Mobile Operators to Prevent Access to Child Sexual Abuse Web Sites

    BARCELONA, Spain, February 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSM Association, the
global trade association for mobile operators, has launched the Mobile
Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Content to obstruct the use of the
mobile environment by individuals or organisations wishing to consume or
profit from child sexual abuse content. While the vast majority of child
sexual abuse content is today accessed through conventional connections to
the Internet, there is a danger that the broadband networks now being
rolled out by mobile operators could be misused in the same way.

    The Alliance has been founded by the GSMA, Hutchison 3G Europe,
mobilkom austria, Orange FT Group, Telecom Italia, Telefonica/02, Telenor
Group, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile Group, Vodafone Group and dotMobi to create
significant barriers to the misuse of mobile networks and services for
hosting, accessing, or profiting from child sexual abuse content. These
companies have mobile operations across the world, ensuring that the
Alliance will have a global impact. The Alliance aims to stem, and
ultimately reverse, the growth of online child sexual abuse content,
maintaining a safer mobile environment for all of our customers.

    Members of the Alliance will, among other measures, implement technical
mechanisms to prevent access to Web sites identified by an appropriate
agency as hosting child sexual abuse content. Members will also implement
Notice and Take Down* processes to enable the removal of any child sexual
abuse content posted on their own services, while supporting and promoting
'hotlines' or other mechanisms for customers to report child sexual abuse
content discovered on the Internet or on mobile content services.

    "As our industry rolls out mobile broadband networks that provide quick
and easy access to multimedia Web sites, we must put safeguards in place to
obstruct criminals looking to use mobile services as a means of accessing
or hosting pictures and videos of children being sexually-abused," said
Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSMA. "We call on governments across the
world to support this initiative by providing the necessary legal clarity
to ensure that mobile operators can act effectively against child sexual
abuse content and to step up international enforcement against known
sources."

    Governments need to ensure that they have the necessary resources in
place to combat the spread of digital child sexual abuse content. Ideally,
law enforcement authorities, or delegated international organizations,
should have processes in place to be able to confirm that individual items
of content are illegal.

    The Alliance will achieve its objectives by a combination of technical
measures, co-operation and information sharing. It will also encourage all
mobile operators, regardless of access technology, and the wider mobile
community to participate and will interact with other industry initiatives.

    Supporting Quotes:

    "I welcome this agreement. It gives a very clear signal that the mobile
industry is committed to making the Mobile Internet a safer place for
children. The fact that this initiative has grown out of the work carried
out by the mobile industry in Europe shows that Europe is, once again,
leading in building a trustworthy environment for doing business."

    Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and
Media.

    "3G is about bringing the broadband experience to the handset. To keep
up with the pace of consumer demand we constantly reinvent ourselves and we
encourage responsible innovation to ensure a safe environment for all our
customers. This alliance proves that the industry is proactively taking
responsibility. We are very pleased to participate in this initiative."

    Christian Salbaing, Managing Director, Hutchison 3G Europe.

    "As the specialized United Nations agency for information and
communication technologies (ICT), the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) welcomes the new Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse to
protect children from the misuse of mobile broadband networks by child
predators around the world. The World Summit on the Information Society
called for national and international measures against the use of ICT in
all forms of child abuse and encouraged the setting up of child helplines.
Those measures have been endorsed by the ITU and they are being adopted by
our distinctive membership of 191 Member States and some 700 private
companies. The Mobile Alliance is a prime example of the proactive action
industry can take and, together with government and law enforcement
support, we can make significant progress in the global fight against child
sexual abuse content online."

    Hamadoun I. Toure, Secretary-General, International Telecommunication
Union.

    "Mobile communication is an integral part of many people's lives.
Operators therefore have a duty to protect children. The mobilkom austria
group is living up to this responsibility and I am very pleased with our
pioneering role in this regard. I assume that many operators will join in
this initiative."

    Boris Nemsic, Chairman of the GSMA Public Policy Committee, CEO Telekom
Austria Group and CEO mobilkom austria.

    "We are proud to support this initiative being launched today by the
GSMA. At Orange, we believe in taking care of our customers and that goes
way beyond the services that we provide. As network technologies rapidly
improve, the telecoms industry has to join together, share key learnings
and draw on established methods to proactively address this critically
important global issue."

    Olaf Swantee, EVP, Orange.

    "Telecom Italia strongly believes in supporting the Mobile Alliance to
promote the correct use of mobile Internet. TIM underlines the centrality
of the customer to its strategy and in this case to the protection of
children."

    Luca Luciani, General Manager of Telecom Italia Domestic Mobile
Services.

    "Protecting children continues to be a top priority for us. We are
deeply committed to this new initiative. Alongside our work with government
and the rest of the industry to actively oppose child sexual abuse content,
O2 has already launched dedicated child protection websites across all of
our European businesses. In Latin America, Telefonica is driving a huge
research study with students with the aim to learn more about the way new
technologies are changing their lives and Fundacion Telefonica through
Educared is providing education to more than 25 million people."

    Matthew Key, CEO and Chairman of Telefonica O2 Europe, speaking on
behalf of Telefonica S.A.

    "The communications industry has a significant impact on societies
everywhere, providing new technology and opportunities to a rapidly
growing, global customer base. As key players in this industry, Telenor
share a responsibility for making our products and services safe. I am
pleased that the GSMA is now taking decisive action to protect the most
vulnerable in our society."

    Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor.

    "TeliaSonera has since long taken an active part in the fight against
child sexual abuse content, and we are committed to remain at the forefront
of this important work. By joining the Alliance, we take another step to
protect children and to make the Internet a safer place."

    Kenneth Karlberg, President Business Area Mobility Services,
TeliaSonera.

    "European mobile operators have already taken important steps to
improve child safety within the EU Mobile Child Safety Framework launched
just one year ago. The new Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse
Content adds to these activities and extends it to a global scale. T-Mobile
will continue to be at the industry's forefront to maintain a high level of
child safety."

    Joachim Horn, CTO of T-Mobile International.

    "Protecting young people wherever they are is of paramount importance
to Vodafone. This initiative is one of a number of measures we are
implementing to reduce the possibility of misuse of our network."

    Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone Group.

    "As the company representing the space where the Internet and mobility
converge, dotMobi is proud to support the Mobile Alliance against Child
Sexual Abuse Content. The mobile web is an exciting step forward in global
communications, but not at the expense of children's welfare. Because
dotMobi works with both on-portal and off-portal content providers around
the world, we hope to cast the widest possible net in preventing the
availability and distribution of child sexual abuse content."

    Trey Harvin, CEO, dotMobi (mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd.)

    Notes to Editors:

    * 'Notice and Take Down' (NTD) - Operators and service providers are
sometimes notified of suspect content online by customers, members of the
public or by law enforcement or hotline organisations. If the report comes
from a member of the public, the information is passed on to law
enforcement or national hotline, as appropriate, for confirmation of
whether the content is illegal or to take any further legal action. When
issued with a NTD notice, operators and service provider takes steps to
have the illegal content removed.

    Terminology: The GSMA uses the term 'child sexual abuse content' or
'images of child sexual abuse' to refer to recorded images of children
subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation. While the term "child
pornography" is used commonly in legislation and international conventions,
the GSMA prefers not to use this term, as "pornography" is commonly
understood to be associated with depictions of sexual activity between
consenting individuals. For this reason, use of the term "child
pornography" mischaracterizes sexual representations where children are
involved, and its use can cause misunderstanding.

    About the GSMA:

    The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing
more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries and
territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and
suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.

    The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless
services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to
individual customers and national economies, while creating new business
opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members
serve more than 2.5 billion customers - 85% of the world's mobile phone
users.



    For more information please contact:
    Mark Smith or David Pringle
    GSM Association
    Email: press@gsm.org

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