No kidding with children and their mobile phone
Forget a plastic case with colourful buttons and emitting annoying sounds. Today's kids want the real thing and in some foreign countries like Japan it's addictive. Indeed the mobile phone has become a trendy gift even for young Maltese children,...
Forget a plastic case with colourful buttons and emitting annoying sounds. Today's kids want the real thing and in some foreign countries like Japan it's addictive. Indeed the mobile phone has become a trendy gift even for young Maltese children, adding to the growth of the local mobile market.
Yet to date it seems the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) has not received any complaint from users concerned about their kid's use or misuse of the service/s they have may have access to, i-Tech has learnt.
However, this did not deter the two local mobile network operators, Go and Vodafone, to launch a code of practice to safeguard minors using a mobile phone. The idea came following the introduction of a framework which ensures safer mobile usage by younger teenagers and children which is being implemented in all 27 EU countries by the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA).
This code, approved by the MCA, was signed last week by Norbert Prihoda, chief mobile operations officer at Go Mobile and Inaki Berroeta, chief executive officer at Vodafone Malta Ltd, in the presence of Ivan Bugeja, manager for external affairs at the MCA and Stephanie Scicluna, consumer affairs officer at the same authority.
"Communication technology is developing rapidly hand in hand with the growth in mobile usage. Mobile telephony has evolved as well and may offer an additional way to consume content already offered via the public internet," a spokesman from Go Mobile said. "In anticipation of these products being widely adopted by consumers, including those under the age of 18, Go Mobile together with Vodafone are putting the measures described in the code. The intention is that parents and carers should have access to the information with which they can show their children how to use new mobile devices responsibly and the power to influence the type of content they can access. The Maltese mobile industry is taking an approach to child safety consistent with that developed in other parts of the communications industry."
A framework for classifying commercial content that is unsuitable for 18-year-olds and under has been designed in line with standards used in other media. The companies said they shall do their utmost to ensure that content provided by recognised third parties is classified in a way that indicates whether the material is suitable for minors. Both companies currently do not offer any content unsuitable to minors (under 18 years) in their walled garden environment.
Through this initiative, both companies intend to take all appropriate measures within their capacity against unsolicited spam communications, including text, picture and multimedia messages and e-mails, since technology and its accessibility are evolving at such a fast pace.
This code of conduct is available on the companies' respective websites, www.go.com.mt and www.vodafone.com.mt However, this code does not delve into the issue of health and safety for children as a result of the radiation emitted by mobile handsets.
The Vodafone Malta spokesman did give some clues on the trends in mobile phone use by minors. "Since we cannot be certain which of our prepaid subscribers are minors, we can only give an indicative profile. However, from the interest expressed by minors for our services, the trend seems to be that these use the SMS service most of the time. They are also keen about our MMSs and Vodafone live! content downloads like games, full track music downloads/ringing tones."
Vodafone's subscriber base is divided into postpaid and prepaid. All postpaid customers must be over 18 years of age since these sign-up for the service through a contract. However, the operator cannot determine the number of minors subscribed to its network as, by law, prepaid customers are not obliged to register and provide their details, hence any registrations are voluntary and Vodafone has no way of certifying the details relating to these registrations.
Asked whether Maltese minors are educated enough on the correct use of mobile phones, the Vodafone spokesman replied in the negative.
"This is because while electronic devices with new enhanced features are being introduced in the market, parents/guardians are finding it difficult to keep up with this rapid development in technology. On the other hand, although minors learn their way around these new devices fast, they are also susceptible to throw caution to the wind and act impulsively. Responsibility to safeguard minors lies with us all, meaning, electronic communication service providers, parents and/or guardians as well as national policy makers and public authorities."
The MCA explained that all national laws and regulations form an integral part of the authorisation granted to communication operators such as mobile operators, internet service providers (ISP), and digital terrestrial TV (DTTV) operators. This implies that all authorised undertakings are prohibited from committing or knowingly aiding and abetting any criminal activity, including child abuse.
"In practice, this means that, in the event that they become aware of any abusive content, operators are required to pull down any such content immediately. They must also promptly inform the relevant public authorities of any alleged illegal activity undertaken or information provided by recipients of their service and must grant to any such authority, upon request, information enabling the identification of recipients of their service with whom they have storage agreements."
As a general principle, intermediaries such as ISPs, telephony operators and the like are not held responsible for content passing through the communications technologies they provide as they are not generally aware of such content and do not carry out any form of editorial control. However, there are qualified exceptions to this rule under the E-Commerce Act when an ISP initiates or transforms the content.
The EU Directive on Data Retention, which is being transposed into Maltese law, obliges all operators to retain records of traffic data for a specified period of time, depending on the nature of the service that the operators provide, for the purpose of assisting the police in any investigations that may be required.
The MCA is including child protection in its upcoming consultation on a new code of conduct for all telephony operators offering premium rate services. Such measures would include, for example, the possibility of barring children's access to particular number ranges which are designated for adult use and adult content only.
Yet to date it seems the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) has not received any complaint from users concerned about their kid's use or misuse of the service/s they have may have access to, i-Tech has learnt.
However, this did not deter the two local mobile network operators, Go and Vodafone, to launch a code of practice to safeguard minors using a mobile phone. The idea came following the introduction of a framework which ensures safer mobile usage by younger teenagers and children which is being implemented in all 27 EU countries by the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA).
This code, approved by the MCA, was signed last week by Norbert Prihoda, chief mobile operations officer at Go Mobile and Inaki Berroeta, chief executive officer at Vodafone Malta Ltd, in the presence of Ivan Bugeja, manager for external affairs at the MCA and Stephanie Scicluna, consumer affairs officer at the same authority.
"Communication technology is developing rapidly hand in hand with the growth in mobile usage. Mobile telephony has evolved as well and may offer an additional way to consume content already offered via the public internet," a spokesman from Go Mobile said. "In anticipation of these products being widely adopted by consumers, including those under the age of 18, Go Mobile together with Vodafone are putting the measures described in the code. The intention is that parents and carers should have access to the information with which they can show their children how to use new mobile devices responsibly and the power to influence the type of content they can access. The Maltese mobile industry is taking an approach to child safety consistent with that developed in other parts of the communications industry."
A framework for classifying commercial content that is unsuitable for 18-year-olds and under has been designed in line with standards used in other media. The companies said they shall do their utmost to ensure that content provided by recognised third parties is classified in a way that indicates whether the material is suitable for minors. Both companies currently do not offer any content unsuitable to minors (under 18 years) in their walled garden environment.
Through this initiative, both companies intend to take all appropriate measures within their capacity against unsolicited spam communications, including text, picture and multimedia messages and e-mails, since technology and its accessibility are evolving at such a fast pace.
This code of conduct is available on the companies' respective websites, www.go.com.mt and www.vodafone.com.mt However, this code does not delve into the issue of health and safety for children as a result of the radiation emitted by mobile handsets.
The Vodafone Malta spokesman did give some clues on the trends in mobile phone use by minors. "Since we cannot be certain which of our prepaid subscribers are minors, we can only give an indicative profile. However, from the interest expressed by minors for our services, the trend seems to be that these use the SMS service most of the time. They are also keen about our MMSs and Vodafone live! content downloads like games, full track music downloads/ringing tones."
Vodafone's subscriber base is divided into postpaid and prepaid. All postpaid customers must be over 18 years of age since these sign-up for the service through a contract. However, the operator cannot determine the number of minors subscribed to its network as, by law, prepaid customers are not obliged to register and provide their details, hence any registrations are voluntary and Vodafone has no way of certifying the details relating to these registrations.
Asked whether Maltese minors are educated enough on the correct use of mobile phones, the Vodafone spokesman replied in the negative.
"This is because while electronic devices with new enhanced features are being introduced in the market, parents/guardians are finding it difficult to keep up with this rapid development in technology. On the other hand, although minors learn their way around these new devices fast, they are also susceptible to throw caution to the wind and act impulsively. Responsibility to safeguard minors lies with us all, meaning, electronic communication service providers, parents and/or guardians as well as national policy makers and public authorities."
The MCA explained that all national laws and regulations form an integral part of the authorisation granted to communication operators such as mobile operators, internet service providers (ISP), and digital terrestrial TV (DTTV) operators. This implies that all authorised undertakings are prohibited from committing or knowingly aiding and abetting any criminal activity, including child abuse.
"In practice, this means that, in the event that they become aware of any abusive content, operators are required to pull down any such content immediately. They must also promptly inform the relevant public authorities of any alleged illegal activity undertaken or information provided by recipients of their service and must grant to any such authority, upon request, information enabling the identification of recipients of their service with whom they have storage agreements."
As a general principle, intermediaries such as ISPs, telephony operators and the like are not held responsible for content passing through the communications technologies they provide as they are not generally aware of such content and do not carry out any form of editorial control. However, there are qualified exceptions to this rule under the E-Commerce Act when an ISP initiates or transforms the content.
The EU Directive on Data Retention, which is being transposed into Maltese law, obliges all operators to retain records of traffic data for a specified period of time, depending on the nature of the service that the operators provide, for the purpose of assisting the police in any investigations that may be required.
The MCA is including child protection in its upcoming consultation on a new code of conduct for all telephony operators offering premium rate services. Such measures would include, for example, the possibility of barring children's access to particular number ranges which are designated for adult use and adult content only.