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GSM Association Launches Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content

German city shuts down Scientology kindergarten

Health workers want corruption stamped out

GSM Association Launches Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content
By Dianne See Morrison - Mon 11 Feb 2008 03:21 AM PST

Mobile operator global trade group the GSM Association has launched the Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content to prevent individuals or organizations from trying to use mobiles to consume or profit from child sexual abuse content. Operators noted that while the vast majority of such content is accessed through the wired internet, “there is a danger” as the mobile web gains ground that broadband networks could be “misused” in the same way.

ISP’s may argue that they are only conduits of content, but mobile operators aren’t prepared to take such a blasé stance. The Alliance said it would “create significant barriers” to the misuse of its networks and services for hosting, accessing or profiting from child sexual abuse content. Members will implement “technical mechanisms” or filters to block access to banned web sites. They are also supporting customers reporting any inappropriate content and plan to swiftly deal with any “Notice and Take Down” (NTD) warnings they get from subscribers or law enforcement officials. The Alliance also promised to share information and to cooperate on keeping child sexual abuse content from infecting mobile networks. The Alliance includes some of the world’s largest operators including Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), T-Mobile, Telefonica/O2 and Orange. (Release).

As the mobile web gains traction, operators and governments are trying to figure out how best to deal with inappropriate content. In the UK, Ofcom is currently reviewing the voluntary code of content that mobile operators have in place to protect children, while in Japan, the government is considering filtering the mobile web to block child unfriendly content.

German city shuts down Scientology kindergarten
First posted 07:33:41 (Mla time) February 26, 2008
Agence France-Presse

BERLIN -- City authorities in Munich, southern Germany, have closed down a kindergarten with immediate effect after discovering it was run by the Church of Scientology, the municipality said on Monday.

"The well-being of the children in the establishment was under threat because the education process was based on the principles of Scientology," the municipality said in a statement.

The kindergarten opened last summer and had 18 children looked after by two adults.

The Church of Scientology became the subject of intense debate in Germany last year when Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise, one of its most famous followers, was chosen to play the role of a resistance hero in a film about a failed plot to kill Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Cruise was deemed by many Germans to be unsuitable for the part because of his beliefs. In January, German historian Guido Knopp compared a speech the actor made to fellow Scientologists with a call to war by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

The comparison drew a furious response from the Church of Scientology, which has been described in Germany as a sect that exploits its members financially.

It has been under surveillance in some German states for more than 10 years and regional ministers agreed in December to investigate the possibility of banning it.

A court in southern Germany earlier this month threw out a bid by the Church of Scientology to stop intelligence services watching it.

It ruled that there were clear indications that the movement "seeks to establish a social order that runs counter to the constitution."

Health workers want corruption stamped out
Sunday, February 24, 2008

Health professionals belonging to the Health Alliance for Truth and Justice want corruption stamped out in the country.

"Some 20 percent of the national budget goes to corruption, and seven out of 10 official development aid projects are mostly white elephants that do not deliver economic benefits," said Dr. Darby Santiago, an alliance convenor.

Santiago decried that corruption means a small health budget that cannot support hospitals like the Philippine General Hospital that has not seen a budget raise in the last 10 years.

The $130-million or P6.5- billion kickback for the scrapped national broadband deal would have paid for antibiotic medication for seven days for 6.5 million patients; anti-tuberculosis treatment for almost 1.1 million patients for six months; and would represent five times the annual budget of Philippine General Hospital that serves around 600,000 patients a year, said Santiago.

If given to the health sector, it would prevent health workers from leaving the country, giving subsistence allowance for 70,000 public health workers for the next five years, or P3,000 across-the-board wage increase of all government health personnel for the next two years.

It would also pay for 15,000 surgeries at P600,000 each, or 49,000 open-heart surgeries at P200,000 each; or 325 cataract surgeries.