The New York Times has an article about “adult services” being sold over mobile phones in the US.
It seems that many operators aren’t getting into the sector, fearing it might compromise their brands. Bearing in mind that they’re not trying to ban access to porn, merely refusing to sell it themselves, I wonder if they’re right to be concerned.
I appreciate both the rise and rise of the prurient religious right and the strong stance that the women’s movement has against this industry. But I wonder if the carriers are right to take this moral stance in this context. Isn’t it a bit like the credit card industry refusing to allow you to buy porn with their products?
Playboy has been a mainstream brand for years now and allowing them, as an example, to sell product in association with an operator would surely be acceptable to most people, wouldn’t it? Obviously, assuming that suitable controls were put in place to prevent kids accessing it.
Or perhaps the US market wouldn’t stand for it?
That said, they are turning their backs on that will surely be worth billions of dollars.
Proving another cultural difference, the article also blandly states that the guy in charge of Playboy’s content distribution is called Randy Nicolau. This makes us Brits chortle uncontrollably as “randy” in our English means err… “horny”, I guess is the nearest word.
Please excuse gratuitous use of semi-clad female, but I thought the story needed it.
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