The New Market of Mobile Porn

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-07-08 07:14:00 UTC
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The porn industry has always been at the fore-front of developing new technologies.  It popularized the VCR in the 1980s and quickly blanketed the Internet in the 1990s.  And now, porn is going mobile.  Mobile phone, that is.

Already, wireless companies in Japan are having capacity issues, as so many users are downloading more and more pornographic films and photos to their mobile devices.  And those same companies estimate the amount of revenue from adult mobile downloads will double between now and 2013 to the tune of $4.9 billion.  Now that's a lot of porn. In the U.S., the attitude is slightly different.  After an app entitled "Hottest Girls" (decidedly soft-core, featuring scantily clad women) appeared in their app store, Apple announced they would not allow pornographic apps on their devices.  However, the estimates of the market size- $3.5 billion by 2010- are similar to the Japanese.

So what's the problem with vast amounts of porn being downloaded and watched on cell phones across the country?  As with most porn issues, the problem is kids.  When porn is mobile, the industry is much harder to regulate.  Already, there have been several cases of child pornography showing up on cell phones.  It's also harder for parents to monitor what their children are looking at when porn can fit in pocket.  And some of the porn that's out on the Internet these days is not of the "Hottest Girls" vein; it's hard-core, violent, and sometimes grotesque.  A thriving mobile porn industry makes it much harder for parents and schools to protect children, both from child predators who would harm them and from disturbing and violent pornographic images.    

The mobile porn industry is young enough that few meaningful national conversations about how to regulate and control this newest medium have happened.  But if we're looking at what will be a $3.5 billion industry in a couple years, well then it's time to start talking.       

Image from theiphoneblog.com     

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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