3G Gives rise to Paedo Porn
3G Gives rise to Paedo Porn
Paedophiles are hijacking the new third generation (3G) mobile phone networks, increasing the risks to children of being affected by child porn rings.
Experts report that mobile web sites (known as WAP sites) catering for paedophiles are beginning to appear. There’s evidence of increasing demand for them too.
“We’re seeing 2000 searches a day now by subscribers who are looking for child porn themed sites,” said Peter Drinkwater, MD of Fujin, a company which monitors the nature of WAP sites and the content of mobile data. Fujin monitors traffic (and classifies all web sites) as part of its service to mobile operators (such as O2, Orange and 3).
Drinkwater said Fujin reports all activity to the phone companies, but was unable to comment how they act on this information.
According to Fujin, 49 per cent of all data traffic on mobile phone networks is related to porn. Mobile operators rely on adult entertainment revenues to fund the cost of 3G licenses. They employ Fujin to make sure that adult entertainment (such as gambling and erotica) is restricted only to adult subscribers.
“There are paedophile sites out there, and clearly there people looking to access them,” said Drinkwater. “We report all this back to the mobile operators, and what they do is up to them.”
A spokesmen for Orange admitted that the company then passes any information on to the Internet Watch Foundation (an industry body set up by the phone companies) which can then recommend to the police that they apply to get web sites closed down.
The mobile operators, like Orange, say parents have the option of disabling access to data altogether. But this will hit their sales, as kids want phones that can access movies and video clips. So in November Orange will launch a filter, that enables parents to control the access granted on their children’s mobiles.
“The problem with mobiles is that often the kids know more about how they operate than the parents,” said Inigo Wilson from the Orange press office.
Meanwhile, the broadcast of offensive images, from one handset to another via the Bluetooth interface, can’t be eliminated. “There’s not much the industry can do about that for now,” said Drinkwater.
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