Pakistain's telecommunications authority sent a letter ordering cell phone companies to block text messages containing what it perceives to be obscenities, Anjum Nida Rahman, a spokeswoman for Telenor Pakistain, said on Friday.
Well, don't that take the #@!&ing cake...
It also sent a list of more than 1,500 English and Urdu words that were to be blocked.
The order was part of the regulator's attempt to block spam messages, said Rahman. The Pakistain Telecommunication Authority refused to comment on the initiative.Many of the words to be blocked were sexually explicit terms or swear words, according to a copy of the list obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
It also included relatively mild terms like fart and idiot.
"I shall vent my methane in the general direction of the mentally challenged bunch who came up with this!"
The reasons for blocking some words, including Jesus Christ, headlights and tampon, were less clear, raising questions about practicality. Any word could conceivably be part of a spam message.
How about: "Jeezis Christ! He grabs one of her headlights and she pops a tampon!"
The letter, which was also obtained by the AP, was dated November 14 and gave cell phone companies seven days to implement the order.
What happens if they don't? You'll call them bad names? Don't use 'fart' or 'idiot' when you do, though. And keep your hands off their headlights.
Rahman, the Telenor spokeswoman, said her company first received the letter on Thursday and was discussing how to proceed.
"It's a big issue, so it is being examined carefully from all points of view," said Rahman.
The letter said the order was legal under a 1996 law preventing people from sending information through the telecommunications system that is "false, fabricated, indecent or obscene."
Ummm... Doesn't the idea of 'obscene' kinda cover the territory of 'indecent'? And isn't 'false' information 'fabricated'? Or would it be 'fabricated' information that's 'false'?