The Wall Street Journal Online reported last Friday that racy podcasts—dubbed “porncasts” because they feature “raunchy sex banter, erotic storytelling sessions and reviews of pornographic websites”—are now available for download through iTunes, Apple Computer Inc.’s online music store.
Podcasts are audio shows that can be downloaded free from the internet. According to WSJ writer Vauhini Vara, most come from amateurs with little broadcasting experience, and the same is true of the “porncasts,” which are often rambling accounts of the creators’ sex lives.
According to the article, Apple has “declined to say whether any of its users have complained about the adult podcasts, which can be downloaded by anyone regardless of age.”
Podcasters who submit their own shows to iTunes are asked to identify their product as “explicit,” but Apple has no specific guidelines for what constitutes explicit content.
Typical “porncasters” are Dawn Miceli and Drew Domkus, a married couple whose “Dawn and Drew Show” is among the most downloaded podcasts. On one recent show they pretended to have sex with each other.
One of iTunes’ most popular explicit podcasts is “Open Source Sex,” from sex book author Violet Blue, a frequent radio talk show guest. Most of the explicit podcasters, however, are strictly amateurs who “are often seeking little more than fame.”
I-Tunes has listed “Open Source Sex” as the 21st most popular of the 6,000 podcasts in its directory, ahead of material from ESPN, Newsweek and ABC News.
One reason for the porncasts’ popularity is that podcasts, because they are submitted through the internet, don’t have to comply with the Federal Communication Commission’s indecency rules.
