Best of the ISP-Lists

Pornography: Problem or Profit?

Are business and morality compatible? Members of the ISP-Webhosting list discuss how and why you would or would not allow webhosting clients to run pornographic websites on your network.

[May 22, 2001]

On the ISP-Webhosting list in May, MW ignited a question:

"I've heard people say not to host adult content due to stuff like too much bandwidth usage and an increased vulnerability to hackers, but I don't get that. Adult content makes more money than anything on the web. What's the difference what their traffic is, as long as they pay for it?"

A number of respondents said that pornography is morally wrong:

[CP explained] "I suppose it is a matter of one's personal ethics. Even though I'm nearly bankrupt, I would have to decline such service. As to the possibility of an increase in security risks, it would seem only logical, based on the type of clientele that content of this type would attract."

[KB observed] "Pornography, anyway you slice it, is a sign of moral decline and not good for society as a whole. We don't host porn for a number of reasons, none of them business related. I've had many people ask us to get involved in this, and they've shown me the huge dollars you can make by taking advantage of the sorry nature of another's sad addiction. No thanks."

[BD agreed] "The words 'respectable' and 'adult content' simply do not go together. Most men in prison, rapists, thugs, and ne'er-do-wells started with the skin magazines and could no longer get their kicks from pictures, so they started acting it out. These magazines and web sites do not contribute to the well-being of society; they tear it down. Your wife or daughter could be the next victim. How does that make you feel?"

Others worried about technical and customer service issues:

[WW noted] "I've actually been asked by a customer whether or not we host adult content. They did not want to host on a server that hosted adult content—not for moral reasons, but because those sites tend to be resource hogs which can decrease the quality of service to other customers. If I were to take adult hosting customers at all (something I have no ethical issue with, provided it is all legal and legit), I would put them on their own servers, and the resource limits, fees, and overage charges would be on a totally different (higher) scale."

[MW offered] "Depending on how you host them, other clients may (notice I am saying 'may') find that their email traffic is blocked, since a couple of the major 'gate keepers' operate using IP numbers, not domain names."

[BS added] "If an adult site is investigated for the likes of child porn, and it's hosted in the US, the authorities take the server and everything on it for their investigation. If shared hosting is being done, this can be a problem."

Still others advised moving forward, albeit with caution:

[DL suggested] "Speaking purely from a 'morality neutral' point of view, if I were to choose adult oriented clients, I'd keep my client base centered on those site operators that colocate a server or purchase dedicated server accounts. I'd also impose minimum bandwidth commitments on each customer.

I know a few colo houses—including some very well-known names in the business—that host adult sites in just this fashion. Well-run adult sites with savvy businesspeople at the helm have no problem making these types of commitments and paying for them month in and month out. The bottom line is that, putting morals and values aside, if you are in the business of making money moving bits and bytes, successful adult sites can be real profit generators."

[DH agreed] "Business is business. Set the guidelines and handle the relationship properly, and it'll be good times. You just need to make sure you know what to expect, have the right resources, and can trust the person on the other end: same as with any other deal. If the people that you are dealing with are ethical, and you clearly define their terms of service and have the bandwidth to spare, go for it. If handled appropriately, they're just like any other client."

[MB added] "If you don't like porn, don't look at it. But it results in close to 80 percent of the business transacted on the Internet today. 'Nuff said."

—End