Sexting and SextCasting Could Make You an Ignorant Pornographer

PRLog (Press Release) – May 07, 2009 – While much of the world is still trying to deal with, understand, and react to the latest digital trend of “sexting”,  it appears that a much larger, and more dangerous “practice” has managed to continuously slip through the cracks for approximately a decade, until now.

SextCasting (Sext•Cast•ing) has been one of the internet’s deepest and darkest secrets that The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication is about to bring to the world’s attention as advancements in technology such as free webcams, webcast platforms, blogs, and social sites have evolved this trend into a frightening epidemic  far too common in our society.  

Like “Sexting”, “SextCasting” is an epidemic destroying our digital generation (young and old), and after ~ 10 years of damage our global community can no longer afford to be ignorant to this very serious issue.

A SextCast or sextcasting is the process by which an individual(s) performs actions of a risqué or sexually explicit nature via a (live) webcam (or webcast), digital (image or video) camera, or other form of digital technology and sends and/or saves the content of their actions using digital technologies (i.e. a computer, camera card, email, social website, message board, etc).

Have you or your kids ever taken a risqué picture with a digital camera?  

Have you or your kids ever performed or recorded a sexually explicit act using a digital video camera or via a live webcam or webcast?  

If so, a SextCast was created!

More importantly however is what you or your kids do or have done after creating a sextcast.

Was it ever posted to the web through email, a message board, blog, private profile page, social network, over a webcam platform (private or public) or even saved to a computer with internet access?  

If so, you or your kid may be an “ignorant pornographer” as it is possible your private content or sextcast was obtained by a third party and is being spread virally throughout the “darker” areas of the internet for profit.

Thousands of times a day tweens, teens, young adults, and couple’s (private) sextcasts are being commercialized by companies with an agenda.  Individuals (secretly) save, edit, brand, and re-release your images, videos, or webcasts globally for their own financial benefit at your expense.  They use your content as it provides them with free (adult) "entertainment" to boost their website or blog traffic & revenues.  Frequently this occurs without the individual(s) in the image, video, or webcast ever knowing that their content is public until it is ultimately too late.

The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication has defined two primary types of SextCasting:

1)  A Private SextCast: Whereby an individual(s) purposefully performs a risqué or sexual act in an image, a live webcam feed or pre-recorded video message specifically for another individual(s).  Example:  A couple that provides each other with a Private SextCast via their respective webcams while separated due to a business trip via Windows Messenger.

2)  A Public SextCast: Whereby an individual(s) is purposefully performing a risqué or sexual act on a live webcam feed or recording their actions to knowingly post the content publically using digital technology (i.e. email, social network, website, message board, etc) for global viewing.  Example:  The girl engaged in a Public SextCast via her webcam for hundreds of individuals over a popular social webcam network (i.e. Stickam).

According to The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication, the following examples are just two of the vast catastrophic outcomes that can result from your sextcast.

1)  An Unintended SextCast:  Whereby an individual(s) creates a private sextcast unaware that the content is; (i) being stolen from their hard drive via spyware, (ii) being stolen from their password protected webpage via a hacker, and/or (iii) their webcam feed is being watched and recorded by a third party via popular hacker programs which often leads to “Viral SextCasts”.  Example: A girl broadcasting a sexually explicit action for her boyfriend over a live webcam was being recorded by an uninvited third party using a process used for spying on and recording webcam feeds.

2)  A Viral SextCast:  Whereby an individual’s public or private sextcast unknowingly becomes public and is spread globally (a.k.a. becomes viral) through email, social networks, websites or other digital technologies thus the content can be saved to private hard drives across the world and resurface again at any time.  Example: A couple’s private pre-recorded sextcasts were downloaded by an unknown third party who hacked their password protected profile page on their social network.  The third party licensed the couple’s sexual actions or “sextcast” to various adult websites and adult message boards for money.

For more detailed information, safety tips and real examples of the consequences of sexcasting, including an illustration of how content can be extracted from a password protected account, please visit the following webpage:
http://www.iroc2.org/page/what-is-sextcasting

We are not back in the 1980’s where taking a risqué photo or video of yourself and hiding the footage in your closet (Responsibility 1.0) will diminish your risk of any (global) repercussions.  Today, we use digital technologies and creating a risqué photo, video or webcast (sextcasting) could cost you your entire life in a matter of seconds.  Society must understand the difference between Responsibility 1.0 and Responsibility 2.1C.

Based on our nation’s panic and struggle to deal with the “phenomenon” of sexting, I.R.O.C.2 has no idea how the government, public or media will react to the aforementioned information and the very real issue of sextcasting, but they are hopeful that alerting our nation about this decade old epidemic that has already destroyed many lives will help save our digital generation. Constant headlines regarding cyber bullying & sexting suggest our nation continues to fail our digital generation and now we must deal with an even bigger issue primed to alter a higher volume of lives as the rapid development of digital technology continues without a concurrent mindset of 21st century responsibility.

Despite all the media attention about cyber safety and all of the much larger safety organizations around with major funding, I.R.O.C.2, a (to date) self funded nonprofit seems to be the only organization thinking ahead and not reacting to new issues.   They are committed to the proactive direct expert communication of Digital Responsibility 2.1C to a new generation and do not use reactive old school threats, reprimand and third party curriculum that is ineffective.

I will close with a quote from the Institute’s Executive Director:

Richard Guerry, the visionary behind the concept of "Responsibility 2.1C", and co-founder of The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication recently stated that "We as a nation need to provide direct proactive communication of Digital Responsibility (Responsibility 2.1C) to a new generation. We cannot be reactionary treating today's digital issues, and we cannot resolve them with 20th century threats, reprimand and curriculum." He went on to say, "The real problem is our youth has grown up learning what we call responsibility 1.0 or offline responsibility. They do not understand the scope of the repercussions when they invoke poor (digital) judgment because they have not been proactively taught digital responsibility or what we call, Responsibility 2.1C. We cannot apply 20th century solutions to 21st century issues."

To find out more about sextcasting and what sites you and your kids should avoid (or may already unknowingly be on), to contact their Speakers Bureau for an event, or to assist their efforts visit them on the web at www.iroc2.org or www.sextingisstupid.com.