Warning: Porn May Soon Pollute Wireless

• European consumers spend an estimated $100 million a year for pornography via cell phones according to the Yankee Group research firm.1
• One out of every two South Korean cell phone users bought adult content in 2004 totaling $113 million in sales according to a government study.2
• Israels Communications Ministry has amended licenses for mobile phone operators to restrict access to pornography following complaints that too many children were being exposed to erotic material.3

Currently the major U.S. cellular carriers do not sell pornography from their content menus, but that may change soon. Juniper Research estimates that the North American market for wireless porn could reach $400 million by 2010.4 In anticipation of these huge profits the Wireless industry’s major trade group is drafting ratings for mobile content (similar to movie ratings) to inform parents and protect kids.

Isn’t that comforting? As if movie, TV and music ratings have successfully protected our children from indecency and pornography for the last 25 years! Approximately, one third of American youth, age 5 to 19, had cell phones by the end of 2004 according to technology research firm IDC. That’s approximately 21 million kids. It will soon be half of all kids. Somehow, I think the pornographers know that and are salivating at the chance to expand their markets.

Here’s another problem; what will happen when an adult chooses to watch triple-X content on his wireless device while on a bus, airplane, park, or at McDonald’s? Whose going to protect your kids from having to sit next to that adult and accidentally seeing hard-core porn? Wireless pornography will give the small army of child molesters a new tool to expose and seduce our children to porn and molestation! There are currently no laws on the books that directly protect children from receiving pornography transmitted through wireless technology or from being exposed to it. (Theoretically, they may be protected from obscene --very hard-core-- pornography, but those laws are woefully under-enforced and suffer from the downward spiral of cultural standards.)

We must act fast and forcefully to insure that children in America are protected from wireless porn by more than just ratings. Please join us to...

Urge the Federal legislature to pass a new law to ensure that wireless providers are penalized if they fail to ensure they are selling non-obscene wireless porn to adults only and to authorize the FCC to regulate this rapidly developing technology to prevent indecency violations. The PA Legislaturers on the House Commerce Committee are:

• The Honorable Mike Doyle
  401 Cannon House Office Building
  Washington, DC 20515
  Phone: 202-225-2135
  rep.doyle@mail.house.gov
• The Honorable Tim Murphy
  322 Cannon House Office Building
  Washington, DC 20515
  (202) 225-2301
• The Honorable Joseph Pitts
  221 Cannon House Office Building
  Washington, DC 20515
  202 225-2411

Urge the FCC to take jurisdiction of wireless broadcasting by enforcing existing indecency standards and requiring blocking technologies present and effective BEFORE wireless carriers provide non-obscene pornography.

• Kevin J. Martin, Chairman
  Federal Communications Commission
  445 12th Street, SW
  Washington, DC 20554
  01-888-225-5322
  KJMWEB@fcc.gov

Urge the major cellular carriers to stay out of the porn business by warning them of our willingness to switch to clean carriers.

• Verizon Communications
  Ivan Seidenberg, President, CEO and Director
  1095 Ave of the Americas
  New York, NY 10016
  212-395-2121
• Cingular Wireless
  Stanley T. Sigman, President and CEO
  Glenridge Highlands Two
  5565 Glenridge Connector
  Atlanta, GA 30342
  1-866-CINGULAR

1 Sex Is Latest Cellphone Feature. New York Times 8/17/05.
2 One in Two Koreans Bought Cell Phone Porn. Digital Chosun. www.chosun.com 03/2005
3 Israel to Restrict Porn on Cell Phones. http://news.zdnet.com. 2004 Reuters Limited 12/27/04.
4 Cell Phone Users Put Porn in Their Pockets. www.eweek.com 3/3/05.