Protest Ring Tones

Adding to the plethora of bumper stickers, buttons and t-shirts, political activists now have another means of protest: the ringtone. First heard in the Philippines, protest ringtones have recently popped up, albeit in small numbers, around the U.S. as well. While those heard thus far have been predominantly anti-Bush, we expect that conservatives will also ultimately adopt the trend.

Currently a select few companies, such as Xingtone and Create Ringtone, allow users to create their own music ringtones. But because of tight regulations among networks and a variety of ringtone formats, it's difficult for users to install or send ringtone files to others. A new open source system similar to Xingtone, called Riot Tones, is in the works though; created by programmer and activist Evan Henshaw Plath, Riot Tones will help users create their own ringtones and share them via the web.

As the technology to create and share these protest ring tones becomes more widely available, The Intelligence Group's Melissa Lavigne expects them to become a popular choice for spreading messages among politically aware young people. After all, she emails, "think of how many times you've probably heard "In Da Club" via someone's ringtone."

CONFESSION: MY ringtone is TK's "As Good As I Once Was." That's my personal protest against my age...