Japanese mobile content providers agreed to institute a series of safeguards to protect young consumers after authorities ignored details of a mass-murder plot posted to the mobile web. Content providers this week agreed to a list of 22 criteria that would allow brands to label their mobile websites suitable for minors--sites wishing to adopt the seal of approval must closely monitor user posts and report suspicious messages to authorities. The knee-jerk reaction follows a recent spate of bad publicity across Japan as a segment of users have turned to the mobile web to arrange group suicides or announce their plans to commit crimes--last month, 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato killed seven people and injured 10 others by swerving his truck into a crowded pedestrian area and then stabbing random passers-by, a tragedy he foreshadowed in a series of web messages. Authorities were roundly criticized for failing to spot Kato's warnings, with the Japanese government agreeing to research new technologies designed to filter similar web messages. For more on Japan's mobile web crackdown: - read this AFP article ...
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