Mobile adult operators may soon find that the unfettered market that the OpenSource Android platform so tantalizingly promised could go the way of the iPhone porn market — as a growing number of organizations swiftly move to keep adult entertainment off of mobile devices and "away from the children."
This comes as no idle threat, with the Parents Television Council (PTC) — the group widely seen as being at least partly responsible for the App Store's adult housecleaning — is now setting its sights on Google's Android Market, attempting to prevent the online shop's offering of mobile adult content, and to require the imposition of parental controls.
"Apple has taken a positive first step towards eliminating kids' access to sexually explicit and pornographic content on its product lineup and we applaud the company's efforts," PTC President Tim Winter stated.
But the PTC has no intention of stopping its efforts at the App Store.
"We plan to draw attention to other platforms, such as Android, or Verizon's Vcast service, that aren't really doing anything," the PTC's Gavin McKiernan said, following Apple's recent decision to drop adult apps from its App Store. "We definitely want to see progress from some of the other handheld devices."
Legitimate adult entertainment service providers already use the industry-supported Restricted To Adults (RTA) website label to prevent a minor's access to age-restricted materials, but it is a voluntary, proactive measure that is not universally adopted. Recent updates to the association's Best Practices for Mobile Sites and Applications covered the issue of mitigating underage access, including encouraging the use of an RTA label and associated parental controls.
Despite its call for parental controls, PTC says that it is not trying to prevent adults from enjoying legal adult entertainment.
"Our goal is on limiting children's access to objectionable content," McKiernan said. "We take no stance on the ability of adults to access legal images, movies, or whatever the case may be."
There is no word from Google yet on possible adult Android app content restrictions.