The Online Adult Industry

The sex industry is estimated at up to $57 billion worldwide and $12 billion in the US. The sex industry is one of the leading industries in the world. Much attention has been brought to the adult industry recently due to the increasing activity online. Some facts in the online adult industry follow:

• 25% of total daily search engine requests are porn-related
• 8% of total e-mails are porn related
• 12% of total websites are pornographic
• Visits to pornographic sites have doubled between 2001 and 2005
• Worldwide visitors to pornographic web sites - 72 million annually

People visiting these sites generally fall into three cybersex user categories, recreational, sexually compulsive, and at-risk. The recreational user visits the sites a couple of hours per week for sexual entertainment but eventually experiences boredom and stops, however, this does not threaten their interpersonal relationships. The sexually compulsive user includes individuals with sexual problems. They see cybersex as a convenient, discrete and inexpensive way to overcome their issues and this can become out of control and initial problems can worsen. The at-risk group see cybersex as an effective way to deal with issues such as stress, depression, anxiety and may experience a sense of well being while online, a feeling of being unable to stop and a desire to spend more and more time online.
There is an argument stating that sex shaped the internet as it exists today and that the World Wide Web would not have grown so quickly if not for the online adult industry, however there is also controversy as to the future of the online adult industry and whether or not it should be banned. This topic has been debated for quite some time now. In my opinion, I think people should have the choice to view online adult sites. Now the question stands, should the sites be regulated more efficiently and effectively?