On the same day the international trade association for the wireless telecommunications industry unveiled the Wireless Content Guidelines under which its U.S. members will deal with adult mobile content, elements of the anti-porn camp were meeting with the feds across town to discuss how to keep the erotic menace off the wireless airwaves.
The National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families co-sponsored a summit about advanced technology at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center here on Nov. 9. The summit focused on the distribution of pornographic content through handheld wireless devices.
In partnership with the National Law Center for Children and Families, the summit drew more than 40 leaders from America’s largest pro-family groups together, “offering them an opportunity for education on the challenges posed by advanced technology poses,” according to organizers. A variety of “solutions” were suggested, including drafting legislation to protect children and teens from the distribution of pornographic material.
“Technology is bringing wonderful communication systems and information to us; however, these systems can pose a great threat to our marriages, families, and especially children,” said Jack Samad, senior vice president of strategic partners and advanced technology at the NCPC&F. “The meeting’s primary purpose was to educate leaders on the advancements in technology and discuss its cultural impact on young people.”
The summit featured speakers from the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, and experts in the wireless communications field.
According to Samad, the summit’s goals were multi-faceted: to understand advanced technology better; to receive input from the FCC, law enforcement, and the technology industry; to discuss the need for new legislation and regulations, and to raise awareness on the part of all pro-family groups so the groups can educate their constituencies about potential action.
First Amendment attorney J.D. Obenberger was amused by the implication that adult content on mobile devices threatens marriages. “I guess the telephone and telegraph were threats to marriages in their day, too, in that they allowed people to form assignations out of earshot of the home,” he said, chuckling.
More to the point, though, he said, is that the same anti-porn factions that challenged the brick-and-mortar distribution of adult entertainment and then took on adult content on the Web now seem to have their sights set on the wireless realm. It’s just another distribution method, he noted, and he doesn’t envision the religio-conservative wireless onslaught will be any more successful there than it has been in other arenas. “I would sure as hell like to see whether they’ll do any better than they did with the Communications Decency Act and the Children’s Online Protection Act, both of which have been found unconstitutional,” Obenberger said. “These people keep trying, but they seem to keep forgetting about a little stumbling block called the First Amendment."
Meanwhile, those already working in the mobile field are excited about the CTIA’s emerging guidelines. That the carriers are moving forward to rate mobile content and taking steps to keep inappropriate materials away from minors heralds the dawn of a brave new financial day for the adult entertainment industry, they say.
“This is the thing we’ve been waiting for,” said Harvey Kaplan, director of mobile operations for content delivery facilitator Xobile. “These guidelines take the pressure off everyone. Long story short: What they’re looking to do is tell upset parents ‘We’re providing you with the tools you need to protect your children, so use them.’
A similar approach, embodied in the Code of Practice adopted by the major European cellular carriers in January 2004, has been very successful, Kaplan noted. “We should see a similar system in place here within the next nine months,” he said.
“When [adult content] is allowed on the carrier decks, it absolutely will increase revenues 10-fold,” Kaplan continued, explaining that on-deck content is much easier for end-users to access because it eliminates any need for them to be sophisticated enough to navigate between the cellular networks and the discreet Internet on their mobile devices. In addition, the carriers will be able to promote adult content when it’s on their networks, and it will be to their financial benefit to do so.
“These Wireless Content Guidelines mean dollars for the carriers and apply a layer of plausible deniability between them and their subscribers,” Kaplan said. “It addresses their concerns about churn. If a cellular carrier is going to have adult content on its deck, it’s worried that people will drop its service because they don’t want to have that kind of content on their phones. Churn costs carriers two to four times more than what they could make by offering adult content, so it’s strictly a financial concern for them. These guidelines are good news all around.”
