Adaptive Mobile issues a 'Porn Warning'

Another story about Mobile porn eh? Crumbs…..

Adaptive Mobile have issued a warning to parents that their children may have unrestricted to pornographic images and video, on their Mobile devices. The concern lies in the fact that there is no age-limit verification on some sites, plus the pervasive nature of mobile push advertising, sometimes containing adult images.

Adapative Mobile is apparently working with Operators, and using it’s technologies to interject in the supply of content, and block things like URLs, phone numbers, and images.It is encouraging parents to get involved and work with mobile service providers to help manage their childrens mobile online experiences.

So let’s get it out there with the readership – do you think it’s right for parents to ‘get involved’ (and please take that comment in the context that it’s meant!), or is this plan doomed to fail? Whilst on the topic, is it right for service providers to be affecting the content we are receiving, without the end-user say-so? Should the end-user have a say? This one’s a potential minefield, so thoughts very welcome…….

[Via: Mobile Marketing Magazine]

About The Author

Ben Robinson

Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.

MJ

Not too sure tht kids should be accessing this kind of thing from their phones (seeing as anyone from the age of 5 upwards has a mobile these days ) but have to say that some operators portals do have some shocking material pushed on you (looking in Vodafones general direction). I know they probably make money out of these things, but I really don’t like it being blatantly accessible.

You can’t stop kids from going on websites using a direct url i guess and the way mobile browsers are going can see this becoming as much a problem in future as porn on normal pcs.
Ben

It is always right for parents to get involved with their children. I think that small children needn’t see what today’s porn has to offer, but on the other hand they are surounded by a pop-culture that sometimes is not too far away from pornography. So it is even more important for parents to educate their kids about things as love and passion ( as a living example in the best case ).

I don’t think ( like anyone in the right mind ) that providers should be allowed to restrict content without the end-users agreement. It is us who made the providers this powerful. It is us who should have the power to decide.
MJ

I totally agree Ben, parents should be the ones moderating what their kids see on their phones/pc. Make it easier for the parents to put an application on the phone to filter out what the parent thinks would be bad for their own child rather than the operators ‘censoring’ things from their end.

Problem is a lot of parents don’t take an interest, then get all shocked and outraged that these things are available when they find that their kid has the stuff on their mobile which leaves us with things like this, (it is similar to the games situation, they buy Grand Theft Auto, an 18 rated game, for their 10 year old, then complain about violence in games and want a total ban blaming the makers/providers rather than irresponsable parenting).

I still take exception to the operators themselves offering porn though, maybe they should look at what they offer themselves first before blocking external sites for everyone!