, sad, lonely etc. There is the opportunity for a predator to know yourstate before they communicate with you. .
• Content filtering – content filtering is only occurring on http, we need this to spread to WAP.
• SMS content – currently the displays have user’s phone number/personal information.
• Video streams – private video cams connected to the PC’s can now stream footage to mobile
devices – whether the individual is aware of being videoed or not. In the US, it has happened thatwebcams have been set up in women’s rest rooms, and this is something that would be possible
with phones.
Protection on MSN Mobile today:
Kids Passport:
This is only currently available in the US, and is relevant with the need to comply with COPA3. It will berolled out for Korea. Kids passport helps sites comply with the parental consent requirements ofchildren’s privacy laws, not applicable worldwide.
E-mail protection via existing hotmail filters:
To be the same on mobiles as on PCs. Parental control settings – MSN parental control settings arehandled server side so the hotmail accounts are respected regardless of the device.
- unlimited: allow child full use of hotmail- restricted : parental control over who is on the contact list
3

The Children’s Online Protection Act which restricts online marketing without their parents permission to over 13s.

24

-

blocked: child cannot use the hotmail service

IM protection in 3 levels via existing IM filters:- unlimited – allow child full use- restricted – parents control who is on the buddy list
- blocked – the child cannot use the IM service.
- Child controls buddy list, but parents can force-block
Notice and take down:
If notified we remove illegal content hosted on our servers
Planned features:• Parental controls should be available any time, any place and on any device. Move parental
controls from desktop client to web service• Provide parents with the option for an activity report. A monitoring function for parents, we would
like to be able to provide this for mobile.
• Allow multiple parents control rights, for the situation of a divorced family. Both parents alerted tocontent requests, attempted violations, online activity reports, etc. And both parents able to approve
content requests, update settings, add buddies, set time online limits etc.
• Add parental controls to calendaring (it is important who knows where the child is at a certain time),music lyrics, research sites, and downloadable content and purchasing.
• Develop filtering technology that allow MSN properties to:- protect kids and families from inappropriate content- limit unwanted content according to personal choice- promote personal information interests- extend our wireline filters to wireless content
Partnering:• Data is no respecter of borders. Governments need to unify to create global standards.
Conflicting laws will hinder broad adoption of safety measures.
• Carriers and service providers need to step up and make their sites safe through filters andparental controls.
• Technology providers need to ensure safety features are in place BEFORE technology rolls out
to consumers. There is a constant race to come out with the latest features, but it is not
responsible to do so without safety features.
• Make sure we are teaching children the right message. Through industry, schools, society,aiming at families, parents and kids. Society/schools/orgainsations need to re-evaluate thematerials used to train children on personal safety. The current curricula does not address any
concerns in the mobile Internet. Do not talk to strangers on the street, on the Internet or on yourmobile. We need a clear and consistent message.

25

The RESPONDENT
Professor Kenji Naemura, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University
The technological advancement is very fast, and the market and the use of these devices is very likely
to expand.
The mobile phone must be easy to use for children. Children are frequent users of the products andhave them on all the time. The risks are not limited to them. The kids are pioneers and they arevulnerable. Both are true, and this situation has not happened very often in the history of mankind.
What can we do to address this situation? We can’t make children the subject of an experiment.
Schools encourage children to use their PCs but not their mobiles. In a car one is not to use one’s
mobile phone, though one is not told not to use one’s PC. Voice is the key here. On the train 4one cansee many children using their cell phones to access the Internet, and they are not causing any trouble
to anyone.
Self-regulation, made up of legal and voluntary measure. Kids Passport, rating and filtering is an
example of a voluntary restraint.
Education of parents is necessary.
Regulation by the state is very slow. However it shouldn’t be different from country to country – rather
there should be an alignment of laws. There is law being introduced in Japan about dating sites. Yet
differences in culture from country to country must also be embraced though there must be a certain
degree of standardisation.
Similar efforts to that of ICRA, the Internet Content Rating Association, would be in order for the mobile
framework.

26

DISCUSSION:
It was mentioned that though there are Terms of service on DoCoMo official sites, unofficial sites
intentionally violate some of these restrictions. It was mentioned that it would be difficult for DoCoMo toregulate inappropriate sites. There is an official site system, and it would be impossible DoCoMo toregulate all sites alone.
It was asked, in light of the ways content is being paid for, how far do the Panel see mobile networks
effectively becoming banking institutions. Does the money for transactions paid for via phone comefrom the mobile phone account or from the bank account? It was felt that it would be possible for the
network to bill the correct money, but we would need an agreement with the banking industry. DoCoMo
is not a bank, but are managing charged sites. Microsoft provides services on behalf of the carrier, so ismore like a store or a clearing house than a bank. It was said that there is no real answer to the banking
question at present. Pre-pay phones are a particular issue. If one is buying something with a pre-pay it
must be something for the mobile, for example a ringtone, or a football score. However, it may behave
like a bank if one used a pre-paid phone to pay for a CD for example.
Japanese mobile companies will start providing more services which makes use of billing services, forexample, buying Coca-cola or other goods. There will be some regulatory issues here. Perhaps the
networks are not keen for the moment, but may consider it if the economy picks up. However, it is
crucial that any experiment is carried out with adults and not with children.
About SIM card changing/switching, this “social hacking”, it was suggested, may need to be regulated.
Fingerprint authentication may be better. It was mentioned that no solution to this has been found as
yet though it is being looked into.
It was expressed that it was important to educate parents. It was asked that as KDDI offer student
discount services, then the network would know the younger users and therefore should provide
controls to parents as they know the user is a child. KDDI are looking into this.
One participant asked why dating sites were necessary in Japan, suggesting that there should be othermore positive places where kids could go as an alternative, as they maybe seeking friendship morethan romance or sexual involvement.
One panellist mentioned that children were smart, and if they want to cheat they will. The industry’s job
is to protect those children that are not trying to get into trouble.
One participant felt that there was a chasm between what was being spoken about and what lessons
had been learnt in the last 10 years. The concept of protecting the vulnerable is an old one. It is notpossible to protect the vulnerable unless one stops the people that want to harm them. Address the root
cause rather than seeking to solve the symptoms.
Children know technology better than we do. Is it possible that we are turning children into the canary ina coalmine with new technology?
Denying service or seeking to restrict the communication technology, denies all the positives of the newtechnology. We should rather keep working to combat the negatives.

27

Friday 7th MarchMORNING SESSION
Challenges and Opportunities
The morning session began with the showing of a short video prepared by Trond Waage, the Norwegian
Ombudsman for children. A few Norwegian young people were interviewed and asked questions about mobile
phones and their use of them.
The young people used their phones for calls, both to friends and to home, and for text messages. Text
messaging clearly had some advantages for young people. One young person preferred communicating by text
because it is cheaper than calling. Young people would send 10-20 texts a day. One boy commented that text
was also better on occasions that one might be nervous about making contact, and a girl said that if there is a boy
you like, it is easier to make contact via text.
One girl said she never turns her mobile phone off, just sometimes at night.
Opinion was divided amongst the young people on whether they would feel lost without their phone for a week.
The young people were asked if there was ever a time when it was bad manners to use your mobile phone. The
answers given were:• in class• when you are with friends and they want to talk to you• when you are queueing in a shop and about to pay
Some young people keep their phones on, but on silent, during class.
On the subject of harassment, only one of the young people questioned knew of someone who had beenharassed via their phone.
When asked how they saw or even wanted mobile technology to develop in the future, one clearly felt she had noneed of any additional services to what she has already, calling and texting, though one boy felt he would like hisphone to make coffee and be able to be used for ‘something funny’!
It was felt by one that mobile phones take a lot of time and attention. Another said that mobile phones are ‘amust’.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

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Opportunities and challenges: a Broadcaster’s perspective
Greg Childs, Head of Future TV, CBBC, BBC
Greg Childs began his presentation by saying he felt that the previous day’s presentations anddiscussions were a wake up call to the way the future will be. Greg Childs works for the Research andDevelopment section for Children’s BBC looking to the future media use by children.
The BBC, owing to the way in which it is funded, is in a position to do exciting things. The Government
has encouraged the BBC to Digital expansion, and currently there are 8 BBC digital channels. BBC isleading the way in interactive TV. Greg Childs also spoke about BBC Online. He mentioned that the
pre-school sites were one of the most successful of all the BBC web presence.
The BBC in the Digital Age – a broadcaster ….and more
At first the BBC was moving into new media as a response to people moving into new media. Now it
was struggling to a redefinition of broadcaster in the new and emerging media environment. A‘Facilitator of communities of interest’ – the original mantra of ‘Inform, educate and entertain’ now may
include “connect”. Not connecting with the audience, but rather to allow the audience to connect witheach other in a meaningful way. Thus connecting communities. Mediating user-generated content.
Children’s BBC (CBBC) and interaction: ‘Your input is our output’. For participation. Stimulates kids toengage with the TV, the PC and the world around them. Teaching them to be media aware, and ‘hot
potatoes’ rather than couch potatoes. Interactivity is a way for this. Offering children the opportunities toinfluence, even control their media experience. The power of mobile phones in this form of creation is
obvious.
SMS, MMS, 3G - Why should mobiles interest broadcasters?
Mobiles connect you to a younger audience, thus helping to engage with young people.
Inbound services include and enable:• knowing your audience. By taking in their material, via phone calls and SMS, one gets toknow their likes and dislikes.
• mobile contact is more immediate than a letter for example, or an e-mail (as the senderwould need to go from the TV to the computer), and a text is less intimidating than a phonecall.
• Votes and competitions by text. Speedy and simple thus a great method of participating.
• Premium rate services• T-commerce – electronic transactions conducted via television• Use of mobile phone to replace TV remote control. The mobile can act as the return path,enabling the viewer to text the broadcaster. The BBC thinks there is great future in that.
Outbound services, i.e. sending material out to mobiles:• Extending brands, reach and loyalty• Cross media marketing• Difficult for the BBC – the cost of such outbound services and could this be considered to bebroadcasting – this would need Government permission• Opportunities for the future.
Clearly mobile technology offers opportunities for user-generated content. The first experiment of MMS
are already happening. The BBC news site for example are asking for visitors to the site to send in any
images they have taken showing their perspective on the world, and this had recently been very
effective in the major ‘Stop the War’ demonstations.
Aspirations, issues and challenges:
In Newsround, the children news programme, there are around 50,000 press packers - members ofNewsround’s club for young reporters. There are amazing possibilities when phones have video

29

cameras, and one can picture in one’s mind both terrifying possibilities, such as 50,000 children
chasing ambulances, but also incredible opportunities.
CBBC ran some research pilots in the north of England for input for CBBC. CBBC gave video cameras
to 50 children in 2 locations. These were children that had never used video cameras before. To someextent the results were predictable and the films were not of a very high quality. But they had great
expressiveness and the children’s personalities were very strongly expressed in what they made.
There are potential outlets for children’s creativity. The media’s problem is to give children the space tocreate. This is important at a time where audience content is to become as important as our own.
Other possibilities include location-based games, for example treasure hunt type activities. There arepossibilities in education, especially considering the immediacy of communication. Learning materialdelivery via mobile devices for example.
There are also issues and challenges posed by the new technology. The issue of locating a child is adouble-edged sword. The issue of impact of mobile phone use on children’s health is one that needs
more research. There is an issue of cost, as children are not responsible for paying their bills. Personalsafety is also a key issue. Pre-moderated chat sites are expensive, slow and restrictive. There is scope
perhaps for chat areas to be built around content, but must be launched together with information aboutchat safety.
Possible futures:
The BBC may have a role as a community mediator and broadcaster.
With children, the issues arising from this come into much sharper focus.
There are cost and policy implications.
But the BBC’s audience desire is to interact and do so on mobile devices. However,
we still have a duty of care.
There is a fascinating future, one in which kids are in control and empowered.
However, we have few of the answers at the moment, but we do have many of the questions.

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Children, the Mobile Internet and Helplines
Dr Ute Navidi, Head of Policy, ChildLine
ChildLine was set up in 1986. In the UK there was an overwhelming response to a TV programme on
abuse, to such an extent in fact that the presenter decided to launch a children’s helpline charity so thatchildren can talk to someone. Through the Helpline they are able to talk to someone they don’t see,they don’t touch, and the anonymity enables them to talk about issues of a personal and sensitive
nature. This has become a model for initiatives in other countries including Japan, India and Zimbabwe,and has led to the launch of ChildLine International, a service for anyone in any country wishing toestablish a helpline.
In 1986, the phone was fixed line, and access to a phone was at home, on the street, or in a school
corridor. Thus children were restricted in what they could say or talk about, and it may be dangerous if
they needed to go out on the street at night to use the phone. Mobile technology offers newopportunities for children.
ChildLine talk to about 2,000 children every day.
Children contacting ChildLine are worried that the number will appear on the phone bill. ChildLine
negotiated with operators to ensure that the number doesn’t show up on telephone bills.
Children ask if it is safe to talk. They are vulnerable – and they tell the counsellors at ChildLine howvulnerable they are - and some types are more so than others. Between 1990 and 2000 19,000
children talked to ChildLine about suicide and suicidal feelings. Bullying was another key issue. 8,400
calls in 2002 were about sexual abuse. 2,000 calls each year are about sexuality.
The mobile phone can be a liberating factor and even a lifesaver point of contact. It can be taken into a
private and quiet place. Over 50% of callers to ChildLine used mobile phones. There is great flexibility
concerning when to call, the risk of being overheard can be greatly reduced, and there is no queueing
outside a telephone box. Thus it is the ideal tool to talk about personal matters.
It is an empowering tool, and kids are using it to ask for help.
There are calls about mobile phones too, and bullying make up a third of these. Other calls fromchildren expressing concerns about mobiles covered a broad spectrum:• A boy was angry his mum was using the phone to split up the family• Some calls related to health concerns about mobiles. The health risks are frightening forchildren who hear about boiling their brain, and try to balance that against the plus side ofgetting new friends.
• A girl rang asking about how to stop an abusive caller ringing her. There seemed to be adearth of knowledge here.
• The denial of a mobile phone was used by one mum as a form of punishment.
• Some more general enquiries related to mobiles, one asking how old you need to be toregister a phone, and one 11 year old ringing in to say that his mobile was not working.
• One child rang in to say that all their friends had phones and he/she didn’t. Another caller
mentioned they wanted a particular type/brand of phone as all his/her friends had one.
• One boy felt unwanted, as his friends were all texting each other. One girl said she was pickedon for not having a phone.
• Excessive use of phones and the subsequent expense has led to arguing with parents. Somechildren have been very worried about the impending arrival of the bill.
Other concerns about the mobile phone are about stalking, receiving threatening calls from abuser.

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Mobile phones have been used as a link in the grooming process – where an adult will make contact
with a child in an interactive online forum, such as a chat room, and develop a ‘relationship’ with thechild with the intention of luring them to an offline meeting for the purpose of sexually abusing the child.
There have been problems such as the loss, theft and robbery of phones from children. Also problems
stemming from gaming and gambling may arise in the future. ChildLine have already received callsfrom children saying that they have become addicted to online gambling.
There are opportunities for children too. Opportunities of citizenship, to share views and opinions.

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The US Perspective
Dr Larry Magid

Larry Magid is the founder of Safekids.com and Safeteens.com, both set up with the aim to protect kids
online. Teens, and especially girls have been shown to be most at risk.
Larry Magid gave an outline on how the US is different, and gave an overview of the First Amendment
and its enshrined right to free speech, and the arguments about what is the appropriate level for
restrictions. The controversies surrounding this issue with relation to technology are ongoing, and only
yesterday the Supreme Court made a ruling on the CIPA5 Act relating to the use of filtering software infederally-funded libraries.
The US is accustomed to being in the lead with the development and adoption of technology. The US
was among the first to adapt to the radio, TV, PC and many other technologies.
The US is a very wired nation. Landlines are cheap and plentiful. 95% of American homes hadlandlines as of 1993.
US businesses were quick to adopt the ‘car phone’ and the ‘cell phone’. Cell phones were once a status
symbol that symbolised money and power.
The US now finds itself in a very unusual circumstance. With mobile technology, instead of leading the
US is following. There are a number of possible reasons for this:• Transition to digital: The US has a long history of wireless, going back to analogue car phones.
Some people are still using analogue phones and they work well. The US is relatively slow inmoving to digital.
• A tower of babble: the US has multiple phone systems which are incompatible with each other.
Larry Magid has a picture phone, but he is only able to send images to a user of the samephone company.
• Cell phones have not historically been good value. They are very expensive in comparison tolandlines. Service providers have charged on a ‘per minute’ basis and did not give free night orweekend minutes.
But this is changing.
¾ Deals are becoming available and affordable. People are buying minutes by the‘bucket’.
¾ Handsets are essentially free when you sign up for 2 years.
¾ Companies are starting to market advanced services.
¾ An increasing number of people are forgoing landlines¾ We are just starting to see ‘all you can eat’ pricing plans.
And prices and revenue are dropping. The New York Times commented that “The average per-minutecost has dropped to 11 cents this year from 56 cents in 1995. For the phone companies, that has meant
a decline in average revenue per customer to $61 a month, from $74 in 1995.”
The majority of Americans now have mobile phones. As of October 2002, 51% of people living in large
metropolitan areas had mobile phones. There are about 140 million mobile phones in the US, which isabout half the population. Children are finally starting to get phones. US children have been slow to getmobile phones, but now they are catching up. After 9/11 many schools changed their policies anddecided it was OK for children to have cell phones on campus. The massacre at Colombine school too
has had an influence, as phones were used here to call the police.

5Children’s Internet Protection Act.

33

Children having phones also has advantages for parents. It makes it easier to get in touch with yourchildren. It may make the parent more relaxed about letting their kids out at night if they know their childhas a mobile. They know the phone can be used in an emergency.
Cell phones are useful for children for a number of reasons:• making plans with their friends• keeping old and distance relationships alive with old school mates who moved away
• staying in touch with high school friends from college• more freedom because parents can reach them
• no concept of ‘long distance’. College children keep their cell phones and use them to the extent
that they don’t even use ‘dorm phones’
Multi-tasking: mobile phones add yet another tool to use along with all their other tools at the sametime. We can or will see children doing their homework, talking on the landline, using Instant Messenger
on the PC while texting on the mobile.
Mobile phones do not replace any personal contact – if anything they may encourage social interaction
including personal contact.
Communicating in public throws up some issues:• Annoyances such as ‘call yell’, where people are shouting rather than talking on their mobile in a
public place.
• Privacy• Communicating potentially dangerous information to nearby strangers• Being oblivious to your surroundings• Danger of having an accident while driving, walking or riding a bike.
Advanced services are not yet popular in the US. Most Americans use their mobiles primarily to talk,not to surf or to send messages. Kids are just starting to use SMS. At present, very few phones in the
US are in colour.
From an adult perspective there are considerable limitations of mobile phones. These include the nonalphabetical keyboard, small screens, slow networks, very little choice of software, no graphic tools,
many ‘drop zones’, and in the US few national standards and very little interconnection to othercountries.
Camera phones are just coming online in the US. They came to the US this year and remain quite rare.
A survey in 2001 study said 29% of US mobile phone users ‘were interested’ in getting a camera
phone. Moving video was not yet available.
Dangers:• Location sensors/GPS• Peer to Peer– there is no control/supervision when one communicates with another• Dangers of SMS, especially when combined with images• Video streams – both inbound and outbound.
• Kids lose and exchange phones. Could a found or stolen phone be used to ‘steal’ someone’s
identity.
• Kids can spend too much of their or of their parents money• Commercial exploitation
Dangers of camera phones:
Larry Magid felt the safety implications of camera phones to be somewhat frightening.
• the kids can send images of themselves• Images can be forwarded• Images can be posted to the web34•

Kids can also receive images from strangers as well as friends

Solutions:• server-based filters• Parental notification of child’s activity• Ability of parents to remotely and immediately suspend or limit child’s activity• Education for kids and parents and professional care-takers and teachers. Educate children early
and often of the dangers

DISCUSSION:A question was put to Ute Navidi about finding the resources to offer a 24 hour, 7 day a week helpline,
as the Japanese helpline was not able to offer such a service. Dr Navidi replied that ChildLine raises
90% of its annual income from donations. 10% comes form more statutory funding. ChildLine think
there is a role for the internet industry if they think this helpline is of value. ChildLine relies on volunteer
counsellors.
In rural Australia the experience of the Internet is that although the costs are great in expense and time,it plays a vital link. There are vast areas without mobile coverage, and carriers do not see it asprofitable to provide such coverage. With the move to mobile, indigenous people in rural areas are left
behind. Is there a parallel in the US to this situation?
One panellist felt that eventually this problem will be solved with satellite phones. It was also felt thatthe use of the mobile phone for educational purposes was rare. And the limitation of the phone in thesmall size of the keys and keyboard will mean that the mobile phone will not overtake the fixed Internet.
It was raised in regard to material sent in to a broadcaster, who owns the copyright to that material.
The BBC try to keep the cost of texting to a low cost. This is important as the BBC is attaching itself tothe kids passion for texting. They don’t use a premium rate. The BBC, pan-BBC, are looking for
implications of technology, and there is always an extra line needed for children.
There are concerns on the part of the mobile industry about chat. Moderation is seen as one possible
solution but there are legal and cost implications here.
Kids love to chat. Disabled kids can enter chatrooms as an equal. In the UK discussion on childprotection in chat has focussed on police checks on moderators, provision of alarm buttons inchatrooms for the users, advice on private chat/whispering, and also awareness raising amongst users
and their parents.
It was mentioned that in Japan dating sites have received a lot of attention, and it was wondered if in
the US or the UK the same types of service were offered. In the US it was felt that there was noconcern about commercial dating services. In the UK it was mentioned that girls of 14-16 pretend to bea bit older and flirt on adult chatlines, and this is part of risk-taking behaviour. Children are not prepared
for the fall-out from this, or how to deal with this. It was also felt that kids are working out the benefits ofcreating identities for themselves.
It was also said that the nearest comparison to the dating site in Japan to something in the UK was thechatrooms with titles such as flirting or dating.

35

Challenges and Opportunities
Continued: 10.30am
Dating Sites and the Japanese experience
Mr Yasumasa Kioka, National Police Agency
Present state of dating sites:
Number of ‘Dating sites’
Japanese school children go to after-school, which operates until 9 or 10pm to continue theirstudy/learning. After this it is very late and the children contact their parents for a lift home, andtherefore it is necessary for children to carry mobile phones. Thus as early as elementary school age
children have mobiles to contact home. But an Internet enabled device gives the opportunity for them togo online, and children are very adventurous.
The increase in the number of Internet enabled phones has led to an increase in the number of datingsites. The National Police Agency in Japan carried out a sample survey in 2001 and 2002 and found
884 dating sites accessible from PCs in 2001 and in 2002 found 2038 accessible from PCs. The
number of sites accessible from i-mode mobile phones was 2569 in 2001 and 3401 in 2002.
‘Dating site’ business models‘Dating sites’ are essentially electronic bulletin boards or chatrooms etc that make possible the meetingof sexual partners. Some dating sites are free, and other require payment (ie a premium rate). The
business model of the ‘free’ ones is based on banner advertisements, selling e-mail addresses andother personal information and low running costs etc. Of the 400 sites that have been related to crime,
129 (or 36.5%) were free sites, and 29 (or 8.2%) were pay sites. It is difficult to regulate the free sites,
whereas it would be relatively easy to provide a framework for and regulate the pay sites.
Use of ‘Dating sites’ by children
A survey done in March 2002 discovered:• 83.1% of high school students and 23.1% of junior high students own mobile phones.
• Of high school students, 22% of females and 18.4% of males have used ‘Dating sites’.
• And of high school students that have used ‘dating sites’ 43.2% of females and 27.8% of males
have actually met their date.
Issues concerning ‘Dating sites’
There was approximately a 260% increase in the arrests made relating to ‘Dating sites’ for the first halfof 2002 (703 arrests, compared to 302 in the same period the previous year). The majority of thevictims of these crimes are children 86% in fact, and the percentage for this group is increasing yearly.
Of these victims, 48.4% were high school females, and 25% were junior high females.
400 of these arrests made relating to ‘Dating sites’ related to child prostitution, 213 arrests were for
Violation of Youth Development Ordinance, 23 for rape, and other arrests relating to ‘Dating sites’
included murder (1), robbery, kidnapping, indecent assault, assault, injury infliction, blackmail, theft,child pornography and fraud. The majority of victims are children, 86% in fact.
Child prostitution cases involving ‘dating sites’
93.8% (198 cases) of the 211 cases of which the solicitation method is known were initiated by afemale child. The child initiates the solicitation/seduction by wanting a boyfriend or a new friend. 6.2%
(13 cases) were initiated by adult males.
The majority of the solicitations are for ‘Enjo Kosai’ (‘compensated dating’, also known as ‘patronage
dating’ or ‘schoolgirl prostitution’), ie offers for dating with children that includes sexual intercourse.

3629.3% (62 cases) were offers for dating that includes sexual intercourse. 27.5% (58 cases) were offers
for dates with children in exchange for the giving or receiving of money, 25.6% (54 cases) were offers
posted on ‘Dating sites’ that specialised in Enjo Kosai and we in essence solicitations for such activity.
These solicitations (illegal solicitations) for sex with children and the soliciting for the giving or receivingof money in exchange for dating with children account for 82.4% (174 cases) of the cases.
Mobile phones and ‘dating sites’
Mobile phones were used in the overwhelming majority of ‘Dating site’ crime cases. One can see theincrease in this with the technological advances, where in 2000 56.7% of cases involved the use ofmobiles, in the first half of 2002 that figure rises to 95.6%. In child prostitution cases, 390 out of 400
cases (97.5%) involved the use of mobile phones. 96% (571 out of 595) of ‘Dating site‘ case childvictims in the first half of 2002 used cellular telephones. 97% (357 out of 368) of child prostitution
victims used cellular telephones.
A new law is being drafted to prevent children from being abused in these crimes. Dating site operators
have been warned not to allow access of children of a certain age to their sites, and also reminded that
it is against the law for adults to exploit children. However, measures to ban children from these sites
are very difficult. It is also difficult to confirm the identity of users. Users have to self-declare their age
and access denied if below 18.
Arrest statistics relating to ‘dating sites’
84% (1,273) of a total of 1,517 crime victims were children under 18.
Arresting juvenile suspects are also increasing from 10 (11%) in 2000, to 297 (20%) in 2002.
Sample cases
Mr Kioka went on to give a few sample cases of cases relating to ‘Dating sites’, beginning with themurder of a 16 year old high school student by a 36 year old unemployed male who had met his victim
through a ‘Dating site’ for mobile phones.
A female junior high school student, 15, was sexually assaulted and robbed by a high school student,
18, and a university student, 19. They had met their victim through a ‘Dating site’, and had suppressed
her resistance through blackmail.
Mr Kioka went on to give examples of further example cases of abduction and confinement, injury
infliction, blackmail, and fraud. Two example cases were violations of the Law on Child Prostitution andChild Pornography cases. In one of the latter cases an operator of a cram school, 42, promised
payment for and had sexual intercourse with a female junior high school student, 13, he had met
through a ‘dating site’ for mobile phones. The other case involved a 26 year-old unemployed malepromising payment for an having sexual intercourse with 4 female high school students all aged 16,
who he had met through a ‘dating site’ for mobile phones. He also stole their cash and handbags etc.

DISCUSSION:A question was asked directed at the regulatory response, taking into account that there are plans tomake a law penalising abusers, is there any penalty proposed for carriers of such sites. It was
mentioned that it has happened that a message has been copied by the site operator and used as aspam message with the girl’s address included to entice people to visit the site. It was recognised that itis difficult to make a law-binding mechanism and it was requested of operators of such site to cooperateand self-regulate. They are requested also to block the access of minors to dating sites.
The difficulties of age verification was agreed by another participant who pointed to the German
example where a national identification number was not good enough. The Japanese experience washowever that children were generally honest about their age.

37

Current and future safety issues
John Carr, Associate Director, Children and Technology Unit, NCH
John Carr gave some background to NCH. It was established in 1869 and is a major child welfare
charity based in the UK. It has 5000 full time employees, and has 500 projects across the UK.
John Carr described a pyramid of technical devices with linkages between them, topped by the Digital
stream and containing computers, the Internet, handheld devices (telephones, pagers, cameras,
PDAs), games consoles, TV and radio, and storage devices (DVDs, CDs Floppies, ZIPs, Detachables).
With the arrival of 2.5G and 3G devices we are going to see the mobile phone move to the top of the
pyramid.
Potentially we are looking at the possibility of all the problems we currently have with the fixed Internet,
moving out on to the mobile Internet and therefore becoming a lot harder to supervise or resolve. With
the fixed Internet we have been giving out the advice to parents of putting the PC in a communal room
because it will be easier to supervise your child’s online activities. If the Internet is available via mobile
to a child’s hand then that possibility will vanish.
The same range and complexities of applications on PCs will become available on handsets thus weneed to think of the fixed Internet problems. There will doubtless also be new problems and issues, forexample linked to the misuse of GPS services.
The UK based 3G companies are still not very clear about the development path of the mobile Internet,
so there is a little anxiety in certain quarters. However, unlike the early days of the fixed Internet, the 3G
network providers seem to be very open to co-operating with Government, police and other agencies inadmitting problems and seeking solutions.
The usage of mobile phones in the UK is very high. 68% of all adults have mobile phones, and amongsome age groups, for example 15-24 this rises to over 90%. Among 7-16 year olds the figure is 52%.
The use of SMS messaging is also very high. Last month, February 2003, 1.65 billion messages weresent over the UK’s 4 GSM networks, and the numbers are still rising.
The need to communicate is a fundamental human characteristic, but some people also seem to want
to use the new technologies for criminal or anti-social purposes, and we have not yet found ways of
eliminating that possibility. This is very clear when you look at how SMS and other forms of electronic
messaging have been used. We are still wrestling with the issue of SPAM on the fixed Internet world,
and we are starting to see it on SMS. And the issue of bullying has raised itself in the UK.
Yesterday we heard from some Japanese young people who felt bullying was not to their knowledge anissue in Japan. This experience was echoed to some extent by the Norwegian young people in thevideo this morning. In the UK, however, the experience has been very different. In fact 1 in 4 11-19 year
old mobile phone users in the UK said they have been bullied via their mobile phone or their PC. 1 in 6
had been bullied or threatened via SMS over their mobile phone. 7% had been bullied or threatened ina chat room and 4% via e-mail.
Of those bullied or threatened by SMS, 29% told nobody, 42% told a friend, and only 32% told a parent.
The range of threats used on SMS varied hugely. But a threat, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder
or the victim. Bullying via mobile phone is particularly pernicious. Whereas bullying before was mainly aschool playground activity, or may happen on the way to or from school, the new technology enables
the bully to continue to harass their victim when they are in the ‘safety’ of their own home, even theirown room, and it is very difficult to ignore.
There has been one case in the UK where a 14 year-old girl committed suicide, and the last straw for
her had been the text-message bullying.

38

NCH has been very pleased with the response from the UK government on this issue. After raising theissue with the Department for Education, at the beginning of the next school year, the Minister wrote tohead teachers about bullying via mobile phones, and this will be drawn into schools disciplinary codes.
NCH were not so pleased with the response of the mobile phone companies. They penalise the victim
and his/her family because someone else has broken the law (relevant here are the Anti-stalking
legislation, and the Malicious Communications Act). The companies say the victim must buy a new SIM
card in order to change their number for a Pay-as-you-go phone (a pre-pay phone, the type of phonemost popular with children). If the phone is a contract phone there is no problem about changing yournumber. To change the number of a Pay-as-you-go phone not only do you have to buy a new SIM card,but you will lose whatever credit you have on your phone too. This is the case for most mobile
companies in the UK. Only one company will change your SIM, but you will still lose the credit on thephone.
No one wishes to block or delay the advent of any essentially beneficial technology. And we know that it
is very unlikely that everything is likely to work from Day 1, and also that things will happen that no one
can now foresee. What counts is the willingness to be open about this and for the industry to be seen to
be working with others, energetically pursuing solutions. This conference in Tokyo is therefore an
excellent sign of exactly the right approach. It is also one which we have every reason to believe the UK
industry will emulate.

39

Mobile phones, young people and consumer protection
Denis Nelthorpe, Consumer Law Centre Victoria
Denis Nelthorpe said that he felt Australia, in terms of mobile phone penetration and usage, are aheadof the US and behind Asia and Europe. But Australia is only a country of 20 million people, and so one
doesn’t need to go far into the market before you reach the lower income range.
A snapshot of youth usage:
In 1999 a report ‘Mobile matters – young people and mobile phones’ revealed that:• 33% of 16-19 year olds own or use a mobile phone• 25% had experienced some difficulty with payments• 9% based usage on pre-payment cards• 18% did not read the contract• 7% read the contract and did not understand, and this is probably an understatement• 17% reported some anxiety/depression associated with difficulties paying the bill. Here one cansee very clearly that there are human consequences to legal issues about contracts.
Recent anecdotal evidence suggests a significant increase in the use of pre-payment cards since then.
Do you own or do you possess a mobile phone? Would young people differentiate between this? Wehave blurred this distinction between legal ownership and legal responsibility.
In the beginning, Telcos (phone companies) concentrated on the need for market share. Handsets were
given away with the costs recouped over an 18-24 month period. Sales were driven by commissionbased agents and dealers operating in a fiercely competitive market.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) prosecutions and registeredundertakings revealed:• a Telco gave undertakings to correct misleading conduct in the promotion of rates• a Telco gave undertakings to correct variations that introduced a $12 per month access fee to acontract advertised as a zero access fee.
• A Telco was prosecuted by the ACCC for misleading advertisements that offered ‘free’ mobile
phones when the contract required a 15-18 month fixed period with charges of $336.
In the beginning contracts with young consumers revealed:• A failure to acknowledge the common law protection of minors – an under 18 year-old can only
be held to be responsible for a debt if it is for a necessity.
• Acceptance of friends and relatives signed up as guarantors or witnesses• A failure to acknowledge the unlimited liability for mobile phone services – this was not madeclear to young people or adult signatories.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) and Legal Aid Services revealed:• A 79 year-old grandfather signed a contract as guarantor for his grandson and was alleged to
owe in excess of $1500• An 18 year-old with an intellectual disability entered a contract as guarantor for a 16 year-old
friend and was alleged to owe $1800• A 15 year old asked her illiterate koori (aboriginal) mother to attend a shop front to witness her
contract. The mother signed as purchaser and was alleged to owe $1200.
These are not isolated cases. There are large numbers of such cases in Australia.

40

The cause of the problem was:• Staff were desperate for sales• Telcos did not train staff on legal and consumer protection requirements• Telco’s did not impose ethical standards or good industry practice• Regulators ignored poor practices to allow new entrants to obtain market share.
The effect of the problems:A breakdown in family relationships;• Homelessness and isolation. Buying a mobile for your boyfriend or girlfriend – they may be happy
to keep the phone and the unlimited liability, but perhaps not the girlfriend or boyfriend.
• Humiliation with their peer group.
• Adverse credit record for long term
Youth advocacy response:• The National Children’s and Youth Law Centre kit ‘Listen Up’ for young people buying mobiles• The Streetwise comics• The New South Wales Children’s Commission ForumThe response form industry has been noticeably muted.
The market matures:
The Telecommunications industry has acknowledged the need to:• Reduce over commitment• Disclose fees and charges• Improve transparency in terms and conditions
Safeguards have been introduced through• Imposition of credit limits on mobile phones• Increased promotion of prepayment cards• Codes of Practice and education campaigns
Though we haven’t gone as far as we’d like.
The problems continue:
ACCC, TIO and Legal Aid cases have revealed new problems, including:• Widespread abuse of the Trade Practices law. The ACCC prosecuted a Telco in May 2002 formisleading and deceptive conduct by advertising mobile packages that failed to reveal the fullcash price or termination costs.
• Credit limits proved to be illusory. A Telco has acknowledged the failure to uphold a credit limits
disclosed on a mobile contract. The Telco waived more than $1000 debt for a young person after
initially stating the credit limit was for ‘internal use only’.
• Prepayment card abuse. The TIO has warned consumers, and especially young people, thatsome prepayment cards have gone into debt due to late billing of SMS messages. A Telco waived
a $60 debt for an under-18 person for this reason.
• SIM unlock fees. The TIO has warned that some prepaid phone packages contain a condition torequire payment of a SIM unlock fee despite advertisements that indicated no monthly fees or
charges.
The Future market:
As technology improves, mobile phones present new opportunities including:• Access to non-telecommunications goods and services• Access to credit
The obvious problem is over commitment.
• Other industries have addressed the issue• Consumer Credit Code imposes an obligation to assess capacity to pay. If access to nontelecommunication services and goods will be available via mobile devices, will the phone
become a credit card. If there is no proper assessment about capacity to pay then that is‘Maladministration’ and thus the person will not have to pay.
• The Banking Ombudsman will consider ‘Maladministration’ in provision of credit.

41

•The TIO has recently moved towards introduction of an Over commitment policy.

Recommendations:
Now we have a much more mature industry. Customer protection is almost as important as market
share. Industry should look to provide a solution. Industry has most knowledge and capacity to deal
with these problems.
Consumer protection laws do apply to these industries.
The way forward in then provision of better customer service and protection:• The use of technology to assist young consumers – in conjunction with youth advocacy bodies• Avoidance of anti-competitive practices designed to inhibit switching• Acknowledgement and compliance with trade practices law• Industry commitment and development of ethical standards

42

The RESPONDENT
Trond Waage, the Norwegian Ombudsman for Children
Trond Waage explained that in Norway children are buying camera phones, and he illustrated some of
the issues involved with this technology by relating a story of a problem that was brought to his officerecently. One child took a photo of a boy in a shower, morphed the image and sent it to all at the school
via e-mail. At this point Trond Waage’s office was called, and asked for advice on what steps to take,and amongst the suggestions was banning all phones from schools. In fact a forum of all the people atthe school, including the pupils, was called, and a solution was drawn up in terms of a code of conduct.
In Norway there is an expense calling a helpline from a mobile phone. Trond Waage suggested that as
mobile phone companies are getting so much money from young people, the industry should pay backand make calls from mobiles to helplines free.
Trond Waage talked about the way the nursery has become invaded technology equipment and thetrend and media industry.
He gave a quotation from H.Tikkanen:“Technology has simplified our life so much we can no longer live simple lives”.
Adolescent and emancipation: this is the time of putting in the last building bricks in the process offraming identity. Rebelling is normal in this process. The challenge is:• The youth culture is becoming hermetically closed. It is difficult for a parent to become involved
with it. (There is a closed circuit communications system, with SMS, direct targeting by the media
and trend industry)• In Norway a lot of children pay for their own phone, and finance the trend industry, by working.
• Children need to check out if the information on the Internet is correct.
Children and young people as agents of social change:• They are more open to alternatives and quick to pick up emerging ideas• Serve as antennae picking up signals too faint for adults to notice. This applies to a number ofareas, including gender equality, opposition to violence and racism, involvement in theenvironment, new trends in fashion and music, and especially in relation to new media.
Challenges:
The lessons learned from the fixed Internet are:• Governments are slow
• ISPs are sitting waiting• Code of Conduct• Freedom of choice – and not a threat to freedom of speech• Children firstSelf-regulation or Leadership• Companies should consider providing a special section in their financial statements that
describes how they respond to issues of ethics affecting children. This would be similar to existing
environmental impact statements.
• Marketing advantage• There is no such thing as a free market
Parental approach:
There seems to be a need for a general education on how to raise a child in modern society.
• Involving – not controlling• Counselling – not interrogate• Coaching – not invading• Visible and distinctness; not abdicate, not become friends, not buy yourself out, not overprotect
etc.

43

• Prioritising availability• Participation approach
There is the need to include and mobilise rather that exclude and control with the ‘mobile generation’.
The importance of this is obvious when one considers that it is with children that one builds the country.

DISCUSSION:
It was suggested that the focus should not be on children and technology, but rather mobile technology
and risk. In addition it was felt that we should be talking about places where children are vulnerable.
In the US it was mentioned that cancelling a mobile phone contract was a major issue, and the only
foolproof way of doing this was by death or joining the military. A story was recounted of a user moving
to an area of the country where there was no coverage by the company she was contracted with, so
there was no way she could use the phone, and she was still not allowed to terminate her contract andhence her payments.
It was asked if it was an anti-competitive measure to prevent switching. Customers are generally locked
in to a contract for a period of time in order for the company to recover the cost of the free phone.
Should we be trying to prevent these anti-competitive practices and be more upfront about ‘freephones’. Children and adults should be educated, ie informed of all the implications of mobile phone
contracts. Marketers need to be more open and upfront, and regulators should look at these anticompetitive practices.
It was asked if any of the risks associated with mobiles and the Internet are increasing, for example
bullying, or are they being displaced, i.e. moving from one place to another (relating to the use ofdevices) It was mentioned that no one knows how much abuse was going on before, though someresearch in the area of child pornography on the Internet intimates an increase in the number of newchildren being abused in images appearing in newsgroups. New technology thus suggests there is anenlargement of abuse but the scale of this is not known.
It was expressed that it was not clear if the new technology was adding to the problem of abuse or was
introducing a different kind of abuse.

44

AFTERNOON SESSION: 1.30pm
Regulatory and self-regulatory responses
The potential for labelling and filtering of content on mobiles
Akio Kokubu, Vice-President, Internet Association Japan
Akio Kokubu talked about the importance in finding a balance between free speech and regulation, anduser-oriented filtering is a tool to realise this balance.
What IA Japan did before with the fixed Internet:• the development of proxy-type filtering software compliant with PICS.
• Operation of label bureau with semi-automatic third-party rating for text and images on web
pages
Performance evaluation of filtering software:Some sample urls were used to test the capability of our software. It is necessary to upgrade a block list
on a day to day basis. There may be a preliminary semi-automatic rating but this needs the final
supervision of human eyes. Our organisation is not-for-profit therefore can’t compete as have limited
human resources. (SFS is Server-type Filtering System)• SFS3.02 (with keyword filtering, Google) 93%. The first experiment was with Google.
• SFS3.02 (with keyword filtering, input of URL) 79%• SFS3.02 (without keyword filtering) 48%• A blacklist type commercial product 38%• A keyword-type commercial product 96%
Education and awareness:• The Internet Association Japan (IAJ) a few years ago published some rules and manners on theInternet for children• Now the IAJ are preparing an examination system on knowledge of rules and manners to checkthe depth of knowledge of thisLabelling and filtering of content:
Content:• Mainly text rather than images on mobiles at present, though the take up of camera phones will
influence this• A challenge is that easily identifiable harmful words might not be used in Deai-kei (‘Dating’) sites,
ie apparently innocuous words used to arrange to meet but leading to illegal sexual encounters
To know what the intention is• The most important factor for filtering• Understanding the context is necessary
It is difficult to implement such capability with current software technologies• Humans can understand context• Software cannot do it
Label data
Labels to indicate intention are necessary to filter inappropriate content for children• Development of the next generation PICS
• Written in XML/RDF. Now html is used but there is currently a transition to XML.
• W3C and ICRA are interested
Correctness of labels• Self-rating or third-party rating? There is a need to be sure that the rating is accurate.
• Hand-written or automatic?

45

Filtering possibilities with mobile phones:
Filtering software could for example be embedded in a home PC, school server or Internet network. Fora home PC then the parents can manage it. A school or ISP can manage theirs. Clearly user control isincreased when the software is located closer to the user, and this also gives freedom of choice forusers. It is difficult to load large software onto a handset, so perhaps software on proxy servers can beused.
Personal identification
There is a need to identify who the user is for filtering.
• Uses of UIM (User Identification Module) chips for identifications. This is an advanced version of
SIM cards. It is detachable.
• Memory cards with the MOPASS spec. MOPASS stands for Mobile Passport. It is a memory cardwith a smart card. It was launched in August 2002.
Possible smart chips for the 3G mobile phones:
There are many possibilities and opportunities, and in the future we will see many solutions.
• UIM cards• Embedded second chips• Uses of smart card slots, via either a contact interface or a contactless interface• Uses of memory cards with MOPASS (SD cards, MMC cards etc.)
Information stored with UIM cards:
1) Basic information – user information, personal information, subscriber information, charge
information, certification, PIN information, age. Perhaps it may be possible top use age
information to control access.
2) Application information – prepaid fare, post-pay, ticket reservation, credit card number, remotecontrol etc
Akio Kokubu mentioned a trial project in Sapporo, form January to March 2003, using mobile phones
equipped with a smart card chip and antenna. It is possible to hold the mobile phone to the ticket officein the station which will then lead to automatic billing. This is an experiment of a memory card with asmart card function which shares information.
Three technologies for personal information:
These three can overlap and link up
Who we are – biometrics: phones with cameras are now available. Can have your face on a photo toserve as I-D. Fingerprints are another possibility though there is a psychological resistance to this as it
is associated with crime.
What both parties trust – smart cards
Who knows us – PKI, certification associations/authorities.

46

Contact, Content and Cost6
George Kidd, Director, ICSTISICSTIS – the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information
Services - is an independent regulator and is 17 years old. ICSTIS regulates the premium rate charging
for value-added content to a telecommunications bill/account.
There is a number of sectors where premium rate charging is the core purpose of the businesses, forexample, competitions, sports update services, chat and dating services.
Premium rate services are a youth product, with competitions etc. The latest products coming onto themarket again attract kids- text TV, football updates, java games, logos and pop ringtones anddownloads.
As a consumer protection regulator born out of concerns over the use of telephony and telephonycharges we have had to address child concerns across three broad headings - Cost, Content andContact. ICSTIS are regulating content on phones and the Internet, and even recently been active in anissue involving promotion by SMS to mobile phones.
Regulatory concerns
Platforms may change and technologies may evolve dramatically but the regulatory issues are broadly
constant and especially important for children. We have some basic expectations of service providers:• Explain what is being offered – the service, the product, the price• Do not deceive or mislead. Do not take advantage of consumer, product or technology ignorance• Do not promote in an inappropriate way and do not promote services to those to whom they areinappropriate (eg to kids – chat, sex, high open-ended cost services).
• Do not offend• Deliver what you promiseCharacteristics of mobile phones, now and in the future:
Mobile phones are:• Mobile – they are always with consumers, always ready for use for the essential or impulse
purchase• Personal - it is possible to have personal contact, to make personal purchases and to look atcontent in a very private way.
• Anonymous – 70% of phones in the UK are pre-pay. Networks do not know who their customersare.
• Spend limiting – pre-pay phones are far more likely to prevent extremely high bills accruing.
• Costly – mobile calls are costly – premium rate from a mobile is ‘costly plus’, and premium SMS
is $2+ the moment you click the button.
• Visual – content as a commercial opportunity and a consumer threat.
• Media interactive – mobile phones can interact with interactive TV and Internet sites. Specificallymobiles offer a form of payment – a form of credit – which allows kids to buy products distant fromthe phone• Less controllable – UK premium content is paid for by mobile terminated (MT) charging. This
gives the commercial party the power to charge your phone potentially at will.
When some of these characteristics mix or apply to children:• Kids can access inappropriate visual material on mobiles with fewer safeguards than exist if wewere regulating it as a voice or internet content. Send a buy order and back comes the producthowever hard-core, costly or inappropriate.
6

These notes are based not only on what George Kidd said at the conference, but also on a written paper submitted
afterwards.

47

•
•
•

Kids can use SMS codes to access content which is otherwise ‘call barred’ in the home.
Kids can be drawn into chat services or to one to one contacts which are inappropriate and could
lead to physical harm … we already know that mobiles are used in this way.
Kids are open to the deceptive but heavily pushed approach to respond to messages.

ICSTIS’s regulatory experience to date:• UK premium SMS market is worth US$120 million+• Chat services have been marketed to children but as far as ICSTIS is aware there has not been
(improper/sexual) contact issues arising involving children from SMS Chat.
• The business model for paid group chat has been costly and uncontrollable due to mobile
terminating basis for parents – consumers pay for each message received - even if themessages are costly, worthless and unwanted.
• We have seen services which use SMS reverse billed charges to a phone to ‘buy’ internet
access. This circumvents call barring and removes all access control messages target at children
when premium rate charging is involved• SMS has however been a more honest and reliable way of buying logos and ringtones andgames when the alternative is a conventional premium rate call.
• SMS spam has been a big problem. And could double in 2003.
• To date the networks approach has been one of denial. Cannot suggest anywhere you can gowith a complaint over content.
• No mass market for MMS applications yet – but adult/sex services are obviously ready, withproducts and also java game sales rising.
Some key numbers:
70% of UK market is pre-pay$7 is the average java game cost
45% is the number of people who had no idea where to go with mobile content complaints.
£0 - £1.72 is the variation of charging in SMS voting
Examples of problems:
Text chat – no pricing, no opt-out. Spam promotions to kids/costs uncontrolled expenditure which
drains a pre-pay card and then immediately drains the replacement card when inserted.
Spammed services which were not only deceptive and designed for financial gain but which were
intrusive and potentially threatening to children. ICSTIS used emergency procedures to close a numberof ‘services’ which involved the spamming of messages saying “someone fancies you – call 090 xx tofind out who”. These messages were spammed to millions of handsets – many held by children.
We have had a number of sexually explicit Internet sites which can be accessed via a series of reverse
bills.
Children:Children can and cannot be categorised. It is no longer possible to make simple distinctions between
products for children ... for example what about games, ringtones, sports scores, music downloads?
Many products in the mobile world seem to be youth products, but are they? Does this mean that youth
products should be subject to spend limits and special advertising rules?
This is not the ICSTIS approach generally. The ICSTIS approach is to cap spending and require childwarnings on the need for permission and the need to avoid redials when a service is clearly targeted atchildren – ie in children’s TV or in magazines for children.
Is chat different? Children are always chatting online … often in closed groups. To date ICSTIS has notallowed any premium rate chat service to be marketed at children. Phone and text services have age
messages to scare children off. But, are we worried about the potential cost? Or about what the kids
might hear? Or about who they might meet online and in person? Is it cost, content or contact, or somemix of the three.
ICSTIS are doing some research on children and SMS services. The general finding is that kids are a
lot more streetwise about commercial offerings than we imagine. They are far less paranoid or worried48

about inappropriate contact and they are far more techno-literate than their parents. BUT having theconfidence and the competence to use technology does not mean children have the maturity necessary
to decide what they should and should not be seeing and should and should not be doing.
Taking the text chat example, ICSTIS’s conclusion to date has been that it would be irresponsible of aregulator of a potentially high cost charge mechanism to make it available specifically to enable abusiness to charge children for talking to strangers.
Cost, Content and Contact – final thoughts:
These are three different problems requiring different solutions and the involvement of different bodies.
Cost relates to consumer protection from misleading services and promotions, absent pricing,
spamming, in appropriate promotions, services which fail to disconnect, networks meeting theircontracted undertakings.
Consumers need to have the understanding of how services and phones work to manage theirpurchases but they – and child consumers in particular are entitled to expect they are served byeffective regulatory arrangements which ensure information is given, harms are stopped, malpractice ispunished, redress or dispute resolution is at least a possibility.
This is probably based in part on domestic and EU law but is, in any event a legitimate expectation. In
the UK PRS (Premium rate services) world we have spend limits for those (fewer) products we can now
identify as specifically targeted at children.
Protection like this is not something consumers can do for themselves or something which can be left tothose in the sector whose chose to act responsibly.
The picture may change again if mobile phones do turn into credit tools with new banking tie-ups andcredit lines. But have mobile networks really thought where children fit in this equation?
Content regulation ….controlling access to sex, chat or other stuff inappropriate for children is moredifficult. We have clear and absolute rules about children accessing these services but we are notsocial arbiters – it cannot be for us to decide what can and cannot be offered on handsets to adults.
It is dangerous for a consumer protection body to seek to set its own levels of social tolerance.
ICSTIS’s aim generally is to ensure our regime reflects established levels of social acceptance (we takeparticular account of national film agency content ratings and age limits on children and sex content inretail outlets etc). We expect services to be consistent with their promotions – the “sweet chat” services
should not take one to a service which has hard core and abusive language.
What we do have to think about is whether we need to be more challenging in our safeguards OR lessliberal in the content we allow because the payment mechanism is ubiquitous and capable or turning ascreen into a porn clip by the transmission of a single short code?
So far our focus has been on safeguards…… The ability to prevent access with certainty are limited
without the active participation of those with the technical ability and contractual and commercial
positioning to do it – networks.
Contact is every parent’s nightmare. We have to recognise, however, that telephony and mobile
telephony is at the heart of a multitude on chat and dating services. Every British newspaper is full ofservices – including the Times and Guardian! We have a generation around us whose parents quitepossibly met on the Internet.
If chat and dating services could involve contact there are clearly things which can be done to ensure
this happens safely. We reflect these in the practices we ask of service providers of adult services --- (tell users not to give out personal details or numbers, tell them not to talk with those with whom you

49

feel uncomfortable, tell them that if they plan to meet to use a public place and take a parent or carerwith you etc ) But the messages are not specific to us… ..and are not limited to adults (for us) or
children (for others!).
All those with an interest in this area have to agree on and communicate messages in a way people
can respond to.
Conclusion•

the days of quick fixes and simple single solutions are over.

•The days of genuine internationalisation of services may be arriving with new interconnect
arrangements and less absolute network control over the content they allow their customers toaccess•This “content is king” message could result in increased “regime shopping” – content/service
providers seeking to locate in jurisdictions where there is less or no regulatory risk to theiractivities, however objectionable they may be•

Parents cannot ask networks to solve the problems. Networks cannot blame regulators.
Regulators cannot blame schools or industry.

•

We do need a frame work of regulatory protections – and its possible this will be based
predominately in the non-statutory sector to deal better with internationalisation•

We also need new innovative and collaborative work on “media literacy”… .consumer educationand information. This should be delivered by those best resourced, best skilled and best placedto achieve results – this in not likely to be state agencies or regulators.

•

We need networks and their commercial partners to think about the ongoing consequences of
not being a phone company but of being a content aggregator or provider.

•

We need Governments to get past simplistic and ritualistic remarks about “not regulating theInternet” and “empowering consumers”.

•

We need to get those with unique ability to provide consumers with access controls to step up
and play a leading role.

•

We all need to stop and listen to what children are saying understand what they are doing – I do
not think they are running scared and do not think we should be doing so either.

Working together to educate, inform, empower, establish social standards and general entitlements andprovide effective protection when necessary we can see phones become an essential tool in life.

50

A European approach
Richard Swetenham, Programme Co-ordinator, Safer Internet Action Plan,
European Commission
European Union Policy
In general, Rules relating to the protection of minors do not figure as an objective of the EU. In theabsence of rules it is a matter for member states.
A legislative approach:In certain cases there is a community wide set of rules, such as the Television without Frontiers
Directive, whereby:• Each member state must ensure protection of minors from harmful content• Allow reception of programmes from other member states• Reserve powers for member states
This directive only covers TV broadcasting (terrestrial, satellite, cable), and will be reviewed at the endof 2003.
Other recent legislation includes:• The Telecoms package. Though there was no content regulation here, member states were obliged
to remove the monopoly of the old telecom regimes.
• The Electronic commerce directive. This was designed for the Internet, but probably applies toservices provided over mobile telephony. It establishes the liability of intermediary service providers– establishing a defence if the carrier was unaware of the content, but obliged to block or remove if
made aware of it. Notice and take down.
• The Framework Decision on Child Pornography (proposal). The proposal includes moves toharmonisation of legislation. Shows that an EU approach is possible where consensus is there on
the need to act.
Non-legislative approach:• Open method of co-operation. Common targets and guidelines for member states, regularmonitoring• References to self-regulation. Recommendations on protection of minors and human dignity.
The Electronic Commerce Directive.
• Funding programmes including the Safer Internet Action Plan.
Safer Internet Action Plan
•
•
•
•
•

From 1999-2002, 25 million euro
Creating a European network of hotlines
Encouraging self-regulation
Developing rating and filtering systems
Raising awarenessResults• Hotlines funded in 14 countries. INHOPE – the Association of Internet Hotline Providers in Europe –plus Australia and the USA• Rating and filtering – 13 projects including ICRA content rating and SIFT cross-platform filtering(Richard Swetenham was told that SIFT could be used on servers that can be used for mobile
content)• Awareness - 12 projects• 136 partners from 16 countries

51

The second phase will be 2003-2004, and worth 13.3 million euro. It will cover new technologies, forexample Peer2Peer, and it has specifically said that among the new areas it will look at will be mobiles.
Protection of minors is still the main aim. New features include:• the stress is very much on awareness raising in the second phase.
• Awareness and hotline networks. There will be national nodes in all member states and a central
coordinating node.
• The Safer Internet Forum• The second phase will include a broader range of illegal and harmful content, including racism andviolence.
• Benchmark filtering software• Study of children’s use of new media
A possible approach
It is too early to say that we must do anything. It is necessary to assess the problem. It is important toensure that those in the member states that should be thinking about it are thinking about it.
Compare approaches to regulation. The European Commission is not in the business of telling member
states how to do their regulating system, but it is important to ensure that a problem doesn’t fall
between the gaps.
Provide a platform to discuss the way forward and exchange best practices.

52

The RESPONDENT
Professor Bernard Tan, Chairman of the National Internet Advisory Committee, Singapore
Professor Tan felt that it was fitting that the last session should be about regulation. And the threepresentations took us from the international nature of the Internet and responses, to the national level
and to the home or user level.
Prof Tan felt that the last thing we want is more legislation, and as little as possible is the best course.
TV is used to regulation but Telcos are not. Industry are in the best position to take the lead. Thechanging nature of technology means that governments will always be behind. Industry will know thetrends. Government should support but industry should take the leadership.
Singapore hope that an industry association is being formed.
At the user level, the regulatory aspect was outlined by Akio Kokubu. Parents need to be aware oflabelling and filtering options. Labelling and filtering is not useful unless it is universal.
There is no substitute for parental knowledge, guidance and control. Awareness is crucial.

DISCUSSION:
It was pointed out that it was wonderful to be able to concentrate for the last two days without a single
mobile phone ringing. There should be freezones in order that people can concentrate. Multi-tasking
shouldn’t be possible. Using the new technology wisely is a challenge. Perhaps this is an aspect ofmedia literacy.
Young people have much more knowledge than previous generations, but it is not certain that they are
more knowledgeable.
It was mentioned of a new Singaporean initiative called the Cyber Wellness Task Force, that willdevelop best practices and guidelines for behaviour, promoting a healthy cyber culture, forSingaporeans, especially the young.
In the UK OFCOM, a regulator body, will try to bridge the broadcasting and telephone divide. It is not
charged with looking at the Internet as such, though it is with media literacy. It is essential that
regulators in a converged world are aware of issues outside their remit which impinge on their core role.
OFCOM has no desirer to regulate content, yet media literacy in regard to access is very close to that.
It was expressed that there is a need for an international champion, either someone or an organisation,with links to major political figures to give the issue of child protection online via fixed or mobile services
some weight in the right circles. OECD and UNESCO have tiptoed up to the issue of child protection on
new technology but then ran away from it, and G8 has been involved a little, but this is not a very
representative body.
Mention was made of the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, which will aim to set
benchmarks for actions to be taken, such as the connection of all schools to the Internet and having
computers by a certain date etc. This type of meeting is good for a forum for the exchange of views, but
it is difficult to follow up and implement any action agreed upon.
There is a body looking at international technical standards, W3C, but there isn’t anything comparable
looking at social standards. We have the de facto standards of the market majority.
In Japan children have a high level of media literacy to start with. Traffic is increasing so greatly, due tomany things including Peer2Peer and games, that there is a congested infrastructure.

53

It was felt that an international standard has difficulties of implementation, and the danger will shift tothe area which equals the lowest common denominator.
It was expressed that every time we have new technology we have new legislation. This is sectorisingsociety. How can we take a holistic approach? The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is achampion. It can turn the child into the centre for all things, for example legislation.
A clarification was wanted on the definition of awareness, as if it is purely awareness of the problems
then we have had this for a number of years now, and this is not something that we need to focus on.
Awareness is better understood in this context as leading to a change of behaviour and attitude,
empowerment perhaps is a more specific term.
From the Japanese perspective, most of the comments concerned dating sites. There is a process as
to how children access these sites. Spam is one of the main routes for kids access to dating sites. A
registration process was suggested for these sites.

Final remarks:
During the final session the participants of the final meeting were asked to write very concisely theirthoughts on two questions:
What is the main action point YOU will want to take as a result of this meeting?
What is the most important issue you feel needs attention?
Professor Sonia Livingstone was asked to quickly review these thoughts and found three issues whichwere prominently recurring in the answers given:
1) a stress on awareness, as a continuing task as technology develops. This should involve
school, parents and the participation of young people themselves.
2) More was wanted from regulation. There is more scope and potential for international
collaboration seeking consistency and sharing best practice.
3) And on a despairing note for industry, take ownership of both the problems and theopportunities.

Childnet International
March 2003

54

Appendix I
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Nameorganisation/position /nation/Baba, Shinichi Manager, 3rd Engineering Department, Solution Platform Division
NEC Software Kyushu,Ltd., Japan
Brookes, April Supervisory Special Agent, Innocent Images National Initiative,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, USA
Carr, John

Associate Director, Children & Technology Unit,
NCH Action for Children, United Kingdom

Childs, Greg

Head of Future TV, CBBC, BBC, United Kingdom

Cormie, Angus Head of Online / Portals, O2, United Kingdom
Criddle, Linda

Product Planner, Microsoft, USA

Deguchi, Jirou Editor, Document Service Group, IDEA Collaborations Co.,Ltd, Japan
Drotner, Prof.
KirstenEguchi,
Ken-ichiEjima ,
Kazumasa

Director of the Centre for Media Studies,
University of Southern Denmark, Denmark"au" Planning & Coordination Department, KDDI CORPORATION, Japan
Manager, Marketing and Sales Division, J-Sky Promotion Dept.
J-Phone Co.,Ltd., Japan

Fujii, Hisao

Internet Ethics Organization, Japan

Gardner, Will

Research and Policy Officer, Childnet International, United Kingdom

Goto, Hiroko

Associate Professor of Law, Tokyo Fuji University, Japan

Goto, SachikoStaff Reporter, Mobile Channel SOFTBANK ZDNet Inc. , Japan

Henderson,
Janet

Content Standards Manager,
Vodafone Global Content Services Limited, United Kingdom

Hosoda, Masao Deputy Editor ,IT News Section, KYODO NEWS, Japan55

Iguchi,Yasuhiro

Solution System Department, NIFTY Corporation, Japan

Ishihara, Yuichi Multi-Media LIfe Design Group,
Panasonic Mobile Communications Co.,Ltd, Japan
Isobe, Etsuo

General Manager, Research Center for E-Government,
Mitsubishi Research Institute,Inc., Japan

Iwasa, Shoko

Conference Interpreter, Bilingual Group Ltd. ,Japan

Kane, Dr. June Child Rights Consultant, Switzerland
Kawamura,
TomohiroKidd, George

Kioka,
Yasumasa

Child Research Net, Japan
Director, Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards ofTelephone Information Services, (ICSTIS)United Kingdom
Director, Office for Protection of Juveniles, Senior Researcher,
National Police Agency, Japan

Kitamoto, Ichiro Staff Reporter Economic News Section, Kyodo News , Japan
Kodaira,SachikoSenior Researcher, NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, Japan

Koizumi,YusukeResearcher, Basic Research Team, NEC Planning Research, Ltd., Japan

Kokubu, Akio

Vice President, Internet Association Japan, Japan

Kubo, Toshiyuki Supervisor, Techinical Division, Operation and Maintenance Dept.
J-Phone Co.,Ltd., JapanLe Moigne,
Vassili

Mobile Manager, MSN Europe,

Livingstone,
Prof. Sonia

Department of Social Psychology, LSE, United Kingdom

Machill, Prof.
Dr. Marcel

Consultant, Bertelsmann Foundation, Guetersloh, Germany

Maesada , Junji Manager,Marketing and Sales Division, Marketing Sales Planning Dept.
J-Phone Co.,Ltd., Japan
Magid, Dr. Larry Founder SafeKids.com, Journalist, Tribune Media Service & CBS News, USA

56

Makita, Hiroyuki "au" Planning & Coordination Department, KDDI CORPORATION, Japan
Masada, Tokio Manager, Development Department,
New Media Development, Association, Japan
Matsuzaki,
Emiko

Metropolitan Broadcasting Center, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Japan

Matsuzawa,
Eiichi

Legal Department, NIFTY Corporation, Japan

Meharg,ShereenMarketing Manager, MSN Europe , United Kingdom

Mihara, Keiko

Conference Interpreter, Bilingual Group Ltd. , Japan

Miyamoto,
Junko

Representative, ECPAT Japan STOP, Japan

Miyazaki,
ToyohisaSurfmonkey Asia Inc., Japan

Murakami,
Akihiko

STAFF RESEARCHER, Research Center for E-Government,
Mitsubishi Research Institute,Inc., Japan

Nagata, Hideaki Manager, i-mode Business Department, NTT DoCoNo,Inc., Japan
Nakagaki ,NaoyukiSupervisor, Public Relations Division, J-Phone Co.,Ltd., Japan

Nakagawa,
KumikoConference Interpreter, Bilingual Group Ltd. , Japan

Nakayasu,
Yoko

Legal Department, NIFTY Corporation, Japan

Navidi, Dr. Ute Head of Policy, ChildLine, United Kingdom
Nelthorpe,
Denis
Nightingale,
Virginia

Nishiki, Taisi

Consumer Law Centre Victoria, Australia
School of Communication, Design and Media,
University of Western Sydney Australia

Youth Division, Sports and Youth Bureau,Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology, Japan57

Ohta, Arisa

Writer of Cyber Editorial Section, The MAINICHI Newspapers, Japan

Ohta , Hiroaki

Supervisor, Legal & Regulatory Affaiars Division, J-Phone Co.,Ltd., Japan

Ohta, Shunshi

Chief Senior Researcher , Internet Association Japan, Japan

Ohtani, Akihiko Content Department, NIFTY Corporation, Japan
Okubo, Takayo Secretariat, Internet Association Japan, Japan
Onuki,
Hidemitsu

Counsellor, Member Service Department NIFTY Corporation, Japan

Paglar, Yvonne
Ann
Assistant, National Internet Advisory Committee, Singapore
Rodriguez,
Ruben

Director, Exploited Child Unit,
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, USA

Saito, Kenji

Senior Editor and Reporter, Mobile Channel SOFTBANK ZDNet Inc., Japan

Saitou, Keiko

ECPAT Japan STOP, Japan

Sasaki, Hideaki Deputy General Manager, Administration Dept. CSR GroupJ-Phone Co.,Ltd., Japan
Schetzer, Louis Former Director National Children’s and Youth Law Centre, Australia
Seki, Yasunao Director, Youth Division, Sports and Youth Bureau,Ministry of Education,
Culture,Sports, Science and Technology, Japan
Sekiguchi,
Satoshi

Staff Editor, K-tai Watch, Impress, Japan

Sugioka,
SadakoSupervisor, Corporate Strategy Division, J-Phone Co.,Ltd., Japan

Suzuki, Yoko

Swetenham,
RichardTaguchi,
SachikoMulti-Media LIfe Design Group,
Panasonic Mobile Communications Co.,Ltd., Japan
Programme Co-ordinator, Safer Internet Action Plan,
European Commission, Luxembourg

Service Business Division,Community Department, NIFTY Corporation, Japan58

Takahashi,
ToshieECPAT Japan STOP, Japan

Takahashi,
ToshieJuntendo University, Lecturer, Japan

Takasu, Ai

Assistant Manager, Prodact Planning Group,Mobile Terminal Division
Panasonic Mobile Communications Co.,Ltd, Japan

Takeyama,
Ph.D. Masanao Faculty of Environment and Information Studies,
Musashi Institute of Technology, Japan
Tallim, Jane

Director of Education, Media Awareness Network , CanadaTan, Prof.
BernardChairman of National Internet Advisory Committee, Singapore

Uchiyama,
Akira

Ueda, kenji

STAFF RESEARCHER, Research Center for E-Government,
Mitsubishi Research Institute,Inc., Japan
Manager, 1st Engineering Department, Solution Platform Division
NEC Software Kyushu,Ltd., Japan

Ueda, Tomomi Panasonic Mobile Communications Co.,Ltd., Japan
Usami,
Masanobu

ECPAT Japan STOP, JapanUzu, Tsuyoshi

Staff Researcher, IDEA Collaborations Co., Ltd., Japan

Waage, Trond

Norwegian Ombudsman for Children, Norway

Williams, Nigel Chief Executive, Childnet International, United Kingdom
Yamamoto,
Maki

Secretariat, Internet Association Japan, Japan

Yamashita,
Yasufumi

Senior Specialist, Legal Department, NIFTY Corporation, Japan

Yasuda, Kennei Director of The Good Conduct Association of Japan, Japan
Yasuda, Yutaka General Manager, Services Development Department, "au" Strategic
Business Planning Division, "au" Business Sector, KDDI Corporation, Japan

Yasujima ,Genichiro

Manager, Technical Division, Tokyo Technical Management Dept.

59

Yates,Rosemary

Yokoya,TsutomuDirector of Japanese Corporate Relations Hutchison 3.G. UK Ltd.,
United Kingdom
Official, Telecommunications Consumer Affairs Office, Telecommunications
Bureau, Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs,
Posts and Telecommunications,60