The Digital Home

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?