Few industries have benefited more from the invention of the World Wide Web than the adult entertainment industry. In just over a decade, the online sale and distribution of sexually explicit materials has gone from a standing start to approximately $2 billion per year. The arrival of the Internet hasn't been a blessing for everyone, of course; the online segment of the industry has taken a huge bite out of adult magazine sales and is poised to do the same for video rentals. Even the online industry itself has had its booms and contractions.
Overall, though, the growth of online commerce has been an enormous asset for the adult industry, in large part because of the role that sexual entrepreneurs have played in its growth. From the very start, sexually explicit materials have helped to fuel the growth of the Web and the development of new technologies. From scanner and modem purchases in the days of bulletin board systems to the development of streaming video, the adult industry has been at the forefront of electronic innovation.
The impetus is not just the thrill of the new toy for either producer or consumer: It's simple economics. The Internet makes enormous fiscal sense if you want to sell sexually explicit materials: Entry costs are low, distribution costs are even lower, and consumers are able to access the material with greater anonymity and privacy. More importantly, the rapid growth of the Internet took politicians and law enforcement by surprise and left them more than a little befuddled - no one quite knew how to enforce old laws on an entirely new medium. As most people associated with the industry are aware, the Supreme Court has refused to allow Congress to go too far in its efforts to regulate online content. As a result, until recently, it was far less risky to sell materials online than to sell the same materials in an adult bookstore.
The question now, as the World Wide Web enters its second decade, is whether the adult industry will continue to be the "obscene prophets" of the Internet. Will the sellers and distributors of sexually explicit material continue to be the leaders in developing and implementing new technologies? I think that the answer to both of those questions is yes.
That is not to say that there are not competing trends. The Justice Department is eager to renew its battle against pornography via obscenity, and has begun doing so in Texas, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The main funding mechanism of the online adult industry, credit cards, is largely dependent on the uncertain good will of just two companies. The sheer success and visibility of the adult industry raises the constant specter of backlash, particularly if the current Administration wins re-election in 2004.
Despite some of the challenges facing the industry, there are tremendous opportunities facing online adult entrepreneurs.
Peer-to-Peer Systems
The hottest combination of technology and politics for the adult industry right now are peer-to-peer systems (P2P). First made famous by the recently-reborn Napster, peer-to-peer systems are networks of computer users who share files from one computer to another. As most people are aware, the most common type of file being shared is MP3, the leading format for storing music on a computer.
The adult industry is taking the lead in finding ways to use P2P systems to both market and sell product. For instance, Exploit Systems has developed software that helps retailers protect their content in file-sharing systems. The software fights piracy by distributing legitimate copies in such a way that they outrank pirated versions. At the same time, Exploit Systems' software alters the search results in peer-to-peer systems so that legitimate files are more likely to be found than pirated versions.
Also active in this area is Playa Solutions, which is working on software technology to "wrap" content so that the producer can control how the content is used. For instance, an adult site could distribute a movie clip, but limit the number of times that the clip could be played. Once the limit has been reached, the user would have to pay the producer for additional access.
At the same time that some people are trying to figure out ways to profit from peer-to-peer systems, others are trying to shut it down. Since the vast majority of the files exchanged on P2P systems are illegal copies of copyrighted songs, the systems have drawn the lawyer-encrusted wrath of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The RIAA was successful in its effort to shut down the original incarnation of Napster, which was vulnerable due to its central server architecture; but other peer-to-peer systems (such KaZaA, Morpheus, and Gnutella) are proving much more difficult for the RIAA to eradicate.
Frustrated on the legal front and scrambling to stem losses in music sales, the RIAA has opened a new front: Capitol Hill. The music industry alleges that in addition to stolen music, P2P systems like KaZaA are being used to distribute large amounts of child pornography. By raising the spectre of child pornography, a good argument can be made that the RIAA is attempting to get Congress do its work for it by shutting down the file-sharing systems.
Regardless of its precise motivation, the RIAA's lobbying efforts are gaining headway. In September 2003, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing to learn more about peer-to-peer programs and the extent to which they are used to distribute pornography. In addition, Rep. Joe Pitts introduced a bill in late July called the Protecting Children from Peer-to-Peer Pornography Act (the "P4 Act"). Pitts' bill would require all P2P software companies to "give notice of the threats posed by P2P software." Publishers of peer-to-peer software would be required to obtain parental permission before signing up anyone under the age of 18.
Wireless and Handheld Devices
Few sectors of the consumer electronics industry are generating as much excitement as handheld devices, ranging from personal data assistants (PDAs) to high-end cellular phones that combine both data and telephony. The adult entertainment industry, which has struggled for several years to find a way to create and distribute content to handheld devices, is now poised to become an important factor in the development of the technology. There are two reasons for the industry's increasing interest in handheld: bandwidth and screen size.
Until recently, virtually all handheld devices suffered from poor or non-existent screen size and quality. Over the last several months, however, the number of PDAs and cell phones with full-color screens has risen dramatically. The screens are still small, obviously, but they are increasingly capable of displaying photographs and even video clips. Along with the full-color screens, PDAs and even mobile phones are also sporting faster processors and increasingly large amounts of memory.
Far more importantly, however, is the steady growth of high-speed wireless access for both handhelds and mobile phones. PDAs are increasingly coming equipped with chips that enable them to connect to so-called Wi-Fi hotspots. The fastest of the Wi-Fi protocols is capable of receiving data at speeds of up to 54 Mbps, a speed more than adequate for receiving streaming video.
Mobile phones currently operate under fairly restrictive speed limits. Most current phones have a maximum download speed of 100 Kbps, and few actually receive data at speeds above 72 Kbps. On the horizon, however, is the so-called 3G standard, which promises download speeds for mobile phones of up to 2 Mbps. 3G is one of those technologies that has been "just around the corner" for a number of years, so there is no clear answer how quickly it will be implemented.
Despite the technical hurdle of download speeds, a number of companies are increasingly interested in exploring the market potential of handheld pornography. For the last two years, for instance, Britain's aptly-named Virgin Mobile has been exploring the possibility of delivering a variety of adult services via mobile phones, including holding tentative discussions with Playboy about a possible partnership. Similarly, the Australian mobile phone company Hutchinson's 3 has also been exploring options for distributing sexually-explicit content over a 3G network.
The increased use of PDAs and mobile phones for downloading and viewing pornography will raise new and interesting social and legal issues. Will the consumption of sexually-explicit images grow steadily more public, as is the case in Japan? What capabilities will be developed for businesses to limit the use of Net-enabled phones and PDAs?
The use of PDAs and mobile phones to access pornography may only be the tip of the iceberg. There is growing concern over the ability of people to use "cell-cams" (camera-equipped phones and PDAs) to take surreptitious photographs in locker rooms, gyms, and even workplaces. Cell-cams are also being cited as the newest tool of child pornographers. The merging of digital imaging and digital transmission will continue to push the boundaries of privacy and legality.
Video on Demand
The "Holy Grail" of media is the ability to provide video on demand. Studies consistently show that this is one of the most sought-after features by consumers, who want greater control over what they watch and when they watch it.
Media producers, both adult and mainstream, are sitting on vast libraries of content that could be generating money in an effective video-on-demand (VoD) environment. Unfortunately, most cable systems are not equipped to provide that type of service.
Provided that the content has been digitized, the only limit to VoD on the Internet is bandwidth. As most people realize, video consumes great quantities of bandwidth, and even if consumers are willing to pay the cost of using the bandwidth to download a favorite episode of Frasier or a copy of Debbie Does Dallas, they're not necessarily willing to wait the hours it might take to download on their 56K modem.
As more and more households upgrade to cable or DSL, a market will appear for video on demand across the Internet. As that happens, there will be tremendous deal-making activity, as companies with streaming technology hook up with content providers and library owners to make materials available to the public.
Biofeedback
Nearly every computer user is already familiar with two types of basic biofeedback: sight and hearing. The challenge facing computer technicians is how to expand the capabilities of the computer to interact with our other senses.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Touch. Of the remaining three senses, touch is closest to becoming a common part of the computing experience. The science of touch is known as haptics, and a combination of private, academic, and military labs have been devoting tremendous resources to developing devices that can combine the power of computing and the sensitivity of touch.
For once, it isn't the adult entertainment industry that has taken the lead in introducing a new technology, but instead the video-gaming industry. Desktop pilots and cubicle commandoes have been able to buy force-feedback joysticks for use with games like Microsoft's Flight Simulator and Id's Doom since the late 1990s. One company even marketed (for a short time) a chair that incorporated force feedback technology into the back, arms, and seat.
Along the same lines, Immersion Corporation invented the FEELit Mouse, a device designed to vibrate when the mouse pointer rolled across various images on the screen. The technology could also be used to give a physical sensation to certain virtual activities; "dragging" a file, for instance, would feel like it took more effort than simply rolling the mouse across the screen. The FEELit technology was licensed by Logitech, which in 1999 began marketing the so-called "Wingman Force Feed-back Mouse" for use with computer games.
The adult entertainment industry has been playing with the force feedback technology, but so far has not been successful in finding a way to integrate tactile feedback into sexually-oriented materials. Early efforts to program for the sensation of stroking a breast, for instance, or the "bump" of touching a nipple have proven - to put it mildly - disappointing.
Smell. After touch, computer-generated smells are the next sensation likely to reach consumers. In 2000, Oakland, Calif.-based DigiScents introduced a device called "iSmell" that can be connected to a personal computer and programmed to release specific scents when the computer user visits a Website. For instance, when visiting a chocolate Website, the user could be treated to the smell of chocolate-covered cherries or a particularly savory dark chocolate. Look up a recipe on www.foodtv.com, and the smell of roast loin of pork with pancetta could come wafting out of the computer.
The iSmell peripheral contains more than 100 different oils. Electric signals are sent to the iSmell box to stimulate (i.e., heat) different combinations of oils, which in turn produce different smells. Given the tremendous role that smell plays in sexual arousal, it's difficult to imagine that the adult entertainment industry is not eagerly thinking of ways to make use of the nascent technology. The chief limiting factor right now is the awkwardness of the smell-producing device: Given the range of smells and the sensitivity of the human nose, it's very difficult to reproduce certain smells and even more difficult to create a device that can contain enough chemicals to produce a wide range of scents.
Still, adult Website owners are interested in exploring the possibilities, and DigiScents is interested in talking to them, albeit in a quiet, "not for attribution" way. In 2000, for instance, DigiScents pitched its product to a meeting of Bay Area Adult Sites, but when asked about it later by a reporter from the Industry Standard, refused to confirm or deny that a representative had actually attended the gathering.
DigiScents's discomfort over possible relationships with adult businesses underscores an ongoing trend in American business: mainstream businesses are aware of the revenue potential in working with adult entertainment companies, but are concerned about the political or consumer backlash from leaping too openly into bed with them.
The legal implications of devices like iSmell are probably limited, apart from traditional property control issues. One can legally protect a manufactured smell - of course perfume companies do it all the time - but what about one's own natural odor? Since it's possible to protect one's image, then presumably the same is true for one's own odors; but is it sufficiently distinguishable to deserve protection?
One area in which scent-enabled computers could help is in the workplace. If an employee's computer produced a variety of tell-tale smells each time he or she engaged in some recreational Web surfing, it might significantly cut down on unproductive Internet use.
Taste. For perhaps obvious reasons, taste is likely to be the last of the five senses to be integrated into the computing experience. There are relatively few people who are going to be interested in hooking their tongue up to a device each time they sit down to work. Taste will likely become an integrated part of the computing experience only when true virtual reality is developed.
Virtual Reality. The ultimate goal in biofeedback, of course, is the development of a convincing virtual reality immersing a person in a sensory simulation indistinguishable from real life. In the near future, a combination of a haptic suit and helmet might successfully fool the senses into inhabiting a computer-generated reality; bits and pieces of those technologies already exist. Such equipment could obviously be extraordinarily useful for training individuals in potentially dangerous situations - fires, for instance, or hazardous waste spills.
It takes no great leap of imagination, of course, to anticipate that the adult entertainment industry will be an eager adopter of virtual reality technology. Imagine, for instance, a program that offers consumers virtual sex with their favorite movie star or soap opera hunk. There will be a growing convergence of digital actors and virtual reality that will continue to present a fascinating array of legal challenges in the years to come. Inevitably, we will transition from the "right of publicity" to the "right of replication."
At the far reaches of imagination and innovation are systems that allow individuals to interact with a three-dimensional virtual world. The prototype for such a system is the holodeck of the popular Star Trek television franchise. A combination of immensely powerful computers and matter replicators allow people to create virtual worlds in which they can move, touch and move objects, taste and smell foods, and even interact with highly realistic simulacrums. The show danced around the concept of virtual sex, but there's an air of inevitability to the idea ... as our technological skills continue to progress, the adult entertainment industry will undoubtedly be at the forefront of implementation, if not development.
Frederick S. Lane III is a graduate of Amherst College and Boston College Law School. Following a two-year clerkship with the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mass., he worked in private practice for five years. In the fall of 1997, Lane began writing his book, "Obscene Profits: Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age" (Routledge 2000), the publication of which led to work as an expert witness, speaking engagements, and the creation of SexBizLaw.com.
