Monday, June  16, 2003		Feature

Pornography made Net successful, says expert

WAR and pornography have played a significant role in the development of information and communication technology, according to an expert.

"Both war and porn are manifestation of baser instincts in man and therefore demand a certain degree of perseverance from their patron," Prof Rajesh Kochhar, director of the National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies, said while delivering a lecture on Information and Communication Technology — Role of War and Pornography.

"War or more correctly the preparation represents state support to the hilt for creation of a new technology whereas porn represents select public support during its teething days, paving the way for eventual widespread and varied use," he said.

Kochhar said that porn sites have contributed at three levels - technological innovations, standardisation and lessons for mainstream business. Thus, porn sites were among the very first ones on commercialised Net.

"Sex has always sold, but never so well as on the Net. Porners have benefitted from the Net, and strengthened it in the process," he said adding porn sites did not get any support from venture funds, they had to make money quickly. They acquired top-class hardware and high bandwidths, and went on to hire thousands of highly skilled workers like network engineers, programmers and graphic designers.

To many porn customers who were abashed to visit a traditional sex shop, e-commerce came as a godsend. Thus, porners have been pioneers in e-commerce and first to accept credit cards for online payment.

Kochhar said that porn sites often reach 30 per cent profit, compared to a paltry 0.2 per cent profit in online trading. "Getting over their early revulsions, mainstream companies like Disney and Warner Brothers are now trying to benefit from technologies and business practices originating from porn sites."

He said that in the early years, porn sites accounted for as much as 80 per cent of total e-commerce revenue. The figure however has come down to about 20 per cent.

Relating it to war, Kochhar said that Internet was created to withstand a nuclear war. A traditional communication system collects all information at a central control, processes it and then sends it somewhere else. However, this system would collapse if a nuclear attack destroys the central control.

"Internet is decentralised by design and is inherently anarchic. Neither can its connectivity be thwarted nor the content censored. Therein lies Internet’s strengths and risks," he said.