Phone parental controls in the works

With more and more Web-type content coming to phones - including the X-rated stuff - cellphone companies are trying to figure how to provide as broad a range of material as possible without displeasing parents (a very big market). The solution? Parental controls, in the form of content-rating and filtering. Phase 1 of the process, spearheaded by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), is rating the content, Reuters reports. By "mid-year," CTIA says, content inappropriate for people under 18 will have been identified and put into a "restricted" category. In 12 months there will be more labels and content categories - "mobile versions of existing rating systems," e.g., for movies and video games. So it looks like filtering - technology that puts those ratings to work - is a ways off, but at least it's in the works. I can think of other controls parents might want, too: restrictions on time spent talking, number of text messages, calls from strangers, pictures or videos sent and received, etc. It'll be interesting to see what cellphone makers will provide. For an early look phone parental controls, see my 5/7/04 issue.