# Section 3 Establishment of a Safe and Secure Ubiquitous Network Society

### 1. Consumer administration in relation to telecommunications services

## (1) Illegal and harmful information on the internet

### A. Dealing with illegal/harmful materials on the internet

The rapid development and penetration of the Internet have brought about convenience to users on one hand, while on the other hand, so-called “black websites” are becoming a social issue and there is an increasing number of incidences where minors can get access to harmful material and consequently become involved in crime. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has held meetings of the Study Group to Address Illegal and Harmful Information on the Internet since November 2007 to deliberate on the promotion of the introduction of further filtering for young people, support for measures to be taken by providers, etc., including deletion of illegal and harmful information, comprehensive measures against illegal and harmful information, such as dissemination and enlightenment campaigns to improve Internet literacy. Subsequently, an interim report on improvement measures for filtering for mobile phones, etc., was compiled in April 2008.

### B. Promotion of dissemination of filtering

Today, we are seeing a number of cases where young people get access to harmful Internet sites, such as so-called “online dating sites” and get involved in crime, which are emerging as a social problem. As a tool for dealing with harmful information on the Internet, filtering is one of the effective methods, which allows users to take what is good and refuse what is bad through their own will. In December 2007, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) requested mobile phone operators to gain parental consent for using filtering services when young people use mobile phones. In April 2008, the MIC also requested mobile phone operators to make efforts to improve filtering services, in line with the directions set forth in the interim report of the Study Group to Address Illegal and Harmful Information on the Internet.

(2) Measures against nuisance e-mails/ phishing

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has convened meetings of the Study Group to Address Methods of Dealing with Nuisance E-mails since July 2007, and the interim report of the Study Group was released in December 2007, which focused on a review of legal systems. Based on the interim report, the Law Partially Amending the Law on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail was promulgated on June 6, 2008. Since the amended law includes a provision whereby telecommunication operators can refuse the provision of service if a sender sends e-mails with a false e-mail address, it can also be effective as a countermeasure against phishing.

## (3) Safe and secure use of mobile phones

In order to promote the safe and secure use of mobile phones, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) is committed to the appropriate enforcement of the “Law on Identification of Cellular Phone Users by Mobile Operators and Prevention of Abusive Use of Cellular Phones.” (Law No. 31, 2005) This Law obliges mobile phone operators to conduct identity verification when concluding contracts or transfers to prevent the abuse of mobile phones.

Since we have seen a surge in the number of cases where consumers are seeking advice regarding the expensive packet communication fees of mobile phones in recent years, the MIC is conducting PR activities with regard to implementing measures, such as the use of services that inform the user or restrict use if the communication fee exceeds a certain amount.

## (4) Protection of personal information in the telecommunications field

In view of the fully-fledged enforcement of the Private Information Protection Law, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) had held discussions through the Panel on Personal Information in the Telecommunications Services since February 2003 and revised the guidelines to ensure stricter implementation of the proper handling of personal data in August 2004. And in September 2007, in response to the diversification of positioning information services and penetration of terminals with GPS functions, the interpretation of the guidelines was partially revised in order to clarify the contents of neces-