MONTREAL — Aylo Holdings (formerly MindGeek) announced Friday that it had entered into an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, to resolve a 30-month investigation of entities and affiliates of Aylo Holdings, related to allegations about shuttered production company GirlsDoPorn.
The statement by Aylo follows:
Today, Aylo Holdings Sarl (formerly MindGeek Sarl) announced that it has entered into an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, which, subject to Court approval, will resolve the Government’s 30-month investigation of entities and affiliates of Aylo Holdings.
The Government did not find that Aylo or its affiliates violated any federal criminal laws prohibiting sex trafficking or the sexual exploitation of minors, including child pornography. Based on its extensive review, the United States Attorney’s Office has agreed that it will not bring any such charges against Aylo or its related companies, provided the agreement is accepted by the Court.
After an extensive investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office and the FBI, the United States Attorney’s Office and Aylo have agreed to enter into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement related to allegations that Aylo engaged in an unlawful monetary transaction with the production company GirlsDoPorn/GirlsDoToys (GDP/GDT). Aylo is not pleading guilty to any crime, and the Government has agreed to dismiss its charge against the Company after 3 years, subject to the Court’s approval of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement and the Company’s continued compliance with the Deferred Prosecution Agreement.
Aylo deeply regrets that its platforms hosted any content produced by GDP/GDT. While the production company provided the platforms with written documentation that purported to be consent forms signed by women who were featured in the GDP/GDT productions, and Aylo was unaware of GDP/GDT’s criminal conduct, Aylo now understands that those forms were obtained by GDP/GDT through fraud and coercion.
In an effort to assist the victims of GDP/GDT’s criminal conduct, Aylo has voluntarily agreed to make monetary payments to individuals who were defrauded by the operator of the GDP/GDT sites whose images were posted on the Company’s platforms.
As the Government expressly acknowledges in entering into this Deferred Prosecution Agreement, Aylo’s affiliated company ceased engaging in any monetary transactions with the GDP/GDT operators almost 4 years ago, well prior to the commencement of the Government’s investigation.
Aylo has established and implemented a state-of-the-art compliance program and a set of internal controls to protect against the uploading and dissemination of illegal content across all of its on-line platforms, including: employing both human moderation and state of the art technology to review uploaded content before it is published on its platforms; employing state of the art proprietary and third-party AI-based software developed and designed to detect images or videos potentially depicting minors in content uploaded to its platforms; employing state of the art proprietary and third-party software to fingerprint identified illegal content, including non-consensual content, in order to prevent its re-upload and dissemination on its platforms.
In addition, the Company, under its new ownership, is taking additional steps to combat the dissemination of illegal content throughout the internet, including on platforms that it does not own or control. Such steps include, collaborating with law enforcement agencies on innovative approaches to help eradicate non-consensual and other illegal content from the internet.
To further ensure public confidence in the efficacy of the Company's compliance program, as part of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, the Company has also agreed to an independent third-party Monitor to assess its compliance program for a period of three years, demonstrating its commitment to provide even greater transparency into its trust, safety, and compliance measures.
Aylo is committed to quality adult entertainment made solely by and for consenting adults on platforms that set the standard for trust and safety, and instituting compliance measures that surpass those of other platforms on the internet. With the support of its new owners, Aylo will further its research and adoption of state-of-the-art on-line safety protocols to ensure that it remains a world-class leader in trust and safety and that its platforms are inclusive, sex-positive spaces for adults.
A company rep added, “We were troubled to learn that a production company used criminal means to produce its content and submitted consent documentation that we now know was obtained by fraud and coercion. We must be vigilant to stop those seeking to use our platforms illegally, and to respond to ever-changing threats and challenges.
“We are pleased that, after a thorough 30-month investigation, the government did not conclude that Aylo violated any federal criminal laws prohibiting sex trafficking. Aylo also did not engage in any illegal activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors or child pornography, and the government has not charged Aylo with doing so.
“We are committed to building on our efforts to remain at the forefront of content moderation on the internet, and we are grateful that the U.S. Attorney's Office recognized the robust trust and safety measures that Aylo has implemented. As this episode has demonstrated, it is the responsibility of every content-sharing platform to remain vigilant against wrongdoers and implement robust processes and policies to ensure the safety of all content creators. As a company, the safety of our community is our top priority, and we will continue to work so that we may remain a leader in online trust and safety.”
Solomon Friedman, VP of compliance for private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners, which acquired Aylo in March, stated: “As the new ownership group, we are confident that the Aylo team and all its platforms operate with trust and safety at the forefront of everything they do. We are committed to working with law enforcement and regulators to respond to ever-changing threats and challenges, and are pleased that the government recognized Aylo’s sophisticated trust and safety processes and overall compliance program in the agreement. This agreement is representative of ECP’s commitment to support the fight against illegal material. We have zero tolerance for illegal material and the agreement demonstrates that we take our responsibilities very seriously. This is reflective of our personal and corporate values. Day in and day out, Aylo’s trust and safety and engineering teams work collaboratively with law enforcement, advocacy groups and other stakeholders to prevent online abuse and to hold those abusers to account.”
For more information, visit Aylo.com.
