2much Dismay At Mobile Content Drop

(Montreal) February 22, 2006 - Live Video software creator 2much Internet Services expressed "dismay and disappointment" at this week's decision by Canadian cellular provider Telus to drop adult content.

Telus had been the first North American mobile service to offer adult content in the form of images and short video clips.

2much.net, which is featured in the popular Showcase "docu-soap" Webdreams and had been in talks with the wireless provider to distribute live video content, admitted their stance was based only partly on business considerations.

"This isn't only a blow to the industry or to 2much," said company president and founder Mark Prince. "It's a shameful precedent to have a handful of complaints based on a doubtful morality dictate the choice - or lack of choice - of tens of thousands of users."

Telus executives last week admitted to a hundred or so complaints versus the less publicised fact that "several thousand subscribers" already used the adult content service.

"What sharpened the bite for Telus was no doubt the whining of [Calgary Catholic] Bishop Fred Henry," said Prince. "His diocese probably has a few contracts with Telus."

Calgary's Catholic diocese has not been without its share of sex scandals in the last decade.

Another high profile complaint against Telus was western-Canadian public relations executive Gordon Keast's $3000 action suit for breach of contract.

While the mainstream press repeatedly reported the complaints but not the popularity of the service, adult industry outlets and free speech advocates remained silent.

"It was not, in the end, a business decision," said one content provider who preferred to remain anonymous. "The adult industry respects business . It's just that business doesn't always respect the industry."

Citing "cultural differences" and "growing youth markets", public media outlets such as "The Globe And Mail" did not mention their own emphasis on the complaints as reasons for Telus's decision.

In a statement this week, Telus executive vice president for corporate affairs Janet Yale claimed the company "heard from a broad range of customers" prior to announcing its decision.

"Despite the minority morality which appears to influence our general business and cultural interests, 2much, and I'm sure the rest of the adult community, intends to pursue plans to develop cross-platform distribution for our content," said Prince.

Prince, who though Canadian is a member of the US-based, industry-backed Free Speech Coalition, contends that the issues are also related to free expression. "It extends across our culture and society which, though it pretends not to, actually embraces sexuality and different forms of adult entertainment."

Numbers for the adult industry are variously reported in the billions, and are in fact a significant part of the entertainment economy.

"Stats don't lie," said Prince. "There's a lot of secret consumers out there."