Protecting Your Kids From Mobile Phone Porn

Owners of iPhones are known for copping a ‘tude -- deserved or not -- about their sleek and fancy phone. But, the latest bragging rights might be of a saucier variety: The technorati say that the 3G iPhone, with its speed and pixilated prowess, is the most porn-friendly mobile phone ever.

Some sectors of the adult entertainment industry have even catered the packaging of their content specifically for the iPhone 3G, debuting on July 11, with grander offerings to come, according to an article in Time magazine about the “coming pornocopia.”

"You really can’t get porn on your phone, which is why porn producers are hyped for the iPhone,” says Matt Buchanan, associate editor of the tech blog Gizmodo. But, there’s one group of iPhone purchasers who might not be so enthused about this news: moms and dads.

However, an Apple (APPL) spokesperson says that parents can just turn off access to the phone’s Safari Web browser. (They can also turn off explicit content on iTunes and YouTube, in addition to installing applications).

Porn on mobile phones is mostly uncharted frontier because of technology limitations – but still there’s enough content out there parents can find objectionable. Most of the parental controls deal with limiting a child’s access to explicit music and videos and mitigating technological “stranger danger.”

Below, MainStreet investigates what parental controls are available from cell phone companies and what it’s going to cost mom and dad:

SPRINT (S)
At no cost, parents can restrict their child’s Web browsing access to about 100 sites that are suitable for all audiences, such as Nick.com, CartoonNetwork.com, Weather.com, and Google, says a Sprint spokesperson. Restricting Web access is available on all phones and on all service plans. Sprint also allows parents to restrict certain incoming and outgoing numbers.
Cost: Free