Reader Mail: Lawyer Sues Apple Over Porn Addiction
From time to time, we here at Abnormal Use receive recommendations on potential posts from our dear readers. Typically, readers alert us to wacky product lawsuits or hot coffee accidents. Such cases are right up our alley.
Other times, our readers think highly enough of us to send us cases like this one.
According to a report from Above the Law, a Tennessee attorney has sued Apple seeking protection for his porn addiction. That’s right. Apple created a porn addiction, and our readers thought we would be the perfect ones to write about it. They were correct, we suppose.
At first glance, the suit obviously sounds ridiculous. “Porn” addictions can be bred from anything. It depends on the user, not the vehicle bringing the access. On the other hand, the suit does raise some novel ideas. The plaintiff requests that Apple sell all products with a pre-installed porn blocker which can only be unlocked with a waiver filed with the company. The idea is not completely insane; however, we assume most people would prefer not to leave a paper trail granting them access to pornography. Plus, we would not envy the Apple employee charged with the handling of such waivers, as certainly, that worker would be inundated with paperwork.
Nonetheless, the plaintiff’s suit appears to be misplaced. The actual vehicle for the transmission of pornography in this case is the Internet itself – not Apple products. If Internet access to explicit material is a problem, then the proper target is much larger than Apple. Porn blockers on Apple computers will hardly prevent such access when the Internet is now as accessible as a water fountain.
We will monitor this suit as it moves forward, but we know how this one will probably end. The plaintiff will most likely get a legal lesson on not blaming other for his lack of self-control. If that weren’t the case, then porn-access litigation would snowball out of control (making the asbestos litigation look small by comparison). No one wants to pick up a catalog full of Victoria Secret models wearing overcoats.
(Hat Tip: Jim Beck of the Drug and Device Law blog).
