Sex syndicates resort to pimping via SMS

Sex syndicates have resorted to offering prostitutes to their regular customers via SMS, China Press reported via The Star Online.

The daily reported that the SMS messages contained descriptions of the prospective prostitute, including her body measurements and age.

A 58-year-old man, who only wanted to be known as Chen, said he would usually receive three to four such SMSes daily and it had put him in an embarrassing position.

Read full article. Image from Great Indaba.

Related:

-- SMS for sex in Singapore (2007) - In Singapore, in an attempt to elude the law, some pimps took their prostitutes off the streets and put them online and meetings are arranged by SMS.

-- Prostitutes Want Text Messaging Service (2006) - Prostitutes in New Zealand requested a free text messaging service from Vodafone, like the "safe service" set up for hitchhikers.

-- Hong Kong prostitutes turn to mobile phones (2005) - Prostitutes in Hong Kong advertised their services through mobile-phone voice messages.

Puntersearch dates back to 2003 and stood out for it's audacity. It was a prostitute finder service which allowed users to search by location or personal attribute - such as hair colour. Thankfully, itt's no longer online.

Rethinking Sex Offender Laws for Youth Texting

In most states, teenagers who send or receive sexually explicit photographs by cellphone or computer — known as “sexting” — have risked felony child pornography charges and being listed on a sex offender registry for decades to come.

But there is growing consensus among lawyers and legislators that the child pornography laws are too blunt an instrument to deal with an adolescent cyberculture in which all kinds of sexual pictures circulate on sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Read full article in The New York Times.

Related:

-- Court Says Parents Can Block ‘Sexting’ Cases - In the first federal appeals court opinion dealing with “sexting” — the transmission of sexually explicit photographs by cellphone — a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday that parents could block the prosecution of their children on child pornography charges for appearing in photographs found on some classmates’ cellphones.

Court Says Parents Can Block ‘Sexting’ Cases

This is big news. From The New York Times:

In the first federal appeals court opinion dealing with “sexting” — the transmission of sexually explicit photographs by cellphone — a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday that parents could block the prosecution of their children on child pornography charges for appearing in photographs found on some classmates’ cellphones.

“It does not resolve all of the constitutional issues implicated in sexting prosecutions, but it’s a terrific start for civil liberties,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, who represented the parents.

Read full article.

Dubai sentences Indian couple to 3 months in jail for Sexting

Steamy text messages have resulted in a three-month jail sentence for a Indian man and an Indian woman in Dubai. The BBC reports.

Judges ruled that they had planned to "commit sin", a reference to an extramarital affair - which is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.

The unnamed pair, aged 47 and 42, were working as cabin crew for Dubai's Emirates airline.

Their "sexy texts" first surfaced last year, in a divorce lawsuit by the woman's estranged husband.

The Indian pair were originally sentenced to six months in jail, followed by deportation. But an appeals court reduced the term and gave them the option to remain in the country.

Read full article.

Teens main producers of child pornography

Australian statistics reveal adolescents last year outnumbered middle-aged men two to one as the main offenders in mobile child porn production. News.com reports.

"Youths 10 to 14 were among the alleged offenders.

In a recent case an eight-year-old was questioned by police in country Victoria over naked pictures found on a mobile phone but no charges were laid."

The iPhone's Next Frontier: Porn

According to Time, leading porn purveyors see the iPhone as a dream come true.

"It's by far the porn-friendliest phone," says Devan Cypher, spokesperson for San Francisco-based Sin City Entertainment.

... "There are a few hundred iPhone porn sites now in use," says Farley Cahen, vice president of business development for AVN Media Network, the adult industry's trade body. Many others are currently in the works targeting iPhone 2.0, which goes on sale July 11."

Text Msg Code for "I'm a Japanese School Girl Selling Sex"

Last week, cops broke up a schoolgirl prostitution ring in Saitama and Tokyo, arresting at least five junior high and high school girls who were selling sex online via their cell phones. One was a sixth grader. About 80% of the customers were pedophiles. Tokyomango reports.

"The amazing thing is that everything, including detailed ads soliciting customers, was written in code.

Take this piece of seemingly benign code, for example:

IkebLURV1700Yukichi2JC1

Ikeb = Ikebukuro. The neighborhood that the girl is in.
LURV = "I will have sex with you."
1700 = Time: 5PM
Yukichi2 = Yukichi Fukuzawa, the guy whose face is on the 10,000 yen note x 2 = I cost 20,000 yen
JC = Joshi Chugakusei (Junior high school girl. JS would be elementary school girl, JK would be high school girl)
1 = Grade 1. In Japan, 1st year of junior high = 7th grade.

Parents are being warned to look out for code like this on their kids' cell phones. It's a sure sign that they're involved in the sex trade, too. "

Porn industry says U.S. mobile market is tough to crack

The porn industry has so far been unable to deliver its adult content by mobile phones in the U.S. largely because telecoms carriers have been unwilling to risk a public backlash, said sex film producers at the Digital Hollywood conference on Thursday, reports Red Herring.

"While mobile porn is popular in Europe and other parts of the world, where mobile carriers can block minors from viewing porn, U.S carriers have declined to adopt age verification infrastructure—or take any other steps to peddle porn—for fear of the reaction from conservative Americans, said Clint Fayling, of BrickHouse Mobile, which bundles porn content for mobile phones in Europe.

Despite concerns of the carriers, porn industry insiders still see a huge opportunity in mobile porn. Sex content is widely believed to account for 60-80 percent of Internet traffic, and it’s expected to become a $3.3 billion mobile industry globally by 2011, according to Juniper Research.

But for mobile carriers in the U.S., data services—and especially video—are still a small part of their business. Even assuming porn would become a large part of that, risking any voice business drop off from negative PR just isn’t worth it yet, said Mr. Fayling, who offers soft-core porn content for U.S. No carriers were represented on the panel."

Switzerland says no to porno on cell phones

Selling soft-core porn on portable phones will now be against the law in Switzerland, as the government votes to extend the existing ban on hard-core material. 24Heures reports.

"The Swiss State Council has voted 25-4 to ban the sell of X-rated films and pictures on cell phones. The councilors argue that the ban is necessary to protect minors under 16 from easy access to disturbing material. The series of recent gang rapes involving minors is said to have weighed heavily in the decision."

Man's 32,000 sex mobile messages

A man in the UK randomly sent around 32,000 sexually explicit mobile phone messages - many to children, reports the BBC.

"The prosecution said Roberts sent the pornographic images to randomly selected numbers using the latest generation of mobile phones.

These included 1,500 messages which were sent to children.

The calls or attempted calls were made over an eight-month period last year at the rate of about 1,000 a week.

... Defending, Daniel Travers, said Roberts deeply regretted his actions, on which he had spent about £25,000."

Officer sent photo of genitals to 14-year-old

This appaling story with a terrible headline is all over the news. I'll let you read it for yourself. In The Dallas Morning News.

China. Foreigners face deportation for texting porn

China's new Law on Public Security Administrative Penalties took effect Wednesday, creating 165 new offenses and setting maximum penalties ranging from 200 yuan ($25 US) to 15 days detention for Chinese citizens all the way to deportation for foreigners, including those with diplomatic immunity, reports Jurist Law.

"The new offenses include repeatedly sending pornographic cellphone messages and disturbing public order at public events."

Picture left from the BBC.

Indecent exposure in return for cell phone minutes

In the UK, a man who posed as a 14-year-old boy is sentenced to jail time, for enticing teenagers to send him indecent pictures of themselves by MMS. In exchange, he paid for their cell phone bills. EDP24 reports.

"Gary Canham, from Beccles, sent numerous text messages from his mobile phone to two girls aged 14 and 16, pretending to be a schoolboy called Tim and inviting the girls to send pictures of themselves to him.

In return, he paid for the credit on their mobile phones.

The Prosecutor said among the 20 to 30 images found on Canham's phone, one picture showed the girl topless and another had been taken up her skirt."

Interview with an ex-sex text worker

Interesting insight from Libcom News on the work of a "sex texter" through an interview of Jack, a socialist, who worked for a sex-texting company in 2005 impersonating a female.

Excerpts:

"The company I worked for went by the ever so pleasant and subtle name of 'box-69'. The company did 'sex texting' - basically people would text sexual messages in to you (which you recieved on a computer, in a chat room type interface), and you would respond - the messages going directly to their mobiles.

... The way the job worked was you had a number (usually around 4-6) of clients on the go at once. You could send them up to 3 texts for each one they sent you. I got paid around 10 pence for each text I sent - the customer got charged 1.50 for each one (the mobile network took around a third of this, the rest went to the employer).

... While at first it was a novelty, and I laughed off the concept that it was ever going to 'get to me', or that I'd ever see it as more than sad old blokes wasting their money, it actually very quickly became really dehumanising.

... Almost all of my co-workers were single mums, needing something they could do at home, while looking after kids. Although I only ever spoke to them over MSN or on the messageboards, so perhaps in reality half of them were really pervy old blokes! As much as I'd like to believe this to be the case though, I don't really think so..."

China to monitor mobile phone payments in search for porn sites

Chinese police will monitor mobile phone payment platforms, focusing on larger transactions, as a key part of their efforts to close down pornographic websites, informs Interfax China.

"As everyone knows, pornographic photos and service providers set their prices fairly high. Therefore monitoring can be improved by specially targeting higher priced services," said Zhao Shiqiang, from the BPS's Public Information Network Security Supervision Bureau.

Telecom operators will likely conduct the monitoring of mobile phone payment platforms. Mobile phone payments services have become a popular way to pay for internet services because few people in China have credit cards.

In addition to monitoring mobile payments, Zhao said telecom carriers should investigate internet and mobile phone content providers, and also hire third party firms to investigate and monitor services.

This new initiative by police to monitor mobile payment platforms is part of a broader government crackdown on the dissemination of pornographic, gambling, and anti-government content over mobile phone and internet networks.

Carriers Adopt Content Rating for Cellphones

The nation's major cellular phone carriers said yesterday that they had adopted a content rating system for video, music, pictures and games that they sell to cellphone users, reports the NY Times, a development that could pave the way for them to begin selling pornography and sex-oriented content on mobile devices.

"The carriers said the ratings, meant to mimic content classifications for movies and video games, are voluntary.

Initially, the carriers would classify content in two categories: general interest and restricted content deemed appropriate only for people over the age of 18.

The carriers said they had agreed not to begin making restricted content available until they had developed filters and other technological tools that would enable parents to prevent children from getting access to inappropriate material.

The carriers, including Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless, the largest and second-largest mobile companies, said they were developing filtering technology and that it should be available soon.

The CTIA, an industry trade group that published the guidelines, said in a statement that the content classifications would use criteria based on the existing movie, television, music and games rating systems."

CTIA WIRELESS CONTENT GUIDELINES.

Bluetooth vibrator works with SMS

The Toy is a vibrating bullet that connects to a mobile phone with Bluetooth.

The Toy is worn internally, linked to a mobile phone and controlled by sms text messages sent to the phone. Once read, the message is transported automatically to The Toy, which turns it into vibrations - with a huge range of movements, depending on what you have written. Just say what you feel, The Toy will do the rest.

[via wired]

Sex Is Latest Cellphone Feature

The cellphone, which already plays music, sends and receives e-mail and takes pictures, is adding a steamier offering: pornography, according to The New York Times who looks into the future of this market in the US.

... "The major American cellular carriers have so far been adamant in their refusal to sell pornography from the same content menus on which they sell ring tones and video games. But there are signs that they may soften their stance.

The cellular industry's major trade group is drafting ratings for mobile content - akin to those for movies or video games - signaling that phones, too, will be a subject of viewer discretion.

At present, sales of pornography over mobile phones in this country amount to virtually nothing... Yankee Group, a research firm, estimates that by 2009, sales of pornography for phones will hit $196 million, still meager compared with a projected $1.2 billion for ring tones.

Picture from ohmobile.com - which offers pornographic images and plans to add video within the next month.

Pedophile spread child pornography from psychiatric clinic in Sweden

A convicted pedophile used his cell phone to spread child pornography on the Internet from a psychiatric clinic in Sweden, authorities said Monday, reports Pravda.

"Prosecutor Lars Jeppsson said the man, who was not identified, had hidden a computer hard-drive inside a stereo in his room, and then used his cell phone's Internet connection to receive and distribute thousands of illegal images to other people.

The hard-drive was confiscated in February after police discovered the man's activities by monitoring child pornography traffic online... The court ruled that the man is seriously mentally ill, which means he cannot be sentenced to prison under Swedish law, the AP reports."

Porn Star Starts Mobile Advice Column

Computer animation firm DA Group has created a “digital caricature version” (read: avatar) of Ron Jeremy, the cult star of 1,600 porn films for a new 3 UK mobile “dear Ron” advice service, reports Moco News.

"MJ Mobile will promote the service from the end of this week.

DA is also developing Ron Jeremy-branded versions of its Fantasy Babe solutions including java messaging applications, downloadable animations and videos and other java games. All these solutions will be available at the beginning of August and will be branded “Ron's Babes”.

Related:

-- Ron Jeremy launches groantones

Teacher Being Investigated For Cell Phone Porn

A 27-year old male teacher at the Kansas School for the Deaf is being investigated by Olathe Police for allegedly sending pornographic cameraphone pictures to a 15-year old girl student, according to Fox 4 News.

"Police say the girl "was involved in a conversation with the teacher via the T-Mobile Pager system. At the conclusion of the conversation, the victim was sent the picture."

"One in Two Koreans Bought Cell Phone Porn"

Korea's major mobile operators earned W113 billion (US$113 million) last year from selling adult content, reveals Digital Chosunibo. The number of people who bought adult content through their mobile phones accounted for almost half of all mobile phone subscribers.

According to a report submitted by the Information and Communication Ministry, out of the total revenues of W2.4 trillion earned by mobile operators from providing wireless internet service, some W113 billion came from selling adult materials.

There were as many as 18.7 million uses of the service and assuming that each subscriber used the service once, almost one in two subscribers bought obscene materials using their cell phones.

Despite the growing use of adult content through mobile phones, the government has not come up with any measures to protect minors from pornography.

Adult Entertainment on a Cell Phone Near You

"Unlike the Internet, there is virtually no free adult content available via mobile wireless devices," said Jupiter Research's Windsor Holden. As a result, anyone who acquires the materials must engage in a commercial transaction, and these transactions can be traced. [via TechNewsWorld ]

"One reason the Internet gained as much interest as it did in its early days was the convenience that it offered individuals interested in pornography. No longer did they have to visit adult bookstores in person; with a few keystrokes the materials were delivered directly to their personal computers.

[...] Companies such as Hotphone (gay phone sex), Pornforyourphone , Private and Voooyeur started out offering still images to mobile phone customers but have recently been moving to video clips and video streaming. Available content now ranges from models disrobing to hard-core pornography.

[...] Jupiter Research Inc. estimates that worldwide revenue from this market segment will jump from US$500 million in 2004 to $2.5 billion in 2009".

Cell phone porn set for sales spike

Another day, another mobile porn survey. By Strategy Analytics via ZDNet.

"Mobile phone users around the world spent $400 million on pornographic pictures and video in 2004, an amount that is expected to rise to $5 billion by 2010, a survey found on Thursday."

T-Mobile UK introduces content lock for children

Mobile operator T-Mobile UK has put in place Content Lock, a filtering mechanisms for protecting children from accessing illegal or 18+ content on mobile phones. Content Lock will be switched on by default on all existing and new prepaid and contract customer accounts. [via DMeurope]

Other content controlling schemes:

-- Vodafone launches controls to stop kids looking at 'adult content'

-- Protecting minors from adult content

-- UK mobile operators Protect minors from adult content

-- Bango launches 'mobile barring' service

-- Australia moves to limit youth access to phone porn

-- Mobile technology company launches «Content Guardian»

Outsourcing phone sex from call centers in India

Some call center operators have secretly set up phone sex operations in Bangalore and Mumbai, though it's strictly against the law and call forwarding to cell phones is making it even harder for the police to nail the offenders, according to an article in India Daily.

"The practice is totally illegal in India while somewhat legal in Western countries. The Indian operators running these call centers normally have a legitimate normal call center in the front and then phone sex center in the back end.

Girls are paid very heavy and plenty of young models are working in these underground centers.

According to sources, Interpol and Indian authorities are working together to tap the phones and nab these culprits based on the exact location of the phone.

But now call forwarding is creating another problem. The girls are being connected from the Western countries directly to their cell phones at their home. Many of these girls have claimed that they are talking to their fiancé and boyfriends in America and Western countries.

Cellphone Entertainment, Yes, but Carriers Shy From X-Rated

With new functions to send e-mail, take pictures and listen to music, the mobile phone has turned into a portable minicomputer. But the operators of phone networks are resisting new services that proved very popular on the old personal computer: pornography and violent video games, reports The New York Times.

Along with ring tones and screen savers, racy pictures and violent games are now part of that commercial equation. In Europe and Asia, users of mobile phones can readily download erotic images and even explicit videos to be watched on the tiny screens.

A growing number of content providers are adapting steamy images and video for use on mobile phones. But not all US carriers are going for it.

Cingular Wireless said earlier this month that it would stop offering customers the option of downloading images of pornography-film stars, a service that had been offered by AT&T Wireless

"We're not going to offer adult content; we're not going to offer ultraviolent games," said Mark Siegel, a spokesman for Cingular. "That is not compatible with the Cingular brand."

Such decisions show the fine line that the carriers are trying to walk. Many, for example, already offer downloadable images of bikini-clad models from magazines like Sports Illustrated and Maxim. But some critics are raising concerns that the phone operators are acting as content gatekeepers.

Whether even more of this muted content could catch on the United States depends first on whether the carriers decide to make it available. Roger Entner, a telecommunications industry analyst with the Yankee Group, a market research firm, said he believed that carriers were reacting to the political climate.

"One of the biggest fears of the wireless carriers is that - with a more conservative United States - that the Southern Baptist conference or some such group would boycott them," he said."

Australia: Dial 195-PORN

Australian users of mobile phones will soon be able to dial 195-PORN, according to the Sydney Morning Herald

But tough rules aimed at protecting children from adult services, expected to range from blue video to sex text, will require potential users to first show photograph identification and request access in writing.

The communications authority said 16 companies - including Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Legion Interactive, which provides SMS voting for Australian Idol - had already reserved adult numbers. These services cannot be activated until regulation of the area is formalised next year.

Mobile-phone companies will also be required to hire moderators who have undergone a police check and have been trained to spot pedophiles attempting to groom children in unrestricted mobile chat rooms."

Sex Texting

A UK policeman on trial, allegedly seduced a girl of 15 through "sex texts" and persuaded her to perform a sex act on him in his car before buying her a hamburger, reports The Mirror.

"Beeton, who works for Cambridgeshire Police in Peterborough, told Luton crown court he was "sex texting" three females before and after marrying wife Lisa in 2003.

He said he sent about 20 such texts a day - sometimes as his wife sat next to him and sometimes pretended to be a lesbian.

Beeton denies indecent assault. The trial goes on."

Phone Sex Is Better Than Porn

Regina Lynn, in her weekly erotic column, Sex Drive for Wired, looks into phone sex and report on "Midori, a sex educator based in San Francisco, of all places who believes we should all be using our mobile phones to spice up our sex lives.

"We may be dependent on our cell phones these days, but what do we talk about?" she asks. "We say, 'Hey, where are you, how's the party?'" Given our busy schedules and feelings of disconnectedness, she sees an opportunity to bring lovers closer together, talking in real time or leaving erotic messages throughout the day.

One of her favorite techniques is the erotic cliffhanger, where you figure out the maximum length allowed for a single message on your lover's phone. Call when you know he or she can't answer and start talking. "Go into detail," she says, describing what you'd like to do to them, right now or tomorrow or next week, "and then at exactly the right moment -- BEEEEP."