This document discusses the history and development of internet pornography from its origins in the early 1990s through bulletin board systems to the present day. It defines pornography and outlines the timeline from the early 1990s when the internet became publicly available to developments like improved streaming media in the 2000s. The document also examines benefits like technological innovations, potential links to reduced crimes, and legal issues around censorship, child pornography, and varying laws globally. In conclusion, it suggests that while internet pornography has downsides, the technologies and economic benefits it has enabled outweigh these issues.
2. Table of Contents Overview of Pornography on the Internet 1.1 Definition of Internet Pornography 1.2 History Of Internet Pornography Benefits of Online Pornography 2.1 Technology 2.2 Safety Issues Legal Issues & Downsides of Internet Pornography 3.1 Child Pornography 3.2 Underage Viewing 3.3 Cons Interesting Facts Summary and Conclusion References
3. Overview of Internet Pornography Definition of Internet Pornography History of Internet Pornography (8)
4. Definition of Pornography 1. Writings, pictures, films, etc designed to stimulate sexual excitement 2. The production of such material (1)
5. Before the “World Wide Web” BBS – Bulletin Board System A computer system with software that lets a person dial-in to a local or long distance number Age verification fee Huge vaults of pornographic photos and other files
6. History of Internet Pornography Early 1990’s February 1993 – The internet is made public March 1993 – The largest child pornography investigation in history begins 1995 – A study is conducted that said that about 80% of internet usage is from pornography (2)
7. History of Internet Pornography (cont’d) Late 1990’s 1996 – The Communications Decency Act (CDA) is created (2) 1996 – The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is created (2)
8. History of Internet Pornography (cont’d) 2000’s 2001 - Entrepreneur becomes first person to appear on both “Juggs” and “Wall Street Journal” 2004 – China attempts to ban internet pornography 2009 – Media Streaming is improved and bandwidth costs drop (9) Danni Ashe
10. Benefits of Internet Pornography Online Adult Entertainment companies have been linked to creating sites, software, and organizations that protect underage children from viewing or participating in pornography These companies and organizations have helped create sites like NetNanny and organizations like the ASACP
11. Technology Many items we use every day have been created due to being backed by companies that produce internet pornography Polaroid’s VoIP VHS’s DVD’s Digitally Delivering Content Streaming Media (2)
12. Personal Safety A study performed by Anthony D’amato at North-western University shows that there is a positive correlation between violent crimes and internet pornography The incidence of rape in the United States has declined 85% in the past 25 years while access to pornography has become more available to teenagers and adults (3)
13. Personal Safety (cont’d) The four US states with the lowest internet access had the highest increase of rape incidents at 53% (3) The four US states with the highest internet access had largest decrease in rape incidents at 27% (3)
14. Personal Safety (cont’d) There are two main reasons why access to pornography has reduced the number of rape incidents. People can “get it out of their system” The “Victorian Effect”
15. Legal Issues & Downsides of Internet Pornography Child Pornography Underage Viewing Other Issues
16. Child Pornography Child Pornography is a form of abusive pornography, the only type to have shown negative effects of people Anyone under the age of 18 and in some countries 21 cannot participate in a pornographic film or photo shoot Children are forced to participate in these acts in most cases
17. Underage Viewing Pornography must be viewed by an adult, meaning they are at least 18 (21 in some countries) Most pornographic websites have age verification applications, but all a person has to do is click a button or fill out a birth date which then gives access to these websites (10)
18. Legal Issues There are many legal issues surrounding internet pornography but it is simply to hard to censor the internet and that is why it is still so readily available today. Also many countries have their own laws and beliefs when it comes to internet pornography, or any types of pornography
19. Legal Issues (cont’d) Countries like China and Saudi Arabia have had some success in filtering out pornographic sites but there is always a way around it In the US and UK bestiality is illegal to participate in or produce In the UK there is a maximum 3 year sentence for possession of “extreme pornography” In Indonesia, pornography is illegal to own or sell
20. Other Issues There are essentially five categories of pornography: Sexually Violent Material Nonviolent Material depicting degradation & domination Nonviolent and non-degrading material Nudity Child Pornography 1,2, and 5 all forms of abusive pornography Abusive pornography has been shown to cause social and psychological effects (4)
21. Interesting Facts Nearly 90% of all ‘legal’ pornography is created and/or distributed from the San Fernando Valley area of Southern California (Van Nuys, Chatsworth, Canoga Park, etc) (2) AVN Magazine reports that online traffic increases during working hours. As much as 70% of reported traffic occurred during hours of 8-5 on weekdays, in 2006. (2) It is estimated that less than 10% of E-Commerce is adult-oriented. The largest single chunk . (2)
22. Summary and Conclusion The release of the internet made it possible for internet pornography. Now millions of people view these images each day and has become the largest chunk of E-commerce producing hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Internet pornography does have its downsides but the positives it has created out weigh them so greatly that I believe it has, in part made the world what it is today.
