Sex Cells With SMS Billing

The idea of personalizing one's cell phone with a cool ringtone has become so prominent that over 25% of Americans did so last year. Not surprisingly, the adult industry wants to get in on the act and it appears to be on the forefront of the technology to deliver video to cell phones. Needless to say, this is big business with revenues expected to generate more than $4 billion in profits worldwide by 2006, according to Visiongain.

Maxim magazine, the leading "lad mag" in the industry, has had a mobile version of its magazine since 2003. It's now available in over twenty countries and generated over 1.5 million transactions in 2004.

The best billing mechanism for delivering content to cell phones is clearly premium SMS services which bill charges to the user's cell phone. Of course, to use this for anything other than bikini babes and lingerie shots in the USA means navigating a macabre of laws that are complex enough to merit a Supreme Court case with more lawyers involved than Anna Nicole Smith has.

Why is it so difficult in the USA to bill to the cell phone when other countries from Australia to Norway allow you to even purchase a soft drink from a vending machine and have it billed to your cell phone? (Consumers in these countries can dial a premium SMS short code and make their selection using text messaging and the item is delivered on the spot.)

Imagine delivering such content in the adult business? Videos, condoms, or sex toys could be sold in vending machines and billed to the cell phone. But, anybody who has been around the industry for a while knows the problem. Remember 900 numbers? The industry got so frustrated with the phone company's inability to collect from customers that were stealing 900 number revenues that AT&T finally left the industry in 2001.