Will Apple Sell Porn at the iTMS?

WEDNESDAY APRIL 12 2006 1:00 PM

Submitted by WilWheaton. Edited By WilWheaton.

Shortly after Apple announced the video iPod, people began speculating about when teh pr0n would come to teh p0d. While there are a few places that offer short video clips, and there are plenty of adult-oriented podcasts, Apple hasn't put an adult video section into its iTunes Music Store. Mark Gilbert, a columnist for Bloomberg.com, thinks it's time for Apple to get into the adult business:

It's pretty obvious, if a little dismaying, that adding an adult-video section to the iTunes Web site would generate a ton of new visitors and additional revenue for Apple. If the tiny 2.5 inch screen on the video iPod is no deterrent to people watching "Desperate Housewives,'' it's not likely to hinder potential viewers of, errrr, desperate housewives.

Of course, if Apple offered pornography in any official capacity, there would be a public outcry from the self-appointed Morailty Police. Those jokers would certainly take a break from protecting the children from equal rights for same-sex couples to launch yet another boycott. It's unlikely that the company wants to deal with all the publicity that would come with it, but Apple can't ignore the billion dollar pornography market that exists on the Internets. As Gilbert says,

There are 4.2 million pornographic Web sites, with 372 million porn pages handling 68 million search requests per day, [and t]he porn industry generates $57 billion in global revenue over the Web . . . with sales of adult videos contributing $20 billion. Stealing just a sliver of that market would goose Apple's efforts to replicate the success of its music business, which helped generate a first-quarter profit of $565 million on sales of $5.75 billion.

It is very unlikely that Apple will try to, uh, stick their corporate finger into that, uh, pie, but if they don't, someone else will (I'm looking at you, ClubJenna) and that someone is going to get very, very rich.

(via iLounge.com)

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