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A HyperLink Network Analysis of the UK Mobile Porn Industry
Steven McDermottInstitute of Communications StudiesUniversity of Leedscssem@leeds.ac.uk
Abstract
The Internet is optimistically regarded as a force for democracy and at the same timeanother mechanism by which the poor and weak become further disempowered(Calhoun, 1998). Computer mediated communication enhances the current power structures while reinforcing the exploitation of those who are most vulnerable. Byrecognising the dominance of online pornography, Internet Service Providers and thecommunications industry are willing to accept the profits generated in working withthe porn industry while ignoring the price being paid by the most visible, and yetvoiceless agents. In doing so the Internet is awash with easily accessible pornographicimagery with mobile phones viewed as an even bigger market. With the demand for such material being the driving force for broadband usage and with the expansion of the use of mobile phones for downloading videos, I will ask; ‘which United Kingdomcompanies are the keyplayers? Are there structural holes within the networks,ensuring ‘deniability’ for the larger industrial players?’ I target online websites of the‘adult entertainment’ industry in the UK using HyperLink analysis in order to extractthe social network. This then enables me to conduct social network analysisuncovering the keyplayers of the UK porn industry with higher levels of “closenesscentrality” and “betweenness centrality” (de Nooy et al., 2005). Closeness centralityand betweenness centrality are regarded as measures of power within a givennetwork. This paper is an exploratory analysis of the dominant players shaping theUK mobile porn industry, searching for tentative links between the providers and theindustrial players that have enabled the distribution of the material via the Internet andmobile phones.
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Introduction
The proliferation of new communications and information technologies arefacilitating the continued exploitation of women and girls (Hughes, 2002). People cannow easily buy and sell images and videos that are pornographic. The pornographyindustry operates as any other industry does under capitalism. It is constantly seekingnew markets and where none exists, creating one.The so-called ‘free stuff’ offered on the Internet;
is either a product that gets you hooked on to another one or makes you just consumemore time on the net. After all, the goal of access people and telecoms is to have usersspend as much time on the net as possible, regardless of what they are doing. Theobjective is to have you consume bandwidth. (Horvarth, 1998 cited in Terranova, 2004)
The paper is concerned with the mainstream space of flows of a highly commercialactivity on not just the Internet but mobile devices, the production and distribution of pornography. The pornography industry is heavily reliant on the mainstream mediafor the dissemination of their material. Where once the consumer of pornography hadto traverse a terrain that was policed, prohibited, regulated and hidden in the periphery of spaces; now the consumption of digitised pornographic imagery isachieved via fibre optic cable linked to personal computer terminals. With the adventof portable video devices, from the 3G mobile phone to the iPod, this paper examinesthe developing mainstream network of producers and distributors of pornography, itslimits and the next wave of distribution of pornography via ‘free stuff’ mobile sites or “mini-porn” (Musgrove, 2005). This distribution takes place while the corporationsmake assertions about their levels of social responsibility.The United Kingdom (UK) Internet pornography industry is defined here as any adultorientated website that is accessible to anyone online or via mobile phone, and the businesses and companies that help or aid in the distribution of such content. It doesnot cover newsgroups or peer-to-peer exchange of pornographic material. Thegeographic location of this industry is not determined by the location of the servers but by the business strategies employed by global pornographers in targeting the UK.The pornography industry is regarded as one of the most advanced in terms of utilising technology and now major corporations are attempting to profit from this
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Draft – Not for citationindustry without being seen to be associated with the production process andexploitation that accompanies it (Devaney, 2002). In 2002
Penthouse
was said to beon the brink of bankruptcy (Devaney, 2002). The industry that was once dominated bymagazines has seen revenue drop and is fighting for survival. Their declining profitsmade via the exploitation of women may be about to see a turn-around.A survey conducted by the
British ISP Homecall
, found that 23 per cent of UK residents are getting broadband in order to access pornography, and it is the mostimportant factor when getting broadband (Orlowski, 2004). The pornography industryis important to the Internet because of its consumption of bandwidth (Zook, 2003).Perdue (cited Zook, 2003) estimates that the pornography industry pays US $1.9 billion for bandwidth charges per annum. Developments in new media can be the bestthing to happen to old media (Orlowski, 2004).Only twenty days after the launch of the video iPod on the 12
th
of October 2005, thefirm
Apple
announced that it had sold 1 million videos and television shows at $1.99each. Podcasts can also be downloaded via
Apples ITunes Music Store
. According toBakker and Taalas (2007), within 24 hours of launching, 500,000 video clips weredownloaded from Suicidegirls website (suicidegirls.com) which offers short ‘adult’movies. After 3 days, 1 million short movies had been downloaded from the website(Kahney, 2005). The
Sony
created
Playstation Portable,
is also making pornographicmaterial available, although they describe the development as undesirable and insistthat it is the open source nature of Universal Media Discs (UMDs, an open sourceformat for digital movies). Niizumi believes the company has learned from theBetamax and VHS debacle, “that adult-oriented movies can significantly affect theexpansion of a new media format” (Niizumi, 2005). Consequently, third generationmobile phones (3G) are expected to contribute to the dissemination of pornographiccontent and generate large revenues for the businesses concerned.The claims of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by the industrial players needs to be something other than hollow assertions of misguided virtue (Henderson, 2001).
It is the paramount duty of the Board of Directors to oversee the CEO and other senior management in the competent and ethical operation of the Company on aday-to-day basis and to assure that the long-term interests of the shareholders are being served. To satisfy this duty, the directors will take a proactive, focusedapproach to their position, and set standards to ensure that the Company is3
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