High-speed Internet providers view VDSL service as the most promising technology that would persuade existing subscribers to upgrade their network access packages and select premium services such as high-quality video-on-demand and other multimedia content. And what do Koreans do with this abundance of connectivity? Games and porn:

I would love to report that content has driven the Korean revolution, but although gaming and indigenous content have played their part (oh, all right then, and porn - happy?), the real drivers are economic and cultural. It's easy to get DSL lines into the densely-populated Korean cities and high-rise blocks: 70% of the population live in the big cities. Also, narrowband users were being gouged by time-based high call charges, rather than flat rates, so an always-on connection for roughly the same price made sense. Strong competition between four rival DSL providers has kept prices down and driven service up.

But there's another deeper factor. Not surprisingly, given the vicious subjugation of Korea by Japan during the second world war, the South Koreans are very wary of all things Japanese - so console gaming from Sony, Nintendo and Sega has never taken off. Instead, computer games have become a mass entertainment medium. Some cable stations actually broadcast competitive online games between pro-gamers - think Robot Wars meets the Belfry. These shows are hardly niche, some of them win their slots with more than a 40% share. Perhaps if Fame Academy were Game Academy, the BBC might get itself ahead of the curve. I'm already working on the format. [Guardian]

Said Senator Alston: "Well for example, people will tell you that pornography is one of the major reasons why there's been a high take-up rate in South Korea. I haven't confirmed that at first instance but I've been there, I've looked at what's happening.

So there you have it. South Korea is the number one broadband nation thanks to porno.

It has nothing to do with the fact that the nation has high population density, which makes the roll-out of broadband networks to end users more cost effective; or a highly competitive Internet access sector that has helped drive down prices to some of the lowest in the world; or a willingness of its population to embrace technology.

Not to mention that South Koreans love to play computer games online, shop, do their banking, oh, and use it for education. [The Register]

Life as I know it has come to an end. I have entered a new era, an era unlike any I've ever known before. This new ear comes with promises of unlimited entertainment (movies. games, music), and knowledge beyond comprehension (Google news). It also has costs, such as a completely brutal sleep depriving insomnia (just got to download that last movie before I go to bed), and the requirement of learning bizzare langagues (eDonkey is a what now?) and a persistent barrage of pornography advertisements ('Nuff said.)
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