Pornography
Statistics
Pornography
Industry Revenue Statistics
Size of the industry $57.0
billion world-wide - $12.0 billion US
Adult videos $20
billion
Escort services $11
billion
Magazines $7.5
billion
Sex clubs $5 billion
Phone sex $4.5
billion
Cable/Pay per view $2.5
billion
Internet $2.5
billion
CD-Rom $1.5
billion
Novelties $1.0
billion
Other $1.5
billion
Porn revenue is larger
than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and
basketball franchises.
Child pornography
generates $3 billion annually
Internet Pornography
Statistics
Pornographic websites 4.2
million (12% of total websites)
Pornographic pages 372
million
Daily pornographic search engine requests 68 million
(25% of total search engine requests)
Daily pornographic emails 2.5
billion (8% of total emails)
Average daily pornographic emails/user 4.5 per
Internet user
Monthly Pornographic downloads (Peer-to-peer) 1.5 billion (35% of all downloads)
Daily Gnutella "child pornography" requests 116 thousand
Websites offering illegal child pornography 100 thousand
Sexual solicitations of youth made in chat rooms 89%
Youths who received sexual solicitation 20%
Worldwide visitors to pornographic web sites 72 million annually
Children Internet Pornography
Statistics
Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography 11 years old
Largest consumer of Internet pornography 12 - 17
age group
15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures 80%
8-16 year olds having viewed porn online 90% (most
while doing homework)
7-17 year olds who would freely give out home address 29%
7-17 year olds who would freely give out email address 14%
Childrens' character names
linked to thousands of porn links 26
(Including Pokeman and Action Man)
Adult Internet Pornography Statistics
Men admitting to accessing pornography at work 20%
US adults who regularly visit Internet pornography websites 40 million
Promise Keeper men who viewed pornography in last week 53%
Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home 47%
Adults admitting to Internet sexual addiction 10%
Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites 72% male - 28% female
Women and
Pornography
70% of women keep
their cyber activities secret.
17% of all women
struggle with pornography addiction.
Women, far more than
men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having
multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs.
Women favor chat rooms
2X more than men.
1 of 3 visitors to all
adult web sites are women.
9.4 million women access adult web sites each month.
Women admitting to accessing
pornography at work 13%
Online Predators
See the article “Children
and Pornography Online” regarding online predators.
See also “How
Cybersex Chatrooms and Internet Pornography Make Women Stupid” (Don’t worry, the
same author has a similar article for men regarding pornography.)
Peer-to-peer
File-Sharing Networks
Made famous (or
infamous) by Napster, peer-to-peer networking has exploded in the last few
years. Exactly what is it? P2P, for short, is a networking concept where
individual PCs are linked directly to each other without the use of a central
server, such as a website. Once the P2P
software is installed, users all over the world have access to files on each
others disk drive. Originally used for
swapping music files, pornography is taking over.
Palisade Systems Study
(Refer to the links page at the end of this packet for
link to the complete Palisade Study)
Palisade monitored
file-sharing network for 3 weeks and discovered:
·
42% of all requests were for adult or child pornography
·
38% of all requests were for copyrighted audio files
Searches by category:
Video Files
·
63% Pornography
·
27% copyrighted material
·
10% child pornography
Audio Files
·
1% legal audio files
·
99% copyrighted audio files
Image Files
·
75% Pornography
·
24% Child Pornography
·
1% legal images
Software Programs
·
96% Copyrighted software titles
·
4% Freeware or public domain software titles
Government
Accounting Office Study
(Refer to the links page at the end of
this packet for link to the complete GAO Study)
Exposure to Pornography
on P2P Networks
In 2003, the United States General Accounting Office (GAO), in conjunction with
the Customs CyberSmuggling Center (CCC), conducted a more detailed study of P2P
programs and discovered rampant pornography and child exploitation.
Pornographic Files
The GAO analyzed 1,286 titles and file names returned from 12 keyword searches
associated with child pornography.6
Pornographic Images
The CCC further analyzed 341 downloaded images.8
Exposing Children to
Pornography
The CCC also investigated files returned from innocuous searches routinely
conducted by children. Of 177 images found using search terms “Britney Spears,”
“Pokemon,” and “Olsen Twins,”10
Article: Focus On the Family: Pornography and
Child Exploitation on Peer-to-Peer Networks by Daniel L. Weiss
(Complete text of this article and
the referenced studies available through my website. See Links page at the end
of this packet.)
What Can We Do?
From Focus on the
Family:
As parents we must take a
multi-pronged approach. First, talk with
your kids. Second, protect your kids by
installing filtering of some form.
Third, establish rules for internet use and stick with them.
Building Walls and Building Character
Technology Solutions
Filtering
Software
What it should do:
·
Block
objectionable content
·
Minimize
blocking of desired content
·
Log activity
and be easily monitored
·
Be impossible
to disable without an administrative password
·
Monitor and
filter web use, instant messaging, email
·
Control use
of file-sharing applications such as Kazaa, Morpheus, etc
·
Time
Management
·
Be easy to
install, monitor, and use
Ratings: (See my website for more info and
manufacturers’ links.)
·
PC Magazine
(Aug 8, ’04): CyberSitter 9.0
·
Consumer
Reports (June ’05): SafeBrowse.com
·
Internet
Filter Review 2005: CyberProtect
(CyberSitter came in 2nd)
Hardware/Software
Filtering Combination
Linksys Parental
Controls/Linksys Wireless-G Router with SpeedBooster (WRT54GS) Also available
on some routers made by Netopia.
Takes advantage of
the placement of the router between your PCs and your broadband internet
connection.
Advantages:
·
Provides all
functionality of software filtering solutions.
·
All
filtering is performed on the router.
·
No software
to install on individual PCs.
·
Activity
logs and configuration settings can be accessed from any internet connection in
the world.
Filtered ISP
There are many
Internet Service Providers offering filtered internet service. These providers filter content such as
pornography, hate-sites, etc. at their server.
See the article, “A
clean Supply” from Citizen Magazine in the links page. This article is rather dated so try a Google
search of “filtered ISP” for some current offerings.
Links to Referenced Articles, Studies & Other Useful Websites
Note: Rather than list the somewhat lengthy URLs for these sites, go to http://www.sherrodcomputing.com and click on ‘Protecting Our Families’.
General Info
A Journey into Cyberspace Is the Internet good or bad? Both. Despite all the horrific headlines about online isolation, violence, pornography, predators and commercialism, the Internet can be a valuable and entertaining resource if used properly.
Content Watch Learning Center Content Watch’s
Net Family News A nonprofit public service providing "kid-tech news" for parents and educators.
P2P=Porn-to-Peer? Pornography & File-Sharing
Focus on the Family: Internet Safety Quick Links
What Makes a Good Filter by ContentWatch
P2P Networking: Kid’s Know. Do Mom and Dad? from Internet Filter Review
Studies
Government Accounting Office Report on Peer-to-peer File-sharing & Pornography
Palisade Systems
Peer-to-Peer Study Results: Porn Tops
File Sharing Usage
Filtering Software
Ratings
PC Magazine: Internet Filtering Software
Top Ten Reviews Website: Internet Filter Review 2005
Consumer Reports Article: Filtering Software – June 2005
Filtered ISPs
A Clean Supply: Filtered ISPs from Citizen Magazine