WWW- Quickly developing into big business overseas, cellphone pornography is a step closer to taking off in the USA.
Cingular Wireless, the nation’s largest cellphone service provider, quietly has launched filtering devices and password-enabled blockers that help thwart underage consumers from buying adult content.
The absence of V-chip-style parental controls largely has kept U.S. consumers from using cellphones to access porn, but Cingular, along with rivals, could launch a huge new porn platform.
The evolution of video-capable wireless devices has made mobile porn an emerging cultural phenomenon and booming enterprise. Global 2005 sales will hit $1 billion, up 175% from 2004, says Juniper Research. U.S. sales are just $30 million, mostly because carriers, fearful of a backlash, haven’t provided easy access to X-rated theater.
Web-enabled phones can download porn from the Internet, but access is cumbersome, and carriers don’t share fees with content providers. By offering “on deck” portals, carriers can reap fat user fees.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association recently issued content ratings standards, prompting Cingular’s move.
“Certainly, this is going to make it easier to view porn in more places than ever,” says Pamela Paul, author of Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships and Our Families.
Anti-porn crusaders say content ratings and parental controls aside, mobile porn will be problematic. “Some parents don’t monitor what kids download. And they can’t monitor what other kids do,” says Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council.
Balancing business interests, free-speech rights and protecting kids “is tricky,” says Cingular’s Mark Siegel. “But we feel parents should decide what (kids) access. We’re giving them the ability to control what they experience.”
Notes Yankee Group analyst Linda Barrabee: “Carriers don’t want to be known as adult-content purveyors. But they understand the opportunity to make money.”
Scores of marketers are lining up to tap the U.S. market. Xobile, a content provider for Web-capable wireless devices, will offer 50,000 video clips, says operations chief Harvey Kaplan. Porn star Ron Jeremy licensed his name to RJ Mobile, which offers adult content in Britain and Holland. He’s not sure of the U.S. appetite for mobile porn, though. “Who wants to watch this stuff on a tiny screen?” he says.
Steve Hirsch, co-CEO of adult film giant Vivid Entertainment, expects mobile porn to eventually account for 30% of sales. “This is going to explode. People will want porn in their pocket,” he says.