NetSTAR

TOKYO August 27th, 2008

NetSTAR Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Noboru Ogahara; hereinafter “NetSTAR”), the leading company in the Japanese web filtering industry, hereby announces the details of the five approaches it is taking for the year of 2008 to promote the use and understanding of filtering services. In coalition with eight major Internet-related organizations and other filtering software developers, NetSTAR will make an effort towards the dissemination of filtering services. Furthermore, as the only entity providing URL lists to all mobile phone operators in Japan, NetSTAR will also collaborate with the mobile phone operators to promote filtering for mobile phones, a topic of increasing concern in today’s society.

The “Bill on the Improvement of the Environment for the Safe Use of the Internet by Children” was passed in June, and filtering is gained much support as a valid mean for safeguarding children against online risks. On the other hand, there are still many misunderstandings and excessive expectations concerning filtering.
As a specialist on filtering, NetSTAR strives to develop and offer products and services with improved usability, but also believes that it has an equally important mission of providing education about online risks and countermeasures, as proper knowledge is essential for the effective use of filtering. NetSTAR has taken various approaches to promote filtering and educate the parents, for example by conducting a research on Internet usage by children and providing explanations on the working of filtering services.
This year, with the term “filtering” having gained a degree of recognition, the next important step is to encourage the actual use of the technology. Given such a background, NetSTAR will actively partake in the following five actions.

1) Develop a website devoted to clarifying any questions the parents may have about the content of NetSTAR’s categorization lists for mobile filtering services.
2) Prepare an educational brochure for explaining the working of mobile filtering services, and distribute it to parents at seminars and other informational events.
3) Provide educational sessions to parents and educators who lead the dissemination of filtering in local communities.
4) Conduct a research on home Internet use, and make the results widely available to parents.
5) Support professional research, such as the development of a “new evaluation model for interactive websites” to assist the parents in decision-making. (NetSTAR has launched the “Research Panel on Internet Use by Children” as a joint project with Yahoo!

In addition to the above, NetSTAR will participate in public conferences and provide information to the press to further promote the proper understanding of filtering services.
NetSTAR is committed to making the Internet access safer for everyone including children, and will continue to contribute to society through development and provision of filtering technologies.

■ Details of NetSTAR’s efforts to promote filtering

1) Develop a website devoted to clarifying any questions the parents may have about the content of NetSTAR’s categorization lists for mobile filtering services.
NetSTAR launched the “Informational Site on Mobile Filtering Categories” in late July. The website offers a FAQ on mobile filtering, and also allows the visitors to check the categorization of specific URLs. The website can also be used to report inappropriately categorized or missing URLs to NetSTAR.
For more information, visit: http://category.netstar-inc.com/.

2) Prepare an educational brochure for explaining the working of mobile filtering services, and distribute it to parents at seminars and other informational events.
A brochure explaining the working of filtering was completed in mid August. The brochure includes an FAQ section in addition to the introduction of the above website. The brochure will be widely distributed in seminars in which NetSTAR participates as the lecturer, as well as in other educational seminars held for parents by mobile phone operators and Internet-related associations.

3) Provide educational sessions to parents and educators who lead the dissemination of filtering in local communities.
NetSTAR is supporting local communities by participating in educational seminars they hold, for example on information ethics education.

4) Conduct a research on home Internet use, and make the results widely available to parents.
To help improve parental awareness of online risks, NetSTAR is conducting independent research on home Internet use, and is publishing the results (i.e. “Latest Research Reveals Significant Difference in Internet Use Between Parents and Children”, April 2008) to the press and schools.

5) Support professional research, such as the development of a “new evaluation model for interactive websites” to assist the parents in decision-making. (NetSTAR has launched the “Research Panel on Internet Use by Children” as a joint project with Yahoo! JAPAN.)
During the first term (scheduled to end in October), the research panel is conducting a study on the know-how of operating interactive websites. The research panel will also be making proposals on educational materials for promoting awareness of online risks.

■ About NetSTAR, Inc
NetSTAR specializes in the development of URL filtering engine, and in the collection, categorization, and delivery of URL lists. Its URL lists boast the largest market share in Japan for corporate filtering products, at well over 40%, and are also used widely for home filtering services. Over the years, NetSTAR has gained much recognition for the quality and reliability of its collection/categorization and publishing processes. Its URL lists for filtering services have been adopted by all mobile phone operators in Japan, and is the de facto industry standard.
For more information, visit http://www.netstar-inc.com/.