The trade association for the U.S. wireless industry is pushing its members and the entire business to adopt age verification and other controls aimed at keeping under-18 wireless users from getting to adult content on cell phones.
Following up on a letter earlier this year to its leader, CTIA wants wireless providers to classify content according to a rating system that would rate content as suitable to all ages or restricted to 18 years old and older.
CTIA president Steve Largent said in a letter circulated around the industry and the Internet that the group hopes to have the guidelines in place, and an industry-wide agreement on them, by the end of the year. The group’s board of directors is expected to vote on the guidelines, including a public education program, “soon.”
Earlier this year, Federal Communications Commission chief John Muleta—whose agency began cracking down on “indecent” radio and television content following rising complaints from parents and lawmakers—wrote Largent, calling on the wireless industry to address the issue of youth obtaining or accessing porn on cell phones.
"The wireless industry has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of meaningful efforts to inform consumers about the nature of the content available to them on mobile phones,” Largent said this week, “and will put in place the tools to prevent unauthorized access to inappropriate content."
