File Swapping: 18 and Over - Internet/Web/Online Service Information

Industry Standard, The, April 2, 2001 by Hane C. Lee

Sex" may beat out "MP3" in the search-term popularity contest, but now porn fans are taking cues from the song-swapping craze. Enterprising programmers have developed Napster-like peer-to-peer systems just for sharing erotic photos and videoclips. One of the more popular networks, Pronster, has attracted 16,000 users in its four-month existence.

It's well known that a good number of files traded through Napster, Gnutella and their ilk contain X-rated material. But new porn-specific services such as Pictures on Request Network and PornDigger offer more-precise results, thumbnail previews and that gooey, us-against-the-world feeling that comes from being part of an online community that's likely being monitored by federal agents.

P-to-p porn players face the same legal pitfalls as Napster, and then some. They not only have to worry about copyright infringement but also risk becoming a conduit for child pornography.

To stay aboveboard, the naughty networks must rely on good behavior from their users. But porn and morality make strange bedfellows.

"Every image and movie [uploaded] creates a small thumbnail, but it's hard to tell from a thumbnail" whether a model is underage, says Patrick Glass, president of Pictures on Request Network, or PORN. The services try to be proactive on such issues. For example, PORN has registered with Pedowatch, an independent organization that sniffs out cybermolesters and alerts PORN when it finds an illegal image. But at least one company, Sweden-based Leechnet, shut down voluntarily amid concerns over pedophilia on the system. Its owners say the closure is temporary.