Apparently the site (or at least my contribution to it) is turning into MobilePornHappy… but the news keeps on coming. The latest is that a “family group” will meet with the CTIA (the trade body of US wireless carriers) and the FCC to “ask how we can assist the FCC and CTIA as they draft and review guidelines to meet the oversight demands of wireless emerging technologies.”

I’ve looked through the group’s site and have been unable to find any evidence of their technical or regulatory expertise, so I guess it’s safe to assume they want to censor mobile content, exactly like they want to do with cable and satellite TV as well.

While the main issue here is these people’s assumed moral authority, and their apparent lack of intelligence — if they’re that offended by all these paid services, um, how about not paying for and using them? — the worry for mobile operators is that, should they offer (or perhaps even just transmit) adult content in the current political environment, they’ll be gone after as smut peddlers.

It’s symptomatic of their love-hate affair with mobile porn. While their interest is aroused by the potential revenues, the potential downsides — the headaches of filtering, possible bad PR and so on — are already significant, and the specter of government influence, interference or even prosecution may convince carriers they’re better off completely avoiding mobile porn. That chilling effect, rather than a lack of demand, could be what keeps mobile porn sales limp.