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and not go mad or blind or whatever.”
“Hardcore is a very nasty term,” he continues,
“when all it means is pictures of adults having sex. Fair
enough, a lot of people are revolted when they see their
first hardcore imagery, but I think that comes from their
own sexual insecurities, which are then transferred
back on to the pictures. I don’t think there’s anything
intrinsically revolting about people having sex or seeing
pictures of it.”
Even if you strongly disagree with O’Toole about the
moral implications of people having access to pornography,
it’s hard to deny that porn has irrevocably changed
the net: because of the huge revenues involved, porn
has always been a catalyst for technology.
As Pornocopia reveals, porn singlehandedly established
video as a commercially viable product and is
now doing the same for DVD and, of course, the net.
BUY Lawrence O’Toole books online from and
Secure credit card transactions, password encryption,
and streaming sound and video are just some of the
web technologies that have been pioneered by porn,
and the industry is at the forefront of demanding bigger
net bandwidth for all. Whether you like it or not, the
future experience of the web is being built on the back
of the on-line porn industry.
However, O’Toole is sceptical that the ever growing
popularity of the net in the UK will bring about a change
in our obscene publication laws soon. “Where we differ
from America and Europe is the attitude of the British
establishment, which maintains that they know what’s
best for people,” he argues. “Attitudes won’t change
until the intelligentsia change their mindset, which
will creep in eventually from the ground level. But the
internet does let people see that there are other attitudes
towards pornography.” �
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