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Worse than politics: porn on mobile phones
By Hadar Horesh
October 8, 2004
The content of the meeting was not disclosed but the the meeting's taking place
was not kept a secret when Minister Ehud Olmert and Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
met on Monday of last week.
Olmert, deputy prime minister and minister of industry and trade and minister
of communications, is very close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Rabbi Elyashiv
is leader of the Lithuanian branch of United Torah Judaism a central figure in
the ultra-Orthodox world and a key player in coalition talks. It's not
far-fetched to guess that the two discussed political arithmetic in the light
of the disengagement plan and increased opposition to the prime minister in
right-wing circles.
On the day of the meeting surprising details about what was said in the room
were leaked to the media: Elyashiv demanded that Olmert take action against the
plague of pornography on the mobile phone network. The spokeswoman of the
Ministry of Communications refused to confirm or deny that mobile phone
pornography was on the agenda for the meeting.
Executives in the communications sector were not surprised to hear of the
unusual conversation. In August the Ministry of Communications began taking
aggressive action against mobile phone pornography. It even published an
unusual announcement to the press, revealing that mobile phone companies had
received a warning of the heavy fines they will be expected to pay over
breaches of the law regarding phone sex services. There is no substantial
difference between phone sex services on the mobile phone networks or land
lines - in both cases they are recordings of erotic conversations.
The concern of the rabbis over these services is not unfounded. The mobile
phone companies report that the services are gaining considerable traffic in
areas where ultra-Orthodox populations are concentrated. The phone-sex services
on mobile phones have a substantial advantage over those via land lines. The
client can be on his own with the mobile phone at a private spot and is not
required to conduct the call in the presence of family members, fellow members
of a yeshiva or workmates.
The ultra-Orthodox factions have succeeded in passing restrictive laws
regarding phone sex services. Mobile phone operators have been obliged to
confine these services to special prefixes, and to provide the service only
after verifying that the subscriber seeking to purchase the services is not a
minor and over 18.
Under pressure from the ultra-Orthodox, Olmert saw to it that the law would not
remain a dusty statute and took care to impose it in every tiny detail on the
mobile phone companies. This was done regardless of the fact that the mobile
phone companies are not the providers of phone sex services. The providers are
private entrepreneurs who use the mobile phone infrastructure to provide the
service. The companies give the entrepreneurs the infrastructure and the fee
collection system for services provided.
The problem is that in 3G mobile phones the phone sex services are likely to
become more sophisticated: in contrast with the erotic conversations for which
demand is relatively small, alert entrepreneurs will be able to provide
pictures and video clips for payment. 3G devices, some of which are already on
the market from Pele-Phone and Cellcom, offer high quality color screens, MP3
format sound, a quick transformer, an expanded memory and broadband access for
rapid download of video clips from the net. 3G also enables live broadcast of
films as they are being shot.
The commercial potential of 3G phone sex services is not unproved. Mobile phone
companies report that in Southeast Asia phone sex services are the main
component of the wealth of opportunities that the next generation of phones has
opened up for mobile phone users. Revenues from pornography services comprise
around a third of their added services - services which are not interphone
communication or SMS.
For the moment, so it seems, there is no fear of 3G pornographic services in
Israel. Pele-Phone and Cellcom, which have launched 3G services, have announced
that they do not intend to provide these services; nor is Partner, which will
launch its 3G phone at the end of the year, looking into providing them.
These declarations do not give the ultra-Orthodox peace of mind. 3G phone
services offer television via the phone and enable download of pictures, video
clips and television broadcasts without the supervision of the strict, those
who will not allow televisions or computers into their home for fear of
contaminating photographs. But even those who shun television and the Internet
have trouble managing without a mobile phone.
The Ministry of Communications currently has no authority to supervise the
content transmitted on the screens of 3G mobile phones. The lawmaker did not
anticipate the development of the devices and therefore supervisory authorities
were only put in place for the broadcast contents of television channels, radio
and cinema. Mobile phone companies are in complete charge of the mass
distribution of mobile phone content, and also know that if a fear arises of
harmful content on the network, the members of Knesset will arrange supervision
of their content. Therefore they prefer to avoid the issue and be contented
with moderate and socially acceptable content as far as possible.
The danger of 3G phones is not yet hovering over ultra-Orthodox society;
devices are very scarce and prices are high. It is not beyond the realms of
possibility that as their price drops and circulation rises, conservative
circles will try to address their content by means of recourse to law.
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