Fosi to provide net safety

A new organisation launched by the Internet Content Rating Association will promote best practice for content providers

Web content labelling organisation the Internet Content Rating Association (Icra) has launched a new pan-European institute designed to increase online safety and encourage firms to sign up to content labelling schemes.

The new Family Online Safety Institute (Fosi), which is supported by leading telcos and IT vendors, will incorporate the work of Icra and aims to provide a forum for technologists, academics and legislators to discuss and implement policies around internet content filtering.

Content labelling can boost firms' search ranking and build trust, according to former Icra chief, and now founding chief executive of Fosi, Stephen Balkam.

"Our aim is to identify and promote best practice tools and methods in the field of online safety," Balkam explained. "We will continue with Icra's [initiatives] in our efforts to make metadata matter."

Balkam also urged the government to maintain a strong role in "nudging industry and the non-profit sector to do more" and to fund more public education campaigns.

Nick Truman, head of internet security at BT, said that the business benefits for signing up your site to content labelling initiatives are compelling, but he argued that an industry-wide standard for labelling would increase its appeal.

Truman also noted that at present there is no system that can keep up with the frequently updated content found on sites such as MySpace.