Press Release
12/19/05Third Way Statement on Reports of Porn Made for Video iPods
Washington—In a move likely to intensify the debate over online pornography, an online search engine has decided to convert pornography into a format for Apple’s video iPod. The search engine, called Guba, announced it will convert video files from Usenet into the format used by the video-enabled iPod, a product launched last month along with deals to sell downloadable music videos and television shows.
Third Way recently released a groundbreaking study on child access to Internet pornography, finding that the largest viewers of online porn were children between the ages of 12 and 17. Third Way today responded to news of Guba’s technology with a statement by Third Way President Jonathan Cowan:
“This is yet another ‘technological teaser’ to attract teenagers and children to pornography via the iPod, one of the hottest products on the market.
“Guba’s decision was certainly regrettable, but it was also inevitable. Technology is taking our children places they should not be going. Parents are ultimately responsible for their children, but policy leaders have to meet them half way and provide parents with the help they need in policing the darker recesses of the online world.”
Third Way has endorsed legislation, introduced by Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Representative Jim Matheson (D-UT), that would require online pornographers to authenticate the age of online pornography viewers with government-issued IDs. The Internet Safety and Child Protection Act also would impose a 25% excise tax on the sale of online pornography and beef up law enforcement efforts against child pornographers and sexual predators.
Other findings of the Third Way report include:
- The online porn industry generates $12 billion in annual revenue—roughly equal to that of the three major television networks combined.
- 97% of Internet pornography sites now run on an honor system known as the “porn standard.” If children simply assert that they are over 18, they get access to the sites.
- The average age at which children are first exposed to online porn is 11 years old.
- Because online pornographers earn advertising revenue by the page-view (making it highly lucrative to attract all types of viewers), many operators salt their porn sites with words like Pokemon and Disneyland to draw in kids.
- 60% of teenagers personally know how, or personally know someone, who can disable and reinstall adult site blocking software.
Contact: Matt Bennett (202) 775-3768 x212