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If we are to begin to examine the social impact of pornography in the workplace, first and foremost we must define pornography.  The Merriam-Websters Dictionary of Law © 1996, defines pornography as "material that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement" Merriam-Websters goes on further to state that "Pornographic material is protected expression unless it is determined to be obscene.  However, child pornography is illegal under federal and state laws prohibiting the depiction of minor in sexual acts".  In this paper we will neglect the consideration of child pornography of any kind, due to the failure of any rational to condone it.  If we are to consider this definition of pornography, we must then look to the definition of obscene as extremely or deeply offensive according to contemporary community standards of morality or decency.

 So what does this have to do with appropriate behavior in the work place?  Unfortunately, all too much!  In the day of ole, pornography was a subject that rarely came up in the conversations around the water cooler, and it was almost unheard of for an employee to bring pornographic material to work.  With the evolution of the Internet all of this has changed!  With blazing download speeds, video and audio streaming, the subject of pornography in the work place is nearly common conversation.  This situation in only compounded due to the fact that most corporations have Internet connection speeds unheard of for personal at-home use, and therefore employees viewing, downloading, and searching for pornography in the workplace is that much easier and convenient than doing so at home.  This type of behavior has impacts on society in so many ways, its almost too difficult to research.  For this reason we have chosen to narrow the scope of our research to the following areas:  cost passed to consumers, government concerns, and pertinent social impacts. 

When we set out to look at how the cost of services to the consumer is affected by pornography in the workplace, it was nearly too easy.  One article, "P45's for porn surfers at work" suggests that companies are now paying for pornography in several ways.  First, corporations must pay for their HR department to deal with complaiints related to misuse of the internet at work, as much as (23% of total complaints).  Not only does this take time away from the HR department, but the employee's as well.  If the complaint is taken as far as dismissal, the cost to the corporation could be as much as "150% of the employee's annual salary."  "In addition, if the dismissal process is handled poorly by the employer, the organisation could also face Employment Tribunal proceedings, incurring further management time and costs."  This article also suggests that an average employee spends as much as 20 minutes a day surfing the net, and some as much as 50.  50 minues a day translates to a little more than 4 hours a week, and 216 hours a year.  This is time that the corporation is paying an individual to be working, and not misusing company bandwidth to download pornography.  "Companies are increasingly looking to protect themselves and their employees from the legal implications from viewing pornography or downloading illegal software,"  This type of behavior degrades employee productivity, impairs network bandwidth, and unneccessarily increases storage costs. 

There is also countless articles published on the impacts of pornography on the internet and its impacts on society as a whole.  What there are not many of is articles that praise the effects of pornography on the internet.  The fact is, we couldn't come up with an acceptible, positive effect that infinite amounts of pornography that is instantly accessible has on society.  Yes, of course, there is always the first amendment arguement that states, if ones thoughts and ideas are censored on the internet, that their first amendment rights have been violated, but seriously, what legitmate document supports the slogan "FREE PORN NOW."  So, pretty much everyone agrees, that pornography on the internet has a negative effect on society, except for the millions of people making money on internet porn.  The sex industry is estimated to make nearly $1.9 billion yearly

Other Topics Currently Being Researched
 
 
Government money spent on net security?
Corporate money spent on net security?
How much does porn cost the consumer?
How much time does the average employee spend looking at pornography?
What impact has pornography on the internet had on society?
What impact has pornography on the internet had on corporations?