As a qualifier to my observations about the adult biz, my “adult cherry” was popped when I started my first adult consulting gig in creating a searchable database and shopping cart system for Lee Noga of zmaster.com back in 1996.

Tube sites have certainly caused great irritation to the Adult Industry, from content producers who are seeing their content being ripped off, to paysite owners who are seeing less signups due to free content, to affiliates who are making less money on joins due to the freeloading.

A common retort to the outcry of tubes sites is to “adapt or die”. Some have taken that message to heart to create “legal” tube sites, or what I had thought of a few years ago is a “fake” tube site. A “fake tube site” was not user-uploaded, but appeared to be, but was all legal content. The problem with “legal” or “fake” tube sites, is that the content is usually limited (ie. 3-5 minutes), with the “good stuff” cut off as the teaser to join to see the rest.

With the way content producers are doing fire sales and whoring their content, and the ability to produce new "amateur/homemade" content cheaply, it would seem easier for "illegal" tubes, to eventually clean themselves up and buy and produce all of their content, and then upsell their own paysites like an affiliate who is pushing/converting traffic decides to open their own paysites instead of promoting others).

It’s just like in the "good 'ol days" of ripping content from usenet or copying CD's full of images and putting up a paysite, generate high profits since there was no cost for the content, then after some level of success and critical mass, to then produce their own content and/or license the content to become "legit".

So much technology does get its start in adult and the technology gets tested and used in different/creative ways. DRM is a fun punching bag example as it was touted as a way of controlling content, and many, many paysites bought into that idea. When a member cancelled, you disabled their access to the video. If the member joined again, the videos were unlocked. It sounded like a great concept, until members decided they don’t like that control.

Porn review sites started to identify if a site was using DRM. Surfers then avoided those sites. Paysites saw the recoil to DRM and stripped it out. What should have been the answer was not to use DRM to “control”, but instead, to observe. Each time a DRM video was played, it signals back via silent authorization to play the video. You get the IP, the date/time, and the filename. With this information, you know what content of yours is being played after a member has cancelled. You can then market back to the cancelled member about new content that matches their viewing interest.

Same is true with adapting biz models....start out shady, prove the demand, get legit on the supply = evolution of economics

Illegal tube sites (including youtube) are following the same historical steps.

From my long term perspective, it is ironic that paysites that used to use usenet content inside their members area are now content producers who are crying foul at copyright infringement, but, it just underscores my point about the evolution of a business idea.

Illegal tube sites are gaining the traffic. They are slowly assisting (directly or inadvertently) in the reduction of the legit paysites. Many programs are shutting down or being consolidated.

I see the future where Illegal tube sites will become legal tube sites, where they follow the same business practice of showing full clips and deriving revenue from any potential upsells of products or through paid advertising (ie. Banners).

I don’t like to describe a problem without trying to offer some kind of solution, so here goes:

• You can certainly go through the DMCA process, that will help to some extent, but the business answer is to survive. Companies are doing this already, they are downsizing, they are spending less on crazy expenses, and the business owners are paying attention to the business.

• Controlling expenses is the first step. The second step is pay attention to the current members. Find out what they like, and provide more of it. I have seen so many paysites look at members like they were cattle. They can burn them with the xsells, upsells, sideways sells, etc because “new blood” will come to them tomorrow. That was the ‘golden days of adult’ where it was a numbers game and you could be “creative” with how you ran your business.

• Work more with your affiliates as you both are tied to the same $. Help the bottom 99% of affiliates do more with your program (hint, use t3report.com)

• Take time to understand your enemy. Checkout those d*mn tube sites, but don’t look at it through the eyes of an owner, look at it like a surfer. What kinds of clips or what categories are getting the most views. Surfers are much more savvier now, they have review boards and message boards to learn/share information. There are tube sites that give them content that they want.

• Look at the category that matches your content, see what kind of content in your niche are people watching. Use this info as a like a survey, to understand what you should be producing.

• Label your site with ASACP’s RTA label (http://www.rtalabel.org) (of which I was part of the team to create the label) to prepare for the future defense that you did something to allow adults and children to not visit your site.

Give conservatives the time to catch up to tube sites to cry foul about how any adult or child can easily see porn. Wait for the DOJ to realize that legal adult video and internet companies are not the problem, it’s the illegal tube sites.

“Patience comes to those who wait”.

Tread water by focusing on the biz and making the right choices to last the next 2-3 years. There is still money to be made in paysites. Niched content is certainly doing well. Creating a great experience for the member that offers more perks and more value then what a tube site can offer goes a long way.

Companies who are producing their own content (which is so easy these days with the whole “reality” and “amateur” content) can use their models on the site to provide for some interaction with the members.

Solo girl sites do well because they provide a lot of interaction with their members.

Evolve the business model to give more value, understand what your members want, control expenses, and lastly, love what you do. If it’s just a job to make money, you’ll lose the spark and creative edge to evolve the business model.

Fight the tubal ligation!

Microsoft announced last week that it was adding a "porn mode" to its Explorer browser. When enabled, this function will delete history and cookies after the browsing session is over.

Mozilla's FireFox made a similar announcement today that it was going to do the same.

While the idea of being able to clean up your tracks is an understandable point, there is a huge implication to the adult industry.

Cookies that are set from affiliate links would get destroyed. A surfer clicks from the affiliate site to a paysite. When they arrive at the paysite, a cookie is set to give credit to the affiliate should the surfer return back to the site. With the "porn mode", the cookies would end being automatically deleted after the browser session was closed.

With the cookies being destroyed after the surfing session, the affiliates will no longer be able to get credit. If the surfer joins the paysite when they clicked over, then the affiliate will get the credit, but the surfer behavior would be to check out the tour and come back later if it was something they were interested in joining.

Paysites will see a boom to their bottom line from surfers who are using this function, because they will end up seeing a lot of type-in or bookmark traffic that is joining without an affiliate cookie session. The paysites won't have to make the payouts because they wouldn't know who to give the credit to.

If enough surfers use this upcoming feature and affiliates are seeing a dramatic decrease in their commission checks, then affiliates will be in a really bad position as far as how to get compensated.

There is already a growing trend of affiliates turning into paysites. They have done their job in aggregating traffic to their sites and sending the traffic to various places.

With the notion of shaving and other fraudulent tactics, this cookie munging could be the last straw for larger affiliates to turn into their own paysites.

Fight the binge and purge!

ICANN voted today to open up the domain namespace to allow anyone to submit an application to create their own TLD.

For an application fee of around $50k-$100K, plus proof of technical ability to manage the DNS servers, companies can start carving up their domain real estate space on the internet.

This naturally allows .XXX to be closer to reality. I have said from the beginning, if there were no "sponsored community" aspect to the TLD, no need for an IFFOR, there would be fuss about .XXX It would be no different than .BIZ or .INFO more power to those that register those domains,

So I would expect .XXX or .SEX or .PORN to be popping up next year, once ICANN figures out the rules to do this.

ICM/IFFOR did have some merits in their ideas of .XXX about making some rules and guidelines for its use, but if someone is going to tell adult what to do, its better if it came from adult.

I believe that some trade organization could put in the application to run a .XXX or .PORN and become the registry. Through advertising, they could build up the idea that the TLD is the "official" websites for adult content.

The registry would make an incredible amount of money that could go directly towards fighting against bad laws.

This registry would be a for-profit organization that would be overseen by the non-profit.

With official sanctioning of the TLD, it would at least help to give some means of self (or imposed) regulations, but done so by keepers that have the adult industry's best interest at heart, rather than the focus on the wallet.

Personally, I hope to get my ventures going into high gear, so that I can sponsor the .KIDS TLD application and make that a white-label approach to truly protecting kids.

Web browsers and ISP can be setup such that only .KIDS domains would be seen. This is how you protect kids, not a black-list approach.

Fight the .GREED!

The subject of 2257 has been beaten around many times from how it doesn't really protect children, to the burdensomeness of compliance, etc, etc.

The fact is that 2257 is on the books as a law, but complying with 2257 just for that reason isn't enough for most webmasters. I would like to suggest two reasons why you should look at 2257 compliance from a different perspective.

The intent of 2257 is that if a child was found to be used in production, that distributors of that content would be able locate those images and videos and take them down. By being able to locate the bad content, you remove yourself from the cross hairs of possession and distribution of child porn.

The problem is that most websites don't track where their images came from. Their idea of 2257 compliance is creating a 2257.html page and either copying the content producer's address from some other website, or they did record which content producers they used.

This form of 2257 documentation does nothing to resolve the problem of locating and removing the bad content.

You would need to know where those images and videos were used on your website. This is what the "record keeping" part of the 2257 statue speaks towards.

There are many ways to keep track of digital content, from paper filing to databases. The simplest methods could include:

- embeding some kind of ID of the content producer in the filename or folder

- use an excel spreadsheet with the following fields:

filename
content producer
directory location

More advanced methods of inventory tracking is to use a CMS.

If you point at any image/video on your website and you can't identify which content producer that it came from, then you just failed one of the 2257 tests.

2257 became more convoluted when they tried to say all website operators should have the ID's and do all the cross referencing responsibilities that the primary producer is supposed to do. I won't be getting into those issues.

By keeping track of the porn inventory, you go along way in complying with the spirit of 2257.

In the event there is a child found and the news story breaks, every webmaster who licensed content from that content producer would need to be scrambling to remove those images and videos.

If those images and videos are still up, you are now in possession of child porn, and also a distributor of child porn.

Your surfers and members who think they are accessing legal content, are now in possession of child porn.

At that point, who knows what ramifications there might be from surfers and members suing paysites for endangering them with illegal content, let alone the federal prosecutions.

The other practical reason for going through the "record keeping" exercise is on the issue of copyright infringements.

There are content producers out there who are looking to find their images on websites, using spidering technology to let the computer do the sniffing.

One real possibility is a content producer thinks he has found your website to be a copyright infringer, where in reality you licensed the content, but didn't notify them of the website the content was on. Many content producers have it in their licensing agreement that you must identify what website the content is being used. Many will fail to update them.

When you get slapped with the copyright infringement charge, if you knew where the image in question came from you could then look it up in your records to show to the copyright infringement cop that you had licensed the images, but did not update their records for the website. At this point, its not copyright infringement, its more of a licensing issue that can easily be resolved by complying with the terms of the content license.

So many are just sticking their heads in the sand on 2257 because they disagree with the law. You can't do that as a business owner when there are civil and criminal ramifications to your (in)actions.

The bottom line is know where your images come from my doing some form of documentation that allows you to be able to take down known CP images as well as protect yourself from a false copyright infringement claim.

Fight the bookkeeping!

There has been much industry debate and upheaval over *tube sites. Most tube sites have stolen videos that have been uploaded under a "user submitted" model where the uploader is supposedly the owner of the content.

From scanning any *tube site, you can clearly tell that this is not always the case.

This blog post is not about the rantings of the various *tube sites and content theft, but more so an observation sparked by a comment made by Paul Markham in a GFY thread over him allowing a *tube site to use his content and promote his paysite.

Paul Markham is a content producter who provides content to a *tube site. The clips found on these *tube sites are sometimes as long as 20 minutes, rather than the 3-5 min that other webmasters would like to see instead.

He looks to receive traffic from the *tube site to his paysite as the upsell, where the website provides the free content to the surfers.

He commented that if the conversions aren't there, then he can just sell/license the content to the *tube sites since paysites aren't licensing content as much from content producers these days.

What struck me is that as a content producer, whose market has clearly shrunk because of the 'do it yourself' type pornographers, that *tube sites are a welcomed evolution.

If a content producer can't make enough money licensing their content, they could provide it for free to the *tube site, to seed it with good/legal content, and the *tube site makes their money off of the various upsells or banner advertising, that can then pay for the content.

Almost like a rev-share or purchasing on net terms business model, but one that could help "legitimize" tube sites.

There have been TGP sites, one sleazy one in particular, that pays/licenses to have their own content on the site, rather than using images/photos/thumbnails uploaded by submitters.

*tube sites that license content from content producers are following that similar model.

*tube sites are getting an incredible amount of traffic. While traffic can be seen as king, its really now a commodity. Its more important to have the content to give something for the traffic to look at.

*tube sites are proving that content is king.

My slogan with Lee Noga back in the early 2000 period was "Innovate, not renovate". *tube sites are the new innovations and evolutions of content delivery and surfer marketing. They are struggling/juggling to find the business models that will make them legal and profitable, no different than any other adult website.

As far as the copyright / theft issues goes... *tube sites are not excempt nor above the law. Copyright holders are placing their lawsuit crosshair sites on the *tube sites and they have every right to do so.

Fight the boobtube!

U2's front man Bono made news as the venture capital firm that he is a partner in, invested $325M for 25% stake in Palm Computers (article)

Some have looked at this news with amusement as why would Bono, known for his outspoken fight against hunger and oppression, is investing in a technology company.

My answer is that in third world countries, the mobile phone will be the internet device of choice. Laptops and computers are too big, and are not suitable for rougher environments.

Imagine a low-cost Treo phone that has internet access that will allow people in third world countries to be just as accessible to the outside world as us sitting here in the U.S.

Business can be conducted in third world countries with emails as well as being able to have correspondance, place/check orders etc.

His line of (Red) clothing that is produced in Africa is an example of how local businesses in Africa can create products for global consumption.

I think Bono is on to something if this is his plan for making the world smaller and better through technology.

Fight the Feed the World ringtone!

There has been a lot of talk about how DVDs will be completely dead in another year or so, replaced by digital video, etc.

While DVD sales are down in general, I think you need to look deeper to see if online sales are up and will make up the difference.

Judging by the gripes of affiliates and paysite owners, they are feeling a decline in sales just as much as the DVD side.

I see the issue that what will be down is the concept of the full-length DVD. The fast-forward button on the VCR, Tivo, YouTube, etc., has proven that consumers' attention span has shrunk.

What I see is the potential for DVD to make a "cum back" by releasing compilation DVDs.

Look at record albums on the BillBoard Top List; for a while it was compilation CDs. The current top 100 list at Billboard has 3 compilation CDs of the top 10.

Look at stores like iTunes that allow people to purchase a single track rather than the whole album.

DVDs are tangible items. You can replay the content over and over again.

With digital video, it's in a streaming or downloadable format.

With streaming video, you watch it one time and can't replay it. Downloadable content is good (as long as it is not locked up by DRM) and can have replay value, but it requires downloading large files and then ultimately burning them to DVD for storage and playback.

If the consumer wants a variety of video as clips rather than a full length feature porn movie.... give it to them. Release a DVD that has the content they want.

Some would argue that shooting gonzo clips will take away from "the art." It's porn; the art is in the quality of the climax.

As video companies move towards internet distribution, don't forget about DVDs. Offer members/consumers of the internet paysite the ability to purchase a DVD, but this time, don't charge $24.95/DVD.

It doesn't cost much to replicate DVDs on-demand. Create compilation versions that are clip based, and have the tangibleness to hold onto the DVD (as well as other things) in hand, rather than just as a bunch of digital files.

A lot of internet-based websites were releasing DVD's this last year and more of them won AVN awards.

How interesting it is to see DVD/video folks look towards the internet, while internet folks are looking towards DVD.

Fight the convergence crossroads!

It has long been suspected by domainers that when you do a lookup to see if a domain is registered (ie.whois lookup) at a registrar, that the registrar uses that information to either register the domain for themselves or sell that data to third-parties.

Imagine the situation that you are on Network Solutions website and you search for "ThisDomainSurelyDoesntExist.com" and find that it is available. You decide to purchase this domain from another registrar, and find that it is taken. You are confused, because you just looked up that domain and now it is taken. In this case, Network Solutions has registered the domain, taking advantage of the 5-day "domain tasting" grace period, where a domain can be registered and then returned back within 5 days.

Network Solutions is in the spotlight for doing "front running" which was suspected, but never before proved.

Some articles that go further in depth on this scandalous issue:

Domain Registrar Network Solutions Front Running On Whois Searches

Nominet Position Paper on Front Running

NSI Registers Every Domain Checked

Network Solutions Responds to Front Running Accusations

Reading the comments by the readers to the Network Solutions statement, you can get a feel that no one is buying their answer (or their high priced domains ;) )

Network Solutions is not alone in these gray-area practices, they just happen to have gotten caught.

Domainers are all watching to see what ICANN will do. The odds are on ICANN doing a hand slap and nothing more.

Fight the bit-slapping!

Update:
I went to do a lookup for: StealThisDomainFromMe.com at Network Solutions, and the domain was available to register with the result: Domain Status: Never Registered Before

Then i did a lookup at: domaintools and look what it says not more than 1 minute later:

ICANN Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Created: 2008-01-09
Expires: 2009-01-09


Checking on GoDaddy, i can't register this domain name because its "taken".

I was scanning through xbiz and found the article titled "PA Senator Proposes Study on Adult Biz Tax Plan" and a paragraph stuck out:

A Pa. state senator has proposed a study to look at levying a tax on adult products sold and adult entertainment businesses located in the state, saying that she wants to impose a tax to offset negative secondary effects caused by adult entertainment.

and this paragraph:

Orie said the study would investigate the possibility of taxing distributors and publishers of adult content, adult book and video stores, escort services and strip clubs, and argued that a tax would “remediate the harm they are doing in communities.”

How's this for a proposal: Revoke the tax-free status of churches that harbor pedofile church members, that know about such activity and refused to report it to the police.

The money collected from the taxing of the offending church could be used to "offset negative secondary effects" caused by church staff molesting children. The money could be given to organizations to support the child and family for the crimes committed.

Lawmakers who try to target the adult entertainment sector as a reason for the ills of society, should first target on the real monsters and the real crimes being committed that truely harm the community.

Fight the don't ask, don't tell!


ps. an update: a british news article about the church's contribution to pedofiles. Summary stats from the article:

$660m The amount paid out by the Los Angeles Roman Catholic archdiocese to 500 victims of sexual abuse

$2bn The amount estimated to have been paid out across the US

4,392 The number of priests alleged to have abused children in the US in the past 50 years

10,000 The number of Americans who say that they were abused

100 The number of allegations of abuse made in Ireland between1962 and 2002

21 The number of priests involved

6 of the 21 Irish priests involved died before any allegations were made against them

3,000 The number of allegations of abuse received by the Australian group Broke Rites by 2002

A follow up thought to the FTC/AFF story.

From the FTC website, they wrote:

The settlement bars the defendant from displaying sexually explicit ads to consumers unless the consumers are actively seeking out sexually explicit content or unless the consumers have consented to viewing sexually explicit content....

So if a web surfer visits an adult website that has the warning labels that it is an adult site, and they enter the website as an adult to view adult material.. how can there be obscenity charges anymore?

If the adult content was in the open (like you see on some paysites, TGP, MGP, etc)... that's one issue where people who stumble upon those images, but in circumstances when an adult choose to view content...

Maybe the adult lawyers can use this case to help in obscenity issues.

Fight the Click if over 18!