PlayStation Home and porn: they won't stop you

By Tom Bramwell Published 21 March, 2007

Couldn't help ourselves.

There won't be anything to stop you uploading porn to your private space in PlayStation Home, according to Sony, but you obviously won't be able to wave it around in public.

It was Phil Harrison wot said it, speaking to semi-official blog ThreeSpeech following this month's GDC announcements - including that of the virtual "Home" universe - in an interview that quickly drew him into a discussion about, well, "moderation".

"It's absolutely deliberate that there is no physical impact between characters, between avatars," he explained, adding that you will be able to do things like shake hands. "But no, we're not going to have 'those' kind of animations that I'm imagining that you're thinking about."

Not content with that, the ThreeSpeech blogger made his point more explicitly, asking whether it'd be possible to upload pornography to your private space, and whether Sony would do anything about the people who "invite people you don't necessarily know" to come and watch it with you. Amazing.

"Well I'm disappointed that you would use those as the first questions," Harrison responded. "I think Home should be used for a much wider and more beneficial scope than that, but I think that people can express their creativity inside Home in a wide variety of ways and it's not necessarily for us to dictate what that should be. However, if somebody feels uncomfortable about an encounter on Home, it's very easy for them to ban that person from their friends list."

So now you know.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (77) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • JediMasterMalik #1 5 years ago

    Sounds about right. Private space is private space. It's literally like inviting someone into your home. They don't know what to expect.

    Would people really do this though?

  • Zerimski #2 5 years ago

    I can see the Fox News headlines now.

  • MadMirko #3 5 years ago

    "Paedophiles drag YOUR kids into their porn den"

  • El_MUERkO #4 5 years ago

    Jack Thompson is going to jump on this.

    SEXUAL PREDATORS URGING PS3 PLAYING BABIES TO JOIN THEM IN THEIR DEN OF GOATSE PR()N!!!111

    BAN ... NO, SUE THIS SICK FILTH!!!

  • El_MUERkO #5 5 years ago

    great minds and perverts ...

  • AcidSnake #6 5 years ago

    Ok...sounds fair...
    But what about public spaces then?

    By definition you can't upload anything to the public space then...

    Which would reduce Home to a sort of exchange friendcode hunt...
    Still...The only way I suppose...

  • GamesConnoisseur #7 5 years ago

    ...think alike!

  • Vin #8 5 years ago

    Fucking hell, this a Mail shitstorm waitin' to happen.

  • JediMasterMalik #9 5 years ago

    That was the whole point AcidSnake. No one ever suggested public space uploading. That'd be a mess.

  • morriss #10 5 years ago

    Bad press = good press.

    I back 'em up 100% on this. Although they will have to take some kind of preventory measures for kids accessing Home, otherwise it's bang out order.

  • lambtron #11 5 years ago

    hmm anyone not expecting that there will be at least some people who plaster everything with pictures of their bits is a tad naieve about teh interweb in my opinion ;)

  • Nobuo #12 5 years ago

    While I agree with Sony's position on this, the mainstream media won't. Therefore it's probably a bad idea.

  • Foxclose #13 5 years ago

    PS3 + Home + PORN = SWEEEET!!!!!!!!

  • LeD #14 5 years ago

    Home is rubbish. Seriously. LittleBigPlanet, on the hand...

  • AcidSnake #15 5 years ago

    @JMM:
    Yeah...
    I always figured that...
    But if this was all known then why did they ask Harrison about it?
    Or are they just hunting for bad things about Sony?

  • Foxclose #16 5 years ago

    "mainstream media won't."

    LOL!! When the mainstream media pick up on this it will be good press for Sony you aren't exactly selling to kids right now!

  • Beano #17 5 years ago

    "Home is rubbish. Seriously."

    Interesting - you have a time machine then ?

  • Foxclose #18 5 years ago

    "Great, so now I can hang pictures of horses cocks in my virtual house and invite kids over to see them....Best thing Sony have done for ages if you ask me :p"


    See you online!!

  • CitizenGeek #19 5 years ago

    Meh, I don't think porn shoudl be allowed. Home should be about socialising and videogames and shouldn't allow such things. Becasue it WILL degenerate into something seedy and unpleasant.

  • X201 #20 5 years ago

    All round to Minkley's then ;)

  • Yossarian #21 5 years ago

    all joking aside, child porn will be an actual issue they will have to address, as will the sharing of illegal media, as will the supervision/protection of minors

  • Stormflood #22 5 years ago

    So what would make home less safe for kids than..... well, the internet?
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/07 @ 17:05

  • Foxclose #23 5 years ago

    Since we are in Europe will bestiality be allowed!!??

    Censorship would be really bad in the UK!

  • dirigiblebill #24 5 years ago

    'Home should be about socialising and videogames and shouldn't allow such things.'

    Sex IS part of my social life, thanks ;)

  • GitSomE_UK #25 5 years ago

    Hmmm a more intelligent way to avoid this problem would be to allow the person who is the invitee to select what they would want to see.

    So I meet up with Kato and he says come on round, I pop in and lo and behold he has horse cock wallpaper.

    I'm not impressed with Kato's Horse cock so I select the option to not show wallpaper at other peoples private spaces.... simple.

    Surely the enlightened folk at Sony have thought of this?

  • J0YCIE #26 5 years ago

    Surely they're going to have to rely on people's reports of things that shouldn't be there.

  • rock27gr #27 5 years ago

    This is going to be a disaster! How are they going to moderate this?

    All I can say is this feature will be shut down very fast once media get onto it, and Authorities are alerted to the issues at hand.

    Internet is different; it can be moderated at some part, and websites/downloads/illegal activities can be monitored and stopped if necessary.

  • NthSimulachum #28 5 years ago

    Internet+ Virtual World+ gamers= Deviant Porn Explosion

    I'm sure there'll be tons of furries/paedo themed houses. Just like Second Life.

  • Gurgeh #29 5 years ago

    Serious trouble brewing. Who gets sued is one question, but you just know what the media will make of it. Then again Sony can afford a little bad PR to balance out all the good publicity of late.

  • NthSimulachum #30 5 years ago

    Hah, Gurgeh, the player of games...

    Are you unexpectedly black, revealing the inherent racism in the likely readership of the novel?

  • Foxclose #31 5 years ago

    Legal porn will be in my own space. If you don't like it; don't come around knocking!



  • rock27gr #32 5 years ago

    It's not a mater of PR though. If it is even close to Second Life (and it's propably be much worse), then Authorities will step in; Sony will be forced to moderate or abandon the whole thing.

    Second Life is a paid for adult game; PS Home is free and comes with all PS3s (or it will be).

  • Stormflood #33 5 years ago

    Internet is different; it can be moderated at some part, and websites/downloads/illegal activities can be monitored and stopped if necessary.

    Um... what?

    You're seriously saying the internet is safer than Home?

    lol

  • JayeM #34 5 years ago

    So a paedophile sets up a home filled with child porn pictures for all his paedophile friends to come and visit and Sony aren't going to do anything? That doen't seem like a good idea...
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/07 @ 17:37

  • rock27gr #35 5 years ago

    Safer? Yes. There are mechanisms to prevent children from reaching bad websites/stuff if one wants to do so.

    Also it can be policed, as is evidented by all these child porn busts going around.

    Is it Bulletproof Safe? No, not by a long shot.

    But Home is looking to be a free for all fuckfest of extreme proportions.

  • _Price_ #36 5 years ago

    "....you obviously won't be able to wave it around in public...."

    Thank God for that, think of the mental scarring :)

  • NewYork #37 5 years ago

    Yeah, can you imagine males reading the Daily Mail, getting outraged, yet in the back of their minds thinking "must buy a PS3."

  • Darth_Flibble #38 5 years ago

    "Would people really do this though?"

    I bet he would

    [link url=http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/uploaded_images/pga ddy-710190.jpg
    ]http://ww w.ukresistance.co.uk/uploaded_i...[/link]
    and also
    [link url=http://www.funnyhub.com/videos/img/wacko-jackos-faces.j pg
    ]http://ww w.funnyhub.com/videos/img/wacko...[/link]

    the daily mail must be rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of the headlines

  • Steroyd #39 5 years ago

    How the hell can you tell kids from adults in Home anyway.

    All the Avatars are of a certain age, unless you can magically run around asking people if they're under 18 without raising suspicion from the Sony's Home Ninja's.

  • Foxclose #40 5 years ago

    "The US media is going to have a field day with this!"

    Ironic, since most porn comes from the US.

  • rock27gr #41 5 years ago

    "How the hell can you tell kids from adults in Home anyway.

    All the Avatars are of a certain age, unless you can magically run around asking people if they're under 18 without raising suspicion from the Sony's Home Ninja's."

    Are they? And would that make any real difference anyway? It's still exposing kids to harmful material even if you don't know it, and I am sure people inclined that way can find a way to identify minors anyway.

    Also what about Child-porn trafficking? It looks to be a breeze through Home.

  • JediMasterMalik #42 5 years ago

    I'm pretty sure anything illegal like child-porn would be somehow blocked. The accounts banned, along with the IP or something.

  • drumbaby #43 5 years ago

    Hmmmm...Must get the unsightly genital birthmarks removed in readiness for my Home art gallery.

  • peterfll #44 5 years ago

    So nude pictures of Phil would be allowed....

    Great.

  • drumbaby #45 5 years ago

    I think that a family owned PS3 should enable the administrator (hopefully adult) to disallow Home on children's profiles, or at least remove the ability for them to view images/ video when in other people's private spaces.

    Surely this'd be feasible?

  • smelly #46 5 years ago

    Hmm.. What about copyright problems?

    Using pron to push your wares is quite possibly the lowest of the low though. This really should be moderated.

    I cant see the point of using Home at all now (and i especially wouldnt let kids use it) as i can gaurantee that you'll not be able to find a single room which doesnt contain grot.

  • Lov3 #47 5 years ago

    If I ever buy a PS3, i'll be inviting all you SolidSnake123 kids back to my place to watch the new spiderman movie I got off the internet! (read: gay horse porn).

  • bicky316 #48 5 years ago

    rock27gr: "Home is looking to be a free for all fuckfest of extreme proportions."

    They should bulletpoint that one onto the PS3 box :p

  • chupachups #49 5 years ago

    You have to feel sorry for Sony actually, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

    If they censor porn, people will cry "Sony is censoring us! They're trying to control our lives!"

    If they don't censor porn, people will cry "Sony is endorsing porn!"

  • Stormflood #50 5 years ago

    Is it open day for Daily Mail readers today? You'll be checking your kids PS3's to see if they smell of hammers next...

  • urban #51 5 years ago

    i'm definitely putting goat.se above my fireplace.

  • Steroyd #52 5 years ago

    Wait a damn second...

    KIDS CAN BUY PS3'S!?! o_O

    Yeah the Q&A on Home it said that Sony can't monitor Private spaces unless you complain to a mod about it and children Avatars in Home aren't allowed.

    Plus you can ignore people like in this comments section as much as it's easy to expose people to child porn it's just as easy to get that person banned to.

  • frag.uk #53 5 years ago

    I hear a bout of Dailymailitis coming on . . .

    ooo . . . err . . .

    BAN THIS SICK FILTH!

    aaaargh!

    BAN THESE SICK GAMES!

    noooo!

    Ahh, all better now . . . oh god, here comes that Thompsonemia . . .

    rrrrr . . .

    PAEDOPHILES WILL SHOW YOUR NAKED CHILDREN TO PERVY GAMERS

    phew, all better . . .

    This could be interesting - I [almost] hope that illegal material is shown somewhere in some dumb Sony fankid's apartment so that:

    a) The facade that is Home gets closed down
    b) Sony gets another lawsuit

  • Steroyd #54 5 years ago

    Sony can't get sued if the material comes whoever uploaded it from their own hard drive.

    It's like suing the internets for allowing child porn in the first place.

  • smelly #55 5 years ago

    >Is it open day for Daily Mail readers today?

    Nope.. But you can see the moral outcry already.

    It was bad enough when they found out the wii could connect to the internet unblocked..

  • CitizenGeek #56 5 years ago

    "Sex IS part of my social life, thanks ;)"

    Yeah, and I'm sure it is for many other people too.

    Pornography and having a sex life are two completely different things.

  • Les #57 5 years ago

    "If they censor porn, people will cry "Sony is censoring us! They're trying to control our lives!"

    If they don't censor porn, people will cry "Sony is endorsing porn!""

    Well, only the stupid people. Unfortunately, that's a majority, but still.

  • Xerx3s #58 5 years ago

    Paedophiles will like this.

  • bonker #59 5 years ago

    "rock27gr: "Home is looking to be a free for all fuckfest of extreme proportions."

    They should bulletpoint that one onto the PS3 box :p "

    LMAO

  • bonker #60 5 years ago

    "Pornography and having a sex life are two completely different things. "

    They are?!

  • bonker #61 5 years ago

    There's so much scope for an uber shitstorm with this it's untrue.

    I'm concerned at gay-twat PH's problem with being asked about it. He shoulda been thanking them for asking and giving him the opportunity to speak about all the safeguards and how well thought through it all was etc etc. The fact that he was pissed at being asked is just unfukinbelievable.

    Re this sort of stuff being possible on the internet already etc - don't for one second assume that what people/society/media will allow on a PC stuffed away in the back bedroom will be allowed in SOMEONE'S LIVING ROOM ON THEIR TV!!!

    Likewise, you can't sue/pressure "the internet" as it's not a single entity as such but that's certainly not true of a household brand like Sony ...


    If they really haven't thought this through then it will be potentially one of the most irresponsible things I've ever heard of a company doing ...

  • bdc #62 5 years ago

    I can definitely feel a shitstorm coming on regarding people being invited to watch gay orgies unwittingly.

  • jiveguy #63 5 years ago

    Nah, it'll be like the first time you were tricked into going to goatse.cx. Once you see your first gay orgie the subsequent ones don't really phase you that much.

  • asphaltcowboy #64 5 years ago

    Yeah, once you've seen one gay orgy, you've seen them all...

  • deepspacefox #65 5 years ago

    I think it depends on how Sony link Home to the Playstation Store.
    The store has to have a credit card linked to it in order to make purchases, right? That card will also contain a record of your name and address held by the credit card company. So therefore if lots of people complain about a Mr. G Glitter who is showing everyone something more than the new Spider-man trailer, Sony can find out who owns that space, which account its linked to, and the details of the PS3 owner. One call to the boys in blue and its goodbye Gary (again).
    If Sony are gonna let you upload ANYTHING to your private space, they're gonna make damn sure that they're covered against things like this. Its just common sense.

  • zuljin #66 5 years ago

    @smelly
    "Hmm.. What about copyright problems?"
    I'm sure Sony must have thought of that at some point. Personally I don't think they will allow you to copy media from PS3 to PS3, merely stream it. Then it becomes analogous to visiting friends and listening to CD's of theirs.

  • CallousB #67 5 years ago

    I suppose the next story will be about "home" terrorist cells.

    One wall has a vid of how to make a bomb and they can all question each other as it plays, another wall a detailed map of their target.They can have monthly meetings with other cells around the world and coordinate attacks.

    ..of course this is complete scaremongering...but Sony really is opening themselves up to a world of problems.

  • agparrot #68 5 years ago

    @CallousB

    One wall has a vid of how to make a bomb and they can all question each other as it plays, another wall a detailed map of their target.They can have monthly meetings with other cells around the world and coordinate attacks.

    That game sounds great! When is it out?

  • pesser #69 5 years ago

    RIP SONY

  • dirigiblebill #70 5 years ago

    "Pornography and having a sex life are two completely different things."

    Trouble is there's a whole spectrum of sexual behaviour online (e.g. customised avatar animations and costumes in 2nd life, but that's just the tip of the iceberg) which tends to get misrepresented as mere porn. I agree that Sony should have control mechanisms in place to safeguard minors- registering credit card details would be an effective, though controversial method- but I think you run the risk of chucking the baby out with the bathwater (or possibly the babe out with the bedclothes ;)) if you just bar the lot altogether. Don't forget how many people visit dating sites.

  • -TKF- #71 5 years ago

    Yeah.. sure.. the interweb.. here were anon, noone knows who we are so we can be oooohhh so big and strong.. unlike on the PSN where they know who you are including where you live... sure some will behave like the fuckers they are but they will be easy to butcher and get rid off...

  • trevd72 #72 5 years ago

    take responsibility for you own lives!!!!! your are just sitting there asking them to tell you how live and for more restriction to be put in place and i am not just talking about in games but in the world as a whole. People bang on about the nanny state but then you want others to make decisions for you and others to make you parenting decisions for you. grow a pair of balls and brain and you should will be OK

  • DaM #73 5 years ago

    Kato, are you selling the Horse's Cock wallpaper for download? Maybe a range of furniture too?

  • X201 #74 5 years ago

    They could borrow an idea from Animal Crossing.
    The Porny Room Academy

    Everyone's Home would get a PRA rating based on... (you understand the rest)

  • erp #75 5 years ago

    there's no such thing as a semi-offi... oh forget it.

  • samadriel #76 5 years ago

    trevd72:
    take responsibility for you own lives!!!!!
    Yes sir!

  • bonker #77 5 years ago

    "I think it depends on how Sony link Home to the Playstation Store.
    The store has to have a credit card linked to it in order to make purchases, right? That card will also contain a record of your name and address held by the credit card company. So therefore if lots of people complain about a Mr. G Glitter who is showing everyone something more than the new Spider-man trailer, Sony can find out who owns that space, which account its linked to, and the details of the PS3 owner. One call to the boys in blue and its goodbye Gary (again).
    If Sony are gonna let you upload ANYTHING to your private space, they're gonna make damn sure that they're covered against things like this. Its just common sense. "

    Credit card details aren't exactly the last bastion of reliability any more, there's just soooo many stolen etc cards round these days but yes, that would be something.

    My particular concern is that gay-paedo-meister Harrison just blew off the question when he could just quite easily have mentioned CC details etc. He actually pretty much said that if 8 year old Lucy gets shown some uber snuff then she can drop that guy from her friends list! Ok, that's alright then!!!