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Editor's Letter
December 2000
Explicit problem
Next-generation cell phones are going to give a whole new meaning to the term ‘phone sex’.
Mark Long, News Correspondent
Cellular system operators and handset manufacturers are currently engaged in a lively debate over the best way to address the privacy issues raised by their rollout of auto-location capabilities in next-generation cell phones and PDAs. In all the excitement, however, the industry has been paying scant attention to another ominous blip on the radar screen, one that promises to be a far more dangerous navigational hazard on their voyage to a 3G future.
Next-generation cell-phones are being designed to incorporate displays with high-resolution graphics and even streaming-video capabilities. The tip of this iceberg shimmers with the promise of enhanced features that are expected to attract droves of Internet surfers to the waters. But the industry has so far failed to detect an impending controversy that lies just below the surface. Like it or not, the high-resolution displays offered by next-generation cell phones are going to give a whole new meaning to the term "phone sex."
True to their track record of exploiting new technologies, adult-oriented Web sites are already gearing up to serve the wireless market by offering content in a WAP (wireless application protocol) format that can be downloaded and viewed on WAP-compatible cell phones and PDAs. The low-resolution displays and low bandwidth of existing wireless devices stand as barriers to the success of such adult entertainment today. With the advent of 3G wireless platforms, however, graphically explicit content in a high-resolution format will soon be a mere hyperlink away for millions of cell-phone subscribers.
Cell phones are already popular with the nation's youth, and the wireless industry will need to find ways of giving parents control over the content children can access. Some services may elect to solve this problem by barring sexually explicit content from their platforms. Many adults, however, will balk at having their own access to such material limited. In addition, any unilaterally imposed restrictions or outright exclusions of adult-oriented content may actually violate rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
A more reasonable solution would be one that parallels the satellite-TV industry's rollout of set-top-boxes during the past decade. Early on, satellite STBs were designed to incorporate rating systems and lockout functions that gave parents the option of totally controlling the content that their children could view on their own. This technology gave parents the ability to establish a program-rating ceiling that limited access to potentially undesirable TV programming. Once the kids had gone to bed, the adults could use a special password to override these controls.
The wireless industry needs to begin planning and implementing an equivalent protection system that is simple for parents to set up, yet at the same time difficult for even technology-savvy children to circumvent. Analysts are predicting that future market growth will soon be fueled not by first-time purchases but rather by the sale of replacement cell phones and PDAs incorporating the latest Web-enabling technologies. Children already represent a large proportion of today's cell-phone users. It would be most unwise for the industry to give parents a good reason to think twice before allowing their kids to upgrade to a next-generation wireless device.
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