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Kids Can Still Get Porn On Their Phones -- Well, Not Really

Overhype

from the very-tiny-people dept

Thu, Feb 2nd 2006 12:26pm — Carlo Longino
We've seen plenty of studies and exposes talking about how easy it is for kids to access porn with all these dangerous new technologies like iPods or mobile phones. They all ignore the same point -- that the technology may be new, but the idea of kids using them to check out porn isn't. Blame put on the technologies, or the technology providers, is generally misplaced. So it's little surprise to see a sensationalistic headline again touting how easily kids can access mobile porn in the UK, blaming mobile operators for a "loophole". The only problem is that the real facts of the story don't back this up. The issue wasn't that the writers were able to buy porn directly from a handset registered to a 15-year-old -- the operator's filters properly blocked that. They're complaining that it's the operators fault they were able to buy codes for access to a porn site -- they then accessed from their PC -- using premium rate SMS. They sent off a message, and got charged about $2.65 to receive one back with codes they then entered on their computer to access a porn site. How exactly is that the fault of the carrier? Should they take the blame for all the free porn sites kids can access on the internet too? If a parent is worried enough to block porn on their kids' phone (even if they don't really work), why wouldn't they similarly try to block their kids from seeing porn on the web? And again, what's that got to do with the mobile operator?
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23 Comments

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  1. identicon
    Steve, 2 Feb 2006 @ 12:34pm

    Instant Solution to Porn Problem

    Require that the default for all bowsers is to only show content with a IRCA rating of "G".

    Then it's the parents fault for configuring their software to view porn, and then they can't claim they don't konw how to set ratings.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    haggie, 2 Feb 2006 @ 1:11pm

    No Subject Given

    Back in the day, kids found their porn in the back of their dad's tool shed. Now they probably find it buried on their dad's hard drive.

    Either way, 90% of child porn exposure comes from dear old dad. The other 10% comes from an older brother, Internet or not.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    qwerty, 2 Feb 2006 @ 1:16pm

    No Subject Given

    Hmmm, anyone stop to think bout the fact that kids want to access p0rn? Im a kid and, hell i dont mind seeing it :-)

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    dusda, 2 Feb 2006 @ 1:37pm

    As much sense as that makes...

    I don't think the rest of the world will understand, qwerty. I sometimes wonder if the public will ever understand that you can't filter things like porn completely. The whole idea of sheltering a kid like that is fundamentally flawed.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    awwtbone, 2 Feb 2006 @ 1:49pm

    Is Porn Really A Bad Thing

    Porn is the same to a child as to a teen as to an adult. The conseption of Porn is meant to be a Bad Mean Terrible thing to children. The fact is... Its not. If a child has an understanding of intercourse, why is society trying to shut it out? Sex isnt wrong. Sex isnt Bad. You Wouldnt Be Here If It Wasnt For Sex. Why shelter a life expetation?

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Tommy Atkins, 2 Feb 2006 @ 1:57pm

    What about school?

    I'm a 17 yr old and I say porn first froma mate at school. What are parents going to do, stop us going to school? Anyway, most of use by this age are better at computers than their parents and can remove any block put in place? If there's a will, there's a way, after all.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    foofdawg, 2 Feb 2006 @ 2:00pm

    Bah!

    I recently went to Europe, where sex is a lot more.....out in the open. I don't mean that there were naked people walking around, or prostitutes everywhere (maybe i didnt look hard enough, heh), but that they seemed to have a really open attitude about sex in general. There were several sex stores in prominent shopping districts, right alongside bookstores, toy stores, food and wine stores, etc. While we have sex oriented shops in the US, they usually don't have large display windows showing autoerotic devices (dildoes), mannequins in leather, etc. as they did in Europe. The thing I found strange, was that from young kids to grandmas, the only people that seemed to go into these places or check out the wares were people genuinely interested in purchasing an item. Kids werent crowded around staring at the anatomically correct mannequins, mainly because they had seen it before. I think america needs to stop hiding from sex, its where we all come from anywyas.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Frankie, 2 Feb 2006 @ 2:03pm

    Re: Bah!

    Yes, we are great aren't we... and your silly right-wing monopolistic country is crap.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Tyshaun, 2 Feb 2006 @ 2:13pm

    Re: As much sense as that makes...

    I don't think the rest of the world will understand, qwerty. I sometimes wonder if the public will ever understand that you can't filter things like porn completely. The whole idea of sheltering a kid like that is fundamentally flawed.

    I agree with you dusda, to a point. I am a parent and while I don't go all ballistic if my little boy sees a boob or other naked body part on TV (I explain it to him, he understands, then goes back to coloring or whatever), I do have a problem with some of the more "extreme" stuff on the net. I must confess that if my child ever asks me what a "golden shower" is I think I'll have a heart attack on the spot (because then I'd have to explain it to him, and that eww!).

    Anyhow, yes, kids and adolescents are curious about sexuality, and there is a healthy way to teach it to them, but there is just so many things out there that I consider to be too "extreme" for my 6 year old to know (or me for that matter!).

    Yes, I watch what he looks at on the net and on TV, and no I wouldn't blame some hard core site (or my provider) if he accidentally found it. It all comes down to parents taking the task of raising their kids and stop expecting society to protect them. I barely trust government to plow the roads of snow, raise my kids, you must be kidding!

    Finally, being from the US I think we as a group of people are just way too hung up on nudity. We have no problems watching movies where people get blown up or blood splattering all over the place (watch any cartoons lately?), but the minute a boob comes on screen everyone clams up. Everyone, chill out, it's only the nude body, we've all got one!

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Tyshaun, 2 Feb 2006 @ 2:32pm

    Re: Bah!

    Yes, we are great aren't we... and your silly right-wing monopolistic country is crap

    Frankie, I, as an American, don't hold your views as the views of your country, however, I hope that your education system is good enough so that most of your citizenry can come up with a better insult. My 6 year old can do better than that. If you're going to be ignorant and vulgar at least do it with a touch of wit and style.

    Where are you from anyhow?

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Lethal Dose, 2 Feb 2006 @ 3:05pm

    Re: Bah!

    You hit the soft spot there, im european, and totaly agree with that point, you know what they say about the forbitten fruit...i gess its just a matter of cultural maturity

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Feb 2006 @ 3:25pm

    Re: Bah!

    That's what you get when your country was founded by puritans... You know - puritan is a person who makes up in the middle of the night in cold sweat thinking that someone somewhere might have fun...
    (Speaking as European living in US for a long time by now... too long I think).

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    cody h, 2 Feb 2006 @ 3:30pm

    Re: As much sense as that makes...

    We Americans live in a country where most people feel entitled to have the government lookout for them, therefore we are having rights taken away little by little and most people dont even notice. Just because of a prude minority, the rest of us pay a price. no other country has as many sex offenders as the US does because they deal with the issue of sex head on instead of hiding from it and hoping it will go away. in a country where you can spill hot McD's coffee on yourself and sue, or more recently, sue Apple because Ipods can cause you do go deaf, and win the lawsuit, does it really surprise anyone that the same country is taking censorship as far as it can? whats next, gun rights? the right to worship as we wish? maybe the right to vote for people that we believe are actually there to help out the communities that we live in instead of sit around and get fat off of the taxpayers......

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Dustin123467, 2 Feb 2006 @ 3:31pm

    No Subject Given

    Here's an idea..if you don't want your kid to look at porn on his cell phone, don't buy him a cell phone. It's the parents responsibilty to filter what they don't want their children to see. content-filtering options on phones should be viewed as nothing more than a courtesy to customers rather than a guaranteed parental-supervision replacement device.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Hello, dwlor!, 2 Feb 2006 @ 4:03pm

    Too much protection

    Kids these days are eing protected way too much. I'm not talking just about from sex but from reality. For years teachers have been telling kids who suck that they are doing great. It's gotten even worse as some schools are now telling teachers not to grade in red or use stickers because it hurts self-esteem. Kids are also being protected from more natural things such as birth and death. It used to be that the whole family watched the birth of the new baby and that they all watched one of their family members die. Now all kids know is that there parents came home with a baby that the stork brought and that their grandfather went to sleep and is never waking up. Kids know nothing about anything anymore. If anything we are doing more harm than good by protecting kids.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    sirshannon, 2 Feb 2006 @ 4:05pm

    The Premium SMS should have been blocked

    If someone is selling porn access passwords via Premium SMS, then they are supposed to be using an Adult Short Code and would thus be blocked unless the parent/adult owner of the phone had requested that the phone be allowed to use Adult Short Codes. If the passwords were purchases via a non-adult short code, the company selling them is in violation of the rules there and should/will be heavily fined/shut down. If the passwords were purchased on via an Adult Short Code, then either the phone's owner has given the clearance for adult services on that phone or the Carrier is in violation, or they just don't care about those regulations...

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Steven, 10 Feb 2006 @ 8:28am

    What you can find in your friends shed!

    I agree. My friend Jo, recently built a shed himself. Never figured why he did it himself? At the time I figured he was getting some real stick from his wife and was keeping out of her way. One day I visited his home and curious I stepped into his massive shed. Now what a shed I have to say it was! All setup, with PC's, satellite TV, sofa, fridge and guess what I found in the cupboards? Whole stack of Mayfair and Playboy magazines and worse was the hardcore videos he had stacked up from the local Sunday market, as you could see it was all copies from far East. I have to say his shed smelt funny and sofa was covered in stains! So I guess his kids will find more than porn in the back of their dads shed!

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Paul, 10 Feb 2006 @ 8:39am

    Re: What you can find in your friends shed!

    Thats nothing! My neighbour is a postman he too made a massive shed at the back of his garden recently. Every other day, I see him take a new women into his shed. They spend a few hours in the shed, rocking the shed sideways, making funny noises (mainly strange screams) and then they leave giggling and smiling afterwards. I guess his shed is his Tardis and I wonder how many babies he has made in that shed? Certainly has had some great fun in their and made many women happy in his Tardis. I have to say it must be a greater hobby than gardening! Highly recommended!

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Glassy, 10 Feb 2006 @ 8:52am

    Re: What you can find in your friends shed!

    You lot need to get out more.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Johannes Rashad, 13 Feb 2006 @ 7:56am

    Re: What you can find in your friends shed!

    Isn't glassy sad?
    Mate, have you got anything constructive to say?
    Maybe you need to get out more!

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    A nice guy, 10 Mar 2006 @ 2:40pm

    Re: What about school?

    Im 15 and all my m8's hav porn, including me. Its so easy 2 get at school. And its easy to get on fones and pc's, any form of blocking can be easily beat. Kids shud be exsposed to porn at 14, if they want, as they have to learn, and personaly there is nothing wrong with it

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Someone, 9 Aug 2006 @ 8:40am

    How

    What porn websites can you get on ur phone? the pictures never show up. what phone porno sites show pictures?

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Maize, 28 Jan 2009 @ 11:27pm

    Re: Re: Bah!

    lol while u do have a point, our America isnt exactly the best either

    [ link to this | view in thread ]


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