PARENTS, if your child has an iPhone 3G, better keep an eye on him.

It seems Apple's new phones are the target of porn pedlars, reports Time magazine.

The iPhone's screen size, fast Web access and ease of use are not the only things that caught the attention of porn peddlars.

The device also has a version of Apple's Safari software which simplifies mobile access and streamlines the process of tailoring dirty sites for optimal viewing on the go.

'It's by far the porn-friendliest phone,' says Mr Devan Cypher, representative for San Francisco - based Sin City Entertainment told the magazine.

Google Trends, which measures Web buzz, backs him up. It showed a sharp increase over the past year in the popularity of the term 'iPhone porn'.

Numerous iPhone-specific porn sites have been launched in recent months, the magazine said.

Apple said that it will ban adult content from official applications. But it can't prevent customers from accessing porn through the device's browser.

Lucrative opportunity

Meanwhile the porn industry is licking its lips at what is sees as a huge profit-making opportunity and has begun investing heavily in pocket porn.

The iPhone 3G is nearly twice as fast as its predecessor at loading Web pages, and even faster at running video, which is crucial for the porn industry.

According to a Nielsen survey about a third of iPhone users watch video on their phone, which is nearly 10 times the number that watch video on other cell phones.

Three out of four iPhone users are men with above-average incomes, and iPhone users spend heavily on entertainment. More than a third of iPhone users shell out more than US$100 ($140) on phone and data charges every month.

In 2007, the international market for mobile adult content reached US$1.7 billion but this expected to grow exponentially with as more people use the iPhone.

In fact, one projection puts it at US$4.6 billion by 2012. But opposition to iPhone porn is expected to grow as well. And this will spark a separate industry - mobile phone porn blockers, especially since children can access adult content.

Apple already has such blockers, said its spokesman.

'Our iPhone 2.0 software will give customers the opportunity to turn on parental controls,' she said.

But Time argued that some parents may not be tech-savvy enough to figure that out and some kids may be clever enough to find a way around it.

Mr Farley Cahen, vice president of business development for AVN Media Network, told Time magazine: 'If the Janet Jackson episode led to a fine... can you imagine what could happen to an American (telco) if a child gets hold of some of the hardcore materials that are easily available?'

This story was first published in The New Paper on 29 August 2008.

For more stories, visit The Electric New Paper.