It's one thing to download a Crazy Frog ringtone (which currently is
the number one single in the U.K.). But, to some, it's quite another
thing to be able to download and/or watch X-rated content on phones.
There are early signs that Washington won't wait for advanced mobile content technology to hit U.S. shores before they step in and spur regulation of mobile content to protect children. More from a March entry of PFF’s blog...
So, to borrow a wonderful headline that recently appeared in the New York Times, what this all means is that, "Thanks to Cellphones, TV Screens Get Smaller." But as TV screens get smaller it raises a very interesting question: Will traditional TV screen regulations follow? Obviously, our old TV screens are still fairly heavily regulated, both in an economic and content sense. As wireless video becomes more popular, will regulators consider applying the old legacy rules--and indecency regulations in particular--to all our mobile devices?
Well, we didn't have to wait long for an answer. While no one at the FCC is calling for cell phone censorship just yet, you get the hint that they're at least thinking about it. In a February 14th letter to the CTIA (the wireless industry's trade association), John Muleta, Chief of the FCC's Wireless Bureau, outlined the agency's concerns about "giving parents access to the tools needed to protect their children from inappropriate content" via wireless devices. Again, to Mr. Muleta's credit, the letter never directly threatens any form of federal regulation should the CTIA and its member companies not take steps to do so. But with letters like this from regulators to trade associations, that's the implicit threat that always hangs in the air....
So, will cell phones be next on the feds' censorship wish list? You better believe it. I'll make a prediction now: Within the next two years, legislation will be introduced proposing the extension of the FCC's current clear-as-mud indecency rules to mobile content and devices.
Already, governments in Japan, Germany, and Taiwan are in various stages of passing legislation that will require carriers to protect minors from pornographic or violent content. Just this week, in Australia, pornographic (defined as unsimulated sex) mobile phone content was banned. South Korea is investing nearly $10 million to develop technologies to protect children from lewd content on the Internet and mobile devices.
The UK released a self-policed ratings system for mobile content this year. Naturally, it could be replicated in the U.S.:
The Independent Mobile Classification Body (IMCB) in the UK has released its classification framework for adult content accessable from mobile phones. Content providers are supposed to self-classify their products and operators have to ensure that anyone accessing adult content is over 18. There are eight classifications that qualify as “adult”: actively promoting activities that are restricted for under-18s such as drinking alcohol or gambling, coarse language, sex, nudity, violence, drugs, horror and imitable techniques (such as headbutting or use of weapons). (MotoNews, February 2005)
And, indeed, the aforementioned CTIA WIC is already taking steps to create a self-regulatory regime. From an April 24 Billboard piece:
The wireless industry, through its trade group, Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Assn. (CTIA), has begun defining a standardized content rating and filtering system that eventually will be applied to all content offered on their networks, including music…
…The Federal Communications Commission oversees the distribution of wireless spectrum to U.S. operators, and wireless carriers do not want the indecency campaign against radio, TV and cable broadcasters to come their way.
"The adult side of things has really kick-started it," says Mark Desautels, CTIA VP of wireless Internet development. "As indecency becomes an increasing point of interest on the part of policymakers, we really need to be proactive about it."
…According to CTIA's Desautels, the first stage of this content and filtering system will be ready by midyear. This initial implementation identifies content not appropriate for those under 18 and lumps it all into a "restricted" category. The goal is to rate content by category, applying mobile versions of existing rating systems. He expects that to be completed within 12 months.
"We want to develop more sophisticated filtering tools so that the ability to filter or to block certain types of content will be another part of the suite of services that carriers seek to provide," Desautels says.
A Yankee Group report that says the market for wireless adult content in 2008 will be $90 million in the United States and $1 billion globally.
The porn experts agree. From a June Forbes piece:
Vivid Entertainment Group, the world's largest producer of adult films, with annual revenue near $100 million, already offers mobile titillation in 20 countries. Cell porn could provide one-third of total revenue in five years, says Vivid Cochairman Steven Hirsch. "We see it as a huge, huge revenue stream for us," he says. "We'd like to do it in the U.S. We think by the end of the year some carriers will start allowing it."
The FCC will be watching.
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