Parental controls for phones

It's good news, but it's also a sure sign that porn is coming to ever-more-multimedia cellphones. The US's major cellphone companies this week agreed to adopt "a content rating system for video, music, pictures and games that they sell to cellphone users - a development that could pave the way for them to begin selling pornography and sex-oriented content on mobile devices," the New York Times reports. According to Reuters, rating guidelines were developed by the industry's biggest trade association, CTIA. The industry will provide filtering "initially" based on two ratings: "general interest and restricted content deemed appropriate only for people over the age of 18," the Times reports, adding that the carriers said they wouldn't make the restricted content available until filters were in place. No start date was apparent, just "soon." Reuters cites data from tech researcher IDC showing that about 21 million 5-to-19-year-olds had cellphones by the end of 2004. Meanwhile, cellphone upstarts like Amp'd Mobile are marketing directly to young "media savants" (teens and young adults) their ability to provide "pop culture in your hand" - music and video clips, dating services, celebrity news, games scores, and plenty of ads that "fill as much as half the screen," the New York Times also reports.