Safer Internet Forum

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Safer Internet Forum
Code of conduct for premium services and child
protection a mobile operators perspective
Luxembourg June, 14th 2005
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The mobile market in Italy

• The very high levels of mobile penetration now
  being achieved in Europe mean that nearly
  everyone, including children, can have access to
  mobile services. In Italy the penetration rate is
  more than 100
• TIM expects that in the next years the number of
  3G lines in Italy will rapidly increase, reaching
  in 2007 the 51 of the total mobile lines
  forecasted. Rich-content services will become
  more widely available.

Source TIM data
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A Code on child protection Why?

• The market of premium services is still at an
  early stage, but the development of New
  generation mobile devices that act as multimedia
  platforms, with access to every kind of available
  content, will boost this emerging market.
• TIM along with other mobile operators is aware of
  the concerns that society has regarding access to
  content.
• The fast development of the mobile premium
  services, have led Italian mobile operators to
  set up self-regulatory framework in order to
  protect some specific users such as minors.

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What are the goals of the Code?
Transparency on pricing, content and access
conditions of premium services By adopting the
Code the mobile operators are reinforcing their
commitment to transparent and timely customer
communications, above all with regard to pricing,
content and the means of accessing premium
services. Selective or prohibited access for
content considered to be sensitive The new
form of self-regulation, which has been jointly
developed by all the operators, enables customers
to use certain services only once they have been
informed about the nature and content of the
related commercial offering, and guarantees
selective access to sensitive content.
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How to get Transparency
In accordance with content providers TIM
classifies content in relation to their nature by
marking them. All the services such as videos,
MMS, SMS that are suitable just for adults, are
marked in a visible way as Sensitive content in
order to clearly inform the customer about their
content. Before starting the download of
sensitive content directly from the WAP i-TIM
home page, or via SMS the customer is informed
that that content is suitable only for adults and
it is possible to inhibit the access. Sensitive
content are accessible until the customer
requests to block the access to that type of
content.
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Access control for sensitive content easy
procedures
The customer who wants to block the access to any
sensitive content preventing the downloading
and activation of this kind of services by any
other person (i.e. parents with minors), has to
simply inform its mobile operator How? by
sending a request form (available on TIM web
site) indicating the telephone number to
block or by calling Within 24/48 hrs from
receiving the customers request, TIM includes
the telephone number indicated in a Black list.
From that moment onwards the access from that
number to all the services for adults is
inhibited and the services eventually already
activated are cancelled.
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Is the code of conduct a successful form of self
regulation?
So far TIM has received around 4.000 requests of
blocking access to content. These data refers to
the pilot phase of the implementation of the Code
(6 months) and we do expect in the next months to
receive an increasing number of requests when the
Code is well implemented (mid August 2005).
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Conclusions
Even if mobile adult content service represent
just a part of premium contents, mobile operator
are aware of the current concerns regarding
access to content. The Voluntary code of
conduct signed in February 2005 by TIM, VODAFONE,
WIND and 3 can be considered an example of
effective self-regulation since it has been
adopted by all the mobile operators in accordance
with the Ministry of Communication, in order to
address the concern regarding control of access
with flexible, and tailor made solutions.