Conservatives have taken notice of the rapidly solidifying relationship between adult entertainment and portable technology. A recent article in the Journal of the ultra-conservative Adult Family Association reported that facets of the adult industry may well become booming business in the United States due to emerging technological innovations such as the new video iPod and similar pocket-sized gadgets.
The report said that from cell phones to digital music players to portable game players, pornography is going from the desktop to the small screen due to a push from new alternative culture sites as well as old skin traders such as Playboy and Penthouse. These businesses, among others, are planning to offer pornographic movies for viewing on portable devices.
The AFA Journal cited a recent Washington Post report that said the sale of adult entertainment as downloads to cell phones is already a multimillion-dollar business in Europe, while adult film companies in Japan released such movies to be viewed on Sony's PlayStation Portable within weeks of the device's 2005 spring debut.
Currently, the story continued, the portable-porn market is still in its infancy in the U.S., although the Boston-based research firm Yankee Group anticipates it growing to nearly $200 million a year by 2009.
Some question the appeal of viewing pornographic images in a two-inch screen in public places such as airports. Proponents argue that the anonymity and privacy afforded by mobile devices could be a valuable selling point.
"When I first heard about this, I thought it was a novelty, but I've changed my mind," said Regina Lynn, a sex columnist who writes for Wired.com. "I think that the porn industry will probably be pretty quick to figure out what works and sells for mobile devices."
As of now, the story said, Steven Hirsch, chief executive of Vivid Entertainment Group, believes the mobile porn business is at a standstill nationally due to carriers' inability to figure out a reliable way to keep it out of the hands of children. However, he expects that to change in the coming year.
The AFA report concluded by saying that therefore, Parry Aftab, director of WiredSafety.org - an organization that helps parents keep online porn away from their children - believes the needed protection is going to come with parental education rather than new laws.
"Even parents who are watching their kids' computers are clueless that they've put a [cell phone] in their kid's hands that can be used to trade this stuff around," Aftab said.
