Dublin on protecting young 3G phone users

Dublin is taking unparalleled care to protect young users of next-generation cell phones. Because the Irish government sees 3G phones as potential “tools of pedophiles,” Wired News reports, it’s establishing a national register that “will require the name and address of anyone who buys a 3G phone to ensure that people who use it abusively, either to target children or to access or distribute child pornography, can be traced to their physical address.” Wired News explains that 2G phones have always-on Net access like DSL; 3G phones have full-time access but at even faster speeds, making images and video much more part of the phone users’ online experience. The government reasons it’s simply getting in on the ground floor of the market for this new model of phone – to provide a deterrent to porn distribution more than a blanket solution, Wired News adds. Certainly the move has its critics, who say it represents “infringement of civil liberties for little real benefit.” And cell phone companies are working on filtering and other protection technologies.