DISQUS

Technology Liberation Front: Porn on Planes: 3 Possible Solutions

  • Berin Szoka · 1 year ago
    Since most laptops have DVD players, most laptop users could already bring their favorite porn DVD with them on the plane, no? But I've never heard of that happening (let alone seen it). So what makes you think users are suddenly going to start getting off in seats once they've got broadband?
  • Adam Thierer · 1 year ago
    Actually, I have seen people watching movies on portable DVDs that included some nudity, and certainly plenty of violence. But I think most people would recognize that there is a line they should not cross in terms of good taste when it comes to viewing hard-core stuff in public. So I don't mean to suggest that online porn viewing in planes is going to become some sort of mass cultural epidemic. But all it will take is a few incidents to set off a firestorm.
  • Self Appointed Genius · 1 year ago
    If I got on a plane and started "reading" Playboy, held out in front of me in such a way that the passengers on both sides of me could see it, what would happen?

    How is a laptop any different?
  • Adam Thierer · 1 year ago
    Someone would probably ask you to put it away, or at least not make it so visible. And I suspect that might happen if someone starting surfing for porn on their laptops, too. And I believe most people would oblige. But, like I said in response to Berin above, all it will take is a few incidents for this sh*t to start hitting the fan and for legislation to start flying.
  • Rationalitate · 1 year ago
    Have you EVER seen anybody looking at porn in public? I've seen some guy browsing erotica ads on Craigslist, but the computers were far away from each other, and there were no graphics. The human feeling of shame is enough to stop people. I doubt it'll be a problem.
  • Berin Szoka · 1 year ago
    Actually, I did once see a Comic-Book-guy-lookalike "reading" Playboy on the platform at Metro Center during rush hour. Other than that (and Amsterdam), no.
  • Richard Bennett · 1 year ago
    A library bond failed in Vancouver, WA (just across the river from Portland) while I lived there because a group of creationists mounted a campaign against pornsurfing in the library. They claimed that a fleeting image of nudity can damage a young young-earther for life, and that various monkey-loving elements were grooving on porn at the taxpayer's expense all day and half the night.

    I always figured most porn freaks wanted to indulge in private, so there may be lots of demand for bathroom space on the porn-enabled flights.
  • Eric Crampton · 1 year ago
    The airlines already have plenty of incentive to offer "family friendly" flights, especially on long-haul, to segregate those with screaming kids from those without: both sets would be willing to pay extra for the separating equilibrium, but not enough (apparently) to justify the potentially lower loadings on each flight. I can't imagine that the porn incentive adds anything substantial to the one they've already got.

    I'd be willing to bet that the modal traveller is willing to pay a lot more for a seat guaranteed not to be beside a screaming baby than for a seat guaranteed not to have wireless internet or other costly mechanisms to keep Lewd from his entertainment.
  • Peter · 1 year ago
    I know it's already been said, but this is no different from the other "objectionable content" already available to passengers.

    And, what no-one has said is aircraft are not public libraries, you are in a little dictatorship of the pilot, administered by the crew. If they tell you to stop doing something, for whatever reason, you better stop. It's already a Federal offence (in the US) to refuse instructions from the crew.
  • MikeRT · 1 year ago
    The different seating arrangements won't work because parents today insist that they not make any sacrifices whatsoever for their children; they'll insist on having access everywhere, and anything they want blocked to be blocked.