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April 13, 2004 Research and Development of Filtering Technology for Internet Content with Mobile DevicesHarmful Contents Filtering Technology for the Mobile Internet The Ministry of Public Management, Home affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) invited the public to participate in a new project concerning research and development of filtering technology for mobile phone internet use. Internet Association, Japan applied for the public offering and was chosen from among the public on April 13, 2004. The budget planned for the first year of the project was approximately 250,000 pounds (50 million yen) and the implementation term is two years from April 2004 to March 2006. The Master Plan released to the public by the MPHPT on invitation to the public offering is described in detail below. Master PlanI. PurposeThe purpose of this research and development effort is to implement and disseminate filtering (or selective blocking) technology with regard to Internet access from mobile phones, in order to provide an Internet environment where children can use (or parents can let their children use) the Internet safely. In the mobile internet area where Japan leads the world, actively promoting the "Next Generation PICS (tentative name)" which is expected to become the new international standard for rating (web contents) and filtering technologies shall contribute in strengthening its global competitiveness and stimulating its economy. II. Policy PositioningArticle 5 of the "Law concerning the Prohibition of the Act of Enticing Children using Internet Dating Services and Other Matters" stipulates that "The National Government and local government shall make education and awareness efforts aimed at strengthening public understanding of the prevention of the use of Internet dating services by children and strive to promote the development and dissemination of technologies conducive to the prevention of the use of Internet dating services by children." Also, the additional resolution (House of Councilors Cabinet Committee, June 5, 2003) to the said law states that "The Government ... shall, in consideration that self-imposed regulations by Internet Providers provide for the prevention of the use of Internet dating services by children and protection of children, work on technological development and dissemination of child usage prevention technologies including filtering functions, hand-in-hand with the private sector." Furthermore, the e-Japan Priority Policy Program (concluded on August 8, 2003) states as follows regarding the countermeasures against illegal or harmful information: "... shall consider and ... by the fiscal year of 2005, towards implementing mobile filtering features." III. GoalIn order to protect children from harmful contents and encouraging sound growth, perform research and development towards implementation of harmful contents filtering technology for mobile communication platforms (mobile phones, etc.). IV. Research and Development Details1. Overview Amid the broad dissemination of Internet access capable mobile communication platforms including mobile phones, this research and development effort shall proceed to develop an international standard technology that will provide web users with control over what contents they receive on mobile communication platforms, in order to encourage sound growth of the young and future evolution of web contents for mobile platforms. Furthermore, a system capable of providing ratings (web contents ratings) and filtering (selective blocking) shall be developed. 2. Technical Issues and Goals A. Mobile Filtering Standard Technology i) Technical Issues The current PICS' description method only allows the description of category information and level information, and it is difficult to precisely describe typical mobile phone contents such as bulletin board systems including Internet dating service sites as well as motion picture and games that are expected to become the contents for the next generation mobile phones. Also, with mobile platforms becoming more borderless, a description method that is valid globally will be required. This research and development effort shall maintain the concept of the freedom of information providing and control over the receiving of contents, which is PICS' distinct feature, while developing a specification of a standard technology for precisely describing mobile phone contents. Specifically, the entire architecture of the mobile filtering system shall be examined (filtering methods, scalability, etc.), and by adopting XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and RDF (Resource Description Framework) as the web contents information description method, a Next Generation PICS (tentative name) specification that will enable description of various contents shall be established. ii) Goals B. Mobile Filtering System Technology i) Technical Issues a. Browser filter setting features. Develop and implement a feature that enables registration from a mobile platform, of the following information regarding the filter systems. - gateway information b. Identification and authentication of mobile platforms Develop and implement a feature that enables gateways to identify and authenticate mobile platform user information. c. Filtering features Based on the filtering method examined under the "Mobile Filtering Standard Technology", develop and implement a filtering feature for browsers or gateways. d. Filtering communication protocols Develop and implement a filtering communication protocol required for communication between devices such as mobile platform browsers, gateways, etc. ii) Goals Prove that it is possible to perform contents filtering using the prototype system. Furthermore, release the prototype system to the public in order to gain access from more than a hundred general users. C. Mobile Rating Database Technology i) Technical Issues Due to the characteristics of the platform, many web contents for mobile platforms are based mainly on character information. Especially, messages on bulletin boards of internet dating service sites use special words (jargon). Based on these character information, a feature that will identify possibly harmful web sites for mobile platforms shall be developed. Also, there are certain web sites for mobile platforms that allow access only from mobile platforms. Methods to collect such harmful site information shall be examined. ii) Goals Build a rating database that registers over five hundred harmful sites for mobile platforms, and provide rating information online. V. Implementation Term of this Research and DevelopmentTwo years project from April 2004 to March 2006. Project links
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