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Cingular Filtering Porn From Wireless Web?
Atryn writes: "Cingular Wireless is reportedly blocking its customers from accessing 'objectionable material" via the Wireless Web.' The spokesman mentioned in the story disclaims knowledge of any blocking -- can any Cingular customers reading this confirm it?
Censorship is a very bad thing, but some perv downloading huge ammounts of porn eating bandwidth from other customers is almost as bad as well. Difficult situation
"The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else." - Bush 05
could this be leading up to the internet being censored by isp's? why let one company get away with it.. *shakes head* what's this world coming to
see sig. see sig run. run sig run.
Looks like we'll be seieng a lot more products incorporating holograms technology from Google. Their resaerchers just pperfected designs that put them light yaers ahaed of Yahoo. No word on when teh first products will be released, but it looks like its really happening this time. What implications this has on my plans for eradicating teh AIDS virus are stil unclaer at this time.
But this does pose an interesting question--what URL's are easily memorable, and are optimized for entry via telephone keypad as alpha?
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
I just don't understand why you pro-linux zealots don't like watching shit like this. I mean, c'mon man, it ain't that bad. Fook you and your she-male sendmailer daemon too!
when the phone gets sticky? Does that void the warranty?
When they're just *talking*, at least they've got one hand free!
Albuquerque PC
For some reason I keep getting a Proxy error on my Cingular phone when I visit a lot of sites...INCLUDING THOSE ON CINGULAR'S SITE!!
"Cannot display malformed content" is one I get on some parts of Cingular's site...
It looks like some of the other sites I visit are okay now, Slashdot's site came up for the first time...I was using it to get an error and I can't get an error on any webpage anymore...(something about upstream content to the proxy)...Looks like it was fixed...Now time to go find some pr0n!
I'm not sure whether to call it a miracle or a bad decision, but Adobe announced today that Steve Jobs is now an employee of theirs. What position that was ofered at Adobe wasnt anounced, but with Steve Jobs's experience in harasing employees, I suspect a position in teh anime department will be forthcoming.
and I was looking forward to looking at all those thumbnails on my black and white nokia phone..
arcane for life
For once, this is new that matters!
Banned from moderation 01-27-2002. Fuck you too
It's been a long time coming but finally Sun has relaesed Office 2000 for the Atari 260. I for one have been waiting 3 years for this. I'm having trouble keeping teh drool off my keyboard. UPDATE: Apparently this is just a Beta relaese, so clean up that drool.
Wonder if they concider even some of my phone calls 'objectionable material' given the fact I get cut off or no signal so much.
Besides, why bother filtering out pixelated porn? Why can't service providers (ISP's to Phone Services) just butt out? They always seem spend so much time and effort taking the law into their own hands and do what they think is right for the customer, instead of conceintrating that energy, time and money into something worth while, like expanding their national networks, eliminate 'dead spots' in most areas, and gosh, heaven forbid, maybe if that's all to much to ask for, then stop fight the 'good fight' free up some of the cash used to pay employees to fight evil and lower the cost to the customers. Again, probably too much to ask for.
Ah well, back to filtering out all the spam Cingular doesn't filter out.
======
Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. - Euripides
That said, how many people are out there looking at porn on a cell phone? Besides the obvious limitations of an image on a black-and-white LCD screen, do some people really need their fix of pr0n so spontaneously that they can't get to their computer or local magazine stand?
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
They should have posted a goatse guy link in the main article so that everyone could have tested whether or not it was blocked.
Aparently one Marc Andreessen wasnt enough fro RAMBUS. In an article published in this month's Cloning magazine. RAMBUS was worried that Sun might clone Marc Andreessen first adn then patent the proces, so their resaerchers have been working aroudn the clock to be first. Fortunately fro the world, RAMBUS has promised to release to the public the technology that they used. So if you think you're seeing Marc Andreessen everywhere you probably are.
Phone companies get paid by a customer's monthly fee, then by the minute and then by the byte, *for the quantity of service used*.
It's none of their business what the content is.
Or is the time when I won't be able to speak my *beep* mind on my *beep* *beep* phone?
Explicit content on your phone's screen?! Pleeze!
I wonder what's behind all this? Are they trying to push sales to parents?
As long as they don't have any reports of accidents with people and their pants down, everythings cool. And when they do start to get those accident reports, i'll begin working on a "hands-free" version for the cell phone.. ;)
-- pX
can any Cingular customers reading this confirm it?
How can they? Surely Slashdot is censored because it's 99% objectionable material?
Oh, hang on, I got it wrong. Slashdot's content is objectionless, not objectionable.
mogorific carpentry experiments
Cisco for some unfathomable reason has decided to rewrite The Gimp in Pascal. I can't imagine what they expect to gain from such a ridiculous exercise. When there done I hope that they port it to the Nintedno 64 just fro kicks.
Given the size of most cell phone displays perhaps they are doing a public service by blocking pr0n by saving people from unneeded eye strain. Ok, so I am reaching....
I'm just waiting for a voice over IP chat application on my cell phone. I think this will be the killer app for internet enabled cell phones. Imagine the convenience of being able to have a voice conversation on your internet enabled cell phone with another internet enabled cell phone user.
'Same speed C but faster'
Caldera wil begin selling thier own GameBoy Beowulf clusters. They're going to be working with Adobe so you can expect a stupid name. I dont see any practical application for these, but I'll probably get one anyway.
From this: (.)(.) \ / To this? (xxxx) \ /
What's to stop them from calling a 900 number or any other sex number on the phone? If they're only stopping WAP traffic, they can access web sites through regular HTML traffic on phones that support that..
Everytime you censor people there's a way to get around it and you mainly wind up screwing people who should rightfully be able to access that information.
Besides, if they want to wait for some pixellated phone pr0n, let 'em.. it's not like they can't just find it elsewhere anyway, how many people actually didn't see pr0n until they were of legal age?
eBay announced that there is a bug in Abiword that allows hackers to gain control of your system if you change your password to 'moose'. Of course, eBay says this is a "feature" and not a bug. I wuold call it a feature if script kidies used it to launch a DOS against thier servers.
Slashdot doesnt usually report on stories like this, but when it's two people like this we cant resist. According to an article in Fast Company Steve Case and Pope John Paul II have been spotted dining together several times in a Santa Clara establishment, but the article is rather ambiguous as to whether it's a profesional or ppersonal relationship. The pictures circulating on teh net make it a little claerer.
Ham packet radio and even CB are subjected to the FCC's rather stringent requirements against profanity and obscenity. I remember this being a big deal when I daydreamed about setting up a packet-radio ISP link in the early 1990s -- even sort-of-innocuous newsfroups like rec.nude could get you into trouble. I'm not sure what's different now with 802.11b.
Hi, I subscribe to Cingular's Wireless web and I just accessed porn on my cell phone. This article is absurdly misinformed.
Username taken, please choose another one.
that will REALLY mess up driving
or is it just text?
like |- o| or something?
Between this article and the one about keeping kids safe in chat rooms, I guess I will have to stop using (o)(o). What is next nothing can be longer than it is wide for fear of it being a phallac symbol. I guess now we have worry about sex crime as well as thought crime.
Red Hat fro some unfathomable reason has decided to rewrite Unix in JavaScript. I can't imagine what they expect to gain from such a ridiculous exercise. When they're done I hope that they port it to the Atari 2600 just fro kicks.
Yeah, you're entitled to freedom of speech.
Yeah, you're endowed with certain inalienable rights.
But, last I looked, Cingular isn't the Government (tho they probably do own a chunk of it.)
Check your service agreement for those nasty little phrases like, "Cingular reserves the right to ...", which give them all the clout they need.
All the clout you need is to go find someone who doesn't have those little phrases in the contract and subscribe to their service. You probably have that right, as, last I looked, no bills have passed the House binding you to indentured servitude.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Don't even think of saying "redneck"... it's offensive.
I've seen the future, it's not free, open 802.11b, it's people using WAP phones playing games, paying 20 cents to get the high score on a round of a trivia game, ending up huge phone bills. Just think AOL before they went flat rate.
There's money in pay per click.
Press SEND to get high kharma (for only 20 cents)
--Mike--
You don't have to work for the government to be a censor.
Plus, you're arguing the reverse - they aren't preventing customers from saying or sending anything using their phones, they are censoring content - they are suppressing "what is considered morally, politically, or otherwise objectionable." (from dictionary.com).
Now, it's not that they don't have a right to do it, but regardless of what they decide to censor NOW, if you bought the service with certain expectations, and they change the rules after you sign the contract, then there is an issue.
The contract probably doesn't specifically say they will allow all traffic - in fact, it is probably worded in such a way that they can do this with impunity.
Regardless, it IS censorship when one entity takes responsibility for determining what material others can or cannot view.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
D~y
...with the spread eagle logo.
It was a rare day I could even manage to stay logged into Cingular's Wireless Web service long enough to ASK for a page, nevermind actually view it. I eventually cancelled the service once it became clear there were no improvements coming down the pipe anytime soon. "Webless Wireless" is perhaps a more accurate description.
Why is pr0n 'bad' for kids? When I was a kid, I looked at pr0n out of curiosity of what the big deal was. From puberty on, I looked at pr0n because of raging hormones. I wasn't sexually active as a teen, but sure looked at a lot of pr0n. It didn't turn me into Osama bin Laden.
I just don't understand why Americans get into such a snit over sex and pornography; and yes, it's mostly Americans. Most everywhere else in the world porn and sex aren't that big of a deal.
You can't really censor out pr0n; when I didn't get it from BBSes there was always my dad's magazine collection. It's just not worth the effort, except for stamping out child porn. I mean, really, can anyone demonstrate that pornography is bad for kids?
The article and most posts so far erraneously assume customers use this service to surf with a phone.
... it would be cheaper to drive down a seedy 'hood. (Not that I would do that).
I once signed up with Cingular just to use their phone as a mobile 1Mb modem for a laptop, despite their limited and expensive service in my area.
It helped me over come mental blocks as I could get work done on a sunny beach.
I assume other customers want the same convenience.
Never surfed pr0n so I don't know whether they had restrictions then, besides
I am wondering how this was a problem for them. Comeon how good can WAP porn be. 7 pixels per tit... Sounds sexy to me.
I am amazed that someone would waste company time, finding and banning WAP porn. Then get the wrath of the privacy advocates, and users pissed they can't do what they want.
When asked what would make G3 really take off, a Hong Kong executive promptly and blushingly responded "naked women." If the killer app for the internet was really porn, why should it not be the same for G3!
Oh, the irony... No wonder Asia is faster with hand phones...
I tried three and couldn't get through, but that doesn't mean they're blocked, necessarily. Here's what I tried, and what I got:
www.porn.com - Reply unknown!
www.sex.com - No server access!
www.fuck.com - File format unknown!
www.slashdot.org - No server access!
Looks like they're blocking Slashdot, too, shucks.
(Test performed on a Nokia 3360 cell phone. Note that I could easily use the phone as a model with my iPaq, then browse all sorts of porn using my regular dial-up ISP.)
Okay, I tried wap.sex.com, too, and still got the "No server access!" error that I got when tyring to access Slashdot.
Cingular has the 3390. AT&T Wireless has the 3360, which doesn't have internet access.
But with the color screen Ericsson T68 on AT&T Wireless, pr0n on your phone could be a big seller soon...
So They are blocking all phone sex and 900 numbers tyoo right?
They are in a "no-need for license" free for
all location in the microwave spectrum. This was originally set aside expect only the military to use it but then cordless phones, 802.11b, and bluetooth appeared. They are perfectly legal in this band as long as the broadcasting power is under a certain limit. Since each device doesn't require an independent license, they don't fall under the same FCC laws that radios and other communication devices do.
holy crap /. editors get one simple fact through your thick fucking skulls.
What a private company does on their own network is not a "YRO" story. Its a breach of contract if anything at all. The only right here in question is the right to sue the bastards for putting the filter on the network if it violates their contract with the customers [hint; it probably doesn't so suck it up!]
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
Cingular is a corporation, and they are not going to do what they *should* but what they *can*. They've decided (I'm guessing) that they can get maximum network utilization by cutting out those who are some of the biggest bandwidth users, when most of these are not going to complain. How many people would really stand up and fight for this?
Please take this into account for testing. So far, looking over the web, I've found no supporting evidence for the story.
Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)
If you don't like their service, don't buy from them. If I make a private company and don't want to provide my customers pr0n, I don't have too---this is the content provider's right. So next time you complain about the customer's rights think of the business' rights as well. This is supposed to be a free market. You complain that things should be free but you think that companies shouldn't... Just my 2 cents.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Interested in AI? MACR
Now compare this old business-week article
And this USA today article:
What may have happened is that the sources tried to get to porn sites, didn't work, and then concluded that those sites were being banned in specific. But it could be a general compatibility problem affecting many sites.
Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)
Still, I see they are denying blocking, but no customer has posted here telling us that they are.
Just send it all to me.
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
If they want to block their customers from viewing porn then more power to them. If their customers do not appreciate this then they will take their business elsewhere.
Where is the story here?
All right, now this is getting slightly off topic, but possibly still just slightly, so: in response. Let me preface this by saying this is anecdotal personal experience.
In my early teen years I used to be all about the porn, "raging hormones" and whatnot. Then I came to the realization that looking at porn affected my view of women. No, it didn't completely desensitize me to their feelings and needs, but I did think about them in a purely sexual context more often when I was regularly looking at porn. Now that I consciously avoid pr0n the amount of time that i spend thinking about women in a sexual context has greatly decreased.
I'm not saying that the viewing of pornography is necessarily bad, but especially at the very impressionable stages in a young boy's life (or girl's life, although girls seem to have less of a propensity for pornography), viewing pornography could cause a boy to view the opposite sex more as objects, and less as equal humans.
Mod my comments down. It'll be fun.
If Cingular does it, it's time to find a new provider.
Display some adaptability.
Man. That's a job I'd love to have. Testing hundreds of cell phones to make sure they can view online porn.
hi,
I have cingular wireless for my telephone and a friend sent me a short message which included the word "shit". it showed up as an "i" with an umlout (sp? double dots over it). I asked her what she sent and she told me. I dont know if it was my cingular service that censored it or her at&t service that censored it. anyone wanna do an experiment?
sTc
Most things worth doing are worth doing twice. -- me I think or was that my boss' methodology?
Anti Microsoft Troll? That's every slashdotter. Try being creative.
But why the fuck in the first place are people looking at porn on their cell phone???? Do people know when enough is enough? Honestly I jack off at least 3-5 times a day (not healthy, I know, but I'm a teenager, get over it) but I don't go THAT far to get my freakin' porn. Aye Carumba.
I belong to the ______ generation.
I was just getting adept at using my phone with my left hand.
ha ha I can see it all now...innocent sounding websites that turn out to be PORN, a new underground
like www.inter.com/course
or www.birdsbees.org
"If you don't like the agreement, find another provider. It's their bandwidth."
There are two problems with this. First, most people with Cingular have signed some sort of contract. They don't have the option to leave, unless they pay some big fine, for something that wasn't in the contract when they signed. Second, the users pay for the bandwidth. If the phones run at 14.4 K, Cingular should have provisioned for users using 14.4 K. You can use up just as much bandwidth at amazon.com as you can at xxx.com over a 14.4 connection.
Finally, you all have forgotten the most important issue. If a company like Cingular starts censoring what people can see over their phones using bandwidth that they bought and people let it happen, it opens the door for other types of censorship. This is just like opening the can of worms (not like it hasn't been opened before but....)
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
MaxPower (2263)
"I got it from a hair dryer."
You were the first that had to resort to name calling! I win!
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Technology, censorship, wireless, evil company and PRON!!
Now rather than just putting it on vibrate and sticking it in your pocket and calling yourself (not that there's anything wrong with that)
You can now have naked pictures on the phone AND have it in your pants when you call yourself.
Us geeks are one step closer to not even needing bio versions of the ellusive other gender.
This is more of a specialized service than a standard ISP is. They're broadcasting your content to a large section of geographical area, where theoretically someone else could see it.
If they don't want porn casted over the airwaves (which is illegal according to the FCC) it's their right.
Set the phone to vibrate... ah, there it is.
So why don't they block me from calling questionable 900 numbers, too? It's great they are looking out for me, but they can do so much more to protect me. How about blocking me from calling criminals and politicians, too?
I feel so much safer being looked out for by my cell provider. You guys rule.
Victor
So the anonymous coward "goatse" posts should this be modded: +5 informative, considering they're objectionable links for cingular customers to follow?
The mind reels!
than black and white pr0n images on my cel phone!
Ask yourself.... why would you be viewing pr0n on a wireless web device?
I was too busy masturbating to the porn I am downloading in my non-Cingular internet connection :)
it is funny. I liked it. Mod it up.
Now the guy driving next to you in that 38 ton Expedition, isn't just talking, he's looking at pr0n too? Hey, he's holding his phone with one hand, and wait.. where's his other hand? Personally, it gives me reason to fear.
censorship as has been used throughout history would only apply here if the wireless service in use was mandatory, thus implying no choice by users. Don't like the taste or type of food at a restaraunt, then don't go! Only small, close minded nazis would ever support any measure to force the company to do something they don't want to do simply in the hypocritical name of 'rights.'
My quip about pr0n not turning me into Osama bin Laden was simply a comment that looking at pr0n as a kid doesn't turn that kid into a maladjusted adult.
Quite the contrary, sex education that promotes responsible sex - both gay and straight - without moralising about it results in healthy, well-adjusted adults. It reduces unwanted pregnancy and transmission of STDs. Compare the percentages of Dutch kids having unwanted pregnancies versus American kids, infection rates, and so on. The policies of "protecting kids" does just the opposite, yet admitting it undermines the entire "moral" underpinnings of education. It's simply insane.
You may be sick of hearing it, but Americans are prudes. Horrific violence on television and in cinema is quite acceptable, while curse words and nakedness are taboo. When's the last time you've seen a cock on TV or film, even rated "R". Breasts are fine on pay channels, but other "naughty bits" are left to "adult" channels. In America, apparently only adults are allowed to have sex or exposure to sexuality.
Now, totally OT, but picking up on the tangent:
The reason many other countries are pissed off at America because of its foreign policy, not because of strip clubs and pr0n. America is like a spoiled schoolyard bully and its "allies" his gang. Most other kids are relieved that America just steals them blind and doesn't beat the crap out of them. As the Japanese are fond of saying "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down", thus the reluctance of most countries to tell America to piss off.
Why must entertainment have redeeming social qualities? Does "The Terminator" have redeeming social qualities? Entertainment comes in many different forms; if you don't find pornography entertaining, don't watch it. But don't interfere with the right of others to do so.
The objection to pornography on the grounds that it objectifies people as sexual objects is ridiculous. People lust after other people, regardless of whether or not they're acting in a skin flick. Whether you see other people selfishly as only objects of sexual desire says more about a person's lack of character than it does of the pornography industry. I'm quite able to have non-sexual interactions with other people - that consists of most of my interaction with other people. Can I have a strong non-sexual relationship with someone I'm attracted to? Sure. Can I have a strong relationship with someone I'm NOT sexually attracted to. Yup.
As to the question of why I'd look at pictures of sex when I can have sex - well, I wouldn't. When I can have sex, I have sex. When I can't have sex, I don't have sex. I think that's true of most people.
Regarding a partner. First, you assume I'm straight, and yes it's a correct assumption. No, I'm not married and have no desire to get married; I don't believe in the institution of marriage.
Yes, I've had loving, intimate relationships that have lasted longer than most marriages. Nor do I believe that intimate relationships must necessarily be sexually monogamous; that depends on how you and your partner feel about it.
Do I find my girlfriend sexy and think she's great? Sure. Just because I look at pornography or have sex with other women doesn't mean that I don't love her and find her satisfying. Just because you love steak doesn't mean that you won't eat chicken. Sex is an appetite. By the same standard, I don't get bent out of shape when she looks at pornography or has sex with other people.
Obviously, I don't subscribe to the puritanical view of sex that you describe. I just don't find pornography self-degradating or degradating of others. The reason that women are viewed as objects aren't because people lust after them after seeing pornography; it's because Western culture has historically treated them as property at worst and second-class citizens at best.
As to the right to do stuff: yes, it's my right to view porn. And yes, just because I can do something doesn't mean that I should. For example, just because I have unfiltered internet access at work and CAN view porn at work doesn't mean that I should view porn at work. I don't. Of course, that's not what you meant. But I can't think of another context where I'd find it wrong to look at porn.
i don't hear complaints that bockbuster video doesn't have an adult section. i don't hear complaints that barnes and noble doesn't have an adult section. i don't hear compaints that the disney channel doesn't show adult material. i don't hear complaints that compusa doesn't sell adult software. these companies made specific choices not to carry such materials and cingular can similarly make the same decision if they choose. why is the medium of the internet so unique that people complain when not every company will provide every subject matter? so, if you're the type who just can't wait long enough to get to your home computer in order to look at porn (and god help you if this is the case), find another provider.
char *mySig;
Cingular's adds often have a theme extolling Cingular's "Commitment to Creative Self-Expression," and have made statements expanding on this to include "...even when we may not agree with the views expressed."
This does not seem to square with there latest policy.
Censorship sucks. Shame on them.
I have a Nokia 7160 with Cingular's craptacular wireless web. Using Google's WAP search engine, there is plenty of porn to be found. It's not much to look at, and requires a bit of imagination a la ASCII p0rn.
Beleive what your parents told you, because if you look at WAPorn long enough on that little phone you will go blind.
cellular noc technicians and the NSA like listening in to those phone calls
It would be very interesting if as an experiment, a group of young american adolescents had to read "Stranger in a Strange Land," and "Time Enough for Love." It might scandalize them sufficiently to allow them to grow up into normal sane human beings. Good Grief! Putting sex in a magical box seperate from all other human activities Is a Perversion! It is at the very least as sick as the ones people who hold puritanical attitudes try to suppress.
Now let the rant begin:
<rant> :)
Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm an American - I was born here and currently live here. Hopefully I won't die here.
You're right that the average Jane and Joe Sixpack have dick to do with American foreign policy. We vote, there's election fraud, a coup, and we have a White House full of nutball right-wingers and an Attorney General who's such a prude that he shelled out US$8k for a curtain to cover Lady Liberty's bodacious boobs. Now that dude is a prude AND a dick. But I digress...
I've spent quite a bit of time overseas --- thanks to Uncle Sam --- and was quite distressed to be lumped in with knee-jerk right-wing Americans. I was more distressed to get beaten down because I'm an American and my hosts took exception to our military presence (I wasn't in the military at the time).
Sweeping generalisations are not applicable to everyone, of course. However, it's accurate to say that Americans are generally very prudish. Not all Americans, of course, but most of them are, especially in the South.
When an adult store/tat parlor opened in town there was quite a row. There were no lewd displays, kids were verboten, and the "adult" section of the store was segregated within the store. But people screamed because it was - well, lewd to have such a store.
Once it opened there was an outcry and quick legislation by the Police Jury (aka City Council) forbade another such business to open within a certain distance from schools, churches (hoo boy, do we have a lot of those), residential areas, and so forth. In addition, special licensing was required for any SOB (their unfortunate acronym meaning Sexually Oriented Business).
Needless to say, the hue and cry gave the shop an enormous amount of free advertising and business boomed. The owners of the shop were delighted at the overreaction which essentially ensured they would have no competition. Since the American Constitution forbids ex-post-facto laws, they're grandfathered in as long as the business remains alive.
The whole affair was terribly amusing.
This is a single example, of course, that can't rightly be extended to include the sum of American society. However, having lived in America most of my life, empirical evidence says most Americans are prudish souls. Many of these same people are hypocrites who go surfing for porn after church. </rant>
This stuff already exists, I saw it at the erotic museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. It's called an autosuck. Go figure.