As the cliché goes, the future is now. Already we have operations set up in the US which use video online. Using CU-SeeMe technology you can dial into a sex service where, for a price, one or two girls will strip off and "perform" for you live on camera, online. Perhaps this isn't a bad move, at least for the girls concerned. They have no direct contact with the customer, there is no danger of sexual infection, and they can hang up if things get nasty, though it's doubtful that the owners of such operations would look too favourably on a girl who cut off a paying customer in mid call, especially when some are charging a buck a minute or more!
But I stray from the plot; the future of sex online is interactive. As bandwidth restraints are removed with the widespread availability and use of cable technology, real time video at a realistic price will lead to more virtual strip joints, more visits to online prostitutes, and less of the dangers associated with the rougher parts of town. The days of "Lawnmower Man" VR sex are far away, but what the Internet will realistically provide is an electronic real-time replacement for the wank mags that adorn the top shelf of the newsagent today - unless the censors decide that it is all just too much for us.
For more on Davey Winder and his new book, Sex and the Internet, email waveydavey@dial.pipex.com