Porn on a plane: It's all or nothing
The debate over viewing porn on your laptop while connected to an airline's Wi-Fi service in the air has been raging over the past few days.
Although I briefly discussed this on one of my latest Digital Home Video shows, the general lack of logic from most who have opined about this move has caused me to address it again.
And as I read over more documents about the possible porn ban, I'm starting to get an even clearer view of what's really going on here: the flight attendants on each plane are unsure of how to address porn streaming to a traveler's computer. And in an attempt to mitigate some of the obvious sexual harassment lawsuits that airlines would undoubtedly face, the airlines may make the decision that it would be easier to stop people from accessing porn than allowing it.
The argument makes sense and it captures the reality of the situation. It's not that the airlines are upset that people will be looking at porn while they access the service or even that they are worried about others being offended (although that is probably a concern). More than anything, the airlines are worried that if they allow porn to be accessed on their services, they will be subject to sexual harassment lawsuits and other issues that arise thanks to their customers.
But then again, maybe that argument doesn't hold as much water as we want to believe. Right now, you can buy a Playboy magazine at any newsstand at practically any airport in the U.S., bring it on the plane, and flip through it to your heart's content. You can even bring other adult materials with you, too. And considering that you can play DVDs on your laptops and that porn movies are readily available on DVD, what will stop you from watching those on the plane as well?
I understand the argument that says allowing porn over an airline's Wi-Fi service is too much of a liability, but I simply don't think these companies can have it both ways. Either every airline forbids the viewing and reading of pornographic material regardless of its format, or it allows it all.
Of course, the argument takes on more levels than simply saying "allow or ban pornography--you decide." If the airlines allow Playboy on planes, does that mean they should allow you to view still pornographic images online while in-flight? And if they let you watch a pornographic DVD in-flight, does that mean you can watch pornographic videos online while in-flight?
The airlines started out saying that full online access would be available, but then suddenly realized that porn is available on the Web and that they may have to lock it down? Where does it end?
Can hackers hack while using the Gogo service? I doubt it. Can you download illegal files from BitTorrent? I'll bet that's frowned upon.
I simply don't understand why the airlines are acting so shocked by the fact that someone will access porn in-flight. The people running the airlines have been online before, and they certainly know what's out there. Did they suddenly expect people to stop acting like idiots just because they're on a flight?
I'm a firm believer that porn shouldn't be viewed on a plane. There are kids around, and others will feel uncomfortable if the person sitting next to them is flipping through porn mags. Evidently the airlines don't agree.
Right now, airlines are fine with you reading a Playboy on the plane as long as no one complains, and few flight attendants will spend enough time looking over your shoulder to see whether you're watching a porn flick on your laptop. So if they let you do both--consciously or not--why not let you view porn online while in-flight too?
The airlines can't have it both ways. They either need to ban all pornographic material in-flight, regardless of the source, or allow every bit of it. And considering the latter would probably create a hostile work environment and lead to countless lawsuits, it's a safe bet for these companies to stop all pornographic material from even making it into the plane's cabin.
No one ever said bringing the Web to planes would be easy. But the firestorm surrounding the porn ban on planes has me wondering what these companies were thinking before they launched the service. Didn't they know that this would be a problem from the start?
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Just filter it and be done with it. Nobody will care or notice once its filtered as its that way in other Free Wi-Fi Locations.
Good call!
-Don
now.
this is intrensting. don you are compleatly correct eather all or nothing. to Zimm2 you are also correct that they are just trying to cover there ass but doeset the airlines also supply the playboy, they could just as well not sell it in there magizne store. but i do remember that last time i flew [which was 2 years ago] i dont recall any playboy in the magizne stories?
-Don
-Don
-Don
-Don
The bottom line is this:
- If someone watches porn or "forensic files" on an airplane that has children who can view said materials, they are in a sense distributing this material to minors. The person distributing said material is at fault, not the airline, the INDIVIDUAL. We cannot expect the airline to filter all the content passangers bring onboard, this includes magazines, internet, music, ect The flight attendant can ALREADY ask you to turn off your electronic devices without citing a reason, no new rule is needed.
New rules dont make business sense. It will cost us more money (monitoring software + updates), more time (they will need to visually monitor everyone, instead of bringing us drinks or peanuts).
-Don
It's not a "slippery slope;" the internet is a vast plain - that encompasses everything from uplifting, encouraging material to "abusive, violent, degrading, exploitative and even illegal" material (I'm assuming scantily clad women or men falls in the middle there somewhere). So if you're going to call it a slope, my slope is even steeper. But I doubt it's very slippery. It's just there.
Although the individual is responsible, if there is a recurring problem and the airlines do nothing, they are, in part, responsible also. The "new rules" have been requested by flight attendants, and the debate appears to be heated!
Until someone actually accesses porn online and it annoys someone, isn't this just a lot of, dare I say it, mental masturbation?
I work in the adult entertainment industry and with alternative sexuality populations and one thing I've noticed is that one person's "porn" is another person's "social networking." Yes, it's pretty obvious that watching the latest exciting episode in *** Drenched Cheerleaders 169 is pornographic, but what about visiting a GLBT or BDSM community site? How about a dating site with photos?
And why is it always sex that gets this kind of hysterical response? I collect forensic photos. Would those go over better with the abstinence-only crowd or do they want their kids to wait a little longer to find out what a man who's been sawed in half during a suicide look like? And how about those war stories, huh? Does reading about another batch of teen girls in Afghanistan being shot and buried alive qualify as family friendly? Why is violence apparently fine but the infamous nipple an obscenity?
Frankly, it seems like common sense once again being ignored for the fun of a fit. If I'm the only person at the back of the plane and I decide to look through some naked photos, good for me. If I do it when there's someone under age next to me or without checking to see if I'll bother my seat mates, I'm a jerk and deserve to have my access limited -- but I'd love to see that applied to *anyone* who has bad manners, including the parents of kids who kick seat backs, scream at earsplitting frequencies, and run up and down the aisles.
Long story short, porn isn't just a private choice that hurts no one when consumed in a public place, especially one (like a flight) where you have nowhere to go. It's wrong and should be summarily banned from flights. End of story.
But, to your point, should we also be more careful about the other kinds of content we allow on planes? Absolutely. I've seen things on the screen next to me, as well as over the public screens, that I found highly offensive and contacted the airline to ask it to please exercise more discretion. Did it change anything? Nope.
But you make a good point: what is porn, exactly? And an even better point: what scares us so much about the human body?
Thanks for the comment -- it's a good one!
-Don
But you do have a good point: where do you draw the line and who determines where that line is? Having said that, sex gets this response because, at this point in time in our country, obscenity is primarily defined in sexual terms. Could a picture of someone being sawed in half be classified as obscene? Perhaps, but we don't have the case law to support it that we do for sexual pictures.
Apparently, at least American Airlines has had minor problems with this, although I haven't seen any details. As of now, their approach is to have the flight attendant deal with it as they would any other situation where *anyone* is annoying another passenger. The "tempest" comes because flight attendants have requested a filter that would avoid some of the conflict they now have to deal with.
Long story short, porn isn't just a private choice that hurts no one when consumed in a public place, especially one (like a flight) where you have nowhere to go. It's wrong and should be summarily banned from flights. End of story.
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Why don't people get this? Define "porn". Define "hurt". What's harmful about viewing pictures of natures creations? Where does the line get drawn, genitalia and boobies? Penetration? Whips and chains? Belly buttons? Thighs? Buttocks?
I agree with The_Darklady here, there are things on the web that are much more offensive to some than a nude body is. War pictures? Snuff films? Why stop at "porn"? That's the problem with censorship - one man's perversion is another mans pleasure is another mans nightmare.
We shouldn't be legislating being decent to one another, at least not to this degree. If I can bring a Playboy (or worse) onto the plane for my viewing, I should be able to access "porn" on the internet as well. It's really no different, nude is nude.
Disclaimer: I wouldn't be caught dead viewing "porn" (graphic displays - "Debby Does Dallas" kind of stuff) on a plane in public. I personally feel that's a private thing to do, but that's me. That does NOT mean I wouldn't be caught looking at say Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Edition online and yes, some of those images might show some nipples (think wet tee shirt). Is that porn too? Why or why not?
I should also add that I find screaming, out of control kids to be more offensive than nudity. Consider that when you let your monsters run wild through a plane!
-Don
You can say other parents need to take "personal responsibility" for their child, but the laws acknowledge that parents cannot be with a child every waking minute of the day, and if someone does not have the common sense (or worse) to withhold displaying porn around my child, it's doubtful that they will just magically stop because I want them to. This is not exploiting the system, it's acknowledging that sometimes people need a real threat before they stop doing what they shouldn't do. I would classify myself as an overprotective parent, and I have pretty good communication with my kids, but many things that they see throughout the day, I have no idea about unless they tell me.
Regarding asking them to stop, airlines have been know to seat children away from a parent. How many children are going to have the nerve or sense to ask the adult sitting next to them to view something else in flight? Once again, I believe there is a difference between brief, incidental viewing and extended viewing. But how long should my child be exposed to porn before some adult steps up and says, "Hey, you shouldn't be doing that with a child around"?
1) The Airline is the ISP. They can do anything they damned well please with it, and you have the perfect right to not purchase the access. As a result, you do not have the right to use the airline (or anyone else's) service as you please. If you want the 100% guaranteed right to access whatever you want on any internet connection, then get an SLA with a backbone provider. Otherwise, you're stuck with what's for sale (be it on an airplane, in a coffee shop, through a home ISP provider, whatever).
2) The airline isn't selling the Playboy mags - it's the magazine stand (a different vendor) in the concourse that's selling them.
3) If you were in a public park (pick any city in the US), and you could get arrested for viewing it with a kid or a woman sitting next to you on a park bench, what strange magic gives you the right to do the same thing on an airplane?
4) the one and only exception to all of this where you can claim your rights is if a government gets involved. In this case, government is nowhere to be found. Deal with it.
2. True
3. True
4. True
Great points.
-Don
2. True, but the airline is allowing it on the plane
3. True
4. False. First, any business owner can set limits on what can be done in their establishment. They may not be able to arrest the violator, but they can at least refuse them access to the venue. Second, the government (through laws) stipulates that certain materials should not be shown to a minor. Government agents do occasionally ride on planes and have authority to enforce laws (although, I suspect they would primarily rely on the airline to resolve this, unless it were an extreme or recurring event).
I'm thinking you misread #4 (and I sorta mistyped it) - I'm saying there that the gov't is the only entity that (within obvious limitations*) cannot restrict the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution on US soil).
* those limitations include things like shouting "fire" in a crowded venue, or sexual behavior near or with a child. There are also laws concerning libel and slander, but those are civil, not criminal matters.
For those here claiming that the flight attendants are not needed, you have a point. Some of these flight assistants can be rude and crowding the airplane aisle. However, just whom would you blame if an accident happen? After the hurricane Katrina incident, the citizens in this country become more afraid of the natural disasters and blamed those who could not prevent the accident. Few years later, the hurricane Gustav came to the New Orleans area, and the people there evacuated. The damage was minimal, and no one died. However, the odd thing is, some people now regret why they even bother to evacuate. People can be very selfish and foolish. They are afraid of disasters like wars, vehicle accidents, and natural disasters, but they internally seek for thrills and get bored if nothing happens.
Oh wait, I remember why it's such a big deal now. It's the fear of lawsuits. Yeah, I'll sue the airline because they provided the guy next to me with porn. Better yet, I'll start a class action suit. Woo hoo, bring on the porn! I can't wait to get rich by suing! How pathetic is that? Our children are seeing lawsuits as the way to "solve problems" and to get rich. God I fear for the future of America.
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by djfelix512
September 18, 2008 4:25 PM PDT
- Whoever told you that you can read Playboy on an airplane is a liar. The only time I have ever seen anyone get away with reading pornography on a flight has been on an international flight. I remember reading a recent story of a German man who attempted to read a pornographic magazine on a flight and was asked to stop. He didn't understand, and continued reading. The disagreement escalated to the point that it made national news.
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(38 Comments)If you read Playboy, Penthouse, or any of those other magazines on a flight, and someone notices it, don't be surprised if the flight attendants tell you to put it away. Just because you can buy it in the airport bookstore doesn't mean you can READ it on the plane. You certainly can take it on the plane, and read it somewhere private. You could even wait until you reach your destination, purchase a pornographic magazine, and take it with you to the hotel.
At the end of the day, it's their planes. Federal law requires you to comply with flight attendant instructions. If you refuse, you can be arrested, and people often are.