Here's what they had to say:
This is a tough one! But I would have to say piracy. With piracy, everyone is getting hurt. Not only are studios losing out on sales, but customers are getting inferior product. Most importantly, bit-torrent sites do not require age verification to watch the movies they are offering illegally, so kids can download the movies. They also allow anyone to upload video. How do we know the people in those videos are of age or consenting since bit-torrents have no documentation. Right now, I view piracy as a bigger threat to the industry and other people's perception of the industry.
— Megan Stokes, VP of Sales, Shane's World
Even with Google joining in on torrent searches, I'm not sure we will ever see the day that content piracy is reduced to the point where it is not an issue. Let us not forget that one of the oldest — and still most efficient — methods for the end-user to download content is email newsgroups. Users do not require additional software, only an email client. All in all, if I had to pick one thing to eliminate, my vote is for content piracy as it is truly a global phenomenon with no end in sight. The impact of 2257 record-keeping regulations, on the other hand, is at this time restricted to the U.S. and does not affect the wider industry to the same degree.
— Paul Armstrong, Director of Business Development, AdultRental.com
Content piracy is hands-down the most pressing issue in our industry right now. It does not take a genius to realize that if there is quality, easily accessible content available, Internet savvy people are going to download it instead of paying for a membership. We need to adapt our business models and marketing strategies in order to keep moving forward. If we can't stop content piracy — and the odds are not in our favor — we must learn to acclimatize or we are doomed to be grabbing at an ever-shrinking piece of the pie.
— Brad, Affiliate Manager, AdultLounge.com
I would definitely eliminate content piracy because of the financial burden that it places on the industry. On the other hand, 2257 record-keeping is extremely useful and necessary because it forces us to police ourselves. The people who are engaging in content piracy are disrespecting the industry and are nothing but thieves.
— Holly Ruprecht, Affiliate Manager, Epoch
Content piracy. 2257 is a bit of a pain in the ass but ultimately it protects the producers and that's important. They can't be held accountable for people faking IDs, but they can be held accountable for not even asking. But with content piracy, any numbty with a computer now can take a DVD, throw it in their hard drive, rip it and put it up online. At Maleflixxx, we don't do downloads; we're very much against downloads. We use full DRM protection. We actually had three of our guys stay home one day and try and hack our streams and after eight or nine hours, they only got a few seconds. We know we're secure. We also worked with industry studios and helped start the Global Anti-Piracy Association (GAPA). It just shows you where our priorities are. The industry is really coming out to support it.
— Mary Gillis, Product/Marketing Manager, Maleflixxx/Sureflix Distribution
