Last week my attention was drawn to a notice which had been put up on 3's web site. It reads as follows
Note: If you're using a BlackBerry, we can't put a filter on your phone. This is because BlackBerry apply
their own settings to access the internet
Why had this caveat appeared out of the blue where previously there had been nothing? Had something changed? If so, what and when?
At first everyone started clamming up. I took that as
a sure sign. Then finally two networks confirmed that, right now, they believe none of their BlackBerry users are covered either by the adult content blocking policy or by the IWF list blocking policy. Another network said they believed some BlackBerry
models were still covered but they acknowledged not all of their BlackBerry users are any more.
Why have Blackberry decided to stop running services which keeps adult sites away from children or indeed anyone who has not asked for the adult bar to
be lifted? And what exactly is the position with the IWF list? When did universal coverage under either or both headings cease to be a fact? Was it ever a fact?
Was OFCOM, CEOP, the Government or anyone in authority informed of any changes to what
was very widely understood to be the status quo? If not why not? This is a scandal which risks putting a big dent in the credibility of the whole notion of self-regulation of the internet in the UK, if not elsewhere as well.
My understanding is
that all of the UK's mobile phone networks have been tearing their hair out trying to get RIM to sit down with them and resolve this but it hasn't happened. Meanwhile what are the networks to do? Cut off all of their customers who use BlackBerry devices?
I am sure some people will say that is exactly what they should have done but I think that is rather an extreme view and it ought not to be necessary when RIM have it within their gift to avoid it.
Should the mobile networks have warned parents or
the public or some of their customers?
Blackberry has some explaining to do.
...Read the full article
Update: Summonsed
18th December 2011. See article from telegraph.co.uk
BlackBerry has been summoned to a meeting with the internet censors at Ofcom after it emerged that its internet feed is provided without age restrictions.
Research in Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry, will be joined at the summit by
the leading mobile networks at the summit called by the telecommunications regulator.
It was brought to our attention that there was a problem, an Ofcom spokesman said: It is to do with the way in which the BlackBerry operating system
works. We are very concerned and want to get this resolved as quickly as possible.
While mobile phone operators have been able to apply filters to other handsets such as the iPhone, they have been unable to do so on the BlackBerry. This is
because data flows through the BlackBerry's own services rather than those provided by the networks. It is understood that RIM did offer its own filtering system to UK networks, but this has only been taken up by T-Mobile.
Update: Blocking Report
21st December 2011. See article from
news.techworld.com
Ofcom have had their first meeting with RIM on the subject of website blocking. The meeting was attended by all the UK mobile operators and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). A second meeting has been scheduled for the New Year to check on progress.
An Ofcom spokesperson reported to Techworld that, although RIM was blocking access to those URLs flagged up by the IWF, it does not currently prevent access to adult content by default.
RIM explained it is now working on new parental
control features that will give parents the ability to control and restrict their children's use of various services and applications on BlackBerry smartphones. Integrated parental control features will be provided in future versions of BlackBerry 7, and
BlackBerry App World 3.1 also offers content rating and filtering options for applications based on the CTIA Wireless Association's Guidelines for App Content Classification and Ratings .