Porn on the Pod

I just heard something on KSFO that makes me wonder about the conservatism of some of the people I rely on for right leaning opinions. Brian Sussman mentioned a news report, the source of which I missed as it was on the radio, about the adult entertainment industry's response to the video distribution capabilities of the iPod media player. He mentioned there are people in our government who think the iPod's content should be regulated by Apple, else it should be regulated by government edict. Apparently the availability of pornography on a mobile media platform means children will be able to get their hands on that porn and take it with them to school, church, the bus, etc...

The reason I'm a little concerned, aside from the fact that someone in the government wants to inpinge upon our freedoms once again, is that Brian's tone during his re-report seemed to indicate he agreed with the possibility of government regulation of PMP (personal media player) content. The government has no business telling anyone what sort of media they can have on their PMPs. Period. If children are getting their hands on porn and putting it on their iPods or whatever other type of PMP they have their parents should be held accountable, not the company that makes the PMP. My Dell Axim x50v can play whatever I put on it, and Dell isn't responsible for what I do with the device after I pay for it. Some legislators' initial reaction to anything they don't like is imposing government intrusion into your lives and taking over of your parental duties. This is worrisome at best, and should be horrifying to anyone who values their right to privacy.

The jist of this is "Parents are accountable for their children's access to questionable material. If parents don't take action to keep their children pure as the wind driven snow the government has no legal standing to hold any company accountable, ever."