Verizon, Cingular whitewash mobile content [update 1]

by Vladimir Cole { Apr 27th 2006 at 9:45AM }

If you were hoping to download saucy content (games, ringtones, music, videos, text) of any sort from Verizon, forget about it. The company has created ultra-conservative new internal guidelines that ban a variety of edgy content, most of it having to do with sinful body parts or sinful acts of human procreation, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed the documents.

But Verizon's got competition in the race to become the network of choice for old people, conservatives and other fuddy-duddies. Cingular has also developed content standards that far exceed broadcast standards. For example, Cingular bans the words "lesbian," and "condom." In other words, forget about an educational video game having to do with contraception, or about game dialogue that uses common English to describe what must surely be (in the view of censors) filthy and unnatural homosexual relationships. Cingular also bans the word "pee pee" and any video game rated "Mature" or "Adult," in addition to T-rated games that include anything more than "mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes."

Hopefully Verizon and Cingular are also working on a way to eliminate naughty words from appearing in the text messages sent by their users. (You might think that's crazy talk, but there's precedent for it. The Bloomberg terminal -- at one time widely used by the finance community for zipping off fast, quick emails -- bans all naughty words from the proprietary network, even those sent from one adult to another via Bloomberg email. Guys named Dick were not too happy that they were unable to sign their own emails when the ban was implemented.)

Verizon's not above using sex to sell themselves to gamers, but heaven forefend that gamers try to download any racy Joanna Dark photos to their Verizon phones.

[Update 1: updated post to include link to free access to WSJ content]

Tags: censorship, cingular, verizon

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kerem @ Apr 27th 2006 10:08AM

first!

Ahms @ Apr 27th 2006 10:10AM

Joanna Dark is ugly as hell anyways. Like a Barbie doll that was left out in the sun to melt

Ugly Belly @ Apr 27th 2006 10:11AM

So what is the problem?

People have choices, and now they have more information to make a choice that fits their needs.

I don't see a downside to this.

Also, you are paying for a service that they give you, not one that you can use in ALL the ways you may want. That is clear before ever signing up with them.

So complainers can sit and spin. (by the way, that would make it past the filters, so I can still insult via Verizon. Neener-neener! )

HotShotX @ Apr 27th 2006 10:20AM

Kinda hypocritical that a company that makes its millions on talking is looking for ways to ban free speech.

Does this mean that I can curse all I want through text messages after 9pm? or when Adult Swim comes on?

Seriously, some conservatives need to just suck it up. I'm all for protecting those who want protection (as if this is a big issue), but try telling me what I can't and cannot do with my freedoms, and you've crossed the line.

Oh, and this just in, Verizon and Cingular will now contact report to the FBI anyone who texts "Mohammed". Can't upset the Muslims, you know.

calthaer @ Apr 27th 2006 10:21AM

I agree - so what?

They write about this like it's a Constitutional right to be able to put smut anywhere, everywhere, any time. Their content has to conform to community standards across the country.

Besides, if people want trash, they can always go on the internet and post it / exchange it / get it. Who needs to get it on a cell phone?

striegs @ Apr 27th 2006 10:36AM

Boy howdy, censorship sure is dandy! I love it when soulless corporations feel the need to veil their customers from reality! Hooray for ignorance!

Get real, Verizon. My only god is the Almighty Dollar, and you have fallen out of his favor. Woe unto you, for thy name is despair.

To whom, precisely, is this policy designed to appeal? Firstly, any "child" entrusted with a cellular phone is more than responsible enough to be familiarized with the intimate bits of the human body. Secondly, in case any parents out there disagree, then there are any number of specialized products on the market that function as cell phones though they can only contact emergency services. That way your sixteen year-old can still call for help after he runs your car into a lake while his girlfriend gives him road head.

Sense @ Apr 27th 2006 10:40AM

Nintendo used to remove all vowels from password systems in NES games. I once heard that the reasoning behind this is that they didn't want children spelling out naughty words. I don't know if it was true but it wouldn't surprise me.

Anyway, all this morality filtering is starting to piss me off. What the hell is wrong with people? Do people really think that if they bury their heads in the sand then things they don't like will just go away? If companies wanted to add this as an option to the phones, that would be fine. At least give people the choice to turn filters on or off. I'm sure AOL will be implementing something similar soon.

Just curious, does this affect countries outside America? Somehow I doubt it, as most other countries are more rational about such things. Not the US though. We all just hide in our living rooms, wondering when Janet Jackson's boob will strike again.

lollers @ Apr 27th 2006 10:44AM

Just read through the guidelines. These are also PROHIBITED CATEGORIES, according to Verizon:

* Derogatory or negative references to Verizon, Verizon Wireless or Vodafone

* Glorification or promotion of competitors to Verizon, Verizon Wireless or Vodafone

miinus_273 @ Apr 27th 2006 10:49AM

the market decides. thats all i have to say. none of these companies are monopolies there is plenty of competeteion. If you dont like it, use another service its just that simple. If they are make a bad decision, then they will pay for it. I get the impression they are doing this because it is good business to be family friendly.

Razib Ahmed @ Apr 27th 2006 11:02AM

I wonder that Verizon will expand this service to South Asia as the fastest growth in mobile phone connection are taking place in India and Pakistan. Now Pakistan has Teledensity off 22% ( http://www.southasiabiz.com/pakistan_mobile_phones/ ) and India saw 5.14 Million new Mobile Phone Customers in March 2006 (http://www.southasiabiz.com/mobile_phone/ )

DG @ Apr 27th 2006 11:04AM

I have to laugh when conservatives accuse liberals of supporting a nanny state. They love stuff like this -- telling people how to act, how to think, what to say, what to see, etc., etc.

I'd love to hear Verizon square this policy with it's commercials featuing "My Humps" by Black Eyed Peas. Oh, I get it -- first you sucker people in, THEN you impose your stupid morality rules.

Lone Starr @ Apr 27th 2006 11:50AM

#4, how is this a ban on free speech? The Constitution says Congress (the government) should not restrict free speech. We've hit turbulent times if you think Verizon and Cingular are extensions of the government.

And if you don't like it, start your own company. Sure, you will need tons of capital to get tons of infrastructure. But if it is that horrible that they do this, chances are other people think the same thing -- which means you should be able to make the money back in no time.

:)

Coolnut @ Apr 27th 2006 11:59AM

"I have to laugh when conservatives accuse liberals of supporting a nanny state. They love stuff like this -- telling people how to act, how to think, what to say, what to see, etc., etc."

DG, how are conservatives behind Verizon's choice to filter out objectionable content?

Just pick another damn service, and be glad that you don't live in, say, the 50s or 60s.

Gonzo @ Apr 27th 2006 12:33PM

The problem here is that they're taking the power away from the user. We each have the right to dictate what we find entertaining for ourselves.

Like Safe Sex! How offensive.
Lately it seems that these corporations, conservative&liberal watchdog groups, and worst of all the FCC have decided that we can't define entertainment for ourselves. We apparently need them to dictate what we are allowed to find entertaining and now (with religion being taught in science classes in Kansas) educational as well. As antitrust laws become more and more loose and the corporations become bigger & bigger, we will one day not have a choice. If you don't think there's anything wrong with this, you're living in the wrong country and you need to find a nice violent theocracy where all peoples lives and consumer habits are dictated by religion. There's still a few in the mid-east so go; nobody will miss you here.

I'd like to leave you with a quote from a respected journalist of about 100 years ago:

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant.
H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

PayTheMan @ Apr 27th 2006 4:16PM

It's the principle behind the matter. Censorship is censorship no matter what is being filtered. If they censor words what's next?

Don Jose @ Apr 27th 2006 4:40PM

I can't wait until 2008 rolls around.

Imadogg99 @ Apr 27th 2006 7:13PM

"Guys named Dick were not too happy that they were unable to sign their own emails when the ban was implemented."
Hahaha

AoE @ Apr 28th 2006 12:57AM

Who cares? When a corporate entity, especially one that doesn't have sole control of a market decides to limit the type of content they sell on thier private network that people subscribe to, who cares? Don't like what they have to sell, go elsewhere. They'll listen far more loudly to where your $$$ go than they will your protestations of free speech.