Australia to enforce a "ratings system" on web, track users (was Re: [LINK] Has anyone seen this...)

[Irene Graham]

On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:50:56 +1100, Scott Howard wrote:

> On 12/28/07, Daniel Rose <drose at nla.gov.au> wrote:
>
>>> Mum has probably made Little Johnny a Secondary Card Holder anyway -
>>>  and Secondary card holders (which are as plentiful in Aus as kids
>>> with mobile phones) can be as young as 16.
>>>
>>
>> Can you back your claim with numbers? I've never met or heard of a
>> child who's a secondary card holder.
>
>
> What about services like BOPO (http://bopo.com.au) and the other
> various pre-paid credit cards?  Can a merchant differentiate between
> one of those and a "real" credit card?

I doubt it other than possibly by the first 4 digits of the card number 
which AFAIK identifies the card issuer (e.g. bank), but in the case of 
BOPO, the card issuer is Cuscal (according to the FAQ), which also issues 
cards for numerous other card providers (which may not issue to persons 
under 18).
http://bopo.com.au/faq.aspx

The new ACMA rules (unlike the old ones) require that the access control 
system "must include a risk analysis". This requires the content 
host/service provider to identify and assess the risk that evidence 
provided to verify the applicant's age could be held or used by either: a 
person other than the person it purports to identify; or 
a person younger than the age of the person identified in the evidence. 
The risk analysis must also provide a method for taking into account the 
kind of evidence of age provided by the applicant and the manner in which 
the evidence of the applicant’s age is received by the restricted access 
system.

Readers can no doubt conclude for themselves how that could affect various 
types of service providers' willingness to accept a CC as "evidence" and 
whether or not there are any other "evidence" options that could enable 
them to provide a restricted access service.

Irene