PhoneBrain

[DavidKnell]

18 November 2008
PHONEPAYPLUS TAKES SAFETY TO THE TOP OF THE CLASS

Industry regulator joins forces with Ministry of Sound, the Peter Jones Foundation and Make Your Mark to launch PhoneBrain - an innovative new schools programme

Mobile ringtones and budding business plans will help GCSE students download their way to GCSE success as PhonepayPlus, the phone-paid services regulator, launches a youth education initiative to help teach young people, aged 13-18, about how to use phone-paid services safely.

Working with Ministry of Sound, the Peter Jones Foundation and the Government-sponsored enterprise body Make Your Mark, PhonepayPlus has designed PhoneBrain - a unique curriculum-based ICT and Enterprise schools programme. Available to all secondary schools and youth/education centres across the UK, PhoneBrain uses the skills and techniques GCSE students are required to learn to develop an animated mobile ringtone, create their own phone-paid service business plan, or both!

By combining real educational needs while tapping into young people's passions, the youth education programme is designed to help teachers inspire students to learn. They will explain the threats and opportunities afforded by the £1bn market and how they can protect themselves and their friends and family from falling foul of misleading text promotions, or overcomplicated terms and conditions.

Mobile phones are music to students' ears
For ICT enthusiasts, schools will be able to download Adobe software, Ministry of Sound content and full curriculum-friendly lesson plans via the project website: http://www.phonebrain.org.uk/. This will enable teens across the UK to take part in the innovative programme.

Learning about phone-paid services, while at the same time developing the skills they learn throughout their ICT lessons, students will create and be able to download their very own animated ringtone using audio-visual content provided by Ministry of Sound artists.

Calling all business brains
Young entrepreneurs will also be given the chance to enter their own ‘Dragons' Den' with the help of full Enterprise lesson plans, a business plan template and inspirational real-life cases studies - all available at http://www.phonebrain.org.uk/. Teens are challenged to come up with their own phone-paid service idea - the kind of thing they and their friends would love to use but is not currently available - and create an accompanying business plan.

These business plans can then be entered into a nationwide competition for the chance to pitch to Peter Jones from Dragons' Den - and get involved with the new National Enterprise Academy.

Dominic Evans, Assistant Head of Sixth Form at Business Academy in Bexley has been trialing the lessons and said: "The schools programme is incredibly popular with students and staff at the school. The kids are really engaged and love using the technology to create their own personal ringtones. We have to drag them away when the bell rings!

"The lesson plans fit in to the curriculum really well and we have seen a real enthusiasm not only for the ICT lessons but the additional work at home as well. I think we have a class of budding ‘dragons'!"

The phone-paid industry and young consumers

New research commissioned by PhonepayPlus shows that, in 2008, 47% of 11-17 year olds will have used a phone-paid service. Of these users, only 15% read advertising about phone-paid services ‘most of the time' or ‘always.' Additionally, there is evidence that young people are habitually being ripped off - some to the tune of thousands of pounds!

Teenagers today are more technologically savvy than ever before - they can interact with TV programmes, receive celeb gossip and sports alerts, make payments and personalise their own mobile phones with ringtones, logos and other downloads; all of which cost them money. While the majority of these are a great way for young people to get what they want, when they want it, it is important for young people to understand the services they are using and ensure they are not being scammed in any way. Some of the most common concerns for young people include chargeable promotional messages, misleading pricing and unclear subscription charges.

Paul Whiteing, Acting CEO of PhonepayPlus said: "Thousands of young people use these services every day, be it to download ringtones and other mobile personalisation products, or to use one of the many other enjoyable phone-paid services on offer. Most enjoy using them and never come to harm. Unfortunately, some others are subject to scams and misleading marketing practices.

"At PhonepayPlus, our role is not just to slam companies that misbehave but to build trust and confidence in these services. We want to make sure that anyone can use phone-paid services with absolute confidence, and the schools programme will help us to do that. It's an ambitious project, but one we are confident will mean that young people get the phone-paid service they wanted, at the price they expected to pay."

PhonepayPlus already have a number of protective measures in place including:

* A free number checking facility that lets would-be buyers check a number before they dial or text it, and allows bill payers to make sure they recognise what a particular charge was for. Available at /
* SMSus (76787) the free number checking service available direct to your mobile phone. For more details go to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/SMSus
* Online complaint form and dedicated Contact Centre on hand to deal with any consumer concerns - 0800 500 212 (Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm)
* Existing area of the PhoneBrain website (http://www.phonebrain.org.uk/) designed and dedicated to educating young people (aged seven to 12)
* An emergency procedure which enables PhonepayPlus to shut down services immediately in cases of extreme consumer harm (including when the ‘STOP' command is not working)

For more information on the youth education programme visit http://www.phonebrain.org.uk/ or contact Della Bolat at Paratus Communications on 020 7404 6691 email dbolat@paratuscommunicaitons.com.

[Hamlet]

Educating the youth about how to deal with Premium Rate Services is as easy as ABC. Gather them in a room and play Nirvana. Full Volume.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ8Jn2-XLXA

And if you have some of the Phoneypluswhateverpeople in reach, they got to hear an old Stranglers tune...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQHkDBqnvwE

By the way, Dave, can you help to understand the 0088213 topic?
(PM?)

[Hamlet]

Most phone-paid services are run by nice, friendly, and honest businesses, giving you what you want for a fair price

Whatever this person puts in his afternoon tea - I want to have it too...

Originally Posted by Hamlet

I will be back when I have overcome my whiplash...

[El Gringo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4397308.stm

ICSTIS collapsed under the weight of all the complaints, as no less than 60,000 people jammed its helplines, ringing again and again, desperate to seek advice.

At the peak of the crisis in the summer of last year, the organisation received 85,000 calls in a single day and was only able to answer 400.

http://www.out-law.com/page-9273

"However, an extraordinary increase in complaints has accompanied this growth. PhonepayPlus received more than 8,000 mobile-related complaints in 2007/8, an 108% increase on the previous year," the regulator said.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/18/eu_ring_tones/

The EU Consumer Commissioner reports that a sweep of web sites promoting ring-tone downloads discovered that 80 per cent were in breach of regulations, but notably failed to mention the role national regulators played in finding the miscreants.

http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/news/...r_20081118.asp

Paul Whiteing, Acting CEO of PhonepayPlus said: "Thousands of young people use these services every day, be it to download ringtones and other mobile personalisation products, or to use one of the many other enjoyable phone-paid services on offer. Most enjoy using them and never come to harm. Unfortunately, some others are subject to scams and misleading marketing practices.

premium rate plonker

[DavidKnell]

And if you have some of the Phoneypluswhateverpeople in reach, they got to hear an old Stranglers tune...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQHkDBqnvwE

Originally Posted by Hamlet

I saw the Stranglers with the Damned the other year; the Damned blew them away..

By the way, Dave, can you help to understand the 0088213 topic?
(PM?)

Wangiri - is there anything else to understand?!. I've blocked quite a lot of call attempts with these numbers as CLIs going across our network from Arbinet.

--Dave

[Hamlet]

I saw the Stranglers with the Damned the other year; the Damned blew them away...

Originally Posted by DavidKnell

I saw them when they were already old - but I was still quite young

is there anything else to understand?

phonegroup.ch is offering numbers, an AIME member. I don't understand this. The italian Romanian is offering those numbers, according to a danish article many of the numbers involved. He is a Telemedia Network Member. If there were any good guys there they should try to... educate him

[AnthonyC]

I signed up as a teacher at the Phonebrain site and now have all the lesson plans. They're frigging hilarious. To hell with ethics, what next? Lesson plans from the oil, defense and pharmaceutical industries?

I think schools/colleges that use these should be named and shamed.

[El Gringo]

'and now have all the lesson plans. '

are there any web links to them sir ?

[AnthonyC]

You have to sign up for them and then you're allowed to download at your pleasure. I'm sure there's a way to share the love. :-D

[El Gringo]

@AnthonyC
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigat...ter-tripl.html

your mates

[AnthonyC]

@AnthonyC
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigat...ter-tripl.html

your mates

Originally Posted by El Gringo

Ha ha, excellent. And it's from the future too (check the date!) Shame The Mirror guys didn't want to publish my comments or get back to me... maybe they just like to do their own digging?

BTW check out my next blog post about how PhonepayPlus are telling kids how PRS are helping the economy! It beggars belief...

Oh, and I tried uploading some files but the forum only accepts jpgs and bmps etc

[mike99]

Try doing the survey! Even after you have told it that you are a parent not a teacher and that you have not downloaded the "teaching materials", it continues to ask you what you think of the teaching materials.

Some of the questions are not multiple choice, so a chance to tell the people at phonedrain what we think of this latest "initiative".

[mike99]

From the down-loadable documents (without a trace of irony):

CASE STUDY:
ALEXANDER AMOSU
– LORD OF THE RINGTONES
Alexander Amosu is one of Britain’s most successful young entrepreneurs and a leading figure in the mobile entertainment industry. He launched one of the first ringtone phone-paid service companies in the UK in 1999 and made his first million at the age of 25.
Growing up on a north London council estate, Alexander Amosu learned earlier than most that there were two ways to get what you want in life. "You either stole it, or you found a way of paying for it."

A lesson that a great many of Alexander's colleagues in the PRS "industry" have taken to heart. Unfortunately, they have drawn the opposite conclusion to Alexander!

[mike99]

Here's another example (okay, I've altered it slightly, but only slightly):

[AnthonyC]

'Phonedrain'... I love it! And the quote from Alexander Amosu is priceless. Oh and can I PRS (steal) your doctored Phonebrain slide for my blog?

[Hamlet]

Alexander Amosu?

A member of the public complained about a live mobile phone ringtone
and logo service whose promotional material in the Daily Star failed to
indicate the total call costs as required in the service provider’s
permission certificate (1.4 Live Code). The live service failed to provide
call costs on connection and pricing information was only given after
the caller had been connected for two minutes (2.3 Live Code).
Monitoring showed that, while connected to the service, callers were
informed that the ‘data’ would be transferred to their phones without
appropriate details having been taken. Callers were put on hold for
several minutes while the apparent ‘transfer’ took place (3.12 eighth
edition). Call revenues were requested, together with full promotional
and operational details (5.2.3 eighth edition).
Investigation and Decision
Mr Alexander Amosu t/a R ‘n’ B Ringtones disputed that call costs were
not given on connection, stating that every operator was aware that this
information was required. He did not dispute the omission of the
required maximum call costs in the promotional material but claimed
that this was due to a graphics error when placing the advertisement in
question. He stated that the appropriate changes had since been made.
He did not dispute that callers were put on hold but claimed that this
was not unreasonable as it ensured that customers received the items
requested while connected to the service. The requested information was
supplied.
The Committee upheld breaches of paragraphs 1.4 and 2.3 of the ICSTIS
Live Conversation Services Code of Practice and paragraph 3.12 of the
eighth edition of the ICSTIS Code of Practice. A breach of paragraph
5.2.3 was not upheld. Mr Alexander Amosu t/a R ‘n’ B Ring Tones was
fined £1,000 and warned about his future conduct.

(ICSTIS Monthly Report #83, March 2001, via BOFAT archive)
This is really great. Great case study...

[AnthonyC]

No trucking way! That's made my day Hamlet! I'll add this to my blog too. If that was the best role model they could come up with, it begs the question what's the worst? ;o)

[Hamlet]

I would really love to make a list of all the people that have

warned about his future conduct

by Kidding George Kidd...
There are some really nasty guys among them...

But it's not worth the time, because we already know who is on the top of the we-don't-care-about-any-warning-about-our-conduct-list: Godfather M, warned about his future conduct in 2001, later convicted of a multi-million-Euro-swindle. Left German court as a free man and started a journey around the world in a private plane. That's where you can get if you don't care about any warning about your future conduct you get by

George, the old bugger

Why not starting a lesson: how to get your own private plane with Premium Rate Swindling?
Or: How Phonepayplus can assist you in getting a way with a million-pound-swindle?
Would perfectly fit on any London Business School's agenda, wouldn't it?

They are doing all this to keep us amused, I guess - as long as we can't get their medication.

My dear friends, this posting is as full of irony as European regulators are full of cr**

[AnthonyC]

Wow, what you guys dig up is fantastic! It would be great if we could pool our resources and have a website devoted to PRS, the 'regulators' and all the dodgy folk involved. We'd never run out of good content, the public would be made aware and hell, something might actually be done about this dirty industry.

[El Gringo]

http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:j...lnk&cd=5&gl=uk

2 April 2004
Derek Wyatt MP
Chairman of APIG
C/o APIG Secretariat
23 Palace Street
London SW1E 5HW

Dear Derek

ICSTIS input into APIG public inquiry on revision of the Computer Misuse Act 1990

Executive summary

ICSTIS welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the All Party Internet Group’s public inquiry into the desirability of revising the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA).

We are not qualified to discuss all aspects of the CMA. Our comments relate to those areas which affect the regulation of premium rate services.

In a review of the CMA ICSTIS’s would ask for more clarity around Section 3, which asserts that it is an offence to cause “unauthorised modification of computer material”. At present, we can be unsure whether some of the premium rate Internet diallers that we see breaching our Code of Practice also fall under CMA Section 3.


About ICSTIS

ICSTIS, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services, is the regulatory body for all premium rate-charged telecommunications services. It is funded by the industry, but is independent of it and its regulation is underpinned by Ofcom. ICSTIS regulates the content and promotion of premium rate services through its Code of Practice. Its role is to prevent consumer harm, by requiring clear and accurate pricing information, honest advertising, and appropriate and targeted promotions.



The UK premium rate market is very diverse and dynamic. Services based on premium rate were worth over £1 billion in 2003 – making the UK premium rate market the largest in the world. Services range across communications platforms, from mobile phones to the internet and encompass a range of services including voting, ring-tones, java games and paid for content on the Internet.


Background

ICSTIS receives a large number of its enquiries and complaints from premium rate-charged services on the Internet. It is difficult to assess the proportion of complaints compared with the size of the market but there are clearly problems with some of the services – especially around the issues of consumer understanding and cost.

Many organisations now offer access to certain Internet sites – such as sports results, sites for charity contributions, music downloads and sex entertainment sites – at premium rates rather than charging by credit card.

If a user comes across a site that is charged at premium rate, s/he will, in almost all cases, download a piece of computer software, known as a ‘dialler’, onto the computer.

In order to view the site in question, the dialler disconnects the user from his/her usual Internet Service Provider (ISP) and dials a premium rate number to access the site – it should not, however, allow access other sites on the Internet. The user should be able to leave the site at any time by simply disconnecting from the service. The dialler should then disconnect from the premium rate number and will, in most cases, automatically re-dial the original ISP telephone line. The dialler will remain on the PC as a piece of software until it is deleted.

For premium rate diallers, ICSTIS’s Code insists on the following:

* Clear and prominent call cost information. This must always be given before you connect to a site, regardless of whether access is via a UK (090) or international (00) premium rate number. You should not have to scroll down pages on the screen to obtain it.

* On-screen terms and conditions.

* On-screen clock. This should give a running total of call costs throughout connection.

* Controls on access to adult sites. Users should be required to confirm positively that they accept the call charges detailed, and confirm that they are over 18 and have permission from the billpayer to use the service. Entry must be denied unless these conditions are agreed too.

* Clear instructions on disconnection.

* Access to sites to stop automatically if the total cost of connection reaches £20.00.

* Access to sites aimed at children to cost no more than £3.00 in total and users must be reminded to obtain the permission of the bill-payer.

Assessment of CMA

Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 states that it is an offence to cause unauthorised modification of computer material. We would see clear examples of offences under this section as including deleting another users files, modifying system files, introduction of viruses, or deliberately generating information to cause a complete system malfunction.

It is clear that a simple case of a dialler not disconnecting at our £20 spend limit is a breach of our Code but would not fall under CMA. It is less clear whether other seemingly willful abuses of dialers breach our Code and the CMA. This will be an issue if we are likely to see further cases which appear to involve fraud rather than the failure of a real service to comply with our rules.

In a recent case a company offered a ‘service’ which, following the download of a dialler, reset the user’s homepage. We have also seen cases in which clicking on the ‘cancel’ button on a web page activates the dialler regardless – i.e. the dialler prompt asks if you want to connect to the dialler or cancel the operation, but choosing either option connects you regardless. We are seeing a worrying trend in complaints where consumers have high telephone bills of £500 and above as a result of 090 charges which we, and they, find it impossible to associate with any identifiable Internet site making legitimate use of a premium rate dialler.

We have strong regulatory powers set down in our Code of Practice to act against those in breach that look to deceive or exploit the credulity of the public using the premium rate-charging mechanism. We can fine up to £100,000, we can bar access to services in breach and can name the individual behind a service if s/he is repeatedly in breach, ensuring that they cannot contract with a UK telephone company to get premium rate numbers.

Our powers do not, however, extend to the criminal sanctions found in the CMA (under Section 3 a person found guilty is liable on conviction to a maximum prison sentence of five years or an unlimited fine or both), and nor should they. Our Code of Practice does insist on a service being legal however (as well as decent and honest). More clarity on what the CMA encompasses in terms of fraud (in our case involving premium rate dialler technology) would help us both in terms of the application of our sanctions and in terms of what to refer to the proper authorities.

If a decision is taken to review the CMA we look forward to working with the Home Office, the National High-Tech Crime Unit and other the other relevant organisations to help ensure a higher level of consumer protection in the area of premium rate charged content on the Internet.

I hope that this input is helpful. If you would like any more information, or if it would be helpful for us to appear to give evidence on 29 April, please do not hesitate to contact me.

George Kidd
Director

@AnthonyC from 1 Jan 2004 to August 2004 Icstis and George Kidd received tens of thousands of these complaints
twenty percent concerned 0909967**** numbers belonging to Telecom One
we reported it to the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4397308.stm
did Icstis know there were no internet services and sites. did they have reason to suspect the complaints related to criminal fraud

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/bulletins/co...ed_all/cw_833/
ICSTIS complaint regarding failure of Telecom One to comply with Directions
Case opened: 17 May 2005
ICSTIS issued Directions to Telecom One in respect of four service providers on 11 January 2005 , 3 February 2005 , 9 February 2005 and 14 February 2005 . Directions in respect of three service providers were invoked under ICSTIS's emergency procedure. ICSTIS alleges that Telecom One provided inadequate, incomplete or late responses to its Directions. ICSTIS submitted correspondence between it and Telecom One as supporting evidence.

Case closed: 16 September 2005
Ofcom's investigation has found that Telecom One did provide late responses to the Directions that had been issued by ICSTIS. However, all of these Directions have now been complied with, and the premium rate services that were being operated on Telecom One's network have been ceased. In addition, Ofcom's found no evidence of any material consumer detriment as a result of the delay by Telecom One in responding to the ICSTIS Directions. For these reasons, Ofcom has closed its investigation.

In closing this case, Ofcom has reminded Telecom One of its duty to act in accordance with Directions issued by ICSTIS under its Code of Practice.

we investigated the FRAUD here
http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/t22598.html?

[Hamlet]

We'd never run out of good content

Originally Posted by AnthonyC

yes

the public would be made aware

the public would not be interested

and hell, something might actually be done

no.

[mike99]

'Phonedrain'... I love it! And the quote from Alexander Amosu is priceless. Oh and can I PRS (steal) your doctored Phonebrain slide for my blog?

Originally Posted by AnthonyC

Of course!

Love your video BTW (http://freshplastic.vox.com/library/posts/2008/11/). I'd also love to