Playstation Porn-able

Investigators warn that a toy on the top of the wish lists of children all over the country this holiday season could be loaded with inappropriate material.

The PlayStation Portable has already been one of the top sellers this holiday season, but many are now learning it has the potential for more than just games.

There have already been reported incidents of kids coming to school with pictures of naked women on the game's screen, according to Jacksonville TV station WJXT.

The portable game system iscalled the PlayStation Portable, but a nickname used by many is the PlayStation "Porn-able."

Inside the hand-held gaming device is a high-powered computer with a Wi-Fi connection that allows access to the Internet, and the possibilities from there are endless.

"They're just getting on and downloading the content to PSP like a storage device and taking the video off," said Jeff Durfee, the assistant director of Information Technology at the University of North Florida.

Being portable, kids can take the game system and its contents anywhere.

A Minnesota boy got in trouble when he brought his PSP to school loaded with pictures of naked women he downloaded from the school's computer, WJXT reported.

"Once the pictures were on it, I turned it off right away after I did that," the boy said.

Durfee said the downloading is simple, and the manufacturers make it that way on purpose.

"If the kids can figure out how to hook up to the network, which is really easy because the manufacturers made it that way for online game playing, then they can browse, share video content and do whatever they would on a regular PC," Durfee said.

The difference, however, is that unlike a home computer, parents may not know what type of inappropriate web browsing is going on.

A Google search for PSP downloads yields dozens of sites devoted to downloadable porn made specifically for the gaming system, giving the system its nickname.

"Really, it's like any other thing you would do as a parent. You need to be aware of what your kids are doing online," Durfee said.

Technology experts warn the problem is not only a plaguing PSPs, saying other new gaming systems also allow for Internet access.