Phone News

The Mobile Broadband Group is appointing the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to take over from the Independent Mobile Classification Board (IMCB) in providing the independent framework that underpins the Mobile Operators' code of practice, established in 2004, for the self regulation of new forms of content on mobile.

The Classification Framework enables mobile operators to restrict access to their commercial content that is unsuitable for customers under the age of 18. The Framework is applied to commercial content such as: video and audio/video material; or mobile games. The framework is also used by the mobile operators to calibrate the internet filters that parents can use to restrict content accessible by children via a mobile operator's internet access service.

Hamish MacLeod, chair of the Mobile Broadband Group, commented:

We are very grateful for the excellent work that the IMCB has done over the last 8 years to support our code. However, with customers increasingly consuming content via mobile networks, we feel that the BBFC's unparalleled expertise will be best suited to provide us with the independent framework and guidance for the future.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:

We are pleased to be able to use our experience and expertise, including the insight we have into public opinion about what kind of content is suitable for under 18s to help Mobile Operators to restrict access to content accessed via mobile networks by those under 18. Parents are concerned about the content children access via mobile devices and the BBFC Framework takes into account the same issues the BBFC considers when age rating a film or DVD, such as strong language, violence, drug use, discrimination, sex and nudity.

The BBFC works to published Classification Guidelines based on large scale public consultation exercises involving around 10,000 people. The Classification Guidelines are formally revised every 4-5 years.

The BBFC Classification Framework is a living document which will be updated regularly to reflect evolving public attitudes and societal concerns.

Premium rate voice services or premium rate SMS (text only) services are not covered by the BBFC Classification Framework and continue to operate under the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice.

Over the coming weeks, the parties involved will put in place the necessary transition arrangements and the BBFC Classification Framework will come into use on 2 September 2013.

The first pornography app for Google Glass launched, though not for long.

MiKandi, a developer of adult content apps, released Tits & Glass, an app for the connected glasses, which allows users to browse and vote on racy content. Glass users can record their own pornographic content or photos, and upload them to the app.

Jesse Adams, the CEO and co-founder of MiKandi, told ABC News:

You are literally recording what you see and sharing it. If someone else can see a little taste of what you saw in front of their eyes, that kind of interaction is really fun. It's that live personalized experience that you can then see on your eyes that's really interesting.

But Google doesn't wish to have people exploring porn through the glasses. The company has rapidly changed its policies surrounding pornographic content. Google's Glass Platform Developer Policies now reads:

We don't allow Glassware content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts or sexually explicit material,

A Google spokesperson added that Any Glassware that violates this policy will be blocked from appearing on Glass.

According to MiKandi, the clause was added to Google's policies over the weekend. The company plans to adjust the app to comply with Google's rules.

Apple have blocked an iPhone bookstore app from the Chinese app store in an apparent attempt at appeasing censors, according to the app's developer.

The freemium app, Jingdian Shucheng , gave access to 10 books banned in China. Hao Peiqiang, the developer, told the Financial Times that he believes that his criticism of the Chinese government's policy on Tibet prompted the ban.

In a letter sent to Hao, Apple said that the app was removed because of content that was illegal in China . Hao suspects that content in question is three books written by Wang Lixiong, the dissident thrown out of Beijing during the National Congress.

Apple's App Store Review rules do indeed state that app's must comply with local laws:

Apps must comply with all legal requirements in any location where they are made available to users. It is the developer's obligation to understand and conform to all local laws.

Jingdian Shucheng remains available outside of the Chinese mainland.

A new Playboy app promises a bespoke Playboy lifestyle for guys into travel, clothes, food, cars, girls and beyond.

Given that Apple prudes have banned anything remotely porny, then Scott Flanders, CEO of Playboy Enterprises had to do some careful spinning:

We've rebuilt Playboy for iPhone from the ground up to attract the new generation of Gen Y fans who enjoy the indulgences of the artisanal good life and modern culture.

iPhone users across the globe can enjoy the new app, now found in the App Store. The three subscription options offered to consumers include: a recurring monthly subscription for $1.99, a recurring six-month subscription for $10.99 and a recurring yearly subscription for $19.99.

There will be app-only content, as well as material selectively chosen from the current issue of the magazine, ie selecting only that suitable for Apple censors.

The opening video of the app will star Miss February 2011, Kylie Johnson. The Good Life's Food section of the app debuts with a conversation with Chef Eddie Huang, owner of BaoHaus restaurant in New York's East Village . Under Drink, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager at Clyde Common in Portland, mixes up a classic Easter Day cocktail. An exploration of the resurgence of the station wagon's popularity in Cars. For Girls, Miss November 2004, Cara Zavaleta, makes a striking appearance in Playmate "Redux".

Josh Schollmeyer, Playboy's Director of Digital Content noted:

We're taking everything that has made Playboy great and re-imagining it for the iPhone, while reinventing our aesthetic with exclusive pictorials and a beautiful, image-heavy navigation. It truly is Playboy 2.0.

Which all translates to: "no tits".

Official White House Response to Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal. It's Time to Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking

By R. David Edelman, Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, & Privacy

Thank you for sharing your views on cell phone unlocking with us through your petition on our We the People platform. Last week the White House brought together experts from across government who work on telecommunications, technology, and copyright policy, and we're pleased to offer our response.

The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren't bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It's common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers' needs.

This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs -- even if it isn't the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility.

So where do we go from here?

The Obama Administration would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.

Vine - Twitter's new video clip sharing app - has had its age rating increased to 17+ on Apple's store, the highest option. The software had previously been rated suitable for 12-year-olds.

It follows complaints that some of its six-second segments were pornographic.

Blogging service Tumblr and photo-sharing service 500px have also seen their iPhone and iPad apps boosted to the maximum age rating over the past fortnight.

And by the same logic, all web browsers will soon be 17 or 18 rated too.

After Apple pulled the 500px photo app from iTunes over a porn controversy, it seems Tumblr is doing what it can to avoid the same fate by adding a 17+ age warning to its iPhone and iPad app.

The multi media extension for Twitter now restricts new users and updaters to those aged 17 or older. (The age is set at 17 rather than 18 to pay lip service to US commercial censorship that denies a platform to adult only content, so that companies can claim to be family friendly. 17 rated material is fine as it is deemed not quite adult only. Hence nearly every mainstream film or game that is rated 18 in Europe, is rated 17 in the US. The R rating for films and the M rating for games are both 17 ratings).

You must be at least 17 years old to download this app, Tumblr writes in its description of the app in the iTunes App Store, because it contains Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity.

Pride's Purge is a Web site described by its creator Tom Pride as an irreverent look at UK politics . As he recently discovered, it's also blocked by 3UK's child protection filter. He contacted the company on Twitter, pointing out that Pride's Purge was not a porn site or anything similar, and this is what it replied:

We don't just block adult websites, websites with mature content may also be censored.

So it now seems that there is a category of material called mature content that is distinct from adult content , and that is also blocked by child protection filters, at least on 3UK's network. Worryingly, political satire seems to be regarded as an example of mature content , and therefore unsuitable for children under 18. In fact, the censorship is even worse, as Pride explains:

it's not blocked for just the under-18s. It's blocked for anyone who hasn't proven to [3UK] they are over 18 -- and that means you will have to give your full identity to 3UK before they allow you to enter this site.

Which means 3UK now officially regard political satire as porn -- and are censoring it in exactly the same way.

It's about time these companies were sued, either for loss of earning through their negligence, or else for abusing the right to free speech.

A game that explores the Syrian civil war, Endgame: Syria , has been rejected by Apple due to App Store guidelines forbidding games that solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity .

Apple say that Endgame:Syria, which explores a real news event and aims to show users the range of factions and peoples involved in the situation, fell into this category and so was rejected.

The game's designer, Tomas Rawlings responded:

This decision is a shame really as it makes it hard to talk about the real world. Our aim is to use games as a format to bring news to a new audience and submission processes such as this do make it a lot harder for us.

We'll be making changes to the game and re-submitting it but it does mean we'll have to strip some of the meaning and context from it to pass Apple's submission process and that is not ideal.