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COMPUTER PORN
WARNING: Internet PornographyThough a valuable information resource, the Internet caused explosive growth for the pornography market. It is essentially the fastest cheapest and most anonymous pornography outlet. Only certain commercial sites require a credit card to enter and most sites display hard-core “teasers” through which computer users connect to porn sites within seconds. The most dangerous aspect of the Internet is its use by pedophiles. Child molesters and predators use the Internet to pose as youngsters themselves in order to communicate with other children, expose them to pornography and arrange to meet them in person. The Internet Online Summit held in 1997 in Washington, D.C., revealed that 70 percent of children viewing pornography on the Internet are doing so in public schools and libraries. Few measures have been taken thus far to protect children from pornography and Internet predators in public access points. USA Today (1997) reported that 45 percent of children ages 9 to 13 who use computers use the Internet to chat with others. The ability to communicate with strangers is the Internet’s biggest threat to children since pedophiles and sexual predators have direct contact with victims through Internet chat rooms. Also, bulletin boards provide an essentially anonymous means of posting illegal pornography for any and all users to access. This includes child pornography and obscenity. Corporate America has been negatively affected by Internet pornography use since “about 16 million to 20 million people in North America are estimated to use the Internet, with about half gaining access primarily at work.” (New York Times, 1996). One analysis by Nielsen Media Research, Inc., new York, found that International Business Machines Corp., Apple Computer Inc., and AT&T Corp., together lost more than 347 eight-hour days of employee time in a single month to the Penthouse magazine website alone. (Wall Street Journal, 1996). A recent study released by the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity estimates there are 2 million sexually addicted Internet users, with many spending 15 to 25 hours a week cruising sex sites. Dr. Robert Weiss, Clinical Director of the Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles says, “The effects of addiction can be brutal.” Dr. Christine Samuels, Director of Sexual Addiction Treatment and Training Institute in Manhattan says, “It’s like sending an alcoholic to live in a distillery”. She also states, “Cybersex also causes subtler damage to people’s ability to handle real relationships, depletes their sexual energy, and creates fantasy objects that no spouse can compare to, making intimacy so much harder.”
“Almost half of a group of rapists surveyed said they used pornography depicting consenting sex to arouse themselves before seeking out a victim.” (Marshall, 1988) Pornography’s impact on crime is twofold. Live porn or sexually oriented businesses (SOBs)-strip clubs, massage parlors and the like-attract crime to a community; and the general content of pornography supports sex, abuse, the rape myth, that women enjoy forceful sex, and serves as a how-to for sex crimes, primarily the molestation of children. In your neighborhood…Land Use Studies in 16 US cities support that the presence of SOBs has detrimental effects on the surrounding community. In Phoenix neighborhoods alone, where SOBs were located, the number of sex offenses was 506 percent greater, the number of property crimes 43 percent greater, and the number of violent crimes, four percent higher. The Cleveland study found that in “one tract with five SOBs and 730 residents, there were 136 robberies in one year. In the city’s largest tract of 13,587 people and zero pornography outlets, there were only 14 robberies that year.” (NLC, 1996) In Oklahoma City, as more than 150 SOBs were eliminated, the rape rate declined more than 27 percent over six years. During that same time, rape rates in the rest of the state continued to rise more than 19 percent. (Uniform Crime Report, 1990)
PORN SPAM SUIT SHAKES INDUSTRY
A lawsuit brought by America Online against one of the Internet's biggest porn site operators could have far reaching implications for the billions made online through the adult porn industry. The suit was filed in the U. S. District Court on Dec. 21st for the Eastern District of Virginia against Cyber Entertainment Network (CEN) and scores of affiliated Webmasters with a massive and ongoing unsolicited e-mail campaign aimed at AOL's 27 million members. Nicholas Graham, spokesman for AOL said that this is a very clear violation of our anti-spam policy. The word “spam” or “spamming” means to acquire e-mail addresses illegally from AOL and send unsolicited e-mail to the addresses that they have taken. The suit is more than just a basic complaint; it seeks for the first time to hold an adult site liable for the behavior of affiliate Web sites it does not own. "This is the first and biggest case of its kind," said Tom Hymes, assistant editor of an adult industry news site. "AOL seems to be setting the groundwork for attacking the entire affiliate model structure." Large adult porn industry operators like CEN run affiliate programs for independent Webmasters and pay them for generating traffic. It's this practice that has raised the hair of America Online, since “porn spammming” is an epidemic on the network and a constant public relations black eye. Many customers don't understand spammers' fake addresses and often the return address on the e-mail is AOL itself. Thus, catching members off-guard, they open up the e-mail to find a “teaser” from a porn site that would make a gynecologist blush! We applaud AOL for following through on their commitment to keep the Internet safe for its members.
TEN TIPS FOR ONLINE SAFETYMake Internet use a family experience; parents should spend time online with their children.
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