Wireless Carriers Want Database Of Mobile Porn Viewers
from the that'll-kill-it dept
For years now, people have been predicting that “mobile porn” may be one of the ways that people get hooked on the idea of wireless data services. It’s already big business in many places, but a plan in the UK may slow that market down considerably. Wireless carriers there are planning to implement a system that would require users to specifically opt-in for adult content before they can access anything – which they can do by calling customer service, registering online, or by specifically saying “give me porn” when buying the phone (okay, not in those words specifically, but you get the basic idea). The reason, of course, is to stop young people from having access (whether on purpose or accidentally) to pornographic material. However, part of the reason people use their phones to access this information is that it seems anonymous. Adding a specific step that requires admitting that you want to receive porn on your phone is likely to cut the number of folks using such services down considerably. I have no problem with trying to stop the indiscriminate sending of porn out, but I’m sure that, for many people, using mobile porn is how they’ll end up becoming comfortable with mobile data – and making them sign up to be in a “I want porn” database, is likely to slow that process.
