Xbiz world 2014 01 by phuong2110

WORLD THE INDUSTRY SOURCE FOR THE DIGITAL MEDIA MARKET JANUARY 2014 | WWW.XBIZ.COM

XBIZ Awards Nears

New Ownership

WIA Woman of Month

KIRSTEN PRICE WILL HOST BACKSTAGE WINNER’S CIRCLE PAGE 72

GIRLFRIENDS FILMS’ DAN O’CONNELL SELLS STUDIO TO MOOSE PAGE 72

MAGALIE RHEAULT LEADS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT FOR FAMEDOLLARS PAGE 89

The Great Firewall of Britain

ALSO INSIDE

Trademark Basics u Learn about rights protection for branding PAGE 20

Will Censorship Spread Elsewhere?

By Lawrence G. Walters & Kimberly A. Harchuck

On Partnerships u Trust, support are vital ingredients PAGE 26

On the Scene u Eurowebtainment, GameLink anniversary

ADULT inDUsTry visionAries shAre Their projecTions for 2014 pAges 30-39

PAGES 106-109

QUICK INDEX OPINION RE: THINK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 RES IPSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 PIRACY JOURNAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 ALL ABOUT SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 LEGAL REALITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 HOSTING TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 PAYSITE POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 IT’S JUST ADULT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

MARKET WATCH BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 TECHNOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 TRAFFIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 MOBILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 LAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 STUDIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 GAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

OTHER DEPARTMENTS THE INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 ON THE SCENE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Q&A PRESIDENTIAL SUITE

ONDON — We started hearing rumblings of antiporn censorship by European governments at the beginning of 2013. Back in March, the E.U. Parliament voted on a proposal that would have set out the path for laws “banning pornography in all media” across the E.U., including the Internet. Fortunately, the controversial “porn ban” section of the proposal – not so aptly titled, “A Resolution on Eliminating Gender Stereotypes in the E.U.” — was struck down “amidst censorship concerns.” Instead of genuinely examining the potential censorship issues with Please see CENSORSHIP, page 99

SPECIAL REPORT

The Eventual Moratorium

TODD GLIDER

Places Sharp Focus on Innovation

The psychological and financial impact of moratoriums are taking their toll in Porn Valley, where it is hitting home for those who ply their trade in adult film production. See HIV & The Industry Special Report, page 72

PAGE 28

Turnkey Platform

Studio Content

MODEL-TO-FAN SERVICE RELEASED IN BETA PAGE 44

OPENLIFE OPENS NEW MEMBERSHIP SITE PAGE 45

Maskurbate Deal GAMMA ENTERTAINMENT EXPANDS DEAL FOR MASKURBATE.COM PAGE 78

INSIDE XBIZ WORLD January 2014

CONTENTS Executive Seat: Sean Christian SEAN CHRISTIAN, FRIENDFINDER NETWORK’S VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES, IS GEARING FOR A BANNER YEAR IN 2014 PAGE 4O

SHE Will Debut in 2015 ADNET MEDIA HAS ANNOUNCED PRELIMINARY PLANS FOR THE FIRST-EVER SEXUAL HEALTH EXPO IN 2015 PAGE 42

MileHighMedia.com Launches A NEW MEGA-SITE FEATURING CONTENT FROM ALL FOUR OF MILE HIGH’S STUDIOS HAS BEEN LAUNCHED PAGE 45

Sara Jay: ‘I’m Not Dead’ ADULT PERFORMER SARA JAY STREAMS AN “I’M NOT DEAD” CAM SHOW TO PROVE SHE’S ALIVE AND WELL PAGE 47

Piracy-Fighting Patent AT&T HAS RECEIVED A PATENT FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL DETECT AND BLOCK FILE-SHARING SOFTWARE IN REAL-TIME PAGE 54

GoDaddy Parked in Lawsuit GODADDY.COM IS CYBERSQUATTING WITH “PARKED PAGES” IN A LAWSUIT POTENTIALLY WORTH MILLIONS, A FEDERAL SUIT SAYS PAGE 64

FSC Board Members for 2014

THE FREE SPEECH COALITION HAS ANNOUNCED NEW AND RE-ELECTED MEMBERS TO ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS PAGE 64

Jesse Jane in ‘Lollipop’ DIGITAL PLAYGROUND CONTRACT STAR JESSE JANE PLAYS A BAD GIRL STRIPPER ON THE RUN IN “LOLLIPOP” PAGE 75

Sparks in Model Search JASON SPARKS WILL RELAUNCH HIS SITE, JASONSPARKSLIVE.COM WITH A NATIONWIDE MODEL SEARCH PAGE 80

WEB DEPOT reviews of useful web-based tools pages 100-101 } code.google.com/p/html5shiv } microsoft.com/web/webmatrix } limeweave.com } Uniprogy.com/pinterest-clone

6 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

January 2014

THE OPENER

VOL. 10 NO. 1

Editor’s Note

hat does the crystal ball say for the online adult industry in 2014? In this issue, XBIZ World asked some of the top industry executives what they’re envisioning for cams, paysites, mobile sites, dating sites, processing and traffic in 2014, In our special section called Industry Outlook we also asked a number of industry lawyers what they had to say were going to be the pressing issues for year. It could be a pivotal year for the adult entertainment space as it adjusts and grows in the midst of changing business models and consumer tastes — including preference of delivery methods and tools to make payments — all while the business faces continuing regulation. This issue of XBIZ World starts off looking at the issues of censorship now marching forward in the U.K. The Internet and other communication technologies have created unprecedented opportunities to share and distribute information, including that of pornography, opening up a crucial medium through which people can express themselves and share ideas. Britain's filter, which comes into full effect this month, will block far more than adult content. Apparently that was always the intention, and just recently it has become clear that the mission of Internet censorship is even clearer. In the name of protecting children, a terrifying precedent is being set for state control of the web.

WORLD THE INDUSTRY SOURCE FOR THE DIGITAL MEDIA MARKET FOUNDER & PUBLISHER ALEC HELMY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT KRISTEN KAYE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, RETAIL SARA RAMIREZ EXECUTIVE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR DON PARRET EXECUTIVE MANAGING EDITOR DAN MILLER ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR ARIANA RODRIGUEZ SENIOR TECHNOLOGY EDITOR STEPHEN YAGIELOWICZ

Words almost fail over this, Prime Minister David Cameron. But here's one that comes to mind: Seriously? Lawrence G. Walters and Kimberly A. Harchuck take a look at the issues over the prime minister's moves in the U.K., and discuss how the porn industry must view this new and very creepy reality on Page 3. Enjoy the issue, and we’ll see you at XBIZ 360 and the XBIZ Awards later this month.

FEATURES EDITOR BOB JOHNSON ASSOCIATE EDITOR LILA GRAY EVENTS DIRECTOR MOE HELMY CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER MIKE ABLE CONTROLLER KRISTINE MARIE SENIOR ART DIRECTOR DANIEL CHAN GRAPHIC DESIGNER RICK BRENES TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATOR DAVE SCHULTZ SENIOR WEB DEVELOPER NICK YU

DON PARRET don@xbiz.com

SENIOR WEB ADMINISTRATOR ALAN HAWKINS ASSOCIATE WEB ADMINISTRATOR JOE FREDERICK MEDIA PRODUCER KRIS BERTRAND ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR LADY BEVEL

OPINIONS

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Q BOYER ADRIAN DEGUS AJ HALL ALEX HENDERSON JUICY JAY PETER PHINNEY GREGORY PICCIONELLI

XBIZ WORLD COLUMNISTS FEATURED THIS MONTH

PHOTOGRAPHY F.U.B.A.R.

Q Boyer looks beyond content sales for sustainable revenue streams Page 12

Lawrence Walters discusses his new app for adult production record-keeping Page 14

Peter Phinney on trademark, copyright and counterfeit products Page 16

Adrian Degus says it’s time to strategize after Google’s algorithm changes. Page 18

XBIZ WORLD (ISSN 1949-3347) IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY ADNET MEDIA AT 5042 WILSHIRE BLVD., NO. 487, LOS ANGELES, CA 90036. TELEPHONE: (310) 820-0228. FAX: (310) 734-1577. THE ADVERTISER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ADVERTISING CONTENT, INCLUDING PHOTOS AND/OR ARTWORK, SUBMITTED FOR ADVERTISEMENT AND SHALL INDEMNIFY THE PUBLISHER FROM ANY LEGAL ACTIONS RESULTING FROM STATEMENTS, PHOTOS OR ARTWORK PRINTED IN THEIR AD DUE TO COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT, LACK OF PROPER RELEASES, AGE VERIFICATION, IDENTITY AND LIBEL.

ADVERTISING SALES@XBIZ.COM OR CALL (310) 820-0228, EXT. 702 CHANGE OF ADDRESS ADMINISTRATION@XBIZ.COM NEWS TIPS, LETTERS EDITORS@XBIZ.COM CONNECT WITH US www.xbiz.net/editors www.facebook.com www.twitter.com/xbiz http://m.xbiz.com

Gregory Piccionelli: Rights protection is critically important for effective branding Page 20

There’s a symbiotic relationship between site speed and e-commerce, Steven Daris says Page 22

AJ Hall says the next big thing for online entrepreneurs may be ... nothing Page 24

Juicy Jay: For a partnership to be successful you must trust, support the direction Page 26

http://www.xbiz.com/rss

wia

womeninadult.com

8 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

BY Q BOYER

Re: Think

Core Product, or Loss Leader? £ Looking Beyond Content Sales for Sustainable Revenue Streams

ince re-joining the ranks of the self-employed back in June, I’ve been spending a lot of time talking with adult business owners about the state of the market, and more to the point, the state of their own enterprises. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone reading this column that their assessment of the adult entertainment market is not an encouraging one. Traffic from virtually all sources has declined, they report — in particular from affiliates and search engines, two sources that were crucial in building and sustaining profitability. The traffic they do receive doesn’t convert reliably, not just when compared to the good old days of the late 1990s, but in comparison to recent years, as well. The list of woes goes on and on, and it’s driving a downward spiral of spending cuts, staff layoffs, reduction in ad buys, and virtually every other outlay that they once considered indispensable and inevitable costs of doing business. The various causes of the industry’s sales decline have been debated at length in industry publications, on webmaster message boards and during trade show panel discussions. Rehashing those debates serves little point; whatever the cause of the decline, what’s relevant at this point is what adult businesses can do to reverse, or at least offset, losses they have experienced in revenue from the direct sale of content, be it through a subscription adult site, a video-on-demand platform, or the sale of physical media products. For those who cherish the memory of earning solid profits from the direct sale of adult content, there’s a sad possibility that needs to be considered: the days of driving substantial revenue through content sales alone may be behind us. To be sure, there are still companies making good money from content sales, just as there has been a body of enterprises that have continued to flourish in other entertainment and content markets that have suffered in recent years, like the recording and motion picture industries. The existence of such exceptions does not prove that any given market sector is healthy, however; it merely shows that in a contracting market, revenue

A 16-year veteran of the online adult entertainment industry and long time XBIZ contributor, Q Boyer provides public relations, publicity, consulting and copywriting services to clients that range from adult website operators to mainstream brick and mortar businesses.

12 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

often consolidates in a direction that mirrors the relative market share owned by these exceptions to the rule. So, how does a company that has hitherto earned its bread on the strength of direct content sales respond to a market wherein its content’s value has descended to near zero as a matter of consumer perception? The company has to adjust its orientation to the market, and consider the possibility of treating adult content as a loss leader, a magnet that draws consumers in, and focus on deriving revenue from other goods and services that the company offers.

his is, in essence, what a lot of tube site operators have done — and in doing it largely with content that they didn’t pay to produce in the first place, they are offering a loss leader that really didn’t involve much cost to them, other than the bandwidth consumed by all those millions of video views. In monetizing traffic by advertising products like dating sites and live cams, tube sites have established an ad-supported revenue model that undermines the value of one manner of adult content, while trading on the sustained value of others. In the months and years ahead, adult content producers will need to consider doing the same with their own content – using it as a draw to bring in eyeballs, and then relying on

“

The transition to a new revenue model is not to be taken lightly, and it’s not just a matter of swapping out adult ads for mainstream ones, but it’s also not an insurmountable task. exposing consumers to products other than content to generate revenue and ROI on the cost of producing the content in the first place. I’m not saying that content producers need to launch their own tube sites (many already have), or that they should follow the tube site model down to the letter. The market will only support so many tubes, and the same marketshare dynamics that have strangled subscription sites will limit the success of new tube site operators, as well. In other words, until or unless existing tube sites lose some of their Please see BOYER, page 90

BY LAWRENCE G. WALTERS

Res Ipsa

2257 Compliance? £ There’s an App for Adult Production Record-keeping: Quick2257

ur firm’s approach to adult entertainment law has always included the use of technology in conjunction with legal advice. So, years ago, when Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) requiring that all adult websites incorporate some form of user age verification, we created the BirthDateVerifier to offer our clients a legal compliance option, while the courts sorted out the constitutionality of the law. A few years later, when our content producers clients’ copyrighted material started being pirated at a rapid pace, we launched our automated DMCA Notice generator, described on DMCANotice.com, to allow these clients a quick, simple tool to have the infringing content removed without incurring legal fees. These devices, along with other forms, guides, and compliance tools, have always been made available to our clients free of charge, or at a very low cost, as a supplement to our legal knowledge, attention, experience — which is what any lawyer really sells. The 2257 records problem has been a difficult one to solve in the past, given the limits of available consumer technology. Sure, experienced website operators could design, code and implement custom records-uploading web pages, but those still required users to scan and email their IDs, after filling out online forms with inconsistent and sometimes confusing fields or requests for information. Everyone’s system was different, and some were missing key information required by federal law. The integration of high-quality cameras on mobile devices, along with the ubiquitous availability of broadband or 3G/4G Internet connections, has changed the world in many ways. We can now deposit checks without going to the bank, submit insurance claims with pictures, and upload endless content to our favorite social networking sites. But these advances have also made it much easier for adult performers, webcam models, escort advertisers, and other producers of sexually explicit depictions to instantly create the necessary 2257 records, and send them to the desired records custodian — in a matter of minutes. Quick2257 is designed to be operated and understood by users with little or no legal training. With the proper tool, 18 U.S.C. § 2257 perLawrence G .Walters is the founder of Walters Law Group, and has represented adult industry clients for more than 20 years. Nothing in this article is intended as legal advice. Walters can be reached at (800) 530-8137, larry@firstamendment.com, or FirstAmendment.com.

14 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

“

We’ve launched the product at the low, introductory price of 99 cents to encourage the industry to experiment with the app, and understand its potential value.

former records are not that difficult to compile. This new application is designed to; 1) guide the user through the process of filling out the required elements of 2257 information 2) capture a legible, color copy of the front and back of the picture ID card, 3) certify the accuracy of the information, and 4) send all the information to the records custodian in one portable .pdf file, using the device’s email function. We’ve launched the product at the low, introductory price of 99 cents to encourage the industry to experiment with the app, and understand its potential value. Webcam networks, online advertising directories, dating sites, and traditional adult websites may find that this simple app is more efficient than their

custom web page uploads or other methods currently in operation. While there is no “one size fits all” 2257 compliance solution, we believe that Quick2257 goes a long way in simplifying a once complex process of compiling and categorizing 2257 information. A few caveats: First, there is no substitute for legal advice on 2257 issues. This author has rarely published any articles, blog posts or other information on 2257 compliance, because it is a complex topic, and more appropriate for legal advice by a competent adult entertainment attorney.

hose readers who are unfamiliar with 2257 should obtain as much information and advice as possible, before venturing into the world of adult content production. Regardless of which device or technology you use to assist with 2257 compliance, make sure the process is vetted by your legal counsel. Second, the application is not intended to generate or maintain a database of all legally required 2257 data. Certain elements, like a copy of the subject content, and the associated URLs for website depictions, must be separately obtained if not already in the possession of the records custodian. Typically, however, that data is generated and stored by the website operator; not the performer. This application is focused on generating the necessary records that are ordinarily in the possession of the performer. Please see WALTERS, page 93

BY PETER PHINNEY

Piracy Journal

Knocking Knock Offs £ Trademark, Copyright and Counterfeit Products Proliferate Online

merican copyright law has traditionally been intertwined with how we view patents and trademarks. In fact, the U.S. House and Senate Patent Committee and it’s Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights was responsible for crafting copyright law until fairly recently, and the individual industries affected by copyright have always been the entities that shape actual legislative updates in the U.S. It’s no wonder that the law slants toward some of those older industries, and away from others who are new to the scene and have less wellestablished lobbyists representing their special interests. Since the original copyright statute enacted by Congress in 1790, the law has been revised repeatedly until 1989, when President Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act into law. Without getting into too much detail, the concept of trademark relates to protection of keywords of phrases that are associated with “the origin of particular goods.” The concept of copyright relates to protection of “original works of authorship,” which might mean text, or images, music, movies or video, etc. While the two appear similar, the test of infringement for each is quite different, as is the application for registration, waiting times, enforcement process, etc. When it comes to adult, our industry is effected by both copyright and trademark infringement issues, copyright in the case of adult video and trademark in the case of pleasure products. Last fall, our company began a pilot program with the Free Speech Coalition to look at trademark issues regarding pleasure products, otherwise known as sex toys. The idea came out of a casual lunch conversation I had with Diane Duke, CEO of the FSC, where we discussed how our company had developed considerable expertise in tracking counterfeit DVD sales online, and as we were doing so, we noticed more and more pleasure products that were being sold by the same individuals who were unloading DVDs they advertised as “ships in plain paper sleeve, no artwork, DVD-R.” Clearly we thought, if the DVD is on a computer disk with no studio box or cover art, and it’s selling online for $2.99 plus shipping, it’s a pretty safe bet that the DVD is not authentic. But if that same crook is selling brand name vibrators, handcuffs, ball gags and other items – in some cases leather harnesses, chaps, and other sex paraphernalia, we might suspect

Peter Phinney runs Porn Guardian with business partner Dominic Ford. The company offers a full suite of anti-piracy services to the adult industry and currently represents more than 370 individual brands across all content niches.

16 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

on product manufacturers’ bottom line. In one case, we found an item that was manufactured in California and retailed for over $60, that was being offered in a counterfeit version online through a Chinese website for under $5 (plus shipping of about $12 to the U.S.) More remarkable, the counterfeit item was promoted using the actual manufacturer’s installation photos taken directly from their online catalog. And the counterfeit item was being advertised using the actual manufacturer’s trademarked brand name.

that those items were also counterfeit. But how could we know for certain they were not genuine? We wondered if our friends on the pleasure products side of the adult industry were suffering the same degree of theft that our video content clients were suffering. After that lunch, Diane put us in touch with two pleasure products manufacturers and we launched this pilot effort to see if we could uncover, then help curb counterfeit beyond video. It didn’t take long after we studied the companies’ product catalogs to begin to uncover online sales of items that we suspected were not genuine.

t quickly became apparent that we needed to add a legal mind to the team so we selected a young, aggressive local attorney to advise us on issues involving test of trademark infringement, to compose cease-and-desist letters and the like. As we began to dig, it became clear that the problem of counterfeit pleasure products offered online was extensive, and like digital piracy, it had to be having a deleterious impact

o in this case, there was trademark infringement (unauthorized use of the brand name) as well as copyright infringement (use of the manufacturer’s photos and installation instructions.) That particular item was offered on eBay and we had it taken down in 24 hours. The seller was notified of our complaint and offered an opportunity to explain his position and provide appropriate documentation of any licensing agreements. He remained silent. Will the item be offered for sale somewhere else now? Perhaps, but at least it’s not on eBay anymore, and the seller has been put on notice that the manufacturer of the genuine item is aggressively enforcing their rights to their trademark brand and their proprietary distribution system. For purposes of this pilot program, we’ve focused on online sales venues that we know well and we trust – large American online retailers and auction sites that care about customer satisfaction. In some cases we’ve had terrific instant success. We provide documentation with our complaint, and the items are removed from offer in less than 24 hours. But in other cases, most notably with Amazon.com, we are having some trouble navigating their abuse reporting protocols. It’s much too early to tell whether our difficulty is a result of us not fully understanding Amazon’s relationship to its vendors, or whether there are other factors at work – including the size and structure of the company that make dealing with Amazon especially challenging. Most everyone knows by now that Amazon has become the world’s largest e-commerce site, with annual sales of over $60 billion. It sells in 10 countries (German sales second to the U.S.,) and has 200 million active customers. When we followed Amazon’s prescribed procedure for reporting abusive sales, we received the following response to our complaint of infringement: “If you believe sellers are offering an item different than advertised, the Copyright department at Amazon.com will be unable to assist you. Any reports of a possible violation of the Amazon.com Community Rules and/or Participation Agreement are handled by our Seller Performance team.” And when we approached this same item from the point of view of authenticity, we received this: Please see PHINNEY, page 92

BY ADRIAN DEGUS

All About SEO

Linking Up in 2014 £ After a Frustrating Year Due to Google Algorithm Changes, It’s Time to Strategize

ast year, saw a wave of major Google algorithm changes that all changed the way adult sites have to approach search engine marketing. Since the early days of our industry we have relied on a standard set of methods to rank our sites for popular keywords, specifically buying and trading links. These two methods have always gone against Google’s guidelines, they just didn’t have a reliable way to detect it until now. This means our approach to link building needs to evolve to be better aligned with Google’s ideals but without compromising the effectiveness needed to compete for valuable Top 10 ranks. n HOW LINK BUILDING USED TO WORK Prior to Penguin, Google’s algorithm filter, designed to combat spam, launched on April 24, 2012, link building to adult sites was fairly easy. The easiest method of all was trading links with other adult sites. In the beginning we could simply trade homepage links with another site. This eventually evolved into more sophisticated methods of link trading which included A/B/C and A/B/C/D trades. An A/B trade basically means site A linking directly to site B. A/B/C trades means site A linking to site B but receiving a reciprocal link from site C. A/B/C/D means site A links to site B in return for a reciprocal link from site C to site D. Each of these methods of trading links were essentially designed to trick Google into thinking the links were given rather than traded. The most popular method to rank sites using link trades was to operate a network of sites solely intended for trading links that all eventually pointed back to one primary site intended for ranking. Penguin effectively identified and devalued links involved in trading, taking down many adult sites in the process. Subsequent updates to Penguin on May 25 and Oct. 5 of 2012 and both updates on May 22 and Oct. 4 of 2013 corrected any shortcomings the original Penguin might have had. Throughout 2013 the majority of every adult business who contacted us for SEO consulting had been negatively affected by Penguin. Adrian “Yo Adrian” DeGus is a 12-year adult industry veteran and founder of Adult SEO Partners, a professional adult SEO agency catering to large established adult sites. DeGus, who has provided advanced consulting services to many leading sites in the adult industry, also operates Adult SEO Training, a popular service that helps webmasters, program operators and affiliate managers to learn in-house SEO.

18 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

And as if Penguin weren’t enough, on June 11 Google rolled out what they called the payday loan update which intentionally targeted notoriously spammy markets, specifically payday loans and porn. All of these major algorithm changes essentially closed all of the link building loopholes we adult webmasters have come to rely on. However, in order to compete in search in 2014 your methods must evolve. n WHAT PENGUIN LOOKS FOR Penguin is a complex algorithm, but one that essentially only utilizes a small set of criteria to identify violating, or otherwise spammy, links. At its core Penguin looks for large numbers of links that share the same anchor text, point to the same page and that are on low value pages. This is essentially the description of a link trade. When a blog slaps your link in a side bar or a footer that link is immediately published across every page of that blog creating thousands of identical links on low value (internal) pages. Google of course understands that blogrolls exist and serve a legitimate purpose, but if the majority of your links match this footprint than you risk link devaluations and even penalties.

e use a standardized system we’ve developed over the year to quickly identify whether ranking problems were a result of a Penguin penalty. This system has become very useful, not only for our clients but for adult site operators who contact us for SEO help. We can see

not only if a site has been hit by Penguin, but we can specifically see which links were likely responsible and should be removed. This is useful because ranking problems caused by Penguin have to be treated very differently from ranking problems caused by anything else. If you suspect a Penguin penalty and start removing or disavowing links you could do more harm than good. n HOW TO BUILD POWERFUL LINKS IN 2014 The key to building links in 2014 is to make sure all of your links appear as natural as possible. This is because Google gives more credit to links that other people give you than to links you give yourself. And they do this because links are at the center of their ranking algorithm. Links tell search engines how popular, reputable and trustworthy a site is which they use to determine where it should rank. Think of a link as a vote. Every link you get is someone voting for your site to rank well. If you have more votes than the next site than your site should rank better. I say should rank better because as we all know, not all votes are equal. If you have 100 links (votes) but Google knows you had a role in getting 50 of them yourself (by trading links or by placing links on other sites you operate) than another site with 75 links can out-rank yours. The reputability behind the vote (or the authority of the page your link is on) matters as well. Assume you’re looking for a lawyer. You ask a dozen friends who all recommend a lawyer they saw an advertisement for. Please see DEGUS, page 85

BY GREGORY A. PICCIONELLI

Legal Reality

Trademark Basics

£ Learn About Rights Protection Critically Important for Effective Branding

e live in the age of information. It is an extraordinary time, unlike all others, where literally billions of people have access to an unprecedented amount and scope of content. Amid it all is a relentless deluge of advertising information that has challenged sellers of goods and services like never before to find a way to somehow stand out and “get through the noise” to reach new customers. As the competition for eyes and ears intensifies, so too does the importance of effective branding and brand-building. For more than two decades, as an attorney and business consultant, I have helped a wide variety of companies develop, exploit and protect their brands. While the process of effective branding and brand-building is by its nature always unique for each company, one critical element is common to virtually every branding and brand-building program: the acquisition and effective use of trademark rights. In this article, we will explore some the basics of trademark rights protection that are critically important for any effective branding program.

n WHAT ARE TRADEMARKS? Trademarks are a form of intellectual property that provide a trademark owner with a limited monopoly in the use of names, designs, logos, phrases and even, in some cases, sounds, used in association with goods in interstate commerce. Service marks provide the same type of protection for services. (For the purposes of this article I will use the term “trademark” generically to refer to both service marks and trademarks.) Because trademark rights constitute intellectual property, like real property (land, homes, office buildings, etc.) and personal property (cars, jewelry, computers, etc.), intellectual property can be bought, sold, licensed, rented and even function as security for bank loans.

any entertainment companies own and exploit valuable trademarks and have made their trademarks the cornerstone of their branding and trademark licensing efforts. For these companies, their marks have become very valuable company assets that have helped set their companies apart from their competitors. Disney®, Marvel®, Playboy®, and Hustler® are all good examples of entertainment companies that effectively exploit their brands through trademark licensing. Virtually any legal product or service can be

Gregory A. Piccionelli is an entertainment and Internet attorney and free speech advocate. He can be reached at (818) 201-3955 or greg@piccionellisarno.com.

2 0 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

associated with a trademark. For example, online entertainment companies can trademark website names, affiliate program names, and even contract star names.

n WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF A TRADEMARK? The primary purpose of a trademark is to identify the source of the goods or services associated with the mark, and to distinguish that source from others in the marketplace. Consequently, the owner of a valid trademark can prevent another person from using that trademark or a confusingly similar mark to identify similar goods or services. Because of this, it is first important to determine whether you can rightfully use a desired name, design, logo, phrase, etc., in association with your products or services. This inquiry is best made prior to committing resources to the launching of a product or service. Sadly, too often, clients come to us fully committed economically, and often emotionally, to a mark that unfortunately belongs to someone else. Unfortunately, for some companies the receipt of court papers alleging trademark infringement is the first time they learn that another party claims trademark rights in a brand name in which they have invested large sums of money and company good will on packaging and advertising. Consequently, before you become wedded to using a name, a phrase, a symbol, etc., in association with a product or service I strongly recommend that you perform a “trademark search” and have the results evaluated by a competent trademark attorney. Trademark rights can only be acquired by a party through the use of a mark in association

with specific goods or services in interstate commerce. This differs from copyrights, which automatically belong to the authors of expressive works at the time the works are created. Thus the mere registration of a domain name will not, in and of itself, generate any trademark rights for the registrant. Another important distinction from copyrights is the fact that copyrights have a limited duration, whereas there is no set term for trademark rights. Trademark rights can theoretically continue indefinitely because they are principally tied to the mark’s continued use in interstate commerce. The potentially unlimited duration of trademark rights provides one of the major asset-building benefits provided by trademark ownership. The “Coca-Cola” trademark, for example, was first registered on Jan. 31, 1893 and has enjoyed continuous protection since. But that mark is a relative new kid on the block compared to a certain famous British insurance company’s trademark, “Lloyd’s of London,” which has been in use for several hundred years.

n OBTAINING VALUABLE ‘COMMON LAW’ TRADEMARK RIGHTS In the U.S., a party is not required to formally register a trademark to obtain trademark rights in a word, phrase or logo associated with a product or service. In fact, “common-law” trademark rights may be acquired by a person or entity through the continuous use of a mark in association with goods or services sold in interstate commerce. Such common-law trademark rights are, however, generally limited to Please see PICCIONELLI, page 86

BY STEVEN DARIS

Hosting Talk

Fast and Furious

£ Site Speed and E-commerce: a Symbiotic Relationship

n the early days of the Internet, it wasn’t uncommon to wait 30-40 seconds to download even relatively simple pages – slow loading was one of the defining characteristics of the web in its early days. The kind of content-rich websites that we now take for granted were but a glimmer in our eyes. It’s no coincidence that ecommerce was virtually non-existent back then, relegated to a handful of pioneering websites that essentially served as online catalogs and order forms. As the web’s infrastructure improved, the conditions were set for the ecommerce revolution. From the very beginning, speed and sales have been intertwined and now the success of every ecommerce site relates directly to the rate at which it functions. From search engines to online shopping sites, the importance of speed, particularly the quickness of page-loads, is a crucial element for profit. Leading technology companies spend millions to improve the speed of their sites and products, in some cases by mere fractions of a second, underscoring just how big a difference even a miniscule difference in speed can make. For example, through internal research and analysis of their proprietary data, Google discovered that a slowdown of just 500 milliseconds resulted in a 20 percent decrease in ad revenue, while Amazon reported that a 100ms speed reduction lead to a 1 percent decrease. On its Bing search engine, Microsoft found that a two-second slowdown on the return of search engine results caused a significant reduction in overall queries to the engine, as well as a corresponding decline in clicks on search result pages. Given the importance of speed to ecommerce, it’s imperative to optimize your websites to facilitate fast response to user requests, minimal buffering and lag time for media content, and fast page loading speed. Keep in mind that there will always be factors beyond the control of site owners and administrators, especially on a network as complex and interconnected as the global Internet, but these tips will go a long way toward ensuring that your sites are as fast and responsive as possible. n CHOOSE A HOSTING PROVIDER WITH EXCELLENT CONNECTIVITY, DATA THROUGHPUT AND REDUNDANCY In many ways, great website performance begins and ends with your host’s network. Be sure to choose a provider with a high-capacity network, an excellent track record of stability and uptime, and (ideally) multiple, redundant connections to the Internet backbone.

n OPTIMIZE YOUR IMAGES AND OTHER WEBPAGE CONTENT Even in the age of readily available broadband services for consumers, there’s no need to use images with file sizes large enough to slow down your page loads. It’s possible to compress an image considerably without reducing its visual quality, so make sure it’s a high priority. Save all images in JPEG format, if you can, and remove any unnecessary comments or colors, n AVOID UNNECESSARY OR REDUNDANT SCRIPTING A lot of web pages get a little “script happy” and use complex coding to do jobs that could be handled with far simpler scripting, or wind up with redundant code over time. Regularly audit the code of your site, especially any that executes as a function of the initial loading of your site. You want to avoid requiring the user’s browser to process any code that simply isn’t necessary to the core function of your site and/or shopping cart. n MINIFY HTML, CSS AND JAVASCRIPT

Steven Daris is CEO and co-founder of Red Apple Media (RedAppleMedia.com), a managed hosting, ecommerce and video streaming solutions provider.

22 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Minify HTML, CSS and JavaScript speed up these formats’ loading times by “minifying” or compressing them. You can find several online tools to do this, including Will Peavy minifier

and Autoptimize for WordPress. n MINIMIZE REDIRECTS Though redirects are necessary, they add latency so be sure to keep only the ones that are absolutely necessary. Google recommends avoiding reference URLs known to redirect to other URLs and to make sure that all start points redirect directly to their target page with no middle steps. n PUT CSS IN THE DOCUMENT HEAD; IMPROVE RENDERING PERFORMANCE BY PUTTING STYLESHEETS IN THE HEAD OF EACH WEBPAGE Browsers often leave visitors looking at a white screen until all external stylesheets have been downloaded, so by referencing them – as well as inline style blocks – at the head of the page, you can ensure a progressive render and a positive user experience. There are many other things you can do to optimize the performance and speed of your websites, including employing content distribution networks, making intelligent use of cloud hosting, and taking advantage of browser and server caching. But heeding the simple, fundamental advice outlined above will provide a solid basis to start from – and offer a speedbased revenue boost that should be quickly noticeable when analyzing your bottom line. a

BY AJ HALL

Paysite Power

Refinining the Biz £ Next Big Thing for Online Entrepreneurs May Be ... Nothing

ith every new year we kick off, the big question always is, “What will be the next big thing?” The start of a new year signifies different things for people. For some it’s an opportunity to start fresh, for others it’s simply about carrying on where things left off. But for many, the new year will start full of energy and renewed vigor. So what will be the next big thing? The answer, in my opinion, surprising as it may sound, is ... nothing. I believe nothing will be the next big thing, and we will actually begin to take a step backwards – in a good way. If I had to assign a word to it, the word would be “refinement.” I believe we will see a continued refinement of what an adult website is and what the user experience is all about. We’ve seen the same refinement in everything from Google’s offerings to Amazon’s brilliantly simple mobile purchasing process. n WHERE WE’VE BEEN

First we pioneered and created with a blank canvas. Then we dazzled and entered a period where glitz and glam and novelty and shock value ruled. Then developed things we didn’t need, things no one cared about but site owners and affiliates and that catered to the 1% and not the 99 percent. Throughout most of this we pushed technology to no avail and the benefit of the expense and the effort just wasn’t there. Finally we realized we didn’t need uber-creative, fancy sites with dozens of features; we just needed to focus on the product and the user experience and offer the “right” features that add value for members and help us squeeze more money out of every content buyer. n WHERE WE’RE HEADED We’ve already begun the process of scaling down, or dare I say dumbing down of, adult sites and focusing on the customer’s wants and needs instead of the wants and needs of affiliates or site owners. This will lead to a kind of refinement and simplification that will AJ Hall is a 12-year adult industry veteran and the co-founder and CEO of Elevated X Inc., a provider of popular adult CMS software for the online adult entertainment industry. Elevated X powers more than 2,000 leading adult sites, has been nominated for industry awards 11 times and won the 2012 XBIZ Award for Software Company of the Year.

24 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

make adult sites more efficient business machines than ever before. I believe we will see production ramp up again as companies cease to fear moving away from traditional download models in favor of promoting the use of more modern technology that delivers adult content to personal devices and brings it into bedrooms in ways we would have never imagined 10 years ago. n WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE The Internet has reached maturity. Now that use has become commonplace, web users are habitual and have been trained over years of use to expect and respond to specific things. Designs will become cleaner, smaller and leaner overall. The adult aesthetic is gradually moving the way of other media and presenting customers with quality products and subtle reinforcement of sales hooks and triggers instead of trying to ram the message down the viewer’s throat using visual means in an attempt to stand out. Collectively as an industry we are quickly coming to realize that less is more and that a product that’s in demand and can find its target audience still commands a nice premium even when competing with free tubes and piracy.

he product itself hasn’t changed much but delivery methods and video delivery technology is improving and is better equipped to allow site owners to cater to users on just about any device, with any screen size, big or small. Of course we can expect to hear new buzzwords and talk of trends and the latest and greatest but based on cycles, we’re still a year or two away from anything major and standards are still what they’ve been over the last

“

Collectively as an industry we are quickly coming to realize that less is more and that a product that’s in demand and can find its target audience still commands a nice premium even when competing with free tubes and piracy. couple of years and getting better with refinement. For a large number of adult companies, the next big thing is simply catching up and moving their businesses toward a point where they’re up to today’s standards and are more readily able to adapt to what comes next. My monthly articles in 2014 will focus heavily on specific ways that paysite owners can optimize the user experience and how to present sites and content in ways that attract customers and keep them coming back. Where I hope to leave readers with as we enter a new year is an open mind. Begin actively thinking about streamlining and how to repurpose your current paysite assets to make them fit within the constraint of what online users have grown accustomed to. For many site owners this will be a big departure from past thinking and may produce some growing pains but in the end, the changes will be worth it. a

BY JUICY JAY

It’s Just Adult

Business and ‘the Blonde’ £ For a Partnership to Be Successful You Must Trust, Support the Direction

very entrepreneur knows that the line between business and personal is often blurred. If you don’t know that, you will. Most people would attempt to keep business and personal separate, but who we are in business is also who we are as people. Who we are as people has a lot to do with who we partner with, and those partnership are critical to our success in business as well as in life. People ask me all the time how I got into the adult industry, and my answer is always the same — by accident. Long before founding JuicyAds and growing it into one of the leading adult ad networks, I was running websites as an affiliate and stumbled into the lucrative adult affiliate programs of the 1990s. I lied about my age (since I was only 17) and signed up for programs like GammaCash and TrafficCashGold. (Shhh, don’t tell them, this was about 14 years ago). Later I became one of LightSpeedCash’s top affiliates. Somewhere between discovering the lifestyle of the industry, and making more money than I ever would with a degree, I decided to drop out of a university to pursue the adult industry. “The Blonde” was my girlfriend at the time, and she was not supportive. She was accepting of the adult industry but was uncontrollably jealous of more than just the women. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but our goals and dreams in life were horrendously misaligned. I was very ambitious and enjoyed working and making a better life for us, but she wanted no part of hard work. The lifestyle I had discovered sparked anger and resentment of my newfound success, as well as mistrust from The Blonde who was still working for minimum wage at her parents’ gas station. While I supported the both of us and she enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle and a relationship that was the envy of family and friends, she appreciated none of it, and took her life with me for granted. Years later, now a self-taught programmer rather than a psychology major, I customcoded the platform that would become JuicyAds and it took off after the Phoenix Forum in 2008. However, that’s just about when my life went so far sideways and it would never be the same again. What everyone has seen for many years is the explosion of JuicyAds from banners into mobile and popunders. What you didn’t see was the ridiculous acrobatics of the balance in my life dramatically changing as my marriage Juicy Jay is CEO and founder of JuicyAds.com. Follow Jay and JuicyAds via Twitter @juicyads.

26 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

“

In a twist, I didn’t see coming, The Blonde started making demands that contradicted good business decisions. She fought hard to limit my attendance at conventions, and went as far to give me an ultimatum to fire specific employees, or that she would leave me.

was falling apart. In hindsight, the explosion of JuicyAds closely mirrored the crumble and eventual collapse of my relationship, but it was our misaligned lives that caused the final break. Like any partnership, the day we had gotten married I had promised to work things out no matter what happened, but it seemed she had other plans the whole time. The Blonde had no shortage of reasons why she was no longer happy and to keep the woman I loved, I changed. In business this is

what’s known as a “pivot” when you change your business strategy. It goes only two ways, either it succeeds or it fails. I pivoted by turning JuicyAds from a one person brokerage into a company by hiring people, delegating, systemizing processes and cutting my personal work hours. The problem was, no matter what I did, it did not change the core issues and misalignment in our lives. She completely did not understand or even care about the time, effort, and dedication it took to run a successful business.

n a twist, I didn’t see coming, The Blonde started making demands that contradicted good business decisions. She fought hard to limit my attendance at conventions, and went as far to give me an ultimatum to fire specific employees, or that she would leave me. My partnership was toxic. It was fatal to my relationship and it was damaging to my company. It is of paramount importance to ensure that your partner is aligned with your business dreams and goals. More than that, for a partnership to be successful you must trust and support the direction you are going. It doesn’t matter if its your business partner, wife, girlfriend, or you’re banging some cute redhead friends with benefits. You must be aligned or the relationship will break down and fail. If it’s a business, you could lose it all in the process, like the bar and restaurant I invested in with a friend — but that’s a story for another time. a

Q&A PRESIDENTIAL SUITE: TODD GLIDER

BaDoink CEO

Places Sharp Focus on Innovation

odd Glider, the chief executive of BaDoink, is anticipating a relatively busy 2014. Glider, who has built a modestly sized company into a multimillion-dollar operation since tapped for the position three years ago, has a number of projects underway, and the company, known for unique marketing techniques and exploration into new technologies, is poised to roll them out in the coming year. XBIZ World sat down with Glider to find out more about BaDoink, the company’s new projects and how he runs the business in this Q&A.

How many years have you XBIZ: been involved in the industry and where did you get your start? Back in the winter of GLIDER: 1998, I was getting ready for a move to Los Angeles to shack up

with my then-future wife. I picked up a Los Angeles Times from a Market Street newsstand, and circled a few ads. One of them was for an HTML programmer. The ad didn’t disclose much additional information. Just the phone number and email address. I’d made a web page or two by then, so I shot off an email, and they penciled me in for an interview. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, I drove to an office at the Imperial Bank building, the one alongside the Sherman Oaks Galleria; this was back when the Galleria still looked like it did in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” The office was very corporate, the atmosphere professional and orderly. Nothing to indicate that this was one of the two or three biggest adult Internet enterprises on the planet at the time. It was clear from jump street that iGallery would be a great place to

XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

work; it was equally clear that I was no HTML programmer. Still, Scott Schalin, the guy that interviewed me, liked my portfolio, which was an amalgam of academic writing and on-and-offline zine publication. And I got the call back a couple of weeks later. I was hired to write erotic copy, a role that would eventually evolve into creative director. An exciting time. Not to suggest that there’s anything boring about tech now, but it was still so new on a macro level. From a development and marketing perspective, this was a very big bang. You could go from idea to execution to market in a week, and you could do it with fullblown abandon. It’s important to remember that before digital, mass-marketing anything was laborious and expensive. You could not come up with an idea while you were parked on the 405 freeway and see it realized four days later. And you could not so easily or quickly see the data — the data that told you whether that realized idea was genius or full of shit. That was what was so new. That was what was so glorious and intoxicating about those early days. What is the story behind CM XBIZ: Productions, and what is the BaDoink brand all about? CM Productions was GLIDER: created in 2002. It was and is the brainchild of Jeremy Hevery

and Mark Hoashi. The two met in Rochester, N.Y., after graduating from University of Rochester. BaDoink.com launched in 2005, with BaDoinkCash.com following a year later. The word “BaDoink” is an onomatopoeia for sexual congress, like Fap is today. BaDoink, the idea behind it, is technology.

“

Today, BaDoink is seen by industry insiders as a leader, with some visionary marketing techniques, a key player in the mobile explosion. That was the core vision and focus from the very beginning. Remain focused on the innovations in IT. Channel that innovation into the product, into the front end and the back end. Focus on the delivery of content to the end user, rather than the content itself. So whereas some companies in our sector would invest a lion’s share of money into the production of exceptionally produced content, CM Productions’ R&D went into staying on the leading edge of technology, ensuring content could be streamed and downloaded from every device, ensuring every user interface behind the pay wall was as user-friendly and intuitive as possible. The BaDoink team created the Ultra interface, for example, modeled after iTunes. A standalone software application that afforded members the ability to stream and download porn outside of the browser. It included then, as it does now, plugins for burning DVDs, plugins for streaming videos wirelessly to the TV, the ability to export content to iTunes. Please see GLIDER, page 87

ADULT INDUSTRY VISIONARIES SHARE THEIR PROJECTIONS FOR 2014 }

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

Subscription Paysites: Doomed or Doable?

BY Q. BOYER s widespread revenue declines have gripped the adult Internet’s paysite sector over the last several years, the future viability of the adult subscription site business model has come into question. Many once-thriving affiliate programs have either folded up their tent or have been snatched up by larger, financially healthier competitors who were in strategic acquisition mode at the time. Drawing on the perspectives of variety of a variety of companies, including operators of some of the web’s longest-running adult paysites and affiliate programs, XBIZ presents a look at the present and future of the paysite sector, as seen by those who play central roles in defining it. For HustlerCash, the online affiliate marketing branch of a brand that truly transcends the adult industry, its best-selling online content mirrors its top performer in the offline content arena: porn parodies. “Hustler parodies are still doing great for us,” said Sarah Jayne Anderson, Affiliate Manager for HustlerCash. “We keep coming up with fresh ideas and the members keep coming back to watch them. In fact, they have been so popular that affiliates were asking for a separate site dedicated to them. As a result, there was a great response when we launched HustlerParodies.com earlier this year.” For long-running affiliate program CECash, 2013 saw an aggressive expansion into animated content, a move that CECash’s Adam W. told XBIZ was a market data-driven decision. “Based on extensive market research coupled with strong consumer demand we developed and launched a new program in late 2013 called AnimationCash, which features exclusive 3D adult cartoons,” Adam W. said. “For affiliates, this is a home run as they can drive sales with our proven free trial model through eight completely different sites and tours, all of which are responsively designed.” CECash isn’t the only old-school paysite program that put a premium on animated and 3D content in recent days; Colin Rowntree, owner and founder of Wasteland.com, an adult paysite that took its first orders in 1994, has also benefitted from its foray into the realm of virtual porn. “Wasteland3D.com, our desktop software 3D game, does very well,” Rowntree said. “It’s free to play, but the conversions to the premium version and in-game purchase of additional BDSM gear, fetish items and clothing is excellent, once the player is gets hooked on the game.” For BaDoinkCash, a 2012 XBIZ Award nominee for Progressive Web Company of the Year known for its innovative B2B products geared

32 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

toward affiliate program owners, 2013 ushered in a focus on content, including shooting its own exclusive content and the launch of a new online magazine.

‘F

ilming our own exclusive scenes has been great and it’s something we haven’t done before,” BaDoink Marketing Manager Sarah Kohl told XBIZ. The best part is our members love it; we’ve had members contact us and tell us how much they genuinely enjoy their memberships to BaDoink, which is great to hear.” At DDFCash, a program known for its highquality glamour content, the focus of late has been on improving its content delivery mechanisms, including an overhaul of the content search functions across the program’s most popular sites. Paul, the marketing manager for DDFCash, told XBIZ that the plan for the improved search functionality was to offer a “more robust searching system with three phases of deployment, third phase to launch early next year.” “The first phase included checking the tagging of all of our models and scenes from 2009 to 2013,” Paul added. “Then we launched a new search tool bar with various options and capabilities so that members can find what they are looking for much easier. The second phase provided an advanced search which allows members to see all the tags on one popup and refine their search deeper. The third phase will feature a Top Categories feature which will display the most sought-after categories for those who want a quick fix.” In terms of upcoming plans, several of the companies interviewed by XBIZ hinted at significant launches and developments in the near future, but chose to keep their cards close

to their vests and declined to offer details. The overall theme, however, appears to be one of embracing new areas of operation and entirely different avenues of revenue generation, underlining the value of having a diverse set of revenue streams, particularly in a challenging market. “2014 will be marked by the launch of our first major foray into the cam space with our newest program, FreeWebCamCash,” Anderson CECash’s Adam W told XBIZ. “This program will also feature a free trial model along with a competitive payout which we are confident will position the program for major and rapid growth. In addition, we will re-launch CECashMobile with all new sites, all built specifically for smartphone Rowntree and tablet users. What this means for webmasters is a simple-to-implement, high-EPC yielding solution for converting users in an extensive list of countries.” As for the overall future of the paysite sector, while all of the companies agreed that the market is in many ways tougher than ever, there’s also general agreement that companies and brands that are able to distinguish themselves through the quality of their products and services can still find success using the subscription paysite model. Wasteland.com’s Rowntree emphasized the importance of providing one’s members with an experience that offers advantages over that of frequenting a free site. “The paysite sector will continue to be a strong element in online adult as it has a great deal of control over quality of content, message, brand and building customer loyalty for providing high end content in a way that’s easy to follow within a consistent style and genre model – as opposed to digging through random content on a tube and getting hammered with ads,” Rowntree said. “The subscription model does indeed remain viable, but it requires a vast amount of thought and work to keep the members area content fresh and of higher quality than can be found on free sites. The main thing for remaining successful is the paysite needs to feel more like HBO than just another tube-site-of-the-moment.” a

Micro-Payments May Swing Into Action

BY ALEX HENDERSON s technology and content continue to evolve in the adult entertainment industry, so does adult billing. And in 2014, mobile growth, micro-payments and online security measures are among the adult billing trends to watch out for. Harmik Gharapetian, vice president of sales and marketing for Epoch, said that ongoing growth in the mobile sector was among the most important adult trends of 2013 and will continue be a major adult trend in 2014. “We evaluate traffic constantly using very sophisticated algorithms to interpret trends and make forecasts and adjustments to our billing protocols,” Gharapetian explained. “But no one needs to do much evaluation to realize that the biggest change in 2013 will certainly continue into 2014: as is reflected in every sector, people are leaving their desktops behind in favor of mobile devices. The percentage of sales from mobile devices is growing steadily, and Gharapetian this trend will undoubtedly continue.” Cathy Beardsley, president and CEO of SegPay, predicted that “mobile and micro payments will be important for 2014” and added: “Making our checkout an easy process for mobile devices and tablets will continue to be important. There is still no easy way for U.S. Beardsley consumers to charge adult content to your phone bill. So making it as easy as possible to check out on a small device with a credit card will be important.” Over the years, many adult webmasters have made a fortune with membership websites and recurring payments. But Beardsley stressed that con- Jackson sumers who prefer micropayments are an important and growing market. “We are also seeing more and more requests for micro-payments or the ability for consumers to purchase snippets of content or small amounts of content,” Beardsley observed. “The challenge is how do we handle those types of transactions through the credit card network cost-effectively.” Gharapetian is also quite bullish on adult micro-payments, pointing out that many con-

sumers of niche erotica and patrons of live webcam sites prefer them. “One-time transactions already account for a strong market share with live entertainment sites,” Gharapetian noted. “And for subscription sites, simply having a non-recurring option may mean the difference between making a sale or losing the customer. But that’s not the only reason to have a one-time billing option. Many local payment types throughout the world work differently than traditional debit and credit cards and are not well-suited for recurring billing. Simply having a one-time billing option can help you reach customers you might not have been able to acquire otherwise.” Gary Jackson, managing vice president of sales and Internet markets for CCBill, said that in 2014, adult companies that are billing in Europe will need to keep a close eye on developments with the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Presently, 33 different countries are participating in SEPA, and many of them are valuable markets for adult content.

‘W

ith the implementation of SEPA for the European Union, the use of a single banking format will open up many new buyers to the online adult market,” Jackson predicted. “Several payment providers have launched this, but there is always a consumer learning curve with any new payment option.

We expect to see the adoption of this new banking option to ramp up in later 2014 if the payment providers make it easy to use.” According to Jackson, online security will be a prominent topic of discussion in the adult billing space in 2014. “I see security and privacy becoming much more of a concern for buyers,” Jackson said. “With what is going on in Germany with consumer information, data breaches with some of the mainstream businesses in the U.S., the interest in Bitcoin and more and more data tracking on the Web, I see not only the credit card privacy being a bigger component in the buying process, but tracking of their experience as well.” Changes can come swiftly on the Internet, and Jackson said that the adult companies that stay on top of changes in 2014 will be more likely to come out ahead. “I think one of the billing trends for 2014 is being ready to adapt,” Jackson asserted. “It may sound like it makes little difference to billing, but as we saw with the ATVOD regulations, MasterCard’s recent move to a new payment model, or the rumblings across a series of countries to outlaw adult content, it can impact the ability to accept payments. I believe that a business needs to be aware and ready for change to that key aspect of the business: taking in the money. Or one needs to at least have their billing partner keep an eye out for changes. As they say, luck favors the prepared.” a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 33

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

Smooth Sailing for Webcam Market

BY STEWART TONGUE any who look at the webcam business think they have a good grasp on it and expect only small changes in the near future, but several insiders were willing to point out some significant new perspectives that are already taking shape and will likely flourish as 2014 moves along. “The webcam market is going to continue growing very rapidly in 2014,” said one source who asked to remain nameless. “More companies like ours, studios and individual models will find ways to work together to provide live content across all platforms — the days of a solo girl with a cam in her members area or a site that only shows live webcam content are likely going to give way to a lot more sites that integrate live and prerecorded content into a hybrid business model. That way customers can dictate their own terms — allowing monthly subscriptions, tokens, one clicks and virtually any other avenue of monetization, so that customers can get the content they want, exactly the way they want it.” Others pointed out that freemium marketing is continuing to gain traction in just about every sector of digital commerce, with cams hardly being an exception. “Freemium marketing will continue to extend its reach Wizzo and we’ll see more and more free cams funded by tips or gifts with less and less pay per minute business being done,” said one executive. “That allows the sites to draw massive traffic from freeloaders and grants real buyers celebrity status beyond the per minute enjoyment of a private show.” From a traffic perspective, webcams may also have access to entirely new sources of potential customers.

‘C

ams and dating will continue to be strong sellers for the foreseeable future,” said Wizzo of JuicyAds. “We are starting to see many of the mainstream affiliate networks choosing to have cams and adult dating offers within their networks. As that trend gains momentum whole new markets may emerge which were previously prohibited traffic sources for many site owners.” The biggest model site news at the tail end of 2013 may also become a driving factor in the way webcam models manage their personas during the coming year. “Models will take much more control over their own webcam offerings in 2014 with a lot

34 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

less need for the infrastructure that cam sites provide thanks to ModelCentro.com,” said Stan of AdultCentro.com. “Now models can build their own sites, manage their own portfolios and profit from their webcam shows with zero investment for a small fraction of the profits. The existing ways webcam sites can provide customers will continue to be important, but with Model Centro now available as a parallel revenue stream, things are about to heat up for models who are able to hold the attention of their audience effectively.”

One thing seems abundantly clear from the execs contacted for this story, nobody plans to wait around to see what happens. 2014 may be a year of much bigger changes than outsiders expect as technologies, business models, mobile platforms, social media, mainstream traffic sources, billing options and direct marketing become more integrated. The concept of a webcam company or cam site is quickly giving way to live content available virtually everywhere as seamlessly as prerecorded video has already become. a

Continued Growth for Mobile Sector

BY ALEX HENDERSON 013 went down in history as a year in which the mobile sector grew increasingly important for the adult entertainment industry, and that importance is likely to grow in 2014. That is not to say that the consumption of erotica on desktops will cease altogether in the new year: some consumers of adult content might prefer their desktops, and some might use both desktops and mobile devices. But however one looks at it, mobile’s ever-increasing importance to the adult industry cannot be denied. “Mobile has eclipsed desktop,” observed Juicy Jay, founder and CEO of JuicyAds.com. “People are going to choose their preference, and in many cases, switch between the two. The industry must simply cater to both sides, ensure that Juicy Jay paysites and members areas auto-detect these devices and respond accordingly rather than promoting mobile websites as a separate product. Mobile functionality and product needs to be seamless and should be a feature of an adult website, not a secondrate destination that people need to remember and type Williams into their phone.” Nigel Williams, vice president of AdXpansion, said that in 2014, mobile billing solutions will be an ongoing topic for providers of adult content. “We expect that the adult companies who want to be relevant in mobile going forward will make significant efforts to offer adult consumers quality products at an affordable price with very easy billing,” Williams asserted. “Currently, carrier-billing offers the best easybilling solutions, but other companies are in a position to compete with carriers. Most notably, Apple, Google and PayPal seem to be in a position to offer e-wallet solutions that have a critical mass. All three of these companies are known to not be friendly with adult, but it remains to be seen who will offer a mobile billing solution and what their rules will be when it comes to billing for adult.” In many countries, operators/carriers offer billing for adult content. But in the U.S., carriers are still wary of adult content — and that is likely to continue in 2014. “From what we see, the U.S. is clearly different than everyone else,” Williams observed. “There aren’t any promising carrier-billing providers in the U.S. right now. Some carriers

have offered billing to adult but then, they withdraw quickly. The credit card is still the predominant payment method in the U.S. for mobile, while Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America offer carrier-billing solutions for adult products. If an adult-friendly e-wallet solution becomes available in the U.S., I’m sure we’ll see tremendous growth there that will be on par with other regions that have adult carrier-billing solutions.” Europe has been a leader when it comes to consuming mobile adult content, but Juicy Jay believes that the U.S. could make serious advances in that area with the right mobile billing solutions.

‘E

xpect to see hot spots rise and fall in the coming year,” Jay predicted. “There are countries yet to be tapped. The U.S. is one of the most undervalued markets when it comes to mobile traffic, mostly due to billing and processing. I’m sure that everyone would love to see this change, and I can’t imagine that it

won’t given the innovation in the market. I would look to South America and Latin American countries for one of the next booms ahead.” According to Jay, fighting mobile fraud will be of vital importance to adult companies in the new year. “One of the most critical issues related to mobile in 2014 is combating the high rates of fraud that are occurring,” Jay stressed. “This affects anyone buying or selling mobile traffic. Mobile has gone through a porn gold rush phase, and it’s still highly profitable. Any time there is a lot of money to be made, there’s always people looking to take advantage — and a recent study showed that over 38 percent of mobile impressions are fraudulent compared with 35 percent for desktop. Malware for mobile devices is on the rise as well. Anyone can speak to the strengths and positives related to capitalizing on mobile. However, it’s extremely important not to forget our risk factors for this segment. Combating these negatives will be a high priority in the coming years.” a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 35

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

Traffic Equation: It’s Just Arithmetic

BY STEWART TONGUE ooking forward to 2014, traffic trends emerge from two central points of view, often with significant overlap among them. On the one hand there is a strong consensus that mobile will become increasingly dominant, in terms of raw numbers and in terms of conversion ratios when compared to traditional traffic. On the other hand, there is a growing sense of confidence that the line between adult traffic and mainstream marketing will become even more eroded or completely obviated over the next 12 months. All of that opens up the logical premise that 2014 may be the start of marketing campaigns that use mobile adult content to sell mainstream products successfully. “In traffic we will continue to see an increase in mobile, whether it be phone or tablet,” said Wizzo of JuicyAds. “Everyone should have a mobile strategy for online business, or they will end up going the way of the Betamax. I’d also agree that Gabra we will continue to see more and more crossover from mainstream into adult. Whether that be mainstream affiliate networks having adult offers or mainstream products being offered on adult sites.” “From my perspective, mobile traffic is trending to account for at least half (if not more) of the adult traffic that MacEwen lands on adult sites,” said Joey Gabra, Managing Director of Affil4You.com “It’s going to become absolutely essential for businesses to have a full blown mobile strategy in place before the end of the year.” For some it becomes a simple matter of arithmetic. “Marketers are finally starting to see that when traffic is scaled up to a great enough degree, there is little difference in the value of adult or mainstream traffic because it tends to be the exact same people,” said Clement of VideosZ.com “I strongly expect 2014 to be a breakthrough year in both directions, with more mainstream companies accepting adult site affiliate traffic and more adult traffic brokers selling to large mainstream brands.” When you consider how many consumers are visiting massive adult free sites and paysite properties each year, the population of the planet simply isn’t large enough for all of those people to somehow be a different group

36 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

through rate). That’s probably why the most successful campaigns are usually a hybrid of the two. The brand that is able to adapt to the social marketing trends and be responsive to their audience are the ones that have the most long term successful comprehensive campaigns.

‘U

from the people who visit Amazon or any other massive mainstream site. The math itself proves it’s the same people, and marketing to all of them with a multi-channel approach is likely to yield better results than pretending there is no overlap in demographics among high volume websites from different sectors. “Working in adult and mainstream gives you an opportunity to compare and contrast the trends in social marketing as they affect both markets,” said Lauren MacEwen of 7 Veils. “Often the goals for the two markets are much the same: increase brand exposure and drive traffic to the site. However, adult companies tend to excel at providing a variety of unique ways in which to drive traffic to sites. Mainstreamers tend to be more comfortable with focusing on branding over CTR (click

ltimately, whether you are in mainstream or adult, you need to have a long term vision when it comes to social marketing that is more than just branding or just CTR. Social is most successful when it is robust and encompasses SEO, branding, customer service, CTR, and works in tandem with your existing marketing strategy.” The other side of the traffic equation is actually being able to convert it, unless you plan to sell clicks at a higher price than it cost you to acquire them. Marketers continue searching for products to sell in the free porn era which are capable of overcoming the drag caused by piracy, and that leaves some frustrated by the narrow approach too many affiliates take. “I’m annoyed to see people still thinking the only two alternatives to selling porn are cams and dating,” said Richard Excoffier, CEO of TotemCash.com. “Desktop strippers have been making webmasters rich for 15 years now, they can’t be tubed effectively and remain a terrific option for converting traffic — hint, hint!” In the year to come, identifying multiplatform traffic sources and finding ways to interconnect your adult interests with previously prohibited mainstream brands is likely to create a lot of lift for forward thinking adult site owners who are able to adapt. Online poker becoming legal in more states may be just the tip of the iceberg for those who have suitable traffic to sell to mainstream ad buyers, and sites that ignore responsive design techniques or their mobile visitors may not be here in 2015 to discuss those shortsighted mistakes. a

Some Consolidation for Dating Sector

BY STEWART TONGUE ating is already showing signs of an interesting year online in 2014. As the number and kind of niche specific dating sites continues to grow exponentially, within each niche there does appear to be some consolidation as categories becoming more clearly defined and the audience of each develops its own set of expectations. “Due to the proliferation of so many white labels and new entrants into the marketplace there are dating sites that have micro-targeted most niches and the gap between mainstream or adult dating sites is definitely shrinking in the minds of many potential customers,” said Clement of VidoesZ.com. “That may soon lead to much more permissive rules about so-called mainstream dating companies accepting adult site traffic in the near future on a case by case basis, which may also alter the ability of newer adult dating sites to compete for the same clicks.” “Probably because of the intimacy that a dating community is built from, matching the pitch and promotion of the site to the people already in it and the people who want to join it is even more important than it is with many other kinds of sites,” said an exec at DaddyHunt.com. “On the gay side of online dating an eye toward the larger goals and progress of the gay community is also essential. Our own awards for progressive businesses that serve the greater good were very well received in 2013 and in the coming year we have many other interactive events planned for our community. Dating in 2014 will be all about the direct connection sites create with the people that they serve.” From an outside perspective, dating sites in the adult arena may want to take a closer look at some of the innovations mainstream companies have already rolled out. “Marketing is marketing and I’d guess successful dating in 2014 will be on mobile, geolocalized and with a freemium business model,” said Richard Excoffier, CEO of TotemCash.com. “When I look at OKCupid or Tinder, I feel that our industry is not leading the game anymore in some ways and I hope it wakes up again soon.” With plenty of experience coming from a mainstream background, Ralph of EvaCash.com sees the inevitability of people wanting to find dates as the real story that should never be overlooked. “Unless Facebook decides to launch a fully functional free dating service, there will always be business to be done in the dating market for smart people who really care about their customers. Dating is more like hair salons and restaurants than porn — everyone needs to eat and cut their hair, the only ques-

tions are where they will choose to do it and why.” Globalization is also playing a leading role in the evolution of online dating.

‘O

ne thing we have been seeing is a much more global approach to dating,” said Colin of TranslationsXXX.com. “Having site tour essentials translated into other languages isn’t new, but many site owners and white label publishers want to go deeper with full tour translations or native language options within their members area. The languages of choice are also becoming more wide spread. It’s not just a call for German, Italian and Spanish anymore — dating site content comes from the interactivity of the dating community they create, and many are realizing that having that interactivity available in the languages each customer is most

comfortable with is an easy way to improve the value per acquisition of members areas, aside from the impact it already has on the conversion ratios of multilingual tours.” Massive growth may still be possible, but as dating becomes an increasingly saturated market online, the moves made by established companies to secure a niche audience or improve the value per customer acquired are likely to be the big stories of the coming year. Whether you are a white label publisher finetuning your pitch to stay current, or are a social marketing strategist squeezing every possible join out of each platform, the success of your attempts to utilize audience feedback to craft a winning campaign while approaching each kind of client with the specific pitch they expect from “one of their own” is likely to be the difference between dating site growth and stagnation during this new year. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 37

Ask the Lawyers ...

What are the predominant legal issues the adult entertainment industry will face in 2014? LAWRENCE G. WALTERS

JOE OBENBERGER

COREY D. SILVERSTEIN

The legal trends we will most likely see in 2014 will focus on the shift in adult entertainment from professional porn stars to webcam models, escorts and amateur models. Professional adult production is subject to a substantial level of legal evaluation, performer STI testing, 2257 records creation, age verification, model releases, copyright clearance, etc. With current technology, anyone can be a porn star, a model or an escort, with very little effort. However, the legal issues are still as serious and significant as they are for professional producers and performers. So I suspect we’ll see some level of civil or criminal enforcement of adult entertainment regulation against amateur producers, who have not spent years in the trenches learning the legal nuances of producing adult content. With so much amateur / webcam content being generated overseas where child exploitation laws are not as strict, we may see legal issues with conflicting age of consent laws and underage content. The issue of “accomplice liability” has still not been sorted out for the online service providers, network operators, and others who merely provide space for adult entertainers to communicate. That is an issue to watch in 2014. STIs will continue to be on the industry’s radar, and the outcome of the Measure B challenge watched closely by the industry and other states. We will see a more active role played by the FTC and state consumer protection agencies, who are interested in proper consumer disclosures, billing practices, and unfair advertising activity. Relatedly, more states will consider passing “revenge porn” laws to give victims of this practice a remedy. Legal challenges to some of these laws are inevitable. The reach of U.S. consumer protection laws being asserted against websites operated in other countries remains an uncertain issue, so we may see some legal action in that regard as well. Finally, the FSC’s 2257 case may be resolved in 2014, depending on how quickly the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal acts and whether the U.S. Supreme Court decides to weigh in. But for now, the industry has seemingly accepted their 2257 obligations.

1. Lurking around the corner from Prop B, OSHA and the condom issue in general is the larger issue of liability of porn producers to performers. It is sure to come in the courts, it will come sooner rather than later, perhaps in 2014, and it has the potential to affect this industry profoundly. In a worst case scenario, it might hit this industry as hard as the sex abuse scandal hit the Catholic Church. Or it might blow over, especially depending on what may happen in early cases. Much will depend on how judges weigh public policy and other factors against release terms. It seems to me that a critical mass of performers and former performers is coming together on the condom issue, in a fashion antagonistic to the interests of entrenched producers, and that creates a potential for collaborative action of a more dangerous character against them. It’s really time to reexamine all of the releases in use and all of the protocols for shooting. 2. Revenge posts, upskirt images (and the equivalent such as X-ray cams) and voyeur images have really captured the headlines in recent months and have precipitated a wave of state legislation meant to address them. Look in 2014 for more states to join the groundswell coming from concern and look for more prosecutions based on blackmail/extortion, some based on racketeering and organized crime statutes. RICO has already been put into play in two other online contexts. I think that this issue is now on the radar of state and federal prosecutors and I suspect that they would like some headlines in order to deter the particularly noxious behavior. 3. For the first time ever, a challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 2257 went to trial last year in Philadelphia. This now goes back to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the Free Speech Coalition’s appeal. I don’t expect any dramatic 2257 news, at least not until the 3rd Circuit rules, which I do not expect until near the end of 2014. No matter how that court rules, one or both parties will be unsatisfied and ask for rehearing en banc or cert to the Supreme Court. This issue will continue, I suspect, to percolate behind mahogany doors through the rest of Obama’s second term, and it’s any guess what happens under the next administration.

My predictions for 2013 were fairly accurate. 2013 saw the commencement of the fight against Measure B in the courts and intellectual property protection and litigation probably reached all-time highs. I believe that the 2013 STI outbreaks will carry over into 2014. Lawmakers seem to be paying close attention to the recent HIV positive test, and I believe that there will be ramifications for the content production section of the industry. Make no mistake about it, unless the adult industry does a better job regulating itself, it is going to lose that privilege. In the online dating arena, I believe that in 2014 we will see more investigations and government crackdowns on dating websites that utilize tactics that the Federal Trade Commission believes are deceptive and/or unfair against the public interest. The time is now to make sure that all website operators are complying with the law and consulting with their respective counsel. Google Glass, Xbox One, Playstation 4 and various other new technologies will be hitting the public shelves and I’m sure that the adult industry will quickly be attempting to launch products for all of the new gear. It’s going to be interesting to see what sort of reception the adult industry receives from the companies putting these products on the shelves. I foresee more intellectual property disputes related to the new gear and perhaps even some degree of acceptance related to these products. Finally, in the 2257 arena, unfortunately, I do not believe that 2014 will see the end to the Free Speech Coalition’s battle with the U.S. government. Federal practice moves slow and the federal appeals process moves even slower. 18 U.S.C. § 2257 remains valid law and will remain valid law through 2014.

38 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

ROGER JON DIAMOND

GILL SPERLEIN

I do not envision any drastic change in the nature of the issues facing the adult entertainment industry. The issues will basically remain the same. They will include copyright protection, privacy invasion, obscenity and local zoning and licensing for live adult entertainment. With respect to obscenity I do not believe the government will pursue any more obscenity cases. The last case, U.S. v. Isaacs, is still pending and unresolved. I do not anticipate any more federal obscenity prosecutions in the Obama administration. There were none in the Clinton administration. As long as there is a democrat in the White House I do not envision additional obscenity prosecutions. The situation is different with respect to local zoning and land use issues. There are some cities that are still fighting. For example, the City of Chula Vista filed a civil action against a recently opened strip club. The City of Industry is hassling local strip clubs with respect to such things as hours of operation. For example, the City of Industry is trying to enforce strict closing laws requiring adult strip clubs to close by 2 a.m. Local police and deputy sheriffs continue to pursue local prostitution charges against strippers who allegedly solicit sex acts for money. In my entire legal career I have never lost a prostitution case involving a stripper, yet the police at the local level continue to prosecute. I have noticed that in cases that I handle the local prosecutors are anxious to make deals and dismiss cases or plea bargain down to infraction violations and dismiss the prostitution charges. I have noticed that when I appear on a case I get pretty good offers when the local prosecutor learns of recent prior acquittals. Essentially the battle grounds seems to be at the local level involving live conduct. With the exception of the Isaacs obscenity trial I do not see anything on the horizon with respect to movies or magazines.

Without a doubt the major legal issues for the adult entertainment industry in the coming year, at least on the film production side, will revolve around HIV transmission/prevention, worker safety and Cal/OSHA. Various factions within California are determined to increase regulation of the industry. While some regulatory refinements may be in order, these factions are likely to overreach and over regulate. The unfortunate results are predictable. Some producers will get out of the business, selling their companies to larger enterprises on the East Coast, Canada and elsewhere. Others will move to Nevada. Those who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think this will happen, have their eyes closed ... itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s already happening. And most unfortunately, some productions will go underground, shooting in gorilla fashion where working conditions will be far more dangerous not just for the performers but for the entire crew.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 39

Q&A

EXECUTIVE SEAT: SEAN CHRISTIAN

FriendFinder Is

‘On the Right Track’

ean Christian, FriendFinder Network’s vice president of sales, is gearing up for a banner year in 2014 for the company that derives revenue from dating, live cams and the Penthouse brand. mFriendFinder, which just emerged from restructuring, is moving forward with new product changes and new leadership. We checked in with Christian to find out more about him, as well as what to expect with the company in the coming year.

did you get involved in the industry? XBIZ: How I was living in CHRISTIAN: Sacramento and had developed my own body

piercing jewelry company. After I sold it, I had the intention of moving to the coast (Santa Cruz) and taking a marketing and distribution position at a company very similar to the one I had just sold. After moving to Santa Cruz, Legendary Lars and I became friends and spent quite a bit of time together hanging out. He asked me to come to work for him for about two years before I finally agreed to do some contract marketing work for his company. I didn’t really like the idea of going into the adult internet business at that time. I had the common misconstrued ideas of what the work would be like. After a few months of working with Lars, I went to my first convention in Las Vegas and was amazed. It seemed to literally be a think tank of technology and creativity driven by online guerrilla marketing. I was sold on it. What do you do for FriendFinder Networks as vice XBIZ: president of sales and how long have you been with the company?

My contracting CHRISTIAN: started with Lars’ webcam company Stream-

ray in 2000, and I went full time in 2001. Streamray and FriendFinder merged in 2005. The two companies have a natural affinity for each other and have similar markets. This made my personal transition into the FriendFinder family very simple. My position at the combined company FriendFinder Networks focuses on business

40 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

development and customer acquisition. I really don’t sell anything at all; I am primarily looking for new traffic streams. Internally, I am the champion of the affiliate and work with management to come up with programs that are win-win. FriendFinder last year decided to go back to its core business, XBIZ: slashing co-branded white label websites but continuing to have an affiliate program. How important are affiliates to the company?

also didn’t have a team in place to make sure that the 35,000-plus automated co-brands were at a quality level that our members demanded and had enough traffic to warrant a manual review. About a year ago, we decided that we would convert the smaller co-brands (e.g., had less than 100 uniques in the last 6 months) back to promoting our main brands. We ended up closing the tool to public use although we still continue to produce new cobranded white label websites for substantial partners.

We have How much success has over FriendFinder had when it CHRISTIAN: XBIZ: 200,000 participants in our marketing affiliate comes to the mobile space in relation to datprogram from which we derive a substantial portion of our new members. Payments to our affiliates last year were over $50 million, and we are always looking to grow that side of our business. You could say our affiliates are an integral part of our business. When we first rolled out the automated cobrand tools three years ago, the management at the time didn’t fully understand the value and benefit of our core dating brands. We

ing?

We are proud to CHRISTIAN: say that FriendFinder has been pushing the

limits in the mobile arena since the mid 2000s. We are currently making some very exciting redesigns with new technology for both dating and webcams. Please see CHRISTIAN, page 84

Market Watch Porn.com Accepting Bitcoin

Fifty Shades of Innovation

The first-ever Sexual Health Expo will debut in 2015.

OS ANGELES — Porn.com is now accepting the digital currency Bitcoin for membership payments.

SHE to Debut in 2015

Company Marketing Supervisor, Jack, confirmed the development with XBIZ that includes Porn.com using BitPay to process the transcations. In addition to Bitcoin, Porn.com continues to accept traditional credit card Please see PORN.COM, page 92

GameLink Looks Back at 20 Years

AN FRANCISCO — Adult industry e-tailer GameLink. com is wrapping up its 20th anniversary year. While GameLink. com has made strides in 2013, including launching its new blog, Naked Truth,

} On the Scene at GameLink anniversary party, page 108 detailing news, gossip and trends in the adult industry, the company’s Jeff Dillonsays to expect more up-close and personal time with adult entertainers. “While the traditional methods of promoting your company still work, there’s no denying that in 2013, it’s all about social media for mass saturation," he said. “You can take something as simple as an online post, photo or video, and you’ve got the attention of literally millions of people in just hours.” a

Core of Creativity

Innovation in Adult Content Conception Receives Little Attention

lthough the topics of innovation and technology are often intermingled, they are not the same: one is more a matter of technique and presentation, while the other centers on the processes and tools.

Within the adult entertainment industry (and among many mainstream observers) the business of bawdiness has always been on the cutting edge of technology and current consumer demand — but this popular notion frequently stems from modern-day developments such as Beta vs. VHS, Blu-ray vs. DVD, downloading vs. streaming, Flash vs. HTML5, and other purely technical considerations. What about innovation in content, however? Imagine being part of a conversation along the lines of “Hey, instead of a van, why not cruise around in a motor home and pick up unsuspecting girls for anonymous sex — won’t that be different enough? OK — then how about a boat, or maybe a bike?” This level of “creative thinking” is one reason that sales are down for many adult website operators, but it may seem uncomfortably familiar to many within the industry. Looking at some of today’s most popular themes and titles, derivative works and parodies are what pass for “innovative” and “unique,” despite being neither — but this does not mean that inspiration could not be found in culturally significant mainstream works. Please see CONTENT, page 93

42 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

OS ANGELES — Adnet Media, publisher of XBIZ.com and XBIZ World among many other properties, has announced preliminary plans for the first-ever Sexual Health Expo 2015, an upscale consumer expo dedicated to the promotion of sexual wellness through quality intimacy products and proven sex education. Showcasing the best of the pleasure products marketplace alongside expert sexual health insight, the groundbreaking event is set to bridge the gap between the realm of sexual wellness and the general public. Event producers behind SHE 2015 are currently in the process of establishing an advisory board consisting of expert figures from within the sexual health community. The groundbreaking event is being planned for early 2015 in Los Angeles, and will include exhibitions featuring leading pleasure product brands, retailers, home party organizers and sexual wellness experts, among others. Coinciding with the event will be the inaugural edition of “SHE” magazine, a high-end publication for event attendees. Taking a cue from Cosmopolitan, SHE magazine will showcase the latest and greatest that the world of sexual wellness has to offer today. Stay tuned to SexualHealthExpo.com for upcoming information. a

AdultCentro Offers Beta Release of ModelCentro

OBOKEN, N.J. — AdultCentro has announced the beta release of its new model-to-fan platform, ModelCentro. ModelCentro.com enables performers to launch their own paysites using a simple point-and-click interface, turning a fanbase into revenue. “ModelCentro delivers the site design, content management, billing and all the other back-end

services critical to having a professional site” said Stan D’Aman, ModelCentro’s CEO. “Traditionally, most models relied on webmasters to create their sites for them because the setup and infrastructure requirements were too challenging. “We empower models to have their own site without being held hostage to their webmaster.” The platform’s fan site features include live shows, high-quality images and videos, geograph-

ical- and region-based blocking, blog posts, private messaging, a direct connection to social media, full mobile/tablet compatibility, privacy protection and more. In contrast to live cam work, Model-

Centro models will be able to schedule releases while away from the computer, which AdultCentro says gives them the opportunity to continue earning even while offline. AdultCentro team has offered cutting-edge technology and services to the adult Internet industry for more than 16 years. Its B2B platforms include AdultCentro Publisher, Market, Cloud, CentroBill and ModelCentro. a

CCBill Streamlines Forms

EMPE, Ariz. — CCBill has added several major updates to its payment forms as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to provide new ways for merchants to connect and resonate with consumers while accepting payments. The new forms are available to be used (and now the standard) for any new projects and can be leveraged for credit card, debit and DirectPay payments. “Our new redesigned forms come with several enhancements which will help our merchants capture additional sales,” said Jason Kirk, vice president of product development for CCBill. “They feature a completely responsive design that auto-sizes to enable a consistent presentation across any screen.” “The language selection functionality has been enhanced to provide a better experience for consumers, and merchants can apply the forms to different payment types as applicable. They really do help the consumer buy from anywhere, using any device.” The new forms also include some modifications to provide a more intuitive and clean check-out process. a

44 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

MileHighMedia Megasite Launches

ONTREAL — Gamma Entertainment’s FameDollars affiliate program has announced the launch of MileHighMedia.com, a new mega-site featuring content from all four of Mile High’s studios. The site includes content from Sweetheart Video, Reality Junkies, Sweet Sinner, and Doghouse Digital, plus additional bonus Mile High Select content. “Since launching our first line, Doghouse Digital, in 2003 all the brands under the Mile

High Media banner have seen exponential growth. They’ve become award winning studios and with the help of FameDollars, extremely popular and successful sites,” Mile High’s Jon, said. “I’m really psyched to team up with them to unleash MileHighMedia.com on the world where surfers can find all of our content under one roof, with additional specially selected content from our other lines as a bonus.” FameDollars said the new site features more than 2,600 scenes from

On the Move TOFU JOINS VIDEO SECRETS’ FLIRT4FREE

“Her First MILF #15” streams on MileHighMedia.com.

the four studios as well as studio specific landing pages, 1080p HD streaming, unlimited

DRM free downloads, and 3,000-plus high-res picture sets with available zip file downloads. a

CALABASAS, Calif. — VS Media has tapped Tofu as its newest addition to Flirt4 Free’s affiliate department. “Tofu comes to us very highly rec- Tofu ommend and with tons of industry experience under his belt as both an affiliate and an affiliate manager,” VS Jeff said.

OpenLife Launches EroticaX.com

ONTREAL — OpenLife Entertainment has launched membership site EroticaX.com. The company said the new website features exclusive content created by its Erotica X studio and director Mason. “The official launch of EroticaX.com is a great milestone for OpenLife

Entertainment,” Marketing Director Kevin Khoury, said. “It has been a while in the making, and we have such an incredible team of people to thank for the delivery of such a phenomenal product.We are all very excited to see the market’s reaction.” All content on the new site is exclusive and filmed in HD.Each week, the site will receive three updates of stories and scenes shot on location, two HD photo sets and one HD video. The scenes will include boy/girl sex and intimate solos. Initial scenes will include “Message in a Bottle” with Mia Malkova and Seth Gamble, “Forever in a Day” with Maddy O’Reilly and Tyler Nixon, “A Lonely Heart” with Presley Heart and James Deen, “Rooftop Romantic” starring Casey Calvert and Logan Pierce, and more. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 45

IN BRIEF HOMEGROWNLIVE.COM MAKES ITS DEBUT LOS ANGELES — Amateur porn studio Homegrown Video has launched new amateur webcam portal HomegrownLive.com. The site offers fans the unique opportunity to experience interactive thrills with a wide selection of authentic amateurs and swingers, Homegrown Video president Farrell Timlake said. The white label service is provided through a partnership with leading live webcam site Streamate. HomegrownLive.com broadcasts video live from performers’ homes to the consumers’. Users can browse models on the site by sex, age, looks, and kinks. Timlake says that once they’ve chosen someone to their liking, they can access the free guest chat to talk with the performer and view a small sample of the video. Premium packages are available at various prices for a complete webcamming experience. All of the amateurs featured on HomegrownLive.com have appeared in Homegrown Video’s DVD series such as “Amateur College Girls,” “Curvy Amateur Girls” and “Swingers.”

SIGNATURE CARD OFFERS BIG DATA SUITE LOS ANGELES — Now every Signature Card Services client can own their own complimentary Big Data Suite account, which allows them to discover who their best customers are and where they come from. The technology identifies key attributes of the merchant’s best customers, including demographic, geographic, psychographic and economic details. The information is accessed through a secure online portal, where merchants can monitor, graph and analyze the information in a variety of ways. With this data, businesses can develop and implement highly targeted marketing campaigns that will help them find and maintain relationships with more of their best customers. “The sophisticated market-

EroticaX.com is a great milestone for OpenLife Entertainment,” Marketing Director Kevin Khoury, said. “It has been a while in the making, and we have such an incredible team of people to thank for the delivery of such a phenomenal product.We are all very excited to see the market’s reaction.” The movies are shot entirely on DSLR cameras.

GAMELINK INKS WITH DECADENT D DIGITAL HomegrownLive.com offers a wide selection of authentic amateurs and swingers.

ing capabilities of our Big Data Suite are designed to give merchants the business intelligence to tailor their marketing and sales efforts so they can receive the highest returns,” said Cliff Teston, CEO of Signature Card Services.

2MUCH ADDS ONE-CLICK PAY FUNCTIONALITY MONTREAL — 2much.net, the live video-chat software maker, has added a new feature to its platform which allows users to add money instantly to their accounts without exiting the chat room. “Having our own billing platform has been very helpful in creating new features and improving customer experience,” said company founder Mark Prince. “But the one-click feature was made possible by our special partnership with gateway provider NETbilling. “This is a unique feature only available on LiveCamNetwork five.” While the webcam site platform supports various other well-established, thirdparty billers, Prince said he wanted to offer more control over billing for his B2B clients, as well as the advantage of paying lower fees. “Getting NETbilling on board has been a boon for business and user-satisfaction,” he said. “We’re thinking of building a real affiliate program, now.” With 2much.net’s “One-

50 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Click Pay” feature, customers no longer need to return to the “join” page made popular by monthly recurring billing models, which needed to be customized to multiple, nonrecurring transaction increments of 20, but limited to $100 to $200 purchases, he said. “The problem was having to leave the chat room, fill out the form again, and then jumping back to the performer,” Prince said. “And there’s nothing that spoils a beautiful relationship like a few dollars.”

CZECHCASH LAUNCHES GOOGLE GLASS POV SITE PRAGUE — CzechCash.com has announced the launch of CzechSpy.com, a POV site that features amateur adult content shot using Google Glass. “We are proud to be one of the first companies that used Google Glass to film movies. This is [an] absolutely new, innovative way of filming POV,” CzechCash CEO Ondrej Kazmar said. “We hope that the months of development will be rewarded by users’ satisfaction.”

OPENLIFE LAUNCHES EROTICAX.COM MONTREAL — OpenLife Entertainment announced today the launch of membership site EroticaX.com. The company said the new website features exclusive content created by its Erotica X studio and director Mason. “The official launch of

SAN FRANCISCO — GameLink.com announces an exclusive content deal with Decadent D Digital, securing never-before-seen footage for the first time on DVD. According to the company, the deal makes GameLink.com the first VOD and DVD home for this new content. Decadent D Digital is a new adult studio from veteran director and Liquid Video founder Decadent D, who has re-emerged in the adult industry with new, high-quality gonzo and feature titles in addition to classic content from Liquid Video. Decadent D Digital’s first title with GameLink.com is “Virgin Hotline,” a 1997 allgirl title with Sindee Coxx, Felecia and Nina Hartley. More titles will be added regularly to GameLink.com’s catalog well into 2014. Decadent D Digital CEO Dave Kelton started doing business with GameLink.com 15 years ago with under Liquid Video. Kelton has rereleased all the Liquid titles on Gamelink.com including some never before seen footage in a “Director’s Cut.” “We are always looking for exceptional content our customers can’t find anywhere else,” says GameLink.com’s Jeff Dillon.

BETTERSEX.COM IN DEAL WITH GAMELINK HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — BetterSex.com and GameLink have joined forces to present BetterSexOnDemand.com, a resource for adult video content. In addition to offering adult video content, the site also offers sexual health products and provides access to Sinclair Institute’s exten-

sive sex education video catalog. There are thousands of titles from which to choose. Customers have two options when selecting video content: download-to-own or stream-to-own. Downloadto-own makes the content available on your device to watch at your leisure where stream-to-own requires internet access to a video library online housed within BetterSexOnDemand.com. In addition to buying complete titles, BetterSexOnDemand also offers the ability to purchase minutes in increments of 10 to 1,000 minutes.

WEBMASTER CENTRAL TOUTS NEW FEATURE TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Webmaster Central said that its new custom front ends feature is proving to be popular with online adult or dating businesses that drive up revenue through one-click upsells. Since the feature launched last month, the company reported repeat orders from 64 percent of its clients. Webmaster Central says its custom front ends are powered by the latest responsive technology, and are compatible with desktop screens, mobile devices, Smart TVs and tablets. All elements of the turnkey adult websites are provided by Webmaster Central, including the graphic design, the front end and the member’s area, the company said in a release. To view an example of Webmaster Central’s custom front ends, visit www.mysleazyteens.com.

SMUTTY CASH RELAUNCHES MONTREAL — YourPaysitePartner.com has announced the addition of freshly relaunched Smutty Cash to its network of affiliate programs. Along with an aesthetic revamp, Smutty Cash has been upgraded to the Nats affiliate tracking platform. The company added that it also redesigned its most popular sites. A leader in the femdom niche since 2007, Smutty

Cash produces unique content for sites such as CBTandBallBusting.com, InescapableBondage.com, FemdomFootFetish.com and is the home to hairy solo model Ryanne-Redd.com.

GROOBY LAUNCHES EVACASSINI.COM BURBANK, Calif. — TS starlet Eva Cassini has launched her official website EvaCassini.com through the Grooby Network.. Cassini made her media debut on Shemale Yum in September of 2012 and was named Model of the Month for October of that same year. Since then, she has appeared numerous Grooby websites, Kink’s TS Pussy Hunters, Bob’s TGirls, Licentia Productions and Evil Angel. The Grooby Network gives models an opportunity to create their own websites and control their content while using the branding and resources of Grooby Productions. Cassini now joins TS performers Chelsea Marie, Khloe Hart, Jamie French, Jordan Jay, Wendy Summers and Michelle Austin, who have all launched websites through the Grooby Network.

VNA RELAUNCHES SHANDAFAY.COM ALBERTA — Canadian MILF ShandaFay announced today that she is relaunching her official site ShandaFay.comon Vicky Vette’s Vette Nation Army (VNA) Network. The revamped site has been overhauled with a new tour, preview video and members area. ShandaFay will continue to perform live every Saturday for members of her site and across the VNA Network. As part of the VNA Network, members of ShandaFay’s site will also have access to models such as Sara Jay, Nikki Benz, Julia Ann, Puma Swede, Vicky Vette and the live shows of other popular amateur MILFS, including HouseWife Kelly, Vanilla Deville and Mandy Tyler.

HOTGOLD TEAMS WITH ADULTCENTRO LISBON — HotGold, a leading purveyor of Portuguese porn, will launch hardcore 3D website Hot3D.xxx on the AdultCentro Publisher platform. the companies jointly announced. “As the Internet continues to churn out mediocre free porn, it is essential that quality studios raise the bar and offer audiences a premium

SARA JAY STREAMS ‘I’M NOT DEAD’ CAM SHOW MIAMI — Contrary to an Egyptian report claiming adult star Sara Jay was killed in a car accident, the performer appeared in a live cam show on Dec. 12 to prove she’s alive and well. “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. LOL. I thought it was kind of funny when I saw the chatter. No I am not dead and there was no car accident. I just celebrated my birthday and plan on being alive enough to shoot more porn in 2014.” She added, “I just put out a new movie ‘’Sara Jay in Heat 2’ and have a couple of award nominations coming up. It really would be bad timing to kick the bucket.’’

Hot3D.xxx launched using the AdultCentro Publisher platform.

experience beyond anything they can find gratis,” said Carlos Ferreira of Hotgold. He added, “Our state-ofthe-art 3D content rivals any Hollywood 3D epic in terms of its emotional appeal and our fans have already demonstrated their willingness to pay full price for a site worthy of their affection. That’s why it was so important for us to find a techno-

logical platform capable of keeping pace with the expectations of our valued customers. AdultCentro was clearly the best option right from the start.” AdultCentro bills itself as “more than just a white-label option for paysite publishers.” Rather than purchasing content as a prepaid expense and attempting to monetize it, AdultCentro says it allows domain owners to create a new, fully functional paysite in minutes. “We are very excited to be working with HotGold on the Hot3D.xxx site because it’s so obvious that their intentions are to satisfy their customers completely, something we focus on every day as well,” AdultCentro’s Alan Hall said.

TERAPATRICK.COM IS REVAMPED MONTREAL — Gamma Entertainment’s FameDollars affiliate program announced today the launch of a revamped version of TeraPatrick.com, official site of the adult Patrick superstar and author. Patrick’s site now features a new and optimized free tour, focusing on her recent more glamorous content and crossover appeal, along with archived content.

VNA RELAUNCHES SHANDAFAY.COM TORONTO — Canadian MILF ShandaFay says she is relaunching her official site Shanda Fay.comon Vicky Vette’s Vette Nation Army (VNA) Network. As part ShandaFay of the VNA Network, members of ShandaFay’s site will also have access to models such as Sara Jay, Nikki Benz, Julia Ann, Puma Swede, Vicky Vette and the live shows of other popular amateur MILFS, including HouseWife Kelly, Vanilla Deville and Mandy Tyler. Based in Calgary, Alberta and an auto body shop manager “by day,” ShandaFay has been a staple on the net for more than ten years. She previously ran her site under the name FithyCuteOnline.com and is best known for exploring a number of fetishes, like pegging, role play and femdom.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 51

Antipiracy System Tracks in Real-time

ASHINGTON — AT&T has received a patent for new technology that will detect and block file-sharing software, as well as track which users are using it. With the real-time technology, the telecom intends to evaluate usage patterns and assign users “scores” that places them into varying “risk classes.” Once a user’s activity is categorized, the technology can respond in a number of ways, including blocking the transfer entirely and reporting copyright infringement to “interested parties” such as copyright owners, according to the patent. U.S. Patent No. 8,590,054 is defined as “methods, devices and computer program products for regulating network activity using a subscriber scoring system.” In its patent abstract, AT&T said that efforts to date have been insufficient in protecting users and service providers from unwanted network activity and that copyright protection measures that have been deployed have failed to curtail increases in Internet piracy, particularly with the entertainment industry. The adult entertainment industry, of course, has been hit hard by piracy through Please see ANTIPIRACY, page 90

Google Updates URL Removal Tool

OUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google today announced that it has improved tools for removing a page from search results or cache on a third-party website. The tool is designed to alert Google that a page has been deleted, had robots.txt added, or the content has been changed. It is particularly useful for sites like revenge porn sites or mugshot sites, which need removals in a hurry. “You could use this tool if a page has been removed completely, or if it was just changed and you need to have the snippet and cached page removed,” said Please see REMOVAL, page 84

5 2 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Simplifying the Process Record-keeping Goes Mobile With Quick2257 App

ONGWOOD, Fla. — Industry attorney Lawrence Walters has released Quick2257, a new iOS app that simplifies the process of generating and transmitting performer records required by 18 U.S.C. § 2257 using an iPad or iPhone. Quick2257, approved last month by Apple for sale in the App Store for 99 cents, simplifies the process of creating Section 2257 records for performers, web cam models, escorts, dating site members and anyone who produces depictions of actual or simulated sexually explicit conduct. Quick2257 allows anyone with an iPhone or iPad to create the necessary performer records and transmit them to the records custodian in minutes, Walters told XBIZ that the Apple app, selling at a nominal introductory price of less than a buck, is a first-generation release that will improve in functionality over time. He also said that there’s hope to eventually offer the device on multiple platforms in addition Please see QUICK2257, page 89

Targeting CP

Google, Microsoft Unveil Technology to Block Child Porn

ONDON — Sparked by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s demands that the Internet giants need to rid the web of child porn, Google and Microsoft has announced new technologies to block online child abuse images and queries. The plans were unveiled at a special Downing Street Summit on Internet porn. In a unique spirit of cooperation, the two usual rivals said that they have developed new software instructions (algorithms) that will prevent the search for child abuse images or results that could lead to this type of content. More than 200 Google employees were put to work in the last three months to develop the new technology. Google communications director Peter Barron told the BBC that the changes have cleaned up more than 100,000 child porn queries, that would make it “much, much more difficult to find this content online.” “We’re agreed that child sexual imagery is a case apart, it’s illegal everywhere in the world, there’s a consensus on that. It’s absolutely right that we identify this stuff, we remove it and we report it to the authorities,” Barron said. But Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said that despite the improve Please see CHILD PORN, page 89

IN BRIEF VINE IS ROLLING OUT CUSTOM URLS HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Vanity URLs have come to Vine. Vine is letting users register for custom website URLs which direct toward profiles with easy-to-remember links, rather than links tough to digest. Facebook and Twitter, which owns Vine, already offer custom URLs. Porn stars, likely the largest working group grabbing the vanity URLs, will be cashing in on the strength of social-media marketing with them. Brian Gross of Woodland Hills, Calif.-based BSG Public Relations, which represents scores of adult entertainment clients, says Vine’s announcement represents a golden opportunity for performers. “I know that my clientele will look forward to this opportunity to increase awareness for themselves and their brand,” Gross told XBIZ. “They are savvy in the fact that they know their audience, they know what their audience wants, and opportunities like this will be beneficial to everyone.” Lauren MacEwen, an adult social-media marketer with 7Veils.com, agreed, noting that custom URLS fix a glitch for publicity measures. “One of the challenges with Vine was that you couldn’t share your profile with people,” MacEwen told XBIZ. “The only way for people to follow you was directly on the Vine app, through one of your videos. A custom URL will allow people to share their actual Vine profiles, as opposed to a single Vine. It will be able to mirror your branding, thus reinforcing your social, and overall, branding strategy.” MacEwen also said that the custom URLs also will allow performers to increase their following by sharing profiles on official websites and various social properties. “‘Claiming your name’ also insures that the property is yours and not being used by someone trading on your name. It gives you the opportunity to add more authenticity to your Vines.”

RED APPLE CLIENTS UPBEAT OVER UPTIME SAN DIEGO — Red Apple Media has reported that its

The “Go Away Cameron” extension is available at GoAwayCameron.co.uk.

EXTENSION LETS USERS BYPASS U.K. FILTERS LONDON — An extension for Google Chrome called “Go Away Cameron” — one that will work anywhere and with any websites that are blocked by firewall, universities, workplaces and nanny filters — has surfaced. The bypass was created by a developer to circumvent the U.K.’s new opt-out parental control filters and allows users an automated a private and smart proxy service to route access around eventual censorship. The extension, available at GoAwayCameron.co.uk, hopes to undermine Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan for a controlled Internet, according to its creator, Singapore-

network has remained up 100 percent of the time during what is reportedly the highest-trafficked online selling season in history. With an upgraded infrastructure and one of the most reliable customer service departments in the industry, Red Apple Media says it has kept its servers running uninterrupted with no downtime. The Christmastime’s Cyber Monday stampede boosted online sales up more than 20 percent from last year, reported the company, with shoppers scrambling on phones, tablets and computers to get the best deals — swelling many online stores’ traffic higher than they’d ever experienced. With Christmas quickly approaching, the team Red Apple Media team acted quickly to keep client sites running smoothly by expanded the network to accommodate the holiday rush. “December is all about keeping servers alive and we are happy to have helped our clients experience large gains during the holiday selling sea-

based computer science graduate @nubela. It is easy to install, and only requires a login to bypass blocked websites. The U.K.’s major ISPs began rolling out new porn filters at the behest of the government in recent months, asking users to opt out if they do not want explicit webpages automatically blocked. @nubela said he had three reason for making the extension. “One, It was a holiday project as I was learning Twitter bootstrap,” he said. “Two, I enjoy my Internet freedom, and urge all of you to never give that up, let alone to any government agencies. Three, I did have some blind hopes for it going viral.”

son with our networks remaining strong,” said Steven Daris, Red Apple Media CEO and co-founder. “The work is not yet done, of course, and our team is standing by with increased support, even answering support calls on the weekends.” Support calls are answered in less than five rings with no client put on hold, and online support tickets answered in less than seven minutes with online chats responded to within 45 seconds, Daris said. “We are a hosting provider of e-commerce software, media streaming and managed dedicated and cloud severs with more than 16 years of experience, and we are proud that top online companies trust us with their sites at such a critical time of year,” Daris said. “With an expanded network, advancements made to our infrastructure, and exclusive consulting work with major international companies, Red Apple Media is able to provide the clients of all sizes with everything they need to thrive online.”

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 53

ExoClick Makes Deloitte’s Fast 500

StarEdition Debuts Retargeting Options

Content vs. Traﬃc

UXEMBOURG — StarEdition has launched new retargeting options for its advertisers on its mobile advertising network, Star-Advertising. Advertisers can now decide exactly what audience they want to reach, including those interested in

2nd Straight Year

ARCELONA — For the second consecutive year, ExoClick has been selected by Deloitte for its Technology Fast 500 award, ranking No. 54 in the top 500 companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Again, ExoClick is the only Spanish company listed in the ranking. “Being part of the 500 fastest growing technology

companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa is a big achievement for us,” Exoclick CEO Benjamin Fonzé said. “Additionally being listed for the second time is even greater recognition as it shows our stable growth year over year.” Fonzé added, “I want to sincerely thank all of our clients for their trust and support, as well as the rapidly growing ExoClick team, whose belief in the company continues to make us better and stronger every day.” ExoClick, founded in December 2006, has grown into one of the largest ad networks in the world, serving more than 3.2 billion geo-targeted ad views a day using its proprietary ad serving technology, EXADS. The Barcelona-based company passed from 2 billion daily ad impressions last year to 3.2 billion this year, Fonzé said. Fonzé said ExoClick, which serves both advertisers and publishers worldwide for both web and mobile channels, is investing heavily in development “and plans to keep on growing at the same astonishing pace.” For the full list of 2013 Deloitte Fast 500 winners, visit Deloitte.co.uk. a

A New Take on the Age-old Debate

mong adult website owners, it is the classic “chicken vs. egg” debate rehashed, where a discussion of which is more important — content or traffic — is perennially posed. While partisans play their roles in public responses (with content providers claiming that content is king, and traffic brokers pointing to their wares as the secret to success), it leaves many operators wondering which is truly more important to adult website operators today: content or traffic? To kick it off, the undeniable fact of the matter is that you could have the single most stunning adult website ever created, featuring the highest quality, sexiest, most exclusive content available, coupled with a uniquely amazing user experience — but if nobody visits it,

video products, livecam sessions, dating offers, coaching services and/or male enhancement pills, the company said in a release. “When we think about mobile advertising, of course we talk about the devices themselves, but it also means that it’s a whole different e-commerce behavior,” said Alex Lecomte, marketing manager at StarEdition. “This is why we are thrilled to offer an interesting retargeting option to our clients; being able to profile users to the maximum is the base of a wise marketing investment.” StarEdition released three options for its advertisers to measure performance and optimize online campaigns: The “Tracking code” immediately informs customers about their performance. Available through each Please see STAREDITION, page 84

you won’t be able to make any sales. If things in life were that simple, it would be obvious that traffic is more important than content — but that is only at first blush. A deeper look at the equation would show that offering quality content is among the best ways to attract visitors (traffic) to a site, especially in the visually oriented adult arena. One great equalizer in this contested equation is social media, where content turns into traffic by sharing it across networks. Pinterest, the mainstream social pinboard site, comes to mind as one way that good content can equal the importance of good traffic, when used properly. Another consideration is how traffic statistics can guide content development. Please see DEBATE, page 90

Building Better Join Forms

or e-commerce website operators, web forms are a vital ingredient, whether used for paysite joins or product or service sales, or customer feedback and inquiries. Knowing if your site’s forms work is an easy enough process, but how do you know how well they are working, from a performance standpoint — not performance as in “how fast does it load” (although speed is a serious concern), but performance as in “does my form encourage completion?” and

5 4 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

“what can I do to improve this performance?” The process of evaluating your web forms is known as “A/B testing,” which simply involves splitting your traffic between your “A” (or control) offer and your “B” (or test) offer, measuring the effectiveness of each approach. The winner becomes the new “A,” fueling another “B” test run, indefinitely repeating the process to fine-tune your approach and profits. Although testing form elements

is an unglamorous way for webmasters to spend time and energy, this often-overlooked task is vital, because web forms are the foundation of all user-generated data — including website purchase and subscription orders. If you expect to make money online, requiring the prospective customer to fill out a web form will likely happen at some point, so by testing, optimizing and retesting your site’s web form elements, online form completion and sales conversion rates Please see FORMS, page 91

Strategies for Re-marketing Canceled Members

erchants often like to think that their products and services are so good that every customer is a guaranteed customer for life. Unfortunately, this rarely plays out in the real world, where increasingly finicky porn consumers are more reluctant to purchase and more quick to cancel website memberships. Direct communication

and a discount offer or other incentives are the way to mitigate this user loss. According to online billing giant CCBill.com, a Cancel Discount is a retention tool that gives consumers who cancel the ability to keep their subscription at a reduced rate, with their subscription terms automatically modified to the new cancel rate. A Loyalty Discount, on the other hand, exists as a retention tool to give

consumers a reduced price the longer they rebill. By providing an incentive to remain customers via this reduced rate, site owners have the opportunity to keep members rebilling. Sometimes a discount offer is unnecessary; for example, when a site offers frequently updated unique content that former customers only need a preview of to re-join. Whatever the incentive, the common denominator is an event-based (in this

case, an actual or pending membership cancellation)

email campaign, designed to retain existing customers, or to re-seduce past prospects. For example, XBIZ.net member Damian offered an interesting and potentially profitable email marketing technique for paysite owners who can cash in by mailing their ex-members using a twostep approach to maximize productivity and pullpower. Using this approach, the first email to send is a graphically embellished HTML-based mailer that is, as Damian puts it, “lovely and wizzy.” This message will ask former members to check out the site’s latest offerings posted since they cancelled their membership, and will link to a landing page showing a well-produced trailer of the site’s newest content. For those recipients that do not respond to this initial offer, send a second HTML-based mailer (HTML so that it is traceable), but make it appear to be an old-school plain text email, which reads: Hi ____________ I sent you a mail last week asking for your comments on our new stuff. Hope everything is OK with you, but I really would value your input into the new material. Here’s my personal email email@domain.com Here’s a link to the new video. Let me know what you think. While Damian notes the personalized part of the email is the least important part of this approach, he also cites a study that reveals that personalization increases commercial email opening rates by more than 137 percent — providing a significant boost in audience reach and effectiveness. “The main point [is to use] singing dancing HTML followed by pseudo plain text,” Damian told XBIZ. “This one-two punch works wonders [because] the pseudo plain text is what makes it work.” a

58 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Optimizing Advertising for Increased Sales

rofiting from media buys is not as simple as posting an ad and then waiting for the sales to roll in as many new ad buyers quickly discover when they learn the hard way about the need for ad optimization. “Ad optimization is [the] key to lower CPC prices, higher click-through rates (CTR) and conversions, and a greater ROI,” Miranda Miller wrote for Search Engine Watch. “Even the lowest budget campaigns must be scalable and balance top-notch creative with ongoing analysis and optimization.” Miller cites a BoostCTR report recommending action items such as having multiple writers write for the same ad group to allow simultaneous testing of multiple perspectives, and to attract attention using dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) in ad headlines. Other tips include testing a stronger

call to action and shifting the ad’s focus from features to user benefits — being sure to test multiple approaches to learn what will work best and what won’t — and then applying that knowledge to similar ad groups. It is all about understanding the process and refining it through testing and statistical analysis. Doing it all yourself can be a chore, but some market-leading adult entertainment companies are now making it easy for porn promoters to find a highly qualified audience at an attractive price. For example, adult website traffic network TrafficForce.com recently released its new Automated Ad Optimization tool to help its advertisers understand their customers better. This offers a way to improve ad performance and profitability through real-time statistical tracking of all ads on a per account basis in order to select the most profitable ads.

60 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

According to Ross from Traffic Force, the company delivers 10 billion premium impressions monthly, providing it with a deep understanding of the importance of an ad’s click-through ratio (CTR) — or the percentage of clicks an advertisement receives in comparison to the number of times it is displayed. “Displaying the best ads,

as dictated by actual customers rather than assumptions is providing a significant boost for several clients who have started using the system,” Ross stated. “Instead of pausing ads manually and swapping creatives to chase traffic trends on your account, Traffic Force can now do it all for you automatically, increasing or decreasing the visibility of specific ads in your campaign based on their current performance level.” Ross notes that better ads and faster response to information lead to higher CTR and greater profits, but because ads boasting

the best CTR may not be the most profitable ones, Traffic Force’s Automated Ad Optimization program enabled on an opt-in basis only. The system is compatible with both new and existing advertisements and can be activated or deactivated on a per-ad basis for greater flexibility. By weighting ads to prioritize impressions to those with the highest CTR, the system allows users to optimize their ad campaigns, eliminating the poorest performing advertisements while identifying those that are the most profitable. “Best of all,” Ross concluded, “the data clients can track from the CTR of top performing creatives in an account is also useful for understanding the target audience and fine tuning the overall message of your marketing campaigns.” Regardless of how you go about it, optimizing your ads to maximize CTR will put money in the bank. a

IN BRIEF TRAFFIC FORCE UNVEILS HOSTEDTUBE.COM TOOL EXOCLICK OFFERING 24/7 SERVICE BARCELONA — Adult ad network ExoClick’s multilingual customer service team is now available 24/7 to assist clients with all their advertising and publishing needs. “We recognized the need to provide this service to our very international client base,” said Mark Westwood, director of customer services at ExoClick. “Our goal is to offer our friendly and professional expertise in a fast and efficient manner, no matter the time zone our clients are working in and including weekends.” Having recently reached 3.2 billion impressions per day, Westwood said that this is yet another milestone in the rapid evolution of ExoClick and one that demonstrates its continued commitment in helping clients maximize their potential through its proprietary ad serving technology and quality of service.

NEW YORK — Traffic Force has announced the inclusion of a specific targeted keyword placement feature to give customers the “full potential” of the HostedTube publishing platform. “We’ve added a great new feature for Traffic Force clients today and it also should lead to even more revenue for HostedTube publishers as well,” said Ross of TrafficForce.com “Keyword targeting is something we have had high on our list since HostedTube first launched, and now it is a reality for advertisers who are interested in bringing their conversion ratios to a higher

level right now.” Ross added “What makes this new feature so significant is the fact that HostedTube already offers robust content sites in virtually every niche imaginable, and the sites are guaranteed to update frequently while avoiding issues associated with third-party content because of their centralized structure. Advertisers can come go to TrafficForce.com right now to bid on precisely the traffic that best suits their products and services while HostedTube publishers in some niches may experience a rise in revenue automatically from this new traffic targeting upgrade.” The Traffic Force database is now populated with 300

defined keywords. The listings will continue to grow as the system is customized based on customer feedback. According to company reps, the database will “learn” from the entire network of sites and add new biddable keywords for marketers as sufficient traffic becomes available to support each one properly.

FONTES ‘MOST SEARCHED’ IN PORTUGAL LOS ANGELES — Erica Fontes, the reigning XBIZ Female Foreign Performer of the Year, has been named Google’s “most searched celebrity” in her native country of Portugal, edging out Kim Kardashian and sports

icon Cristiano Ronaldo. The unique honor this week has made national news in Portugal, where Fontes’ No. 1 status has been noted by numerous media outlets ranging from newspapers to radio to TV. “I think this is fantastic, because being in the first place in a list super famous people like the player Cristiano Ronaldo and Kim Kardashian at the annual Google searches in Portugal is a matter of great happiness for me and I’m very proud,” Fontes told XBIZ. “Because I was in first place in Portugal Google search and Cristiano Ronaldo was the second Portuguese most searched, this was a real bomb,” Fontes added.

PORN.XXX’S GOOGLE RANKING LIFTS OFF PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — PIMPROLL’s investment in .xxx domain Porn.xxx appears to be paying off. Porn.xxx just landed on the first Google search page in the U.S. for the keyword “porn.” Stuart Lawley, founder and CEO of ICM Registry, which operates sTLD .xxx, said that Porn.xxx’s catapult up the ranks “shows, in our opinion, that .xxx sites are punching above their weight in search engine performance. “We are delighted,” Lawley told XBIZ, noting that, similarly, HDAnalPorn.xxx is No. 1 for the search term “ anal porn.” In other news relative to .xxx, Lawley said that the “ domain matching “ program to secure .sex, .porn and .adult names for .xxx owners is still operative but there will be a cut-off date sometime in early 2014. Lawley also noted that .xxx second-year renewal rates “are very high and have exceeded our expectations , looking like somewhere in the mid 80s-90s percentage wise.” He also said that of the domain names ICM Registry sold on Day 1, more than 60 percent are still owned by the initial registrant after two years.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 61

Snapshot of the Market A Look at the Latest Stats for Penetration and What They Mean for Marketers

t has been about half a dozen years or so now since tech journal headlines proclaimed that mobile Internet access would surpass fixed Internet access “by 2014.” Now that this milestone year is upon us, XBIZ wanted to look at the latest available mobile penetration stats and to contemplate what it means to adult marketers. Here is what we found: A recent report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project reveals that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of American mobile phone owners have been using these devices to go online. According to Aaron Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, this proportion of cell owners who use their phones to go online has doubled since 2009. “We call them ‘cell Internet users’ and define them as anyone who uses their cell phone to access the Internet or use email,” Smith stated. “Because 91 percent of all Americans now own a cellphone, this means that 57 percent of all AmeriPlease see MOBILE, page 91

62 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

XBIZ Rolls Out Google GlassOptimized Site

OS ANGELES — XBIZ is pleased to announce the rollout of its Google Glass-optimized news site developed for the groundbreaking digital eyewear technology. In addition to providing potentially game-changing access to all that the web has to offer, Google Glass allows users to interact with their environment like never before — photographing, video recording, searching and translating the world around them. It is able to accept voice commands and to display maps and other data in response to user queries. Environmentally aware, Glass provides users “answers without having to ask.” To access XBIZ using Google Glass, simply “Google” (search) the letters X-B-I-Z by stating each letter individually, clearly and rapidly. Please see GLASS, page 91

Mobile Video Comes of Age

he rapidly increasing video quality of today’s mobile devices is inspiring new generations of digital filmmakers to adopt new techniques, which take advantage of the technical innovations occurring on the mobile video front — where many current generation smartphones support full HD video recording — and a few upstart phones are already shooting next-generation 4K video. Sometimes, however, these specs are little more than marketing bluster, i.e. “HD” at 720p, or in the case of “4K” video, at 15 frames per second (around half the normal video frame rate); which results in a somewhat “jittery” playback of very sharp images. Nonetheless, from improved optics to enhanced low light performance, to color fidelity and sharper images, mobile video quality is improving all of the time. Indeed, today’s low-end camera phones often produce video that is far superior to the ¾-inch video systems once used ubiquitously in broadcast and professional applications — but rather than requiring a cart full of equipment and an enormous amount of light and technical fidgeting, fit in your back pocket and pump out stunning video with ease. With today’s high-end camera phones, there is no comparison. Producers at all levels cannot help but take notice of this growing trend and smartphone (and iPad / Android tablet) video is increasingly finding its way into “pro” productions. Combine this new age of video production with the crowd-sourcing phenomenon, and new vistas of visual expression become possible. One example is an Android and iOS offering from Koburn, entitled, “Film Crew” (www.filmcrew.us), which brings crowd sourcing to video production; while posing a range of intriguing possibilities for adult entertainment providers seeking a similar solution to their unique content needs. Please see VIDEO, page 91

IN BRIEF APP4PORN.COM LAUNCHES NANTERRE, France — A new France-based porn app site, App4Porn.com, has debuted. The developers said that faced with the “dematerialization of content, mobility, and the inability for developers and consumers to exchange or purchase erotic apps,” the company launched the first X-rated online store

available in English and French. The company has already partnered with producer Marc Dorcel for content and said 1,000 new apps will be available early next year.

CHERRY MEDIA NOW OFFERING DESIGN BARCELONA — Cherry Media S.L. is now offering a range of Specialist Design Services.

Cherry’s new services include: mobile web design; content management system and web page design and management; promotional and marketing campaign landing pages; online and mobile graphical banners; dynamic newsletter templates; app design templates and artwork; branding; and infographics. “Clients can now take advantage of our decade of experience designing content, products and marketing tools for the mobile industry,” CEO Julia Dimambro said.

MOBILE PAYMENTS TO SURGE IN E.U. LONDON — The European market for digital content is expected to increase from an estimated 15.8 billion euros in 2012 to nearly 29 billion euros in 2017, paving the way for a surge in direct carrier billing, according to a new white paper from Juniper Research and international mobile payment and messaging company DIMOCO in a white paper called “Is Mobile Operator Payment the Ideal Payment Method for Digital Content?”

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 63

U.K. Filters Go Beyond Porn

Dispatch From Germany

OS ANGELES — In a suit that fingers one of the web’s largest registrars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences claims that GoDaddy.com is cybersquatting with “parked pages” in a lawsuit potentially

ONDON — Porn filters used by the U.K.’s major ISPs are blocking sites offering sex education and advice on sexual health and porn addiction. News of over-filtering also coincided with reports that the new default filters are also failing to block hardcore porn-hosting sites. Adult content filtering is now turned on by default for new U.K. customers of three of the four major ISPs — TalkTalk, Sky and BT. Virgin plans to launch its own network-level porn filter before the new year, making it the last big ISP to bow to Prime Minister David Cameron’ s dePlease see FILTERS, page 92

FSC Has New Board Members

ANOGA PARK, Calif. — The Free Speech Coalition last month announced new members to its 13-seat board of directors.

Incumbent board members who were re-elected include Bob Christian, Larry Garland and Christian Mann. Mark Schechter, owner of ATMLA (Adult Talent Managers Los Angeles), and Mo Reese, an adult content producer and phoPlease see FSC, page 82

GoDaddy Sued Over Parked Pages

Suing Consumers RedTube Wins Injunction to Stop Anti-Piracy Lawsuit Threats

AMBURG — RedTube.com won a court order barring a law firm from sending out copyright-infringement demand letters to the website’s users. Alex Taylor, vice president of RedTube, which is operated by MindGeek, said the decision by a Hamburg court was a victory for his company and for “every person who visits streaming web-

sites.” But Thomas Urmann, the principal at German law firm Urmann and Colleagues that sent out letters asking thousands of RedTube users to pay up for viewing alleged pirated content, says he has his sights on targeting visitors to other popular porn websites, as well. “RedTube was more like a test balloon,” Urmann told Welt on Sonntag. “We have been looking into different sites, and therefore I anticipate sending letters to users of those portals in the coming months.” Urmann did not indicate or hint about the adult entertainment sites that might be Please see GERMANY, page 92

worth $12.2 million. The suit, amended last week at federal court in Los Angeles, charges that Scottsdale, Ariz.-based GoDaddy has infringed on and deliberately appropriated at least 122 of their marks with such domain names as OscarRedCarpet.com, OscarActor.com, AcademyAwards2015.com and BillyCrystal2012Oscars.com. If the Academy is successful with the suit, it could pave the way for similar claims from other site operators, including those in the adult biz. “GoDaddy achieves monetary gain by using the Academy’s ... marks to knowingly divert Internet traffic away from plaintiff’s legitimate sites to infringing parked domains,” the amended complaint Please see GODADDY, page 82

Site Operator Charged With 31 Felonies

AN FRANCISCO — Kevin Bollaert, the alleged owner and operator of UGotPosted.com, was arrested last month by California Department of Justice agents after a six-month investigation. UGotPosted.com, known commonly as a revenge porn website, facilitated the posting of more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos and extorted victims for as much as $350 each to remove the illicit content, state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said. Bollaert has been charged with 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft and extortion and is facing possible jail time and fines.

64 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Unlike many other revenge porn websites where the subject of the photos is anonymous, UGotPosted.com required that the poster include the subject’s full name, location, Bollaert age and facebook profile link. Court documents allege that Bollaert created a second website, ChangeMyReputation.com, in October 2012, which he used when individuals contacted UGotPosted.com requesting that con-

tent be removed from the site. Bollaert would allegedly extort victims by replying and offering to remove the content for a fee ranging from $300-350, which could be paid using a PayPal account. Bollaert allegedly told investigators, according to court documents, that he made around $900 per month from advertising on the site and records obtained from his ChangeMyReputation.com PayPal account indicate that he received payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Bollaert has at least three suits pending against him over allegedly posting unauthorized pics on UGotPosted. a

FriendFinder Cleared to Exit Bankruptcy

UNNYVALE, Calif. — FriendFinder Networks Inc. has obtained confirmation of its plan of reorganization from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, paving the way for the social-networking company and publisher of Penthouse magazine to emerge from bankruptcy. The plan of reorganization, once implemented, will strengthen the company’s balance sheet and enable FriendFinder Net-

works to grow its flagship brands, the company said in a statement. The plan is expected to reduce the company’s annual interest expense by more than $50 million, eliminate approximately $300 million of secured debt and return control of the company to Friend

Finder Networks founder, Andrew Conru. On emergence, senior secured notes due 2013 will be exchanged for new notes in the same principal amount, plus certain additional consideration in the form of cash or notes. Holders of other secured other notes will receive

substantially all of the new common stock to be issued by a reorganized FriendFinder Networks, plus cash consideration subject to certain conditions. The company’s current common stock will be extinguished once the agreement becomes effective and will no longer trade on the open market. FriendFinder Networks operates AdultFriendFinder.com, Amigos.com, AsiaFriend Finder.com, Cams.com,

FriendFinder. com, BigChurch.com and SeniorFriendFinder.com, among others. FriendFinder also owns its video production line and engages in brand licensing. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September in Wilmington, Del., after reporting losses in seven consecutive years. It listed assets of less than $10 million and liabilities of as much as $500 million to $1 billion.

MC, Visa Settlement Approved

ROOKLYN, N.Y. — Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. won approval last month for an estimated $5.7 billion settlement that ended years of litigation with U.S. merchants over allegations that credit-card swipe fees were improperly fixed. Small businesses stand to benefit, including online adult websites, which are prime plaintiffs given the volume of credit card purchases. The settlement provides for cash payments to U.S. merchants and lets them begin charging customers an extra fee when they use Visa or MasterCard credit cards. The nuts and bolts of the class-action suit revolves around the presumption that Visa and MasterCard, along with their member banks, conspired to fix and artificially inflate the interchange fees that merchants pay to accept Visaand MasterCard-branded debit and credit cards. Patrick Jermyn, an attorney with Harrison, N.Y.based Class Action Refund LLC, who in recent years has been alerting the online adult industry about the litigation and likelihood of payouts, says that any company that accepted Visa Please see SETTLEMENT, page 93

66 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

California May See ‘Revenge Porn’ Bill Sequel

ACRAMENTO, Calif. — After spearheading the successful “revenge porn” bill passed by the Legislature in October, Sen. Anthony Cannella has announced his intention to introduce new legislation and expand on the existing law. The revenge porn sequel — or, as Cannella’s office is calling it, “Revenge Porn 2.0 Act” — will redact the original law to include pictures taken by the victim as protected material. Currently the law only addresses photos taken by the individual posting them. Cannella also plans to clarify the bill’s language to expedite prosecution. “Omitting ‘selfies’ from the original legislation was an obvious oversight that I, along with other commentators, mentioned before the bill was passed. So it makes sense to fix that portion of the law,” Adult industry attorney Lawrence Walters told XBIZ. He continued, “However, I have continuing concerns over the criminalization of speech that does not fall within the historical ex-

emptions to First Amendment protection (i.e., obscenity, child porn, defamation, etc.) Civil penalties make more sense in this realm.” The American Civil Liberties Union Walters (ACLU) has voiced similar concerns about preserving First Amendment rights in the wake of revenge porn legislation, in California and across the country. Both Walters and the ACLU call for laws to be drawn with “narrow precision.” Under existing California law, those who commit revenge porn face a misdemeanor charge and one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Prosecutors must prove that the perpetrators electronically distributed the victims’ explicit photos “with the intent to cause serious emotional distress.” Cannella plans to introduce Revenge Porn 2.0 when the Legislature returns in January. a

OTHER PENDING ‘REVENGE PORN’ ACTION N

ew Jersey acted as trailblazer for the campaign against revenge porn, making it a felony in 2004. California recently followed suit when Gov. Jerry Brown approved a bill that designated it as misdemeanor offense. Now similar legislation is being drafted in New York, a Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Maryland and other states. Florida, Rhode Island and Virginia had action this month, as listed below.

IN VIRGINIA ... RICHMOND — A bill headed for the Virginia House of Delegates would outlaw “revenge porn,” joining a growing list of state governments seeking to curtail the relatively new form of cyberbullying. House Bill 49, pre-filed yesterday, would make it a misdemeanor for anyone in Virginia to share or sell nude or sexually explicit photos or videos of another person with the intent to cause “substantial emotional distress.” Conviction would carry a penalty of up to a year in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. “It’s probably enough to get somebody who is feeling hurt or vindictive to think twice about it,” State Delegate-elect Marcus Simon, who filed the bill, told a local news

source. “It’s a problem here in Virginia.” The bill would specifically prohibit someone from disseminating or selling “any videotape, photograph, film or other videographic or still image created by any means, or any reproduction of such videotape, photograph, film or image that depicts another person who is totally nude, in a state of undress so as to expose the genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breast, or engaged in sexual conduct…”

IN FLORIDA ... MIAMI — Seminole County State Sen. David Simmons is planning to introduce a new anti-revenge porn bill in March. He proposed a similar bill last year, but it stalled

and ultimately died before the senate’s adjournment. “It’s the ability of a person to literally destroy another person by publication that can go all over the world,” Simmons said about revenge porn. “That’s a lot of power that’s given to an individual to make some really bad decisions, destroy their lives and humiliate the other person.”

IN RHODE ISLAND ... PROVIDENCE — A group of Rhode Island law makers are looking to criminalize “revenge porn” by making it a felony punishable by jail time and steep fines. Rep. Donald Lally plans to introduce to the House when the 2014 session of the General Assembly picks up.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 67

HICAGO — Prenda Law attorneys last month appealed a recent order that levied $261,000 in sanctions over tactics used in a copyright infringement case brought on by Lightspeed Media Corp. Prenda Law, which has been prolific in exacting payments from consumer porn piracy defendants in the past three years but lately has been defending its litigaAnthony Smith tion strategies, appealed the order was said to have to the 7th U.S. obtained stolen Circuit Court of passwords to Appeals. Last month, break into about U.S. District Judge G. Patrick 40 Lightspeed Murphy said that Media porn sites. Prenda Law attorneys John Steele, Paul Hansmeier and Paul Duffy filed a meritless case against defendant Anthony Smith. The case against Smith alleged that he was the ringleader of a hacking gang that was said to have obtained stolen passwords to break into about 40 Lightspeed porn sites. Prenda Law, at the behest of Lightspeed Media, made additional claims against corporate executives at AT&T and Comcast Cable Communications aided, abetted and conspired with the hacker to steal its content because they refused to comply with subpoenas and turn over subscriber data based on IP Please see LIGHTSPEED, page 85

“

Judge: Malibu Media Must Pay Sanctions

ILWAUKEE — Attorneys for Malibu Media were sanctioned last month by a federal judge, who said penalties would act as a deterrence over abusive attempts to coerce porn-piracy defendants into settlements. Malibu Media produces and distributes content mostly through X-Art.com and has become one of the most prolific companies when it comes to consumer piracy litigation. Last month, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa said he followed the lead of two other Wisconsin federal jurists who earlier this year directed Malibu Media to show cause as to why it shouldn’t be sanctioned for attaching exhibits that help paint pictures of alleged infringers still identified as John Does. In the present consolidated case involving three piracy defendants, Malibu Media vigorously defended its decision to attach such exhibits to its complaints, Randa said. Please see MALIBU, page 92

68 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Playboy Sues LeBook.com Over Kate Moss Pictorial

OS ANGELES — Playboy Enterprises International, in a suit filed last month at Los Angeles federal court, claims that operators of LeBook.com have poached and reproduced on its website high-res pics of its January edition of Playboy magazine, including its 18-page pictorial of fashion model Kate Moss. Playboy, seeking unspecified damages for infringement, said that LeBook violated its copyrights in an “ongoing, wanton and willful” fashion only days, if not hours, after Playboy’s release of its special 60th Anniversary issue, which featured the English model in a spread that was licensed to Playboy. LeBook.com says on its website that it operates as a “global network and resource that offers exposure to companies and members of the creative community.” The suit even alleges that LeBook facilitated countless other acts of infringement by third parties who likely shared the contents of Playboy and Moss with social networks. “Le Book conveniently provides browsers of its infringing content with a series of icons and options just below the photos,” the suit said. “These icons and

FROM LEBOOK.COM

Lightspeed Media Sanctions Are Appealed

Operators of LeBook.com reproduced on its website high-res pics of the January edition of Playboy magazine, including its 18-page pictorial of fashion model Kate Moss, according to a lawsuit.

options enable users to blow up the photos into even larger, high-resolution shots, print their own [infringing] copies of the entire spread, and ‘share’ the infringing content with others via email and social networks such as Facebook.” In the suit, Playboy is seeking to enjoin company

reps from promoting and participating in acts of infringement against the company, seizure of the contents at issue and actual and statutory damages, as well as attorneys fees. Officials at LeBook.com did not immediately return a call for XBIZ comment. a

RedTube8.xxx Ordered Transferred

URBANK, Calif. — The RedTube8.xxx domain name has been ordered transferred to MindGeek after an arbitrator ruled in November that the name is confusingly similar to its adult tube site franchise RedTube.com. RedTube8.xxx, according to documents filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, was registered in May by Cleiton Pardim of Moscavide, Portugal, who redirected traffic to an undisclosed adult site. Pardim, in a response

to MindGeek’s complaint, told the arbitrator that there was “no similarity between ‘RedTube8’ and ‘RedTube’” when it comes to RedTube8.xxx. But the dispute resolution judge disagreed, finding that Pardim registered the name in bad faith and even offered to sell the domain name to MindGeek for 3,000

euros. “The panel finds that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s RedTube trademark, since the respondent has merely added the number ‘8’ to the trademark, which is certainly not sufficient to exclude the confusingly similarity,” the arbitrator ruled. MindGeek, formally Manwin, has filed scores of UDRP and trademark infringement claims in past years over websites that borrow literal aspects of their brands. Please see REDTUBE, page 92

Oral Arguments Slated for Measure B, Ira Isaacs Appeals

AN FRANCISCO — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given notice to parties involved in appeals over condom ordinance Measure B and the obscenity convictions of fetish film distributor Ira Isaacs that it has calendared oral arguments in March for each of the cases. Vivid Entertainment’s appeal will be heard on Monday, March 3, at 9:30 a.m.; Isaacs’ appeal will be heard Wednesday, March 5, at 9 a.m. Both cases will be heard at the 9th Circuit’s courthouse in Pasadena, Calif. In both cases, each side will be allowed 15 minutes of argument time. Vivid Entertainment attorneys are seeking for the 9th Circuit to dump the district court’s earlier finding over its request for a preliminary injunction over Measure B and toss the AIDS Healthcare Foundation as intervenors in the appeal. Measure B was passed more than one year ago by voters, who green lighted the “Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act” that requires the use of condoms in the production of adult movies in Los Angeles County. Isaacs is appealing obscenity convictions, asking the court to decide whether the district court erred in ruling that he could not testify that his movies had serious artistic merit, as well as errors by restricting his attorney’s closing argument, among other challenges. Isaacs was found guilty in a third trial in April 2012 on five counts of violating federal obscenity laws over the mail distribution of “Mako’s First Time Scat, “ “Hollywood Scat Amateurs #7,” “Hollywood Scat Amateurs #10” and “Japanese Doggie 3 Way.” Two earlier trials were

“I feel like I’m doing the right thing standing up for freedom,” said Ira Isaacs, who was convicted on five obscenity counts in 2012. His appeal will be heard in oral arguments in March.

declared mistrials. Since the convictions, Isaacs has spent no time behind bars. “I feel like I’m doing the right thing standing up for freedom,” Isaacs told XBIZ after learning of the oral arguments scheduled for March. “Many people would not stand up — believe me, the pleas were generous. I hope I win.” The 9th Circuit hears most cases in San Francisco, but travels to remote courthouses in Honolulu; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, as well as Pasadena. Video and audio recordings of both Isaacs’ and Vivid’s cases will be available one day after each of the oral arguments. a

Magistrate Judge Recommends IntenseCash Be Awarded $2.3M

ENVER — A federal magistrate judge has recommended that gay affiliate program IntenseCash be awarded $2.3 million and handed a restraining order against Sordid Ones BV and DeeCash after its operators failed to respond to a lawsuit over trademark infringement. U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyd Boland, after a two-hour hearing in late October over IntenseCash’s motion for default judgment, ruled last month that unrebutted allegations against Sordid Ones and DeeCash establish that its operators “engaged in conduct that infringed on trademarks for IntenseCash’s BrokeStraightBoys.com and BrokeStraightGuys.com.” IntenseCash parent BluMedia, in an amended suit in early 2012, claimed that Sordid Ones incorporated those trademarked terms into their SEO efforts in a scheme to poach prospective gay porn surfers. DeeCash, according to court documents, acquired more than 90 of Sordid Ones’ websites prior to the filing. Boland said IntenseCash suffered economic damages of $2,259,583 in lost revenues as a result of the alleged infringement.

He also agreed with IntenseCash’s counsel, Chad Belville, that absent an injunction the defendants would continue to use deceptively similar marks. Boland enjoined DeeCash and Sordid Ones employees and officers from Belville participating in schemes to deceptively use similar names and domains of “RealBrokeBoys” and “BrokeAssBoys” or otherwise infringing on the words “broke straight boys” and the domains and phrases “BrokeStraightBoys.com” and “BrokeStraight Guys.com.” IntenseCash, in a motion for default judgment, said that it has spent more than $250,000 in purchasing Google Adwords search terms and that it previously won four arbitration decisions involving alleged intellectual property theft. Boland’s recommendation on the motion for default, restraining order and monetary award will be forwarded to a federal judge for a final determination, according to Belville. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 69

Paris Hilton: Sex Tape Site Is Cybersquatting

EVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Paris Hilton, the American socialite and TV personality, has finally gotten around to filing a cybersquatting complaint against ParisHiltonPornVideos.com, despite the fact that the site has been registered for 10 years. ParisHiltonPornVideos. com, according to records, is privately registered and has been since December 2003. Since that time, the

This website that links to video sites has been registered for 10 years.

website has offered ways for consumers to find her sex tapes.

ParisHiltonPornVideos. com currently provides links where one can

stream the famed “1 Night in Paris” that depicts Hilton having sex with Rick Salomon in 2001 or “Hotel Heiress.” The site also includes historical information on Hilton and information culled from Wikipedia and a link to a CNN interview with the star and Piers Morgan. Hilton, who has trademarked her name for a variety of products, has complained to WIPO over about 30 instances of cybersquatting in the past

three years, making formal filings with the intellectual property organizations over ParisHiltonBeauty.com, ParisHiltonSunglasses.co m and ParisHiltonDiamonds.com. But this is the first cybersquatting complaint against a porn-related domain that actually markets her sex tapes. Hilton’s claim with WIPO, which likely will face an arbitration judge, was just filed and a Please see HILTON, page 85

Midwest Sentenced for Public Nudity

INCOLN, Neb. — Solo girl Val Midwest was sentenced to 45 days in jail for posing for nude pictures on the lawn of her former Catholic high school. In the offending pics, taken late on May 13, Dodds is depicted with her breasts exposed outside Pius X High School’s Midwest football field, lying nude on the turf and sitting naked on a concrete bench. Midwest reportedly engineered the shoot to get back at former classmates and staff at Pius X, who chastised her for wanting to start a porn career. Defense attorney Chad Wythers argued to the judge that the sentence was rather harsh, given that first-time DUI offenders, who are more hazardous to the public, generally only receive a week behind bars. A spokesman for the Lincoln City’s Attorney’s Office said Dodds had no remore for her actions and “deserves jail.” a

70 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

IN BRIEF

AshleyMadison’s signature mark.

ASHLEYMADISON.COM MAY SUE COMPETITOR LOS ANGELES — AshleyMadison.com may sue a competitor for using its distinctive mark of a woman with her finger on her lips, a federal judge has decided. The dating website for extramarital affairs, operated by Avid Dating Life, is suing Infostream, which runs several competing dating websites, including SeekingArrangement.com and WhatsYourPrice.com. Both parties reached an accord in a previous suit, under which Avid agreed to pay Infostream $60,000 to use the name “arrangement finders,” and agreed not to challenge Infostream’s “seeking arrangement” mark. But the parties returned to federal court again, with both accusing each other of pur-

chasing web advertising related to searches for the other’s dating site. AshleyMadison.com also accused Infostream of violating the legal settlement by using its “famous” trade dress of a woman with her finger pressed against her sealed lips, which it refers to as the “shush image.” AshleyMadison.com says the consuming public associates this image with its website. U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson, the federal jurist in Vivid Entertainment’s lawsuit over Measure B in Los Angeles, dismissed the majority of both claims with prejudice this month, but withheld judgment on who owns the rights to the shush image.

SRI LANKA BANS 1,500 PORN SITES COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Authorities here have banned 1,500 porn websites from operating in the country, deeming them “obscene.” The 1,500 porn sites taken down is the most ever at one time by Sri Lanka authorities, who in recent years have pulled down at least 110 sites deemed “obscene” in the inter-

est of “women and children.” Domain names of the “obscene” sites taken down were not disclosed.

RANDAZZA COMPLETES LAW PROGRAM IN ITALY LAS VEGAS — Adult entertainment attorney Marc Randazza has announced that he recently com- Randazza pleted his masters of law in intellectual property in Turin, Italy. Turin’s masters of law (LLM) program, sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the University of Turin, provides an in-depth examination of intellectual property law, particularly on matters of competition and antitrust, exploitation and enforcement of intellectual property and international aspects of intellectual property, among other subjects. Randazza Legal Group has offices in Las Vegas and Miami, both specializing in intellectual property, First nt and Internet law.

NEMESIS REPORTS DROP IN TUBE PIRACY CHATWORTH, Calif. — Nemesis, an exclusive custom tool unveiled by Takedown Piracy in July, has removed more than 40,000 counts of tube piracy, the company said. “While Nemesis is only one of the ways we are targeting piracy, I’m happy to report it has quickly become one of our most effective,” Takedown Piracy Owner Nate Glass said. “In only a few short months, Nemesis has left a large footprint in the piracy world, accounting for over 30 percent of our total removal of more than 128,000 infringing tube videos.”

PROSTITUTION LAWS STRUCK IN CANADA OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada, 9-0, struck down the nation’s anti-prostitution laws. The Supreme Court ruled that laws prohibiting brothels, communicating in public with clients and living on the profits of prostitution to be “overly broad” The landmark ruling follows a court challenge filed by former and current sex

workers and gives the Canadian government one year to craft new legislation. While prostitution is legal in Canada, the laws aimed at preventing its practice went far beyond protecting communities from public nuisances associated with the sex trade, the nine justices decided.

POLICE BUST HONG KONG’S SEX141.COM KWAI CHUNG, China — Police here arrested 114 people and seized three computer servers that hosted Sex141.com, which featured advertisements for hundreds of prostitutes. Operators of the site made an estimated HK$60 million a year running Kwai Chung’s biggest porn website. Kwai Ching is a town in the Kwai Tsing District of Hong Kong.

1,000 UNLICENSED DVDS SEIZED IN LONDON LONDON — Around 1,000 “extreme porn” DVDs were seized by police in a crackdown on an array of unlicensed goods all around London. More than 400 people were arrested during a series of raids.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 71

Girlfriends Films Has New Owner Dan O’Connell Sells to Moose

ALENCIA, Calif. – Girlfriends Films founder Dan O’Connell said Wednesday he has sold his company to Moose, his vice president and right-hand man who took ownership of the most prolific lesbian studio in adult entertainment effective today. Moose Moose will now be president of Girlfriends Films, while O’Connell will remain on board as a producer/director. “I am retaining ownership of Groundwork Visions, the company which actually produces all the movies I’ve been doing for Girlfriends Films,” O’Connell said. “I have an exclusive arrangement to continue to shoot movies for Girlfriends Films and only Girlfriends Films.” O’Connell said that their contract director B. Skow, who ushered the company into the boy/girl hardcore era with his brand of movies starting in 2012, will also continue to shoot exclusively for Girlfriends Films. “As such, nothing has really changed on the Please see GIRLFRIENDS, page 84

Price to Host XBIZ Backstage Winner’s Circle

OS ANGELES — XBIZ is pleased to announce Kirsten Price as official host of the Backstage Winner’s Circle at the industry’s awards event of the year, the 2014 XBIZ Awards, presented by Price Fleshlight, on Jan. 24 in Century City, Calif. Price, a native of Massachusetts in her ninth year in adult entertainment, is widely regarded as one of the most popular performers in the industry today. The personable star co-hosted the red carpet for the 2013 XBIZ Awards this past January and has hosted numerous Please see AWARDS, page 90

72 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

HIV & The Industry

Moratoriums: The Eventual Reality

HATSWORTH, Calif. — The psychological and financial impact of moratoriums are taking their toll in Porn Valley, where it is hitting home for those who ply their trade in adult film production. In mid December, the Free Speech Coalition, the adult entertainment industry’s official trade association, lifted its most recent moratorium on film production — the third such work stoppage in 2013 — and gave the green light to performers and production companies. Indeed, 2013 was a year to remember over concerns about potential outbreaks of HIV, as well as other sexually transmitted infections, in the adult production space. It also was a year that many adult performers — as well as directors, promoters, agents, publicists, camera people and makeup artists — saw their bottom lines keel over because of the stoppages. A point that should be made, albeit negative, is that the pervasive attitude and motivation among nearly all performers is money. Despite any and all regulations, industry sanctions, enforcement, etc., if an unPlease see MORATORIUMS, page 96

Gonorrhea Rumor Untrue, FSC Says

ANOGA PARK, Calif. — The Free Speech Coalition last month said that claims by an adult industry blogger of an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea circulating among the performer community is untrue. The adult entertainment trade group made the statement in reaction to a story posted on MikeSouth.com that claimed there are two cases of antibiotic resistant gonorrhea in the industry. “Rumors of an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea in the adult performer population are untrue and unfounded,” FSC CEO Diane Duke said. “No such cases exist in the active tested performer population, acPlease see GONORRHEA, page 85

“There are always voices in opposition — some producers don’t have content stored up, others don’t like being told what to do in any regard. But I think the overall trend has been [one of] greater cooperation.” said Peter Acworth, founder and CEO of Kink.com, on recent production moratoriums.

OBITUARY 1936-2013

Adult Pioneer Al Goldstein

EW YORK — Al Goldstein, adult pioneer and former publisher of Screw magazine, died in a Brooklyn nursing home last month. The cause of death was reportedly renal failure. He was 77 years old. Goldstein The infamous, caustic and often rotund cigarsmoking Goldstein blazed a trail with the launch of Screw in 1968 — the world’s first hardcore tabloid — though his company, Milky Way Productions. Among more rebellious, graphic and outrageous descriptions, the magazine referred Please see GOLDSTEIN page 96

WoodRocket Releases Rob Ford Celeb Sex

OODLAND HILLS, Calif. — WoodRocket .com has released what it calls the most controversial (faux) celebrity sex tape of time — “The Rob Ford Sex Tape — A Parody.” As the world eagerly awaits the video of the disgraced mayor of Toronto putting some crack in his pipe, WoodRocket has taken it a step further with a video of Ford putting his pipe in some crack.

From director Lee Roy Myers comes a porn satire in which an imagined Ford aka Mayor of Partying-Hard (and Toronto) hangs out with his buddies and celebrates how awesome politics can be with drugs, alcohol, ketchup chips and an Asian prostitute played by Gaia. “As a Canadian, it fills me with great pride and extreme politeness to be able to share with you how I view our mayor gone wild,” Myers joked. “In my

opinion, his use of crackcocaine and booze probably pales in comparison to a heavy duty, porno-style, red-faced sex-addiction. I am sorry if this offends anyone.” Peter O’Tool Plays Ford and Anthony Rosano plays Ford’s penis. WoodRocket adultthemed entertainment, including exclusive porn and original web series like “James Deen Loves Food,” “Topless Girls Reading Books” and most recently, “Game of Bones.” a

Peter O’Tool in “The Rob Ford Sex Tape — A Parody.”

White’s ‘Finally Fucks’ Is Out

AN NUYS, Calif. — Score Studios, in conjunction with Pure Play Media, has released “Angela White Finally Fucks” and “A Day With Angela White” starring XBIZ’s freshly minted 2014 XBIZ Trophy Girl. “A Day With AnPrice gela White” follows the all-natural 36G-breasted Aussie from the beginning of her career with Score in 2003. The film, which features no hardcore footage, opens with White’s first-ever explicit shoot for a men’s magazine, chock-full of boob and pussy play. Next the camera brings viewers into the Score building, where White then bares all in front of the still camera before heading to the shower for some solo “breasturbation.” White bursts her onscreen cherry with a porn stud. She then teams up with voluptuous Maggie Green for a very “boobful” girl/girl/boy scene. a

74 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

SHAFTAs Are Handed Out

ONDON — The fourth annual SHAFTAs (Soft and Hard Adult Film and Television Awards) were handed out last month at the Rise club off Leicester Square in London. Hosted by Tanya Tate, the event drew the U.K.’s top producers, directors, performers and industry figures, as well as U.S. porn star Jesse Jane, to honor the top talent in British porn. a Digital Playground contract star Jesse Jane plays a bad girl stripper on the run in “Lollipop.”

Jane Stars in ‘Lollipop’

URBANK, Calif. — Digital Playground has debuted its latest crime thriller, “Lollipop,” starring contract performer Jesse Jane as the bad girl stripper on the run from the mob. Written and directed by James Jakodema, “Lollipop” is available online now. “Lollipop” opens with

the screen, displaying her gorgeous looks and talents in the bedroom.” a

Winners of the 2013 SHAFTAs include:

Angel Long — Best Female Performer Danny D — Best Male Performer “Tanya Tate’s Sex Tour of Ireland” — Best Amateur Series

Yuffie Yulan — Best New Starlet

“Pervacious Mind of Angel Long” — Best Series

Tanya Tate — Best MILF

Lara Latex — Best Loved Character

“Linsey Dawn McKenzie: I’m Back” — Best Girl/Girl Series

“Mummy’s Got Milk” — Most Outrageous Series

“Weird Science XXX” — Best New Series

Anna Span — The Palm Phwoar

Jane working the pole of a seedy club, when she sees Tommy Gunn, a mob member from the corner of her eye, with a stack full of cash. Entranced by the money, Jane offers him a night he can’t forget. Later, on the run from the mob, she must use everything and everyone at her disposal to escape and make it out alive. The feature film contains five hardcore sex scenes, including special scenes with the Raven Bay and Riley Reid. Other cast and performances in “Lollipop” include Gulliana Alexis, Chad White, Ryan Driller and Giovanni Francesco. “This is a classic take on mobster movies where manipulation and greed get the best of people,” Jakodema said. “Jesse brings her star quality to

Allie Haze Is January Penthouse Pet LOS ANGELES — Adult star Allie Haze is Penthouse Magazine’s January 2014 Pet of the Month. Haze was featured in an exclusive interview and photos in the New Year’s edition. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 75

IN BRIEF NAUGHTY AMERICA CONTINUES ‘BUSTY’ VAN NUYS, Calif. — Pure Play Media has announced the release of “Naughty America Presents My Girlfriend’s Busty Friend 7.” The movie stars Courtney Cummz, Katie Summers, Ashli Ames, Leya Falcon and Lolly Ink. The movie’s storyline includes Cummz as a food critic whose friend has asked her to review her boyfriend’s restaurant. “She discovers that his food is horrible, but he needn’t worry. She is willing to take some of his sausage in return for a glowing review.”

MARC DORCEL SET TO RELEASE ‘STALLIONS’ PARIS — French studio Marc Dorcel is set to debut its latest feature, “The Mademoiselle’s Stallions.” The release is directed by Kendo, and stars Anissa Kate, Paige Turnah, Jasmine Jae and Franki. Revolving around Maude,

content with the combination of glamour, sex and eroticism, says its operator, MindGeek. Erotic Pleasures” stars Ella Milano, Bernice, Casey Calvert, Denisa Heaven and Stacie Jaxxx. In honor of the DVD release, Babes.com will hold a Twitter contest from today through Dec. 16. Fans can tweet their favorite Babes.com scene to @babes using the hashtag #babesdvdcontest to win a copy of the DVD. a beautiful young woman aged 21, the plot chronicles her summer trysts at an English stud farm that becomes “the scene of every depravation, wild threesomes, deep buggery and mini gangbangs in the straw.”

BABES.COM RELEASES 1ST DVD LUXEMBOURG — Babes.com has released its first ever DVD, “Erotic Pleasures,” in stores today. Quickly gaining popularity as a glamcore website, Babes.com creates original

76 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

ADAM & EVE, ALEXIS TEXAS PART WAYS HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — Adam & Eve Pictures and contract star Alexis Texas announced that they are amicably parting ways. Texas is nominated for XBIZ Female Performer of the Year and Performer Site of the Year for the 2014 XBIZ Awards on Jan. 24 at Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, Calif. Her year-long exclusive contract resulted in numerous appearances and hit

movies such as “T&A,” with fellow contract star Teagan Presley, and “Alexis Texas and Asa,” co-starring Asa Akira. Bob Christian, head of production for Adam & Eve, remarked, “We are truly sorry to see Alexis go. She brings class and professionalism to this business, and she will always be a part of the Adam & Eve family.”

IMMORAL DEBUTS TAT FLICK ‘TEMPTRESSES 3’ VAN NUYS, Calif. — Immoral Productions and Pure Play Media have released “Tattooed Temptresses 3.” The studio said the film features a series of creative tats including angel wings, a fairy, a bird, a dove, a cross, a pirate ship, a lotus flower, the serenity prayer, a garter belt

on the thigh, bees on the knees and rose petals under the arm pits. “The models in this third edition of ‘Tattooed Temptresses’ have some of the most creative tattoos I have ever seen,” Immoral owner Porno Dan Leal, said. “They definitely do not have typical tats or something stupid like an ex-boyfriend’s name.”

ALLISON KILGORE RETURNS TO ADULT LOS ANGELES — Performer Allison Kilgore has announced her return to the industry. The star has recently completed a pair of scenes for Devil’s Film shooting “Big Tittie MILFs #22,” and a threeway in “Wanna Fuck My Daughter Gotta Fuck Me First # 19.” With her first scenes under her belt, Kilgore plans to expand her brand with a personal clips store, and web cam and Skype shows. “I get on Facebook and am literally buried with mes-

PORN INFOGRAPHIC LONDON — The Mirror has published a new infographic that takes a snapshot of the adult biz in stats. The infographic spells out how much Linda Lovelace was paid for “Deep Throat” and 23 other amazing adult film facts, including the richest porn stars and the Mirror’s estimate on the worth of the adult entertainment industry. It also lists Tom Byron as the most prolific male performer with 2,549 films; Nina Hartley is most prolific female with 938 films. The Mirror’s infographic was created to celebrate the home entertainment release in the U.K. last month of “Lovelace.”

sages,” Kilgore said. “It is great to hear from so many fans, but sometimes it’s overKilgore whelming. I also get a lot of requests for video chat so I just decided to call their bluffs a bit. I decided that I would just randomly send some of the video chat requests and see what happens. After all, if I’m going to do Skype shows I need to practice a bit don’t I?”

DP RELEASES ANOTHER ‘JACK ATTACK’ BURBANK, Calif. — Digital Playground has released director Robby D.’s newest movie, “Jack Attack 6,” in a

two-disc DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. Digital Playground contract girl and exotic beauty Selena Rose returns to the series after her acclaimed role in “Jack Attack 2.” “Jack Attack 6” contains six scenes, with both POV angles and third-person points of view. The film features a scene between Selena Rose and James Deen, as well as additional performances by Chanel Preston, Anikka Albrite, Adrianna Luna and Gulliana Alexis.

NEW ‘VORACIOUS’ WEBISODE ON EVILANGEL MONTREAL — John Stagliano and Gamma Entertainment’s FameDollars announced that the latest “Voracious Season Two” webisode, “Burn The Fucking Vampire!” is now live on EvilAngel.com. Shot in California and Eastern Europe, “Voracious Season Two” continues the traditions of kinky sex, clever vampire lore and ambitious filmmaking established in the first season. The producers noted that “Burn The Fucking Vampire!,” like all of “Voracious Season Two,” was created for fans of Gothic porn as well as devotees of Stagliano’s fetishladen, sexually intense cinema.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 77

FalconTV Starts Up Service Station Reaches 30M Homes

AN FRANCISCO — Gay adult producers Falcon Studios, Raging Stallion Studios and Naked Sword Originals have joined forces with some of the major U.S. TV providers to offer gay adult content under the name FalconTV. In an effort to promote the content’s availability to nearly 30 million households, the studios have launched the “FalconTV: On Demand & At Your Command” campaign in

an effort to urge TV customers who are fans of gay adult video to check their providers’ Adult On Demand listings for FalconTV. FalconTV has launched with several 2013 releases, premiering with “A Big Shaft Militia” (released on DVD by Raging Stallion as “Militia”), and will also offer HD content in certain markets. Additionally, the studios have collectively launched FalconTV.com as a resource for television customers who want to learn more about how to find the content on their televisions. “The majority of U.S. households with television service now have FalconTV at their command and they can enjoy the finest gay Please see FALCONTV, page 82

Maskurbate.com Gets a Makeover

ONTREAL — BuddyProfits, the gay affiliate program that is a subsidiary of Gamma Entertainment, has expanded its partnership with amateur website Maskurbate.com to include complete site management and a newly redesigned site. “Over the past seven years, BuddyProfits has become a recognized and proven leader among gay affiliate programs,” said Hector Camacho, BuddyProfits’ manMaskurbate.com aging director. “I am excited to welcome Maskurbate.com into the BuddyProfits portfolio which now includes 41 websites. I’m certain that Maskurbate will be a great addiPlease see MASKRUBATE, page 87

78 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Crime & Punishment

Harlow Cuadra Seeks New Trial

ILKE-BARRE, Pa. — Former adult producer and website entrepreneur Harlow Cuadra is seeking a new trial after being convicted in 2007 of murdering a rival in the gay porn business. Cuadra, 32, was charged in 2007 of murder in the first degree for slaying Cobra Video owner Bryan Cocis, 44, in Former adult producer and his rural Dallas Township home. He was subse- website entrepreneur Harlow Cuadra is seeking a new trial. quently sentenced to life in prison. Now the Virgina man is pushing for a mistrial, arguing that his original attorneys were not effective. He also claims that the murder was actually committed by his co-defendant, Joseph Kerekes. According to investigators, Cuadra and Kerekes killed the victim and set his house on fire. In 2007, Kerekes pled guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Cuadra was additionally convicted on charges of theft, robbery, arson and abuse of a corpse. a

GunzBlazing Relaunches WurstFilmClub.com

AN FRANCISCO — Gunzblazing has announced the relaunch of WurstFilm’s paysite, WurstFilmClub.com, and fetish video-on-demand site, Gay-Fetish-Porn.xxx. Wurstfilm specializes in hardcore all-male European content. Gay-FetishPorn.xxx is a fetish-only VOD site from Cazzo and Wurstfilm studios, which has been completely reworked to “expand its functionality and integration” with GunzBlazing.com, according to a jointly released statement. “We are exceptionally happy to have completed the rollout of these sites,” GunzBlazing President Robyn Way said. “We have worked incredibly hard over the last

few months to make it happen.” Robyn continued, “Since relaunching CazzoClub.com we have been astonished by the conversions this content generates — it is the best converting site for many webmasters. We really seem

to be bringing this content in front of a lot of very fresh eyes. The WurstfilmClub site is another great addition to the program that webmasters who specialize in fetish will definitely be able to get their teeth into.” GunzBlazing now hosts 20 sites that offer up to 60 percent revshare and $40 per sign up. a

Studio Debuts 4K Scene

EW YORK — DominicFord.com has released what it claims is the gay porn industry’s first 4K footage. The scene was shot simultaneously with Ford’s 3D technology and a new 4K video rig. It was released in 1080p

2D, 1080p 3D, and the new 4K Ultra HD size (3840x2160). Performers Tommy Defendi and Nick Cross star in the footage. Ford maintained that the company was also the first to release weekly 3D gay porn, launch content for the iPad, and an iPad compatible site (the morning the first iPads went on sale), and the first to support 3D TVs and mobile devices. The company also has its own Roku channel. “We have lots more up our sleeves for 2014, so stay tuned,” Ford added. a

1st Bareback Scene for Michael Lucas NEW YORK — Gay star Michael Lucas shot his first bareback scene with exclusive newcomer Michael Lachlan for Lucas Entertainment. Lachlan flew all the way in from Sydney, Australia to MonLucas treal for his scene with Lucas. “Flying across the globe to shoot your first-ever adult scene can be quite a frightening and intimidating thought, but Michael [Lucas] and his team made it a great experience,” Lachlan said. a

GunzBlazing Relaunches JasonSparksLive.com

AN FRANCISCO — Jason Sparks will be celebrating the relaunch of his site, JasonSparksLive.com, with a nationwide model search, dubbed the Jason Sparks Bareback Road Trip. The relaunched site will feature scene updates starring new models discovered during the tour. “I travel the country looking for the newest and

best models for porn and film them first,” Sparks said. “A lot of the models I find go on to become major stars, but you can find their first porn scenes ever on JasonSparksLive.com.” “We’ve been working with Jason for some time now and its always exciting to see the new models he has discovered and tracking their careers,” Gunzblazing President Robyn Way said. “With over 240 scenes already under his belt, Jason

Parker Lewis, left, and Brandon Atkins

Sparks has an impressive

catalog as a performer and

director. His extensive experience in the industry definitely helps with getting new talent at ease and getting the best performances out of these hot new models.” JasonSparksLive.com delivers two new updates a weekly, in addition to its archive of more than 200 scenes. Affiliates can visit GunzBlazing.com to access marketing materials to promote the relaunched site and the Jason Sparks Bareback Road Trip. a

Roommates Addicted to Dicks in SketchySex

AMBRIDGE, Mass. — MaleRevenue has once again teamed up with porn star-turned-producer Jeremy Hall to present

SketchySex.com. The site “follows a group of young roommates who are addicted to big dicks, and anonymous bareback sex.” Hall is most recently known for creating FraternityX, a website featuring real drunken gang-bangs at an actual Fraternity in Tempe, Ariz., according to MaleRevenue. “I’ve put together some sex addicts, given them some cameras, a place to live, and the opportunity to feed their addiction. Yes, this is the real deal,” Hall said. Webmaster Gary Blumenthal said, “We are really excited to be working with Jeremy again, especially after the success of FraternityX. Jeremy is an amazing producer who really knows how to capture authentic, genuine sex. We are excited to add SketchySex.com, our eighth site, to the Male Revenue site portfolio.” a

80 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

IN BRIEF RAGING STALLION’S ‘SIZE MATTERS’ DEBUTS SAN FRANCISCO — Allmale erotica producer Raging Stallion Studios has released its newest feature, “Size Matters,” from its Monster Bang line. Director Bruno Bond explores many aspects of size in the film by pairing tall, endowed and dominant tops with diminutive studs. The cast is headlined by Raging Stallion exclusives Boomer Banks and Tommy Defendi, who are joined by “towering tops” Landon Conrad and Trenton Ducati. Trelino, Seamus O’Reilly, Devin Dixon and Armond Rizzo round out the cast as their younger, smaller counterparts. “I put a lot of effort into finding big guys who could really manhandle and physically dominate the smaller, slighter scene partners that I matched them up with,” Bond said. “Typically, when we talk about size in porn, it’s all about cock size. This movie is filled with big dicks, as every Monster Bang is, but it really added to the dynamic and energy when I focused on pairing guys with contrasting body sizes.” “Size Matters” is available in at the Raging Stallion, Falcon and GayDVD online stores.

JIMMY FANZ LAUNCHES HIS OWN WEBSITE LOS ANGELES — Men.com exclusive performer Jimmy Fanz has launched his own official site, JimmyFanz.com. Fanz includes his daily blog, his appearance schedule and lists his latest scenes on the site. “He continues to grace the screens of the best studios around and with his latest project there is no slowing down in sight,” said his agent, Howard from FabScout.

BULLDOG XXX DEBUTS ‘DRILLED’ LONDON — Bulldog XXX Productions has released “Drilled.” The movie features a starstudded cast that includes JP Dubois, Kayden Gray, Dean

Monroe and Bruno Fox and Dolan Wolf. Bulldog XXX notes the cast “get their holes drilled and pounded ‘til they are loose, red and gaping. Covered in cum by the end and lube dripping from their holes.”

SIRE, DIXON LAUNCH STR8UPGAYPORN.COM LOS ANGELES — Industry mainstays Zachary Sire and Davyd Dixon have announced the launch of Str8UpGayPorn.com, a news, gossip and entertainment site geared towards the gay porn industry.

‘MEN OF THE WORLD — STOCKHOLM’ DEBUTS LONDON — Eurocreme Group has released “Men of the World — Stockholm.” The film features appearances by Jack, Tomas Brand, Logan Rogue, Ralph, Bjorn Svensson, Darius Ferdynand and Josh Charters. Kicking off in a cold and snowy Sweden, Jack finds shelter with his friends, Brand and Rogue. While warming up in their apartment, Jack finds that he is in the middle of a passionate love making session — something he has heard the Swedes are famous for. Jack’s adventure continues with three more steamy, Swedish-themed scenes. The film is available in HD and SD downloads from EurocremeStore.com.

AMERICAN FANTASY DEBUTS PROGRAM LAS VEGAS — Affiliate program American Fantasy and its first site, MyJerkVid.com, has launched. The company said the site includes exclusive content featuring hot hung studs doing self-shot videos jerking it for members. Industry veteran Robert Ferrara has been appointed director of affiliate marketing.

COLT STUDIO REVAMPS ONLINE STORE SONOMA, Calif. — The COLT Studio Group has revamped its flagship online store, COLTStudioStore.com. “We have been working well over a year to create an online store that brings our historical and abundant library from of over 45 years of high-end products to our

worldwide fans in the easiest, most current and highestquality way possible,” COLT Studio Group owner John Rutherford said.

‘GREEN LANTERN IS GAY!’ IS RELEASED VAN NUYS, Calif. — Manville Entertainment, in conjunction with Vantage Distribution, has released their newest all-male superhero parody, “Green Lantern is Gay!” “Green Lantern is Gay!” tells the story of Hal Hardon (Spencer Fox), a cocky human test pilot, and the battle against the Green Lantern’s arch nemesis, Penillax. Directed by Urban Martin and Simon Poe, other cast members include Brody Wilde and Tristan Mathews.

‘THE 9” OF LUKE DESMOND’ DEBUTS LONDON — Eurocreme has announced the release of

“The 9” Of Luke Desmond.” The film stars Luke Desmond, Danny T, Aaron Samuels, JP Dubois, Joe Bondi, Billy Rubens, Damian Boss and Skylar Blu. Desmond is well established as being “one super hot guy with a huge cock that will bring a tear to any power bottom’s eye,” the studio said. The movie is available on HD and SD downloads from the EurocremeStore.com.

T.I. MEDIA RELEASES ‘ASS STRETCHER’ SAN FRANCISCO — Paul Morris and Treasure Island Media have announced the release of the seventh installment of “Machofucker Ass Stretcher” on DVD and download-to-own. In “Ass Stretcher Vol. 7” all men sport dicks over eight inches long, the studio said in a release. “You haven’t seen a hole get impaled until you’ve seen this one,” said Morris about the latest release.

LUCASKAZAN DEBUTS ‘WAGNER AND DARIUS’ ROME — LucasKazan.com has released part one of “Wagner and Darius,” calling the two stars opposites who really attract. Featured in the film is boyish Darius Ferdynand from Hungary and Brazilian Wagner Vittoria, who projects Latin masculinity. “And attract they did,” director Ettore Tosi said. “Sparks flew the minute Darius laid eyes, and everything else, on hunky Wagner.” “Wagner and Darius” is the first of several episodes filmed in Sicily this past fall. Each installment of the series will debut on LucasKazan.com.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 81

FalconTV

Continued from page 78

adult content in the world through their providers’ adult on-demand category,” said Toby Morris, vice president of marketing for Falcon and Raging Stallion. “Falcon TV’s expanded availability is a m a j o r milestone in growing the audience of our premier gay Ward adult content,” said Chris Ward, president of Falcon and Raging Stallion.

‘W

e’re excited to provide this new option of content delivery to our customers and fans who want the hottest content and enjoy watching it on-demand from the comfort of their home. “We’ve launched the ‘FalconTV: On Demand & At Your Command’ campaign in order to let fans know that they have a new way to watch our amazing video product.” Ward added that the studios are hoping to launch FalconTV pay-per-view and subscription channels with providers in the near future. a

GoDaddy

Continued from page 64

said. The suit, which seeks a restraining order over the practice of scooping up the Academy’s trademarks and appropriating them, says GoDaddy registered and monetized the parked domains through its Parked Page Service and Cash Parking Program. GoDaddy parks registrants’ pages and place advertisements on web pages with Parked Page Service; Go Daddy is granted the right to collect and retain all rev-

FSC

Continued from page 64

tographer, were newly elected members to the board. “I am honored to be elected to the board of directors of the FSC,” Schechter said. “I am excited with the opportunity to contribute to the FSC organization and have a positive effect onto the adult industry and the people who are a part of it. Reese said: “I would like to thank FSC members for their support. It is an honor to have earned a

82 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

enue generated by the advertising. The Cash Parking Program service permits domain registrants to pay a fee to allow GoDaddy through its advertising partner to place ads on the registrant’s web page. The revenue generated through that advertising is then split between the registrant, GoDaddy and GoDaddy’s advertising partner. The Academy, seeking $100,000 for every domain allegedly cybersquatting plus attorneys fees and the injunction, claims that GoDaddy knew it was harming trademark holders, such seat on the board of directors. I look forward to taking a more active role in helping our industry move in a positive, productive direction.” Besides the re-elected and newly installed members, other board members include Peter Acworth, Jeffrey Douglas, Alec Helmy, Marci Hirsch, Joel Kaminsky, Mark Kernes, Reed Lee and Lynn Swanson. “FSC is fortunate to have a group of highly intelligent, energetic and inspirational people to lead our organization,” said Diane Duke, Free Speech Coalition’s CEO. “Looks like

as its organization, and has even come up with a patent that recognizes the need for systems that identify domains that could yield financial benefits. The Academy is seeking relief over violations of federal cybersquatting laws and California’s unfair and unlawful conduct laws. Its original complaint, filed in November, also listed Google as a defendant; the search giant however was pared from the amended complaint, filed on Dec. 17. GoDaddy corporate communications officials declined comment to XBIZ. a

“

If the Academy is successful with the suit, it could pave the way for similar claims from other site operators, including those in the adult biz.

Mo Reese, left, and Mark Schechter

2014 will be a great year.” The board election was open to all active FSC

members and was held during the month of December. a

Christian

Continued from page 40

With Android starting to really breakout and iOS maturing into common use, we are converting mobile traffic better than ever. We expect to see mobile revenue surpass desktop revenue in 2014. XBIZ: What sector of the online adult business is driving the market these days? Christian: What is interesting to me is the new generation of affiliates and webmasters who are changing the face of Internet marketing. Traditional methods and marketing are starting to wind down and we are seeing innovations again. Tube sites are not the only place you can find large traffic sources these days. XBIZ: Where is most of your business coming from? And are there any regions and/or market segments that you don’t currently service but would like to in the near future? Christian: Half of our business is generated internally and by reputation alone. Sit down at any bar and ask a few people if they have used

StarEdition Continued from page 54

advertiser account, tracking scripts gives clients the ability to count their leads and the corresponding actions they performed. This option allows customers to directly monitor their campaign’s goals so they can adjust their media buy investment. “Goals retargeting” gets media buyers closer to their final consumers, the company said in a release. When they create a campaign, Star-Advertising customers can now choose if they want to retarget their audience (i.e., endusers who have already visited their landing page,

Google

Continued from page 52

John Mueller on the Google Webmaster Central Blog. “If you’re the webmaster of the site, then using the Webmaster Tools URL removal feature is faster and

AdultFriendFinder and you will get smile and a great story that always starts with, “There was this night ....” We were one of the first social networking websites and we were the first casual dating site. I have employees who met their spouses on our network, and we have tens of millions of success stories. This level of customer engagement and success is a great confirmation that we are on the right path. What areas do we want to service, but are not currently? We have an entire team dedicated to that working on this question full time, every day. We are open to any ideas. We welcome anyone with new ideas to contact us. XBIZ: As FriendFinder Networks has just emerged from restructuring, what can you tell us about the direction of the company? Christian: The biggest change is that the original founder and CEO, Andrew Conru, is now again the primary owner and CEO. Andrew is a product guy who really understands what our users want and how to get them to convert. We have already made hundreds of design and product changes.

subscribed to their product or performed any specific action on their mobile site.) The ad network also allows advertisers to combine different retargeting filters for the same campaign, helping them find an ideal lead.

XBIZ: What’s a typical work day like? Christian: My workday will always start with opening the analytical reports over coffee. What email providers are doing well that day? What countries are over-performing? What are the forecasts for unique visitors? What are the results of testing new creatives? How does the sales funnel look? What emails are urgent? Then I try to get out of bed to officially start the work day. The office is dominated by meetings and one-onones with team members. Our affiliate marketing staff is amazing. The department starts working around 6 a.m. and does not stop until after 6 p.m. It’s quite a bustling office on any given day. XBIZ: When not thinking about the biz, what do you like to do? Christian: When I am not at the office in meetings, preparing for meetings, and going over meeting notes, I try to get some work done. So when I am not thinking about the immediate business at hand, I think about what business I still need to get to. Like this interview. a

lobal behavioral retargeting” selects users based on their general online behavior. Aside from being able to retarget a campaign audience or new visitors, the platform reintroduces global behavioral retargeting based on market categories. “As a former affiliate company, we really understand our clients,” said An-

‘G

toine Moreau, CEO and founder of StarEdition. “We want to provide our users with the best media buy experience and, above all, with the best results. I am happy to offer this precious help to our partners. I know we are [one of the] very few traffic companies in the industry to do it.” Star-Advertising is a self-service platform where users can buy and/or sell mobile banners, pop-unders, redirects and interstitials around the world. Launched two years ago, the ad network deals with key adult traffic sources, including Redtube, Pornhub, Megasesso, Youporn, Youjizz and Yuvutu. a

easier.” In order to submit a request, the owner of the site must have deleted the page, blocked it from search, or changed the content. If the contents has been changed, you must submit at least one word on the page that

has been removed, and that could include your name. The cache removal feature makes sure that those who search on Google can’t see the previous version of a site with embarrassing information on it. a

84 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Dan O’Connell, center, along with Moose, right, at the 2012 XBIZ Awards in Santa Monica, Calif.

Girlfriends

Continued from page 72

production side, except that I hope to up my moviemaking game now that I won’t be spending most of my time on management matters,” O’Connell continued. Girlfriends Films’ movie release schedule will remain largely the same as it’s been for the past few years, he noted. “We will put out the same number of movies, made by the same directors, under the same series, and so on,” said O’Connell, who received the 2012 XBIZ Man of the Year Award.

‘W

ith the shows and everything else going on, I’ll be working full-time for Girlfriends Films in January. Past that, I’m sure I’ll be helping Moose in the areas of postproduction, our growing distribution of other brands, and keeping our cable channel fed with quality content. “Running Girlfriends Films is a very complex operation that includes movie production and postproduction, sales and marketing, Internet sites, our new GFF cable channel, and everything else that happens in our 37,000-squarefoot building here in Valencia. I’m very fortunate to have someone of Moose’s caliber to take over the operation. “For the past several years Moose has been doing most everything except for making the movies. He’s kept me informed of what he’s doing but he’s been the person running Girlfriends Films. Moose and I have a very close relationship and I’m sure

that will continue.” Moose, who received the XBIZ Executive Leadership Award in February 2011, is a former firefighter and EMT who originally joined the company as director of domestic sales in 2007. By 2010, Moose had quietly transitioned into the role of vice president of the company and had been running the day-to-day operations for more than three years. Girlfriends Films enters 2014 with the deepest library of lesbian-themed product in the industry. The company recently released the 100th volume of its signature series “Women Seeking Women,” which is also the most awarded lesbian series in porn history. The company received 48 nominations for the 2014 XBIZ Awards on Jan. 24 in Century City, Calif. In a Fall 2010 interview, the Southern California native Moose said, “I love my job and what I get to do every day. I care about this company as if it were my own.” Moose got his nickname from his volleyball playing days because of his ability to jump above the net and block shots. “A great friend of mine nicknamed me Moose because he said that’s what I looked like jumping up at the net with my hands up to block,” he said. “Then the Fire Department continued to use it and when I started with Girlfriends Films it worked for marketing because no one forgets the Moose.” Before entering the adult business, Moose also worked for five years on the reality show “Monster Garage” while also running his own EMT company that provided medical support at different events. a

Lightspeed

Goldstein

addresses. Prenda Law later added the telecommunications executives as defendants in the suit, seeking $200,000 from all of the defendants, as well as punitive awards. But in March, without notice, Duffy filed with the court that Lightspeed intended to drop the suit.

to itself as the “Consumer Reports of sex” and included movie and product reviews as well as full frontal nude photos. At the height of his popularity in the 1970s, Goldstein also hosted the late night New York cable TV show “Midnight Blue” that became a major adult industry forum, and his platform for political rants, in what was then the epicenter of porn. In 2003, Goldstein and Milky Way filed for bankruptcy, leaving him with roughly $1 million in debt. Goldstein subsequently fell on hard times, living in homeless shelters and scraping by with Social Security. An ardent champion of the First Amendment, Goldstein was arrested 21 times for obscenity during his adult career. In what can be considered his most publicized fight against censorship, Goldstein was charged with 12 obscenity and conspiracy counts and faced up to 60 years in prison for sending copies of Screw to Kansas. After three years and two trials his conviction in the first was overturned, and the second ended in a hung jury. Goldstein’s infamous persona prompted him to run for President of the U.S. in 2007. At that time Goldstein said in typcial provocative fashion that he had gone to bed with 7,000 women in his career, making him something of an expert at screwing people and giving him “ideal experience” for the nation’s top job. At that time Goldstein was a blogger for search engine Booble.com. Booble President Bob Smart, acting as Goldstein’s campaign manager, told XBIZ, “Al Goldstein is a national treasure. As the world’s dirtiest old man, Al has something to say about the world he helped create, and we Americans have a duty to listen.” Long-time friend and colleague, president of Plausible Films and founder of

Continued from page 68

he motion spurred defendants into action with requests for reimbursement of attorneys fees because the suit was based on “frivolous claims,” which Murphy later affirmed.

“

Prenda Law has been prolific in exacting payments from consumer porn piracy defendants in the past three years. As a result, Murphy ordered Lightspeed Media’s attorneys to pay Smith $72,000, AT&T $120,000 and Comcast $69,000. The appeal seeks to topple a final order that found Prenda Law attorneys jointly and severally liable for Smith’s, AT&T’s and Comcast’s attorneys fees that amounted to $261,000. a

Gonorrhea

Continued from page 72

cording to doctors at each of the testing facilities. The antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, a diarrhea-causing “superbug,” was classified last month as an urgent public-health threats by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If left untreated, gonorrhea can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths, severe eye infections in babies and infertility in men and women. According to a new report by CDC, at least 2 million people in the U.S. develop serious bacterial infections that are resistant to one or more types of antibiotics each year. Last year, the World Health Organization found a “superbug” strain of gonorrhea had spread to several European countries. a

Continued from page 72

Hilton

Continued from page 70

respondent to the case has not yet been named. Hilton said that she “never made a dollar” from her infamous sex tape, “1 Night in Paris.” “I make enough money in nice ways,” she said as she was exiting LAX airport. Kevin Blatt, who helped broker the original explicit footage of Hilton, told XBIZ

Al Goldstein blazed a trail with the launch of Screw in 1968.

AVN, Paul Fishbein, remembers Goldstein to XBIZ.

‘N

ear the end most of Al’s friends abandoned him which really sucked. Not Ron Jeremy or Larry Rizzo or especially Penn Jillette, who were really there for him. Adult is a young person’s industry and people don’t seem to be aware of those who really fought the First Amendment battles. Al is one of a handful of people, along with Larry Flynt and Reuben Sturman, who are the absolute reason the adult industry exists today. “Everyone with an adult web site, a production company or a magazine and all those who earn their every day living in porn, owe a debt of gratitude to Al Goldstein. His arrests and his trials and victories paved the way for all of us to live, earn and express ourselves freely in this business. But I bet if you polled 1000 people who work every day in porn, a scant few know the history. Al deserves to be honored and remembered.” Goldstein published his autobiography, “I, Goldstein: My Screwed Life” in 2006. a that her claim is bogus. “Paris, you’re worth a billion dollars now — own it,” Blatt said, explaining that Hilton did not initially intend to release the tape, but at some point signed off on it and reaped ample profits. A source close to Hilton reportedly told the gossip site that she did indeed sign off on the tape in 2004, but funneled all of the profits to co-star Rick Salomon. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 85

Piccionelli

Continued from page 20

geographic locations in which the goods or services bearing the mark are marketed or sold. There are also a few requirements that must be satisfied before a party can obtain common-law trademark rights. One, for example, is that no one else was using the same or a confusingly similar mark in association with goods or services similar to those you want to associate with the mark prior to your use. Another requirement is that the mark must be capable of operating as the identifier of the source of the goods or services with which it is associated. For example, to operate as a source identifier, the mark cannot be a generic term

for the goods or service. Thus, a word like “Glass” in association with drinking glasses would not provide a source identification function and generally could not acquire trademark status for drinking glasses. However, the word could be used as a trademark to identify other types of products not related to drinking glasses such as hair conditioner, musical chimes, or a wearable computing device.

ommon-law trademark rights resulting from commercial use of a mark is more likely when the use of the word, phrase, logo, etc., clearly indicates the user’s intent to use them as trademarks. This is one of the reasons why you will often see the notation “tm”, for trademark or “sm” for service

mark in association with the branding of products or services. Such notice says to the world that the user is attempting to appropriate the word or term as their trademark or service mark for the associated goods and services. In doing so, the notice also warns potential users of the mark or a confusingly similar mark that such use might violate the trademark owner’s rights and subject them to trademark infringement litigation and possible payment of damages. Also, it is important to note that more than one party may acquire common law trademark rights in a mark. This can substantially increase the complexity of trademark disputes. It is often also an issue that arises in domain name disputes brought under the Uniform Domain Name

Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), where establishment that a party has a valid trademark is a required to prevail. One way of preventing multiple parties from owning trademark rights in the same name is by federal registration as discussed below.

n Acquiring Trademark Rights Through ‘Intent to Use’ Applications A party can commence the process of acquiring trademark rights in the U.S. even before the mark is commercially used in association with any goods or services. The process requires the filing of an Intent to Use (ITU) application for federal trademark registration with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

(USPTO). The USPTO is the agency that is responsible for granting statutory trademark rights under federal law. (Note: The USPTO maintains a very informative and user-friendly website at USPTO.gov. The site also allows you to search the USPTO’s registered trademark database and even file trademark applications online.) The ITU application is very useful because it enables the applicant to establish a priority filing date and rights in the trademark if the mark is approved for registration by the USPTO. This is so, provided that the applicant begins to actually use the mark in commerce in the manner represented in the application and an acceptable “Statement of Use” is filed with the USPTO within three years of the date of issuance of a “Notice of Allowance” to the applicant. Acquiring such a priority date can be critically important if there is even a moderate amount of time between a company’s commitment of resources to the use of a mark that has cleared the search process and the actual use of the mark in commerce. This is because, without the priority date, the company’s entitlement to rights in the mark will remain at risk and vulnerable to a third party’s potentially superior claim to rights in the mark if the third party acquires common-law rights through actual use, or the party first files its own ITU, before the company. Acquisition of an early priority date can also be critical in resolving domain name disputes. If the trademark applicant properly acquires a priority date through an ITU application, the priority date becomes the effective date for determining whether a third party has superior entitlement to registration of the mark. Often the ultimate ownership of a disputed domain name turns upon which of the opposing parties had the superior rights to the trademark.

n Obtaining Valuable Additional Trademark Rights Through Federal Trademark Registration Federally registering a company’s trademark(s) can provide a number of important benefits, including: n Exclusive ownership of the mark across the U.S. (except in areas where another party was previously Please see PICCIONELLI, page 88

86 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Glider

Continued from page 28

For most of the past three years, I was the only non-coder at CM Productions. Just about everyone — marketers, designers, coders, of course — knows PHP, HTML5, JQUERY, CSS and whatever I’m forgetting. Consequently, we’ve the know-how to create virtually everything in-house. The company’s always had a foot in the mainstream. In 2008, mere weeks after iTunes unveiled its SDK, we had apps in the App Store. XBIZ: You came over to BaDoink more than three years ago with the hope that you’d guide the company to stronger foothold in the adult and mainstream marketplace. It sure looks like you have. Are you proud of accomplishing that? Glider: Certainly. On my watch, we have grown dramatically. I’m proud of that. We’ve gone from a modestly sized company to a multimillion-dollar operation with a stellar workforce. Previously, BaDoink was a bit of a mystery. It was a company you’d heard of but didn’t know much about. And there was some bad press out there, emanating from misinformed, technologically soft insiders who relish the bully pulpit and spend more time reading GFY than TechCrunch. Today, BaDoink is seen by industry insiders as a leader, with some visionary marketing techniques, a key player in the mobile explosion. XBIZ: How about for webmaster programs, what does BaDoink have to offer? How about other products and services? Glider: As a company that’s always focused more on ad buys and campaign optimization than on reseller management, the BaDoinkCash affiliate is pretty self-directed and experienced individual or entity. We don’t send out affiliate newsletters, generate galleries or deploy fleets of sales tools weekly. That isn’t to say that we’re aloof. We develop some mighty advanced tools with the reseller in mind. All of our marketers, from our CMO on down, interface with BaDoinkCash affiliates on a daily basis. We just tend to attract a smaller pool of affiliates who command a lot of traffic, rather than a large pool with less traffic. Most

Todd Glider, CEO of BaDoink.

of our affiliates are seasoned professionals, people who understand the business, know their traffic, and have their own proven marketing strategies. We’ve developed a small brokerage division, and gotten into mobile traffic sales of late — non-U.S. specifically. Among other products, at present, the BaDoink Downloader is available in GooglePlay, and in the iTunes App Store as the Ultra Downloader. XBIZ: What’s coming up for the company in 2014? Glider: We’ve several new projects underway currently that I’m excited about. First and foremost is WellHello.com, an adult dating site that was built from the ground up for the mobile user. It’s responsive, so perfect for every device, but we wanted to make sure it hit the tones and tropes unique to the mobile experience. WellHello.com is a collaborative venture, undertaken with Tim Whale, an industry vet and old friend who’s been operating a successful swinger site marketed to the U.K. for years. Other changes include a completely revamped BaDoink.com. The brand has grown dramatically over the past few years, but we want to be seen as something more multi-dimensional, more mainstream accessible. So we abandoned the notion of BaDoink.com, the type-in

URL, as a tour. It’s an online magazine now. We hired an editorin-chief with publishing experience to recruit a team of writers around the globe. He passes along assignments and they produce copy. And these are real writers, folks who graduated from degreebearing institutions like Perdue, Oxford and Rutgers. So it’s all abundantly readable, informative, entertaining. The focus is the intersection of tech, sex and lifestyle. We’re still pushing visitors to join BaDoink from “the magazine,” but it’s by no means the only focus. We’ll also be unveiling a new site built on exclusive content, as well as a few new apps and products, but I’d need an NDA from everyone to go into detail. XBIZ: What sector of the online adult business is driving the market these days? Glider: Handhelds and dating. Hardly a great insight, but there is no denying it. It’s not really a sector, but key partnerships are real drivers now, specifically those that imbue any brand, any product with a more global stamp. For example, our main focus has always been U.S. and Canada, where credit card is king. As such, we understand credit card billing very well. Our relationships are with processors, ISOs, acquirers and issuers. The

metrics we follow are fraud-to-sale ratios, discount rates, transaction fees, rolling reserve rates. The list goes on. Meanwhile, there’s a whole world out there where credit card is not king, where mobile payment is the preferred method of payment, where the carriers rule the roost. Up until the last year or two, that wasn’t even on my radar. But thanks to friends in the business — companies like Kimia, Sex Goes Mobile, First Mobile Cash, Wister, Dimoco — I learned a lot about what we were missing. Non-U.S/Canada traffic is unavoidable for us. Historically, for a company like ours, that was remnant traffic, traffic that’s tougher to monetize. Not anymore. Partners like those I mentioned above make monetizing that remnant traffic much more profitable. And it’s a two-way street. We do the same for them. U.S. traffic, our focus, is their remnant traffic. So that sort of thing, that kind of synergy. It’s not a sector of the business. But the companies that stay on top or rise to the top will be looking for partnership opportunities that will generate globally beneficial dividends. XBIZ: What are your

Maskurbate Continued from page 78

tion to our program of high converting sites.” Camacho continued, “Interestingly, the initial recommendation to expand our partnership and bring Maskurbate into the BuddyProfits program came from our own affiliates who contacted us and suggested the site would be a good fit. Maskurbate was already one of our partners through our Business-to-Business division, utilizing our hosting and e-mail marketing service. Setting up the initial meeting was simple and the rest, you can say, is history.” Pascal, founder of the site said, “In June 2006, Maskurbate was born when I realized that straight guys were more comfortable being with a guy on video as long as their identity was anonymous – so I used masks to hide their faces. From the beginning, it’s been me, my camera and muscular guys just having fun. However, running a

concerns for the adult entertainment industry? Glider: Thinking shortterm instead of long-term. An unwillingness to look beyond your nose. This is not a failing exclusive to the adult entertainment industry. It’s cultural. Nobody has a sense, or even an assumption, of job security anymore. The notion of climbing the ladder in the same company, a job for life, is a thing of the past. It’s a Norman Rockwell painting. This has a far-reaching cultural impact, good and bad. On the bad side, it inspires decision makers to act rashly, ignore fundamentals, grab as much as you can as quickly as possible, and to hell with the consequences. XBIZ: What’s a typical work day like? Glider: Busy. Check stats. Ready techie blogs. Respond to Emails. Make calls. Hold meetings. Discuss strategy. Jot down ideas. Check on the progress of projects. Eat. Repeat. XBIZ: When not thinking about the biz, what do you like to do? GLIDER: I like to write plays for the stage and make rock ‘n roll music. a

membership website is not easy and I needed help. I was ecstatic when Hector reached out to me and we discussed increasing my partnership with BuddyProfits to include complete website management. The Buddy Profits team, and its dedication to excellence, represents the ideal partnership. Today is a great day for our loyal members and affiliates.”

askurbate.com features more than 140 original amateur videos of” straight, muscular guys wearing masks for anonymity as they get sucked, fucked or jacked-off for the first time.” The site will relaunch with all-new scenes and will continue to release new scenes on a weekly basis. Affiliates can receive $35 pay-per-signup or 50 percent revshare options on all memberships, including trials. Payments are sent twice per month: on the 1st and 16th of each month and they cover the previous two weeks referrals. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 87

Piccionelli

Continued from page 86

using the same or a confusingly similar mark); n Refusal by the Trademark Office to register potentially confusingly similar marks in connection with goods or services that are similar to those associated with the registered mark; n The right to use the symbol ® in connection with goods and services for which registration has been granted (but only after registration has been granted); n After five years of continuous use commencing from the date of registration, a designation that the registered mark is “incontestable” (i.e., the mark may not be challenged on the grounds that it is “descriptive” or lacks required “secondary meaning”); n Public notice of the mark’s registration to other users, notifying them of the registrant’s superior rights to the mark; and, n A trademark application in the U.S. can also provide a priority date for trademark applications in foreign countries for a limited time. This is an increasingly important matter given the near ubiquitous reach of the web. In addition, federal trademark registration can make an important differ-

“

Acquisition of an early priority date can also be critical in resolving domain name disputes. ence in trademark litigation, as well as in domain name disputes. For instance, if you have a registered trademark, then you are presumed to be the legitimate owner. The burden is on the other party to prove that you are not. Also, a valid trademark registration may increase the likelihood that you will prevail in a domain name dispute regarding a domain name comprising the trademark or a confusingly similar variant. In fact, statistics show that plaintiffs in UDRP actions involving federally registered marks fare better than plaintiffs asserting rights in common law trademarks. Unlike common-law marks, federal trademark registration also provides nationwide rights in the mark instead of rights limited to where the mark has actually been used in commerce. This can be criti-

88 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

cally important in domain name disputes where two or more parties may have rights in a mark that is incorporated in a domain name at issue. Finally, in the event of a trademark infringement action, federal registration entitles the trademark owner to recover up to three times actual damages, and possible recovery of attorney’s fees, for willful infringements of the owner’s mark.

n The Mechanics of Federally Registering a Trademark In general, a trademark application requires that all of the following be submitted to the USPTO: n The name of the applicant; n A name and address for correspondence; n A clear representation of the mark; n A listing of the goods or services which are or will be identified by the mark; and, n The filing fee for at least one class of goods or services. Trademark applications may be filed online without the assistance of an attorney. In many cases, small business owners can save money by filing their own trademark registrations. Unfortunately, however, filings by a non-attorneys or attorneys who are not fa-

miliar with trademark applications can contain serious errors or omissions that could affect the enforceability or even the validity of the registration. Unfortunately, many such problems may not become evident until the registered mark is asserted against an infringer or is at issue in a domain name dispute. Consequently, if you are considering the filing of an application yourself, please read the materials provided on the USPTO website carefully. It is also particularly important to understand the requirements associated with the disclosure of the goods and/or services associated with the mark. This part of the application is critically important. Errors in this part of the application can even provide grounds to cancel the registration of the mark.

ith respect to the specimens of use that an applicant is required to provide to the USPTO, it is very important to remember that you are transmitting the materials to the government. You should, therefore, be absolutely certain that the works you send are fully compliant with all the laws pertaining to the works. For example, if specimens of use for registration of a mark associated with explicit adult content include

explicit depictions, which must have compliance statements required by 18 U.S.C. §2257 or 18 U.S.C. §2257A, such compliance statements must be affixed to the content provided. In addition, all specimens of use provided to the USPTO should not be offensive or comprise an infringement of any third-party’s copyright in the materials. It’s also important to know that federal trademark registration will be cancelled if no declaration of continued use is filed between the fifth and sixth year following registration, or if renewal applications and declarations of use are not filed by the end of each 10-year anniversary (10th, 20th, 30th anniversaries, etc.) after the date of registration. Unfortunately, this article has only skimmed the surface of a very complex area of law. It is not intended to be, and cannot be, a substitute for a visit with a competent trademark attorney. But if your company is interested in protecting or exploiting trademark rights, I urge you to discuss the matter with our firm or other compatent counsel as soon as possible. a This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be, nor should it be interpreted as, legal advice of any kind.

Quick2257 Continued from page 52

to iTunes. The Florida attorney, who also has invented and patented other technology designed for the adult entertainment industry, got the idea from new mobile options banking consumers are now using.

‘W

hile depositing a check using my mobile phone banking app one day this summer, it occurred to me that the process of compiling and sending 2257 records could be greatly simplified for the average erotic performer, webcam model, or escort advertiser,” Walters said. “All that would be required was an app that included all the relevant fields, the ability to capture a legible image of the front and back of the picture ID card, a verification of the accuracy of the information, and a way to conveniently send the information to the 2257 records custodian. “So I got to work developing the app, and released it today, for the nominal, introductory price of 99 cents. While the fee will probably not even cover the cost of development of the app, I feel that it is important to give back something to the adult industry which I’ve had the honor of representing as a lawyer, for many years.” The Quick 2257 app allows users to create a form

Child Porn

Continued from page 52

ments, “there’s no quick technical fix when it comes to detecting child sexual abuse imagery” — as an algorithm won’t be able to differentiate between innocent pictures of kids at bath time, for example and genuine abuse. He explained that human intervention is also necessary.

‘S

o we always need to have a person review the images. Once that is done — and we know the pictures are illegal – each image is given a unique digital fingerprint.This enables our computers to identify those pictures whenever they appear on our systems. And Microsoft deserves a lot of credit for developing and sharing its picture detection technology,” Schmidt said. Microsoft — that powers Bing and Yahoo — said its Bing search engine will also produce clean results. “Day-to-day we’re fierce competitors, and we collaborate on this issue because

containing the performer’s legal name, stage name, and/or aliases; record the date of original production of the depiction; identify the title of the work associated with the depiction; capture the front and back of the performer’s picture ID card using the device camera; sign and verify the accuracy of the information using the touch screen; compile all information into a convenient .pdf file; and, send the 2257 records file to the records custodian using the mobile device’s email function. Walters said the hope is for Quick2257 to be simple enough to create the required performer records in a matter of minutes, so that users can email them to the records custodian. “With more and more amateur performers getting into the industry, such as cam models and escorts, I felt that it was time to simplify the process of creating the required records,” Walters said. “We do not act as the records custodian, or maintain copies of any 2257 information, but merely allow the performer to create a .pdf file containing the necessary performer information, and email it to the custodian of their choice. “Depending on how the content is used, the custodian may be required to maintain some additional records, and the compliance process should still be overseen by a competent adult entertainment attorney.” a it transcends that. “It will be much harder to find that content on both Bing and Google. We are blocking content, removing content and helping people to find the right content or also sources of help should they need that,” Microsoft’s general manager of marketing and operations Nicola Hodson, said. Video is also being scrutinized by new software being tested by Google YouTube engineers. The technology reportedly allows illegal videos to be “tagged” so that all duplicate copies can be removed. The roll out is hoped to be available next year. Google said it will also start displaying warnings to users about sexual abuse from both itself and charity organizations at the top of its search results for more than 13,000 queries. The warnings will also tell users where to get help. Both companies are working with the UK’s National Crime Agency and the Internet Watch Foundation in an effort to block networks that host child abuse images. a

wia WOMAN OF THE MONTH

womeninadult.com

MAGALIE RHEAULT Director, Product Development, FameDollars

How did you get into the business? I got into this industry by chance I would say. Ten years ago, Gamma Entertainment was much smaller, and I applied to be a sales rep for a mainstream project they had going on. I got the job, became the 21st employee and worked in that department for about one full year. In my second year, there were talks about creating a whole new affiliate program that would be home to some of the biggest names in the industry. This new project really sounded exciting, so I immediately applied to handle what would eventually become FameDollars.com. I still remember creating everything from scratch with one of the owners. To this day, I still kept drawings of our first site templates! It really all kicked in at my first adult show — The Phoenix Forum in 2005, where we officially launched the program. I was lucky enough to meet some really great people from the start, who helped me make my own way around this crazy industry! I truly enjoyed it from the beginning. Coming from a pretty artistic background, it was a pleasure to see this side of the entertainment business. To this day, reflecting back on the last 10 years, I can safely say that I made the right decision and I am still extremely passionate about the company, my team and my career. What in your background prepared you for what you are doing now? Does anything prepare you for a life behind the (porn) scenes ? Ha ha, I could say that coming from a very open-minded family, who never judged, was always very understanding and encouraged the choices I made, helped tremendously. I was supported by friends and family from the very moment I started in this business. Gamma Entertainment is also a tightly knit clan that supports personal development just as much as professional; from internal trainings to continued education we truly believe that the success of our company relies on the growth of our employees. Working with Gamma over the past 10 years has not only helped me become who I am today but has prepared me to face any challenge that comes my way. What do you see as the challenges of working in the adult online business? How do you overcome them? Online adult is a fascinating world in-

deed, but it moves lighting fast! The most imminent challenge is to always innovate or adapt to the fast-growing (and fastchanging) new ways of online distribution, like social networks. Keeping on top of new trends and technologies and constantly adapting is what you have to do. Another challenge I see is the different hybrid business models that are coming out. Some go, some stay and it can become quite difficult to define them, even more in the legal sphere. Everchanging laws are also a threat to our ways of conducting business worldwide and the ones who cannot adapt quickly enough can really suffer from it. I think there is no easy trick to all the challenges that we face; we have to keep informed of what’s going on, keep a good pulse on the trends, diversify your assets when possible and … work hard! At Gamma, I am fortunate to have amazing people around me, to be able to share our knowledge and support each other to make the best decisions possible. Does your work life affect your personal life? Apart from working all the time? I think my work only brought an even more positive spin on my life. I get to travel and see the world, learn something new every day, meet really interesting people and see exceptional things. Those are experiences that can only better your personal life. Socially, my job is definitely a conversation starter! Friends will always talk about my job before I can introduce myself and they still fantasize that Pornstars are roaming around the office … but it’s all in good fun, and I play along every time!

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 89

Boyer

Price

Continued from page 12

marketshare, it’s unlikely that newly launched tube sites will grab much of their own. The market has clearly shown that free adult content is something that users respond to; the real challenge is in figuring out how to monetize the traffic obtained through the offer of free content that goes beyond the methods already being employed in the adult market. Just as the market cannot sustain an infinite number of tube sites, if every tube site promotes the same dating and cam sites, this will just create market saturation for those properties, as well.

Continued from page 72

events throughout her career. “I’m so excited to have been chosen to host the Backstage Winner’s Circle at XBIZ this year!” Price said. “This is something I have never done before and I can’t wait. I think this year will be the best yet. Thank you XBIZ for letting me be a part of the experience.”

rice has performed in select movies as a freelance performer for the past two years after being a Wicked Pictures contract girl for almost her entire career prior to that. She received a 2014 XBIZ Awards nomination for Best Scene — All-Girl for her performance in Digital Playground’s “Community Sex” with Kayden Kross. An accomplished feature dancer, Price added directing to her resume in 2012, when she made her debut behind the camera for Brazzers. She also maintains an official website at KirstenPriceVIP.com, which is part of the Puba network of porn star sites. The XBIZ Awards will honor outstanding achievements across every segment of the in-

Debate

Continued from page 54

In this example, by studying the keywords that customers used to find your site, its content can then reflect actual demand, rather than the publisher’s personal predilections. This is an ongoing process where new content targets new audiences and vice versa. For those who still believe that content is more important than traffic, one need only look at trends in pricing, where content prices continue to drop as fast as traffic prices rise,

Antipiracy

Continued from page 52

the past five years, with DVD sales seeing a freefall since 2007 by as much as 40 percent. The patented tracking system can be deployed across a wide variety of Internet providers, which can then share a database of “prohibited” files.

“This is something I have never done before and I can’t wait. I think this year will be the best yet,” said Kirsten Price, who was chosen to host the Backstage Winner’s Circle at the 2014 XBIZ Awards.

dustry during the past year. Adult film superstar Jenna Jameson will be master of ceremonies for the gala at the historic Century Plaza Hotel. Jesse Jane and Keiran Lee have been named Official Red Carpet hosts, while Jessa Rhodes and Angela White will be the Official Trophy Girls.

giving new insight to value. While the adult entertainment industry’s profits hinge on content, without traffic there is no market for this material — a lesson that some have learned too late.

The ceremony coincides with the industry’s top trade events series, XBIZ 360, which will take over the entire property of the W Hollywood Hotel Jan. 22-25 for a lineup of events dedicated to exploring the future of digital adult entertainment, movie production, pleasure products and retail. a

n the final analysis, it was adult industry veteran and XBIZ.net member Nickatilynx who told XBIZ that he “never met a guy with traffic who was broke [but] met literally hundreds of broke content guys.” It is a sobering perspective that all adult entertainment professionals should heed to succeed,

but it is also one to take a moderate view upon, since today, content and traffic may have equal value to many website operators. Just be sure to offer (and market) high quality content, and use it to drive as much traffic to your site as possible, through image marketing to search engines, and posting sites, plus video promotion to content partner programs and beyond. Then, you will discover which is most important to your particular operation: content or traffic — or if it is a combination of both you will need to focus on. a

“The present invention thus can be seen to have many advantages: it is capable of identifying likely incidents of illicit content transmission, such as piracy of copyrighted material, confirming the presence of such content, and then taking action while preserving the privacy of those ISP customers who have no association with copyright

infringement,” the patent filing says. This isn’t the first antipiracy monitoring system developed by the telecom; last year, AT&T received U.S. Patent No. 8,190,581 for “Real-time content detection in ISP transmissions,” which also can be used to report customers sharing copyrighted materials to interested parties. a

90 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

he key might lay in parlaying the increasing social acceptability of porn into relationships with mainstream brands, sites and manufacturers. Adult surfers are not monomaniacal in their interests; they purchase, consume enjoy just as wide a range of products and services as do the visitors to the Huffington Post. It’s a matter of finding an efficient and effective means of exposing adult site visitors to mainstream ads — and the possibly trickier matter of finding mainstream advertisers willing to accept the traffic. The transition to a new revenue model is not to be taken lightly, and it’s not just a matter of swapping out adult ads for mainstream ones, but it’s also not an insurmountable task. To be clear, revenue from branching out into mainstream avenues will not

“

The market will only support so many tubes, and the same marketshare dynamics that have strangled subscription sites will limit the success of new tube site operators. magically save the adult entertainment industry, or prevent the collapse of many business that are already struggling. Many companies will try to branch out and fail. Others will find measured success, but not enough to obviate the need to make hard choices about how and where they spend their money, and the even harder decision to cut staff as part of their belt-tightening. What expanding into mainstream avenues might do is give those who try it a fighting chance to establish a revenue stream to supplement, or even supplant, its currently declining gains from content sales. Unfortunately, in the current market environment, a fighting chance just might be as much as many adult industry entrepreneurs can hope for. a

ROCCO

I’m throwing a party for all the members of my website. Since there’s only 13 of them, I’ll take one bag of chips and a bottle of tequila.

Mobile

Continued from page 62

Andy San Dimas tries Google Glass in the”world’s first Glass Porn.”

Glass

Continued from page 62

“We’re rolling out this site to stay ahead of the curve because it’s not a matter of IF digital glasses will impact media delivery but WHEN,” XBIZ Senior Technology Editor Stephen Yagielowicz said. “As always, we strive to deliver our industry-leading content through as many platforms as possible.”

n respect to Google Glass’ potential impact on the world of adult entertainment, the industry is taking a wait-and-see approach; with a recent poll of XBIZ.net members revealing that just over half of the respondents (51 percent) feel it is too early to

Video

Continued from page 63

The Film Crew app allows users to respond easily to shot requests and to shoot and upload footage from their phone, browsing and viewing the clips they have uploaded. “Be part of a professional camera crew,” states a rep who explains, “Film Crew lets you be part of the film crew for your favorite brands, events and organizations. Just download the free app and enter your Crew ID to start shooting footage from your unique perspective, guided by the shot list provided.” The app allows users to join multiple Film Crews and to enter their name for listing in film credits on the final film. Users can connect Film Crew with their social media accounts for added promotion and can set up their own Film Crew for their brand to leverage this cloud- and crowdbased technology. According to the company, Koburn builds communities of shooters that capture video content for use in films, providing a filmmaking technique that is engaging, interactive and allows

determine the future of Google Glass, while 35 percent believe it is hype. A further 13 percent do not believe the technology to be mere hype. Earlier this year, XBIZ and MiKandi teamed up to produce “the world’s first Glass Porn,” starring adult films stars James Deen and Andy San Dimas. The parody video which has received millions of views on YouTube, highlights Glass’ potential for point-of-view production. Attendees of the upcoming XBIZ 360 events series will have the opportunity to attend an exclusive demonstration of Google Glass, as MiKandi presents a special workshop examining the groundbreaking device’s adult entertainment applications. a the creation of frequently updated video content. Companies find crowdsourced videos to be a way to keep their brands looking fresh, and can direct people to capture special events; harnessing the power of user-generated footage for capturing unique perspectives that camera crews miss. Another corporate application is for providing insights into your business such as making videos for a company’s Facebook page introducing new products and services — empowering employees through participation. Koburn also provides an editing service to facilitate professional crowd-sourced productions, which can for example, turn a collection of clips into a short film — providing an amazing opportunity for high-end wedding videographers, among others. There is doubtless an array of adult applications, from behind the scenes (BTS) footage, to clips from swinger parties, Google Glass integration and beyond, which could offer a new take on socially engaged adult video production, with Film Crews’ system showing the way. a

can adults are cellular Internet users.” The Pew report also finds that one third of these cellular Internet users (34 percent) mostly use their phones to access the Internet, as opposed to using devices such as a desktop, laptop or tablet computer. “We call these individuals ‘cell-mostly Internet users,’ and they account for 21 percent of the total cell owner population,” Smith added. “Young adults, non-whites, and those with relatively low income and education levels, are particularly likely to be cell-mostly Internet users.” The Pew survey analyzed the responses of more than 2,250 adults, aged 18 and over, including more than 1,100 interviews conducted via the respondent’s cell phone, with interviews conducted in both English and Spanish, with a margin of error of less than 3.5 percentage points. “A majority of the public now owns a smartphone, and mobile devices are playing an increasingly central role in the way that Americans

Forms

Continued from page 54

should improve dramatically. Here are some testable things to look for when evaluating your web forms. The important thing to consider at the outset is the granularity of the data that is testable using an A/B methodology. These factors include the form’s design, content and context, with the individual test points being as simple as the font’s text type, size, style and color. On the design front, test the form’s layout to see how many columns and what size is best (and does it scale well on mobile devices). Then there is the alignment of a form’s text labels, where options such as inline, left, right and top are available: this is not just a matter of its appearance, but of the languages that your customers speak, where text may not read left-to-right (as in English), but right-to-left instead. Color schemes are also important, as some colors are culturally significant, while other colors help (and others hinder) sales impulses, so be sure to test

access online services and information,” Smith concluded. “For many, such as younger adults or lower-income Americans, cell phones are often the primary device for accessing online content — a development that has particular relevance to companies and organizations seeking to reach these groups.” This rapid growth is Internet access via mobile device is not limited to Americans, however, as folks around the world are increasingly accessing the web via a smartphones or other device.

ccording to Statista, users are generating more than 17 percent of web traffic via mobile devices, which represents a more than six percent increase over the past year. South America has the highest growth rate, with mobile web traffic from the region more than doubling from 3.2 percent to 6.8 percent, during the past year. As for the two continents with the highest number of mobile Internet users, Asia and Africa lead the pack, respectively posting nearly 27 percent and 24 percent of web traffic coming from mobile devices. In

this as well. Content is an important consideration that is also testable. For example, headlines and calls to action, as well as items such as product descriptions and pricing are all easily split tested, as is the link to the tested form: does the text “Enter Here” or “Join Now” pull better, making more sales for you?

inimizing the length of your form and streamlining the data you require are all steps in the right direction but it is important to test for the sweet spot, as the information you otherwise might garner could make a big difference. Tweak the form’s “submit” button, where factors such as size, shape, placement, color and text label, are all important and testable. Labels and tooltips that offer help to the site’s users will also come into play. Another major roadblock is a website’s captcha field, which fights against spam and automated login attempts, but can also frustrate users and kill sales. Test your form with and without a captcha added to see if the loss in revenues

the African example, access has more than doubled during the past year — from 11.3 to 23.7 percent. European mobile users also got in on the growth spurt — with an upswing from 5.9 to 9.7 percent of Internet access occurring during the previous year. Where does this all leave us? It is 2014 and mobile Internet access has yet to overtake fixed Internet access — but it is trying to — and well on its way, especially in emerging markets. For adult content marketers, this means that catering to website visitors arriving via mobile devices should not be an afterthought, as it appears that it is only a matter of time before mobile access indeed surpasses fixed access — but it will not likely happen this year. Another takeaway is that the folks using a cellphone for Internet access are not promising prospects for porn sales, based on their youth alone; meaning that just because mobile surfers are visiting your site, it doesn’t mean they’re interested in an “outdated” web-centric offer — making innovation a necessity for many sites. a

“

Although testing form elements is an unglamorous way for webmasters to spend time and energy, this often-overlooked task is vital. offsets any potential increase in spam. Finally, consider context and relevance in form location and positioning, where adding a streamlined join form to tour pages, or using modal windows or a form customized to the site’s content is effective. From the free A/B testing features available to Google Analytics users, to dedicated tools such as the Visual Website Optimizer (www.visualwebsite optimizer.com) and more there’s a wide range of available tools for easily performing split testing of a website’s form elements. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 91

Phinney

Continued from page 16

“Amazon respects a manufacturer’s right to institute policies and rules to manage and control the distribution of its products. However, Amazon considers the enforcement of these policies and rules to be a matter between the manufacturer and the retailers. As a result, it would not be appropriate for Amazon to assist in such enforcement activities.”

t seems we need to make a “test buy” of this product, then use that purchase record to lodge a complaint with the Amazon Seller Performance Team noting that the item is not the same as what is advertised. I have no doubt that we’ll find a way to navigate Amazon’s elaborate abuse reporting protocols even if it means we have to buy something from a crook to demonstrate that he’s a crook. With the current shift

Germany

Continued from page 64

fingered in the future. The law firm asked for the payment of €250 fines, plus attorneys fees, to a Swiss media agent that claimed to hold copyright for the films “Amanda’s Secret,” “Miriam’s Adventure” and “Glamour Show Girls.” The counsel believed the court confused RedTube, a user-generated adult tube site, as a file-sharing website. Germany has outlawed peer-to-peer sites operating in Germany.

he latest legal maneuver is to focus on users who view pirated content, Urmann said. But the questions over whether users can be fingered and held liable for viewing streamed pirated

RedTube

Continued from page 68

MindGeek acquired all of RedTube properties this past summer for an undisclosed purchase price from Hong Kong-based Bright Imperial Ltd. There are at least two U.S. trademark registrations for the RedTube mark, and MindGeek operates about 125 “red tube”-like domain names.

toward online shopping and away from traditional brick-and-mortar stores we’re seeing this holiday season, it’s likely that the online trademark issue is going to become even more important to manufacturers in years to come. One thing we’ve learned is that the specialized skills we use to fight digital piracy can, with slight modification, be tuned to fight trademark violations and illicit sale of knock offs and fraudulent merchandise online as well. And that’s good for the adult industry. Luckily, as I said when I opened this piece, American laws around trademarks and around copyright are similar but different, and they are intertwined in ways that benefit the fight against infringement, and ways that benefit manufacturers, who have much to gain from working with antipiracy consultants if they intend to control theft of their product ideas. a

content is a murky one. Attorney Christian Solmecke, who has gotten in touch with many of those who received the letter, says he has advised them neither to pay the €250per-clip fine nor sign a release. “Whether streaming is illegal under German copyright law is hotly debated amongst law experts,” Solmecke said. “We believe streaming is legal. RedTube users have done nothing illegal and should not give in to the demands in the warning letters.” RedTube, one of the most prolific adult tube sites with about 25 million daily users, was acquired by adult entertainment conglomerate Manwin this past summer. Manwin in November rebranded as MindGeek. a MindGeek has operated Tube8.com and other adult tube sites for years as part of its PornHub network. When reached last month, Pardim told XBIZ that after a month he’s still upset with the WIPO decision. “I’m not happy,” he said. “[This site] was legally registered by me. With indexing and research, [everyone] sees RedTube8. I’m sad.” a

92 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Malibu Media Continued from page 68

The exhibits included form entries from alleged porn-piracy defendants over questions about authorized household users and the distance from defendant residences to closest neighbors, among others. Malibu Media explained that it hired a company called IPP International to “expand the universe of .torrent files that are scanned” as part of Malibu Media’s pre-suit investigation. The results were the exhibits that were used as a cross-reference tool to help identify alleged infringers of its own films and other movies — even some that Malibu Media doesn’t hold copyrights to. But Randa said that even if the exhibits were somehow relevant or useful in this game of “whodunit,” there would be no legitimate justification for Malibu Media to attach the exhibit to its complaints. “This is simply an additional form of coercion,” Randa said. “The subscriber might attempt to shift blame to someone else, but the subscriber would still feel substantial pressure to accept the blame, especially if the ac-

Filters

Continued from page 64

mands. By the end of 2014 all existing U.K. broadband customers will be presented with an unavoidable choice about installing porn filters that they will not be able to skip. Among the sites TalkTalk blocked as “pornographic” was BishUK.com, a British sex education site, which receives more than a million visits each year, the BBC said. BT, which just rolled out its filter last month, blocked sites such as SexualHealthScotland, DoncasterDomesticAbuseHelpline and ReducingTheRisk, a site which tackles domestic abuse. Sky, meanwhile,

Porn.com

Continued from page 42

payments, PayPal and online checks. Although there has been some controversy about Bitcoin, the anonymity offered to users is its saving grace, making it an attractive payment option for adult websites. “We’re always trying to

tual infringer is a family member or other close relation. “Either way, the choice between outing yourself or one of your relatives as an alleged connoisseur of extreme pornography isn’t a very appealing scenario.” Randa ordered Malibu Media attorneys to pay up $600 in sanctions to the court as “a measure of deterrence” for improper conduct.

ecords obtained by XBIZ show the studio has waged 1,548 copyright infringement lawsuits in the past two years. Its earliest cases last year typically listed swarms of defendants, but because of numerous dismissals by jurists the cases now are mostly targeting solo defendants. “Obviously, the use of [the exhibits] is, or was, part of an overall pattern of abusive litigation practices,” Randa said. “Malibu Media is a sophisticated litigant, so it should not be allowed to avoid sanctions simply by adapting its tactics after being questioned by multiple federal judges. “Malibu Media and its counsel should not be allowed to abuse the legal system in this manner without being called to account for it.” Randa also granted the

blocked six porn-addiction sites. As for letting porn flow into users’ computers unencumbered, TalkTalk’s filter blocked 7 percent of 68 pornographic websites tested, while Sky blocked 99 percent of the adult sites.

technology-rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation’s friend-of-the-court brief in support of sanctions in the case. Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney at EFF, told XBIZ that the group is pleases that Randa accepted its amicus brief and agreed that Malibu Media abused the legal system. “The salacious but irrelevant titles on Malibu’s [exhibit list] served no legitimate purpose in a complaint,” Ophahl said. “Their only purpose is to coerce defendants to settle, based not on the merits of the case but on the reputational harm of being publicly associated with hardcore pornography — a purpose of harassment and embarrassment forbidden by the federal court’s rules. While copyright owners have a right to enforce their copyrights, they must follow the same rules and observe the same standards of conduct as all other federal litigants. “While $200 [per each of the three defendants] is not a particularly high penalty, the case sets the third precedent establishing this behavior is abusive. This serves a a strong warning to others who might consider following this path, and later judges may well issue sanctions substantially higher.” a

pokespeople for the telecoms offered an array of responses over the findings: A TalkTalk spokesman said: “ Sadly there is no silver bullet when it comes to internet safety and we have always been clear that no solution can ever be 100 percent. We continue to develop HomeSafe and welcome feedback to help us continually improve the service.” A Sky spokesman said:

“We know that no one single technology currently provides all the answers. That’s why we have a quick and easy way for misclassified sites to be unblocked. Any Sky home has the ability to fully customize their filters.” A BT spokesman said: “Categorizations are constantly updated to keep pace with changing content on the internet and we will investigate any concerns and make changes as necessary. BT Parental Controls can be customized to suit each individual family’s needs.” The four major ISPs will fund a £25 million advertising campaign in 2014 to explain the filters and other aspects of children’s safety online. a

adopt new methods of payment and with Bitcoins, it opens up a whole new landscape to users who want their transactions to remain completely discreet and untraceable. We recognize the Bitcoin is not going anywhere and we felt that accepting Bitcoins would not only set a precedent with other companies but falls in line with Porn.com’s always

progressive attitude of moving forward and blazing our own trail,” Jack told XBIZ. The new crypto-currency also received a shot in the arm when a U.S. Senate meeting recently found Bitcoin to be a legitimate monetary instrument. According to CoinDesk, Porn.com is the largest adult site to embrace Bitcoin. a

Content

Continued from page 42

One recent XBIZ.net discussion explored the question of developing a breakout porn equivalent of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” phenomenon, which brought explicit adult entertainment to a predominantly female, mainstream audience. This discussion was initiated by XBIZ’ Alec Helmy, who notes that he has personally reviewed the vast majority of the more than one thousand adult video releases received each year at the company’s Hollywood offices; stating that the bulk of this material is so-called “gonzo porn,” which is created for folks who want nothing but hardcore sex. “That’s fine and all and will likely remain the

biggest slice of the adult consumer market ... but given the state of porn (fierce competition, free content, declining DVDs, etc.), I wonder why more producers are not pursuing progressive projects,” Helmy offered. “Specifically, experimenting with ideas that could create a whole new consumer base on a mass scale — that’s what the book did and eventually someone will do the same with porn. I hope it’s one of us.” Shortly after this insight, XBIZ reported about Universal Pictures’ upcoming mainstream feature film adaptation of the novel, which features a unique twist — a sexy adult version. According to the film’s producer, Dana Brunetti, an X-rated version of the highly anticipated movie is

in production alongside of the R-rated version, in response to fan demands to keep the movie as close to the book as possible — and the dirtier the better. “‘I always thought it would be really cool if we released the R-version and then we had an NC-17 version that we released a few weeks later,” Brunetti stated. “Everybody could go and enjoy the R-version and then if they really wanted to see it again and get a little bit [grittier] with it, then have that NC17 version out there as well.” “We do not want this film to be seen as mommy porn,” Brunetti added. “We want to keep it elevated, but also give the fans what they want.” The movie will debut in February of 2015, when we get to see how faithful it re-

mained to its vision. While Helmy’s point transcended the “Fifty Shades” phenomenon, the XBIZ.net community seized on a literal discussion of the porn potential of this popular literary juggernaut — underscoring some of the most important factors when it comes to creating innovative adult entertainment.

elli Roberts of Kelli Internet Services believes that cost plays a significant role. “It would be great to have a ‘real’ movie made that was truly erotic and hardcore, but it’s just not cost effective, at least not in today’s market,” Roberts stated. “Those ‘Fifty Shades’ guys are going to make their money from the softer version and then use the harder version as sim-

ply a marketing gimmick to push further sales of their normal version — the one that can be shown in theaters.” Roberts explains that in the past, a company making a movie could expect a certain amount of return on the investment from DVD sales and from cable distribution deals, as well as foreign and hotel distribution rights, etc. “We all know that DVD sales are down, so that money is reduced, but so is the amount of money companies are paying for cable, and foreign rights,” Roberts told XBIZ. “What a company used to make with a movie is greatly reduced so instead they seemed to be producing movies for their biggest money making markets — online sales — and those Please see CONTENT, page 94

Walters

Continued from page 14

Finally, 2257 records are only part of the equation when it comes to forming a legal relationship with an adult performer. Model releases, copyright assignments, employment records, visas, and a wide variety of other documents or information may be necessary, depending on the specific circumstance. Quick2257 is a piece of the puzzle — not the completed picture.

ertainly those devotees of Android products will be frustrated that Quick2257 is only currently available in the Apple App Store. Fear not; an Android version is in the works, and will soon be available. And like any app, we intend to continue improving on the product, and updating its functionality. a

Settlement Continued from page 66

and MasterCard credit and or debit cards beginning in 2004 will be eligible to participate in the settlement. That relevant time tarts in 2004 and could go as far as 2012, according to Jermyn, whose firm is one of many class action recovery firms working on the suit. Because the court granted final approval to the settlement, the court will approve a claim form and determine when the claim form needs to be sent to class members, as well as the deadline for class members to submit their claims. a

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 93

Content

(something Wicked, Vivid and DP know well), they don’t comprehend putting money and creativity into shooting for broadcast, IPTV, etc.” “Add in the fact that so many adult producers have no creativity and no skill (let alone budget) and it’s hard to expect someone to pull off something of quality,” Black and Blue Media added.

Continued from page 93

seem to be sold off as ‘scenes’ instead of a whole movie.” Producer/Director Max Candy agreed that it would cost to do it right, because “fetish stuff is especially expensive to do right and nobody wants to provide a good enough budget.” “Sooner or later, quality will count again,” Max Candy told XBIZ, “but for now it’s about following traffic and numbers, with no one leading the market.” “I don’t think it’s a cost issue, but rather the right mix of talent, because the book certainly wasn’t ‘big budget,’” Helmy offered, pointing to the other factors that influence innovation in adult content. Ben Yates of Pervlens Media opined that SexArt does a good job of bringing something different to the market and appeals to people who may want a little more substance to their porn. Yates cites the example of SexArt’s erotic soap opera, Kamikaze Love, made by renowned erotic feature film director Zalman King. One thing the approaches cited by Yates share is a sense of style, with a softer edge. Master Ryan of PKS Consulting notes that rather than an issue of softversus hardcore content the issue is that the “Fifty Shades” audience primarily consists of women who are not usually aroused visually, making erotica the best choice of medium. “Romance novels are porn to women, as they are much less visual than men,” Master Ryan told XBIZ. “The question I wonder about is why erotica isn’t as big this year? There should be ‘Fifty Shades’ style erotica blogs and sites popping up everywhere.” Other approaches to innovation in adult content are possible, but some may cause quite a stir.

or example, John C of Animation Art believes big budget films featuring controversial interracial, underage, or gay themed content could work well towards innovating adult content offerings. “Look no further than ‘Blue is the Warmest Color,’ a hardcore lesbian film about underage lovers now showing in art houses,” John C offered. “Those producers have tapped into current attitudes and questions about gay sex and are going to make a bundle.” John C says this approach will take a good writer that understands the audience.

“I don’t think that it’s innovation as much as just keeping up with current trends,” John C told XBIZ. “Fifty Shades appealed to a growing, underserved audience of horny, repressed female professionals who gave up the career track for the baby track and their guilt about it.” Kelli Roberts notes that there are ways that the adult industry could tap into that “fast girl” audience which is buying up “Fifty Shades” in droves. “We could run membership sites like we do for men, but instead of videos which the boys love to watch, we offer high quality stories,” Kelli Roberts told XBIZ. “Every day they could log into the naughty book club website and get a new story. As long as the stories were high quality and there were enough of them that the girl felt like she was getting her monies worth (because value is a big deal with women) then there is no reason a venture like this couldn’t be a success.” Kelli Roberts says that it is common knowledge that women will spend money on romance novels. “We know this market is huge. We have just never aggressively pursued it as an industry,” Roberts added, “Which really doesn’t make sense, especially considering the cost to produce content for such a site would be drastically cheaper than it is to produce unique video content for a male version.”

94 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Master Ryan points to Amazon’s new “Add to Kindle” plugin button as ideal for such applications and wonders if there might even be a way to automatically send a daily story to a member’s Kindle, since “All of these ladies have Kindles, iPads and iPhones, etc.” — mobile friendliness being another factor for content. As we have seen, the financial aspects of the content equation are not the only considerations, and there are substantial legal risks to filming the type of fantasies revealed in today’s steamy sex stories. PR firm Black and Blue Media cautions that anyone wanting to depict a video version of “Fifty Shades” themes in a porn movie would see their chances of becoming the next John Stagliano, Max Hardcore or Rob Black, grow exponentially — so they too could sit in a courtroom and spend half a million dollars to defend themselves against obscenity charges. “Adult producers need to figure out just how much money they are leaving on the table when they are not shooting for ALL of the six or seven revenue streams in adult. When they are just shooting cheap, crappy gonzo and wall-to-wall porn, they limit themselves to selling on their sites, clips stores and DVD,” Black and Blue Media explains. “Until more adult producers learn what the real revenue streams are,

ixon Mason of Intersec Studios cites the saucy book’s non-consensual content and warns of the danger of censorship in regards to this edgy material, echoing Black and Blue Media’s concerns. Kelli Roberts says that there is much of what folks call “the point of no return” going on in girl porn, forming one of the crazy differences between girl and boy porn. “In the adult industry, if a girl says no and a guy throws her down and takes her anyway, we all go to jail,” Kelli Roberts told XBIZ. “But in romance novels, it does happen and it’s no big deal.” As for whether or not “Fifty Shades” was an isolated phenomenon, while the author was preparing this article, Christmas music playing on the radio in the background, an ad came on promoting what it called “The country’s #1 ladies’ night out” — “Spank! Harder,” the sequel to last year’s “Spank!” This hit stage parody of “Fifty Shades” has provided a night of naughty and hilarious fun to women in more than 150 cities across the globe, and shows no sign of letting up, as it goes into a series of sequels. “‘Spank! Harder’ picks up where the original left off, parodying not only Fifty Shades but also taking aim at women’s pop culture,” states the play’s promoters. “Our ‘author,’ E.B. Janet, pens her next novel and takes the audience on her newest wild adventure fantasy in the sexy, satirical style that audiences have come to love.” This is the type of market traction that savvy salesmen salivate over and shows that the “Fifty Shades” success and the carnal cravings of its target audience is far from a fluke — but can adult producers stuck in their ways embrace a new paradigm? Barry from MB Entertainment notes the similarity to erotic gaming where the grand majority of successful titles are games with sexual elements added or addressed — not sex turned into a game. “People seeing those movies are going to watch a movie that happens to have or deal with sexual elements. It may be titillating, but the primary goal isn’t

“

Innovation and technology, while perhaps two similar sides of the same coin, both play a vital role in today’s diverse adult entertainment ecosystem. getting off — it is the movie experience,” Barry explains. “Do ‘Fifty Shades’ as a porn movie and the focus has shifted to the sex aspect — on top of the general gender differences in preferences for porn (visual vs. concept porn vs. erotica).” Others within the industry doubt that a porn rendition of the erotic novel would be successful. According to 2Muchmark of 2Much.net, an honest analysis would reveal that 99 percent of porn movies are pure garbage; littered with bad acting, bad writing, bad photography, bad sound, bad music — the list goes on. “I doubt that any porn movie based on (stolen from) ‘Fifty Shades’ would have 1/100th the quality required to even come close to being called ‘Fifty Shades’ except by whatever hacks might write a for-pay fake review of it,” 2Muchmark told XBIZ. “Next, porn movies are clearly made for men, the way low budget monster movies are. Cut the BS / cut to the chase / fake monsters in cheap costumes (or lowgrade computer graphics). [It is the same as] cutting to the big fake tits and spitting — most guys love it, most women do not.” “My girlfriend Tracy, who read the ‘Fifty Shades’ series, never once called it porn. She calls it erotica,” 2Muchmark added. “She has been reading IMDB every week for updates on the new ‘Fifty Shades’ movie that she will definitely want to see because she is expecting the movie to capture the book in as much detail as possible. She knows a porn version would be laughable.” Laughable or not, a porn version of “Fifty Shades” did make a stir; with Evil Empire’s GonZo pointing to Smash Pictures’ adaptation of “Fifty Shades” by Jim Powers, which made headlines before being the subject of a high-profile legal action. “My understanding [of the problem] was not that [Smash] made it (and did a nice job of it, casting Ryan Driller as Christian Grey),

but that the PR and packaging pretty much indicated it was an authentic treatment of the novel,” Wasteland’s Colin Rowntree told XBIZ. “Universal pulled the plug as it was not made as a parody and had no safe haven from copyright infringement.” For his part, Rowntree and company dabble in the “Fifty Shades” realm a bit, but are very mindful to keep it in the fantasy, fan fiction sort of niche, with its virtual reality based offering at virtual.sssh.com. Ruby Goodnight of Ruby Goodnight Media says the Smash parody of “Fifty Shades” was the best selling porn DVD the company sells, but is not surprised, given his sites that tap into “Fifty Shades” fans. “The mainstream movie won’t be able to do it justice unless it’s rated NC17 or older. I would love to see an unrated version where they get all the sex scenes and BDSM in there,” Ruby Goodnight stated. “But, if I was looking at the ‘big picture’ and trying to make waves in the porn world just as ‘Fifty Shades’ did in the literary world, then the gonzo style ‘suck, fuck and facial,’ porn needs to take a back seat.”

films and I try to be as sexy, genuine and creative as possible.” NaughtyTinkerbell shows innovation in adult content does not have to be expensive, just creative. According to Exile Dist’ howardd1955, sinking money into any big production is a risky business these days, especially when the project is a parody. “What ever happened to original thoughts that turned into original movies,” howardd1955 asks. “The truth is the parody train has pulled out of the station and you are now beating a dead horse.” “Vivid poured a ton of money into the remake of ‘Behind the Green Door.’ It was a great idea [but] it was on the top of the charts for one week, two at the most, and then poof it was gone — and forget the

charts, the sales were much less than expected — the glory days are gone,” howardd1955 told XBIZ. “When ‘The Devil in Miss Jones 2’ came out with Jenna, I sold 65,000 copies out the door the first week. That is what is referred to now as ‘The Golden Era.’” As a solution, howardd1955 would like to see something different that encompasses great eroticism with a decent storyline, but warns producers that spending more than $15,000 will kill their profitability. That level of budget, while not supporting the next “Pirates,” still offers potential for producers.

avid J. Baron of neuFleisch Produktions sees an evolving the market for high-quality BDSM focused fetish films, telling XBIZ that “I believe

that there’s a growing customer base looking for BDSM and fetish films that explores the sensual and almost artistic aspects of this sexual practice.” While this is likely true, it is still just a new coat of paint on an old house, and not an innovative new approach opening new audiences for adult content. Even though some of the industry’s best and brightest took part in this discussion, the thread focused more on copying the “Fifty Shades” concept than on developing a unique and innovative offering that would capture the attention of new audiences in the way that “Fifty Shades” unlocked the purses of its target market. Given this, perhaps very little change from the status quo may happen anytime soon — although those that can rise

above the pack while remaining under budget may make bank. On the other hand, it is not difficult to read between the lines to develop your own content strategy. Innovation and technology, while perhaps two similar sides of the same coin, both play a vital role in today’s diverse adult entertainment ecosystem. While it might be understandable that online porn’s technical (some say “nerdy”) operators may focus on those areas where they feel the most comfortable, creative innovation in content development and presentation is needed for the industry to move ahead — not just a new video playback format, billing metaphor or tube site template, but a truly unique idea. To paraphrase Helmy, “I hope it’s from one of us.” a

ith this perspective, it is clear that mainstream may have no better success by embracing porn. Cyntertainment, admitting to not being the audience for this kind of venture, citing the prevalence of short clips from films on video websites, told XBIZ “I can only think of one person I know that would watch something like this, and he’s got a bit of a question mark over him.” “I am in the group of people that tends to skip through DVD’s looking for the ‘good’ bit. Even the ‘knocking on the door’ part is boring [to me],” Cyntertainment says, asking, “Aren’t the majority of porn users saying ‘just stick your f**king cock up her arse and let’s get on with it’?” Sure, that may work for the majority, but new customers are needed today and they require a new and more innovative approach to adult content that can compete with free fare — a competition that is not easy for an up and comer to breach. For example, Naughty Tinkerbell from Naughty Tinkerbell.com, who made a film called ‘Fifty Shades of Pink,’ expressed frustration over a lack of recognition for her creative films that are edgy and unique. “I produce the most unique films, but I’m frustratingly unknown by the rest of the porn world,” NaughtyTinkerbell told XBIZ. “There is nothing standard about any of my

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 95

Moratoriums Continued from page 72

caring producer offers talent big money to shoot without condoms some (most?) will do it. It’s a harsh reality. It’s what drives the over-the-top anal craze and extreme BDSM. And let’s face it, some performers escort on the side and if a client is paying them $10,000 for a night they’ll provide services without a condom. And that danger comes back into the business — hopefully before they’re tested. It’s the shadow side of the biz. The moratoriums, which allow the industry to help prevent outbreaks of HIV infections by pinpointing first- and second-generation performer contacts, play a vital role within the film community to reduce the risk of contagion.

ut the majority of performers and production staff are freelancers or independent contractors who work in a “gig economy” — and when they cannot work, that immediately affects their incomes. And lately, those days without the opportunity to perform or work in a Porn Valley production have become more frequent with some lasting as long as two weeks. Pair that with psychological risks of contracting an infection on the set, and most in the industry would agree the business is

“

Will Ryder, who directs for Los Angeles-based X-Play, has suggested that the industry should make it tougher for active gay male crossovers to shoot straight porn.

going through volatile times. “The psychological toll has a much different effect than financial,” Mark Schechter, owner of Adult Talent Managers Los Angeles (ATMLA), told XBIZ. “It’s a long-lasting effect that is different for each and every one of us, depending on specific areas of involvement within the industry. “I have seen drastic changes amongst many performers with regards to the limits of production activity.” Vicky Vette, an adult star and webcam model who has 138 adult video credits to her name, said that the business has been shaken by recent accounts of infections involving performers. “It is actually terrifying to the girls in the business because they just don’t know who to trust,” Vette told XBIZ. “Girls are definitely nervous, and at least one girl I know officially retired because, in her words, it wasn’t worth the risk anymore. It certainly is making everyone think twice.”

In August, adult performer Cameron Bay — one of Schechter’s clients — announced via the FSC that she had tested positive for HIV — and in September, Schechter organized a fundraiser on Bay’s behalf to help with her medical expenses. “Coping with a moratorium mostly has to do with being able to decipher accurate information that is being proliferated upon these circumstances. The steps that are taken are different for everyone,” Schechter said. “For myself and my immediate connection of staff and performers, it is to simply stay well-informed and to follow the suggested protocols issued by the FSC.” When moratoriums are announced by the FSC, performers in Porn Valley find themselves in a very different position from the studios and from those who have full-time staff positions, according to Dan Leal, CEO of Chatsworth, Calif.-based Immoral Productions. “A two-week moratorium isn’t going to affect a studio because the studio has such a surplus of content, but it’s going to affect a performer who is working an average of four times a month,” Leal told XBIZ. Leal, however, doesn’t see moratoriums having an immediate impact on most production crew members. “Editors are always going to have stuff to edit,” Leal said. But moratoriums put production schedules into flux and can affect the bottom line for studios, according to Rob Smith, director of operations for the Hustler Video Group. “Production dates are pushed, and crews and talent cancelled or put on hold for later when you think/hope that production can resume,” Smith told XBIZ. “Often, this causes you to lose the availability of the talent and crew that you were hoping to use.”

urrently, performers in Porn Valley are regularly tested for HIV via the FSC’s Performer Availability Screening Services (PASS) system, formerly APHSS. Many opponents of mandatory condom use in adult films have described PASS as an effective way to protect performers, while proponents of mandatory condom use in adult films argue that even with PASS, condoms should be a requirement — not an option — in Porn Valley. Peter Acworth, founder and CEO of the BDSM-oriented, San Francisco-based Kink.com, said, “As soon as we get word from FSC production halts immediately. And then you wait for information.” “At Kink, our production staff is pretty much entirely employeebased; so it’s a matter of keeping people busy for the week,” Acworth told XBIZ. “They can shoot B-roll — non-sex shots — or try to take care of organizational things. But it’s a watch-and-wait time, for the most part.” Acworth said that during 2013’s moratoriums, the overall mood in Porn Valley was one of solidarity and cooperation — and most of the people he talks to have been faithful about participating in the PASS system and obeying the

96 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

better protect their workers. “In some countries, it really is a wild west,” Acworth said. “One thing that we’ve been trying to communicate to those who really want to mandate condoms is that doing so will push production overseas, where there are even fewer regulations. “I realize that some people will always think the porn industry is a dirty business — it’s been a punching bag for politicians and crusaders since it became legal in the late 1960s. But it’s actually highly regulated, and if you want to protect porn performers, it shouldn’t matter if they’re in the U.S. or outside of it. Pushing porn to places where it isn’t regulated at all isn’t a solution.”

“I have seen drastic changes amongst many performers with regards to the limits of production activity,” says Mark Schechter, owner of Adult Talent Managers Los Angeles (ATMLA).

moratoriums when they are called. “I think one thing we really learned this year was the importance of getting information out quickly,” Acworth said. “We live in an era of social media, and it was concerning to see so many rumors floating around. But what was also encouraging was to see how the community rallied. “One producer announced he was bucking the moratorium, and he was roundly condemned and backed off,” Acworth said. “While it was tough to deal with the multiple moratoriums, I think it stressed how important they are for protecting the performers and how important it is that we stick together. “There are always voices in opposition — some producers don’t have content stored up, others don’t like being told what to do in any regard. But I think the overall trend has been [one of] greater cooperation.” There has been an ongoing debate in the adult industry: Should Porn Valley have a condom-optional approach and screen for HIV via the PASS system, or should it go the way of Brazil — where condom use is the norm in adult films and the Brazilian Association of Erotic and Sensual Media (ABEME) — which is Brazil’s equivalent of the FSC, supports that approach? Schechter said the PASS system has the potential of being a very effective resource and tool for production studios and crews to insure performers meet the required testing guidelines. “The more the industry continues to use and adapt to using the PASS system, it becomes more effective,” he said “A studio requiring a cleared PASS status on top of that can be a reassurance for a performer that a document has not been tampered. It is very easy to sign up for and use the system,” said Smith, who noted that PASS is very easy to sign up for and use, without getting into the complexities of sharing medical information. Acworth said that kind of simplicity goes along way and that he hopes studios in other countries look at the PASS model to try to

nforcement of condom laws, however, only affect studios that pull permits — and those would be ones that do it primarily for insurance purposes. Leal, meanwhile, pointed out that what happens in Los Angeles’ adult entertainment community affects adult performers all over the U.S. “The amount of performers who work in Los Angeles is under 500,” Leal said. “Four performers have tested positive out of roughly 500. Performers who perform in Las Vegas or Miami also perform in Los Angeles, and they are still part of what I consider the Los Angeles adult industry talent pool. It’s not like there are performers who are exclusive to Miami or performers who are exclusive to Las Vegas. Performers travel.” Leal added: “There should be nationwide laws governing all commercial porn. It doesn’t matter if it’s shot in Southern California, Miami or Las Vegas. Now, the question becomes enforcement.” One adult filmmaker in Porn Valley isn’t settling for a system like PASS’s where performers must test every 14 days in order to be cleared for work. Tristan Taormino now requires condom use in all of her productions — a position she didn’t take until after Bay tested positive for HIV. Taormino, in September, told CNN that she had decided to start requiring condoms in her productions because she wanted to give her performers “the safest work experience possible.” The fact that a particular adult company requires condom use in its productions does not necessarily mean that it thinks condom use should be a requirement for other adult companies.

or example, Wicked Pictures — one of the top studios in Porn Valley and a leader in the couples genre — voluntarily implemented a condom-only policy for its films in 1998 and still adheres to that policy. But Wicked founder Steve Orenstein has stressed that he opposes efforts to make condom use mandatory in all adult films. Whether a studio opts to use condoms in its films or not use them should be left up to the studio, Orenstein has said. The debate within the industry over whether performers should or shouldn’t use condoms in films has been a largely heterosexual debate.

“[T]here should be nationwide laws governing all commercial porn. Now, the question becomes enforcement,” Dan Leal, CEO of Chatsworth, Calif.based Immoral Productions.

In the gay adult sector, condom use has been the norm both inside and outside of the U.S. for a long time — which is a result of the devastating affect that AIDS had in the gay community back in the 1980s — and proponents of mandatory condom use in straight porn have been arguing that if the gay porn sector can embrace condoms and still remain profitable, why not straight adult films? But opponents of mandatory condom use in porn counter that because a lot of heterosexual porn thrives on pure, unadulterated fantasy — especially gonzo films — condoms are a turnoff for viewers and negatively impact sales. The heterosexual porn audience, according to that argument, cannot be compared to the gay porn audience because they are two very different markets. In the November 2012 election, voters in Los Angeles County were asked to weigh in on whether or not performers should be required to wear condoms in adult films. The county’s “Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act,” also known as Measure B, passed by a margin of 12 points and was aggressively supported by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which advocates that condoms in adult films should be mandatory rather than optional. The FSC has been consistently outspoken in its opposition to Measure B and has been fighting it legally ever since it was proposed by the AHF. Opponents of mandatory condom use in adult films argue that from a financial or business standpoint, condomless adult films from Porn Valley have a marketing advantage over the condom-only productions coming from Brazil, which is the largest adult film producer in Latin America — and that if Porn Valley’s adult films don’t distinguish themselves from foreign adult films, they lose that marketing advantage. In the adult industry, there continues to be much talk of L.A.based studios permanently moving to Las Vegas, Miami or another U.S. city in order to escape Measure B.

Some adult studios, including Vivid Entertainment, have said that they have responded to Measure B by filming outside of Los Angeles County. And just this past fall, director Lee Roy Myers moved his entire WoodRocket operation to Las Vegas. WoodRocket joins other Vegas porn studios, including gay companies Bait & Tackle and Corbin Fisher, and Brazzers. “The greater the restrictions placed on production here, the more production will flourish elsewhere,” Hustler’s Smith said. Leal is quite critical of the way the mainstream media have been covering Porn Valley moratoriums and performers who have tested HIV-positive. The mainstream media, Leal asserted, often reports on those events with an alarmist, sensationalist tone — and that tone, he said, is bad for the adult industry psychologically. “In the eyes of the mainstream media, there’s a massive epidemic — and perception becomes reality,” Leal said. “The mainstream media all say the same thing: massive HIV outbreak in the porn industry. And people in the industry see the headlines: HIV outbreak, third time in six months, adult industry shut down.” Moratoriums on shooting in Porn Valley have not only been a major topic of discussion among Americans who work in the adult industry — they are also being discussed in other countries that have an abundance of adult film production, including Brazil and Spain. According to Leal, some adult film performers who work outside the U.S. are now avoiding Porn Valley because of the mainstream media’s “hysterical” coverage of the moratoriums. Thanks to the mainstream media, Leal said, they are being led to believe that things are much worse in Porn Valley than they actually are. “Now, a lot of the performers in other countries don’t feel safe coming over here. That’s because of the way we handle our moratoriums. There is no one explaining things to them.” “I talk to people in Canada, I talk to people in Europe — and they all say to me, ‘Your industry has really got a problem in the U.S.’ That’s the message that they get.” Instead of giving in to “mainstream media hysteria,” Leal stressed, people who work in Porn Valley need to take a deep breath, remain calm and do everything they can to assure the mainstream media and adult industry employees outside the U.S. that performing in Porn Valley is safe. “There is no one who is going on radio, going on television and explaining to them the way the adult industry really works,” Leal said. “There’s no one who does that, and that is a massive failure on the part of the U.S. adult industry.” Leal said that in the climate of “media hysteria” that surrounds a performer who tests positive for HIV, performers are unfairly demonized. “The performers who tested positive have been outed because their privacy has been violated,”

Leal said. “The person who is infected is made to look like a monster. It becomes mass hysteria.” While moratoriums appear to be one way to stop STIs from spreading out of control, one adult film director said there are other potential preventative measures that should be taken by the industry as a whole, even though they might be controversial.

ill Ryder, who directs for Los Angeles-based XPlay, said that moratoriums are “very wise” but that relying solely on lists provided by HIV-positive performers might be woefully incomplete. Ryder, who said he took a lot of heat at an FSC producers meeting a few months back, has suggested that the industry should make it tougher for active gay male crossovers to shoot straight porn. Ryder told XBIZ that “it is time that the industry takes its head out of the sand and make real tough choices because there seems to be a consistent fingerprint to all of these exposures.” “I know we cannot know who is doing gay escorting or dating with exact certainty all the time, but we for sure can know which male talent is currently doing bi or gay scenes and not hire them,” Ryder said. “No need for a witch hunt on male talent that have past gay scenes in their repertoire, but if you are currently shooting gay content today you have zero right to shoot straight porn and risk people’s health. “I don’t give a damn if you have a current test and I do not care one bit if you feel that is discrimination. We don’t hire blind construction crane operators, either. “Would 100 percent straight

porn industry condom usage have prevented the latest HIV positive from showing up? Doubtful and debatable at best but reducing the talent pool by eliminating current gay male crossovers performing in gay or bi movies today and/or active gay male escorts will make our straight adult industry safer. “It is not only a smart business decision but a compassionate one as well. If that is discrimination, then so be it.” Asked how HIV-related events of 2013 will ultimately affect Porn Valley as well as studios operating outside of Porn Valley, Schechter said, the impact “will be widespread and affect individual performers and the decisions they make with regards to the details of productions they are participating in.” “There will also be stricter enforcement of existing laws in California that will have a tremendous effect on the industry as it relates to Porn Valley. In my opinion, it’s just a matter of time before the majority of production is maintained outside of Porn Valley, such as Las Vegas.” Vette, who branched out to webcam work years ago, advises adult performers in Porn Valley who are starting to have doubts about the biz to break free from traditional film work “Some girls I know are having a hard time making rent and car payments,” Vette said.” I hate that they are so dependent on others for their livelihood. It only proves the importance of having a popular website where the content you shoot today keeps on paying you for months and years to come. “You have to re-invent yourself,” she said. “It is not only safer but it’s the future of porn.” a

Vicky Vette, an adult star and webcam model who has 138 adult video credits to her name, advises adult performers in Porn Valley who are starting to have doubts about the biz to break free from traditional film work.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 97

BULLETIN

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2014

BY TIM HENNING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

s ASACP looks forward to 2014, it is important for us as an organization to review the challenges and accomplishments we faced during the past year and to consider how these changes will affect us going for-

ward. Reflecting on how challenging 2013 has been for ASACP reveals that despite the difficulties, many of our most significant accomplishments were born out of these challenges, or carried on in spite of them. Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by ASACP in 2013 was the decreased financial support that we received from the online adult entertainment industry whose interests ASACP protects just as it protects the interests of child safety on the Internet. This problem has three major aspects: the first is the overall decrease in industry revenues is leaving less money on the table for supporting a group such as ASACP — despite the many benefits of doing so. Another factor is the ongoing consolidation of adult sites and programs, where dozens of sponsors and other supporters have become acquired by larger companies, which have not maintained sponsorships for each of these programs — and have not upped their own sponsorship levels to make up for the loss of operating revenues for ASACP that their acquisitions caused. Finally, many folks within the industry see the level of “philosophical” support that ASACP receives and mistakenly believe that this translates into robust financial support. While it would be great if this was true, the truth of the matter is that today, ASACP does more than ever, with less than ever before. For example, in 2013, ASACP saw a spike in the usage of one of its core functions; the operation of its internationally recognized CP Reporting Hotline, which received more than 100,000 individual reports — doubling the hotline’s report volume since 2011. Of these raw reports, ASACP referred more than 17,000 reports to global law enforcement authorities and other relevant hotlines. As a result, the association rendered assistance to investigators in many of these cases and helped several sponsors and members with child pornography related issues. ASACP did all of this with only one hotline analyst. This last point highlights the ongoing challenges of carrying out our mission with minimal staffing — in fact, a smaller staff than many other non-profits of ASACP’s size. Sometimes, however, more help is needed and truly welcome, especially if the association is to serve the growing needs of supporter base. For example, ASACP greatly expanded its international outreach efforts in 2013 with the naming of Vince Charlton as Director of European Outreach. This has led to a number of important achievements that would not have been possible otherwise, due to budgetary and stafftime limitations on travel and other factors.

Among these accomplishments are Charlton’s participation in advocating for child protection issues in the U.K. on behalf of the industry, including participation in the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) European Forum 2013 in Dublin, Ireland, as well as meetings with ATVOD and other U.K. policy makers. Charlton also had multiple meetings with child protection organizations in the U.K., including the U.K. Council for Child Internet Safety; and participation in the “For Adults Only? — protecting children from online porn,” conference organized by ATVOD and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at Queen Mary, University of London, where he submitted the ASACP white paper, “Protecting Children in the Digital Age — Why Filtering alone is Ineffective and Potentially Harmful.” Charlton also helped develop an industry coalition uniting the FSC with the U.K.’s Sex & Censorship initiative and other stakeholders, for a more broad-based approach to online child protection in the U.K. Charlton performs these time and talent consuming duties on a volunteer basis. Other efforts require additional staff expertise that is not available in-house. This led ASACP to hire the professional social media company, 7Veils.com, to expand its mission through better communication on these mediums, including Facebook and Twitter. This is vital as these channels form an important bridge between ASACP and its mainstream counterparts, parents and lawmakers, who are not frequenting industry news websites, and who otherwise have limited exposure to ASACP’s message. This need to balance resources and talent is a constant struggle demanding innovative solutions. Trying to maintain this balance, ASACP expanded its backend technical infrastructure in 2013 with the addition of new servers, kindly donated by Kim Nielsen of ATKingdom, and updated software technologies, giving the association the ability to do more with less staff and other resources. This struggle for resources was front and center in 2013 when ASACP needed to obtain independent office space, after enjoying many years of historically donated office facilities. This move was not just a matter of rent, but of electricity and Internet, phone services and more, that are now budget line items. It is not all a matter of putting out however, as ASACP receives a lot back for its efforts.

For example, the association received numerous “thank you” emails in 2013 from teachers, parents and others, regarding the resources offered on both the ASACP and RTA websites, which help to educate and protect children in their digital lives — scoring a goal for our team in the battle of public perception. This positive perception led to multiple quotes for ASACP in international mainstream media outlets regarding online child protection issues, evolving Internet legislation and global child exploitation cases. Despite all of these accomplishments, ASACP was still able to attend and participate in numerous international conferences and tradeshows, both targeting mainstream child protection initiatives as well as events serving the adult entertainment in-

dustry. In the final analysis of its accomplishments and challenges for 2013 and the goals it has set itself for 2014 and beyond, perhaps the biggest factor affecting the future success of ASACP is the balancing act it must perform. ASACP takes on the delicate task of meeting the distinct needs of child protection as well as protecting the rights of the legitimate adult entertainment industry to serve its countless customers around the world, in a manner that is both safe for children and responsible for society. It is not always appreciated how difficult it is for ASACP to gain and maintain credibility because of this dual mission, resulting in attacks and misunderstanding by forces both within and outside of the adult entertainment industry, making a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation for ASACP, which is already overtasked and understaffed. Thus, it is vital for ASACP to stay focused on its mission, carrying on in the face of a limited budget and resources to do what is right, both for the children and for our industry. With your help, it is a war that is winnable — your business may depend on it. For more information regarding ASACP, sponsorship opportunities and how your business can help, please contact tim@asacp.org or vince@asacp.org.

ABOUT ASACP Founded in 1996, ASACP is a non-profit organization dedicated to online child protection. ASACP is comprised of two separate corporate entities, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection and the ASACP Foundation. The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. ASACP manages a membership program that provides resources to companies in order to help them protect children online. The ASACP Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The ASACP Foundation battles child pornography through its CP Reporting Hotline and helps parents prevent children from viewing age-restricted material online with its Restricted To Adults (RTA) website label (www.rtalabel.org). ASACP has invested nearly 17 years in developing progressive programs to protect children, and its relationship in assisting the adult industry’s child protection efforts is unparalleled. For more information, visit www.asacp.org.

ASSOCIATION OF SITES ADVOCATING CHILD PROTECTION | ASACP.ORG

98 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

Censorship Continued from page 3

such overbroad legislation, the U.K.’s prime minister, David Cameron, decided to make the porn ban his pet project. But with the gender equality pretense falling on deaf ears, he went straight to the subject sure to incite moral panic at its finest – old faithful: saving the children. After all, that refrain worked when the U.K. passed its ban on “extreme porn.” That law was recently used as justification for thousands of U.K. law enforcement officers to raid the homes of over 3,000 London residents and seize more than 1,000 DVDs, cell phones and other media, containing extreme porn. This sort of book-burning effort would never survive constitutional muster in the U.S., but the U.K. is now taking its Internet censorship efforts to the next level. Under the guise of preventing child abuse and underage exposure to porn, Cameron rolled out his “voluntary” Internet filtering plan, with ISPs designated to do the dirty work. Despite the fact that common sense says end-userlevel filtering is more effective at blocking unwanted content, such an active choice apparently leaves British citizens with too much free will. By implementing default ISP-level filtering, it is abundantly clear to the U.K. public that their government has made the choice for them. Over 90 percent of U.K.-based ISPs have already implemented the default blocking of a wide variety of controversial content, including pornography.

any of the U.K.’s anti-censorship groups were expecting more pushback from big ISPs, which would then force the issue to legislation as opposed to mere policy. But the ISPs seem happy to cooperate. They are now reaping the benefits of sleeping with the enemy and have been tasked with constant refinement of their filters and threatened with additional government regulation if they “do not answer to future demands or maintain momentum.” The adult entertainment industry is in good company though, as the pre-selected filtering system restricts several other categories of “problematic” material such as that related to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, political extremism, violence, gaming, and social networking. Some ISPs will even block “esoteric” material by

default – although no definition of that term is provided – thus, allowing ISPs broad discretion in determining which sites to block. Only by contacting one’s ISP and choosing to shamefully opt-out of the default filter system, will Internet users in the U.K. get “full” access to the web. These filters are being presented to Britain as the saving grace of the Internet, despite the paradoxical reality that network-level algorithmic blocking will most certainly not catch everything it’s supposed to, and inevitably block material it shouldn’t. The cautionary tale brought up throughout this entire process, but quickly dismissed by Cameron and his supporters, is that of Australia. Not long ago, Australia implemented a countrywide filtering system as well. Within months, legitimate sex education sites, gay and lesbian support sites, and even medical forums discussing sexual issues slowly started disappearing. Fortunately, Australia has since tempered its filters, but not after causing a serious erosion of digital freedom. Aside from the immense privacy and liberty issues, what about the inevitable collateral damage that will result from the imperfect logistics of such a system? Are the ISPs responsible (financially and otherwise) for overzealous blocking and timely correcting such mistakes? Again, since these practices are merely the result of David Cameron’s incessant temper tantrums and not (yet) parliamentary law, there is no governing body tasked with oversight of the filtering process …. Except the ISP itself. Whether Cameron is attempting to tackle the insurmountable task of isolationism in the Digital Age, or his efforts are merely a misguided attempt at country-wide moral salvation, there’s no excuse for such regressive policies in the 21st Century. The prime minister is undoubtedly aware that his proposed filtering system will block perfectly legal material and prohibit many adults (not children) from accessing such content. Yet he continues this assault on fundamental freedoms. Unfortunately, censorship tends to spread like wildfire once it takes hold. This particular flavor of ISP-based filtering censorship is not limited to the U.K. Canada may jump on the bandwagon too, if Conservative Member of Parliament, Joy Smith of Winnipeg, has her way.

U.K. Prime Minister Cameron rolled out his “voluntary” Internet filtering plan, with ISPs designated to do the dirty work, under the guise of preventing child abuse and underage exposure to porn.

She believes in the U.K. approach: All pornography should be preemptively blocked in Canada, with users forced to ‘opt in’ to accessing adult content by contacting their Internet service provider. A Change.org petition has managed to receive more than 10,000 signatures by people supporting these censorship efforts, despite the fact that the effort is based primarily on the junk science of porn addiction. For months, anti-censorship activists have tirelessly sought the truth behind these new efforts. The layers of bureaucratic red tape have slowly peeled away to reveal yet another misguided political agenda. This new breed of censorship cannot be dismissed as merely another family values-based, moral panic brand of suppression.

he censorship crusade currently invading the E.U., grows from something much more dangerous than typical rightwing extremism; this movement is rooted in the left. Armed to the teeth with the pseudo-liberal views of classic anti-porn feminists like Dworkin and MacKinnon, this resurgence of antiquated feminism by European officials is truly alarming. Anti-porn feminism calls

for the abolishment of pornography, as it is alleged to be the visual manifestation of female oppression. What this school of thought tends to ignore are the notions of free will, accountability, and self-regulation – the same principles forgotten by David Cameron and his regime. Anti-porn feminism classifies all adult material – regardless of the actual content – as an innate social harm. It fosters the close-mindedness that sexpositive feminists have been combatting since the 1980’s. It’s the kind of thinking that blames rape on porn, instead of the rapist. Of course, there exists a mountain of actual, peer-reviewed research indicating quite the opposite; the widespread availability of erotic material has, in fact, reduced the rate of sex crimes. For example, between 1981 and 2006, rape crime in the U.S. declined 85 percent despite the dramatic increase in availability and use of adult material during the same time. As with many anti-porn arguments, the facts simply do not support the conclusions. However, this particular anti-porn feminist renaissance is a formidable threat to free expression, as it continues achieving significant victories

throughout the E.U. “This shift from rightwing to left-wing censorship is a dangerous trend, and makes it more difficult to dismiss the opponent as right-wing kooks doing the Lord’s work,” said Jerry Barnett, founder of the Sex & Censorship campaign (whose website is not-soironically blocked by U.K. filters). In a recent discussion with the author about the U.K.’s anti-porn political agenda, Barnett warned that the consequences resulting from this movement will be felt across the board: “The U.K. market punches far above its weight class in erotic content consumption,” meaning that such censorial practices will significantly impact both, the rights of viewers and also the financial bottom line of any adult content producers distributing to a U.K. audience. Given the high stakes ante on the table, the response by the U.K.-based adult industry has been surprisingly underwhelming. Perhaps some feel that they will be deemed the golden child, and given the governmental stamp of approval to operate in a new, monopolistic marketplace. U.S. adult industry activists have been slow to react as well, with some exceptions. Whatever the reason, the adult industry’s relative silence is deafening and such inaction is dangerously short-sighted. When ISPlevel filtering becomes an accepted practice in any developed nation the continued availability of erotic speech is at risk in every nation. The repercussions are by no means restricted to the U.K., and its efforts have already spawned new calls for ISP-level porn filtering in Iceland and Australia. While the adult entertainment industry might believe that it can write off the U.K. market as a fluke fiscal loss, it should not stand idly by while a country that otherwise recognizes individual liberty, crushes free speech rights of those who wish to access erotic material. The battle lines have been drawn in this tremendously important fight for Internet freedom. London calling … for help. a Lawrence G .Walters is the founder of Walters Law Group, and has represented adult industry clients for more than 20 years. Kimberly A. Harchuck is an associate with the firm. Nothing in this article is intended as legal advice. Walters can be reached at (800) 530-8137, larry@firstamendment.com, or FirstAmendment.com.

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 99

WEB DEPO HTML5 SHIV MAKE YOUR SITE BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE Stop making excuses for not supporting HTML5 with this handy tool

Of all the current coding technologies holding the most promise for the future, HTML5 leads the way — but despite its potential, many developers shy away from upgrading their infrastructure to HTML5 — often using the excuse of incompatibility with older browsers to cover for an unwillingness to adapt or to learn new techniques. This reluctance does have a legitimate foundation, however, as new elements are not recognized by older web browsers, cannot hold child elements, and are not affected by CSS styles, hindering HTML5’s adoption by many coders. Programmer Sjoerd Visscher stumbled upon a workaround, and later posted the tip in a comment on W3C HTML WG co-chair Sam Ruby’s blog, stating, “BTW, if you want CSS rules to apply to unknown elements in IE, you just have to do document.createElement(elementName). This somehow lets the CSS engine know that elements with that name exist.” The response from the stunned coding community was swift, as the implications became clear. “I want to jam standards support into (this and future versions of) Internet Explorer,” John Resig stated, coining the term “HTML5 Shiv,” and notes, “If a shiv is the only pragmatic tool I can use to do so, shouldn’t I be using it?” You should be using it too. Fortunately, several solutions are available for helping cautious coders to explore this new frontier. For example, the HTML5 Shiv (Code.Google.com/p/html5shiv) lets webmasters make their HTML5-based websites more backwards compatible with older browsing software that does not natively support the latest HTML5 web development standard by inserting a level of support via a JavaScript file. According to a rep, the HTML5 Shiv enables the use of HTML5 sectioning elements in legacy Internet Explorer variants and provides basic HTML5 styling for Internet Explorer 6-9, Safari 4.x (and iPhone 3.x), and Firefox 3.x. Using the html5shiv is as easy as downloading a zip file and then inserting a call to the shiv’s minified distribution within the web page’s <head> element, either before or after the CSS calls. Here is the code: <!—[if lt IE 9]> <script src=”html5shiv.js”></script> <![endif]—> “It must be included before the <body> element (i.e. in the <head>) but it doesn’t matter if it appears before or after the CSS,” a rep advises. “But for the sake of performance it would make better sense to include the CSS first then this script.” The html5shiv is dual licensed under the MIT or GPL Version 2 licenses and the full, uncompressed source code is available, adding new HTML5 elements, and supports the printing of HTML5 elements, including default styles for elements such as “display: block” in HTML5’s article and section tags. The publisher also addresses a common question: what is the difference between the html5shim and the html5shiv? The answer: nothing — one has an “m” and one has a “v” — that is it, so if you see information referring to html5shim, it is the same thing with a different name. Because only Internet Explorer 9 or less will call the html5shiv code, it does not affect the performance of your site with other browsers, making the addition of this free script a no-brainer. } CODE.GOOGLE.COM/P/HTML5SHIV

WEBMATRIX WEB DEVELOPMENT GOES ON FAST TRACK Microsoft produc is free, lightweight, cloud-connected web development tool

Rarely built on static HTML, websites today often require a range of technologies that are difficult and time consuming to integrate. Fortunately, a selection of tools is available to smooth over the rough spots and make development much easier than before.

For example, a free, lightweight, Cloud-connected web development tool, Microsoft’s WebMatrix 3 (Microsoft.com/web/webmatrix), allows users to create, publish and maintain a site with ease. The heir apparent to the FrontPage legacy, Microsoft says that WebMatrix 3 enables easy access to Windows Azure websites, using icon-sized site previews that make them easy to find and open, as well as the ability to access remote sites as seamlessly as local sites. “Simply open your remote sites, make changes, and hit Save,” explains a Microsoft spokesperson. “The lightweight performance and full editing capability (including intellisense) make it feels like you are editing a local site.” According to its publisher, WebMatrix 3 supports today’s top languages, creating websites using ASP.NET, PHP, Node.js or HTML5 templates to take advantage of the latest web standards and emerging standards — such as CSS3 and HTML5 — while supporting popular JavaScript libraries such as JQuery. Optimized for Open Source development, WebMatrix 3 lets users install popular web apps with a few clicks, easily customizing them with app-specific code completion, and then publish them quickly to the web. The system boasts Cloud integration that allows the instant posting of local projects online as a companion website in Windows Azure — without ever leaving WebMatrix, using its Publish button — allowing users keep their sites in sync and to save any changes to the cloud. Designed with the needs of mobile developers in mind, WebMatrix 3 optimizes websites for mobile browsing using built-in templates, device emulators and code completion for jQuery mobile. The tool also facilitates team collaboration on projects using Git and TFS source control systems. “Plug into GitHub, CodePlex, and Team Foundation Service to start sharing your code with the world,” the spokesperson stated. “Whether you are a newcomer to Git, or a seasoned pro, you will find all of the features you would expect in a powerful but easy to use tool.” “Team Foundation Service is Microsoft’s hot source control service in the Cloud,” the spokesperson added, explaining, “WebMatrix 3 makes it simple and fun to work with your code using TFS for any project in the Cloud, or on site.” Microsoft says that one of the big benefits of WebMatrix 3 is that its Open Source user community has developed a wide array of add-ons, such as an iPhone simulator and power tools for Node.js, which add even more functionality to WebMatrix. Of course, users can create their own custom extensions. These are just a few of the ways in which this tool eases development. Another way is through its handling of database creation and connectivity, as well as other technical issues affecting your website. “Go beyond content with support for creating and editing databases, optimizing sites for search engines, quick access to professional tutorials and much more,” the Microsoft spokesperson concluded, underscoring the wide range of benefits that WebMatrix 3 provides to forward-looking web developers. } MICROSOFT.COM/WEB/WEBMATRIX

100 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

OT LIVEWEAVE WEAVER IS MORE THAN A DREAM LiveWeave.com is a HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript playground and a real-time editor for web designers and developers

There are many web development tools available today to suit a range of needs, from full-fledged website construction, to simply creating and testing a new module or code snippet without jeopardizing a pro-

duction site. Based in San Francisco, LiveWeave.com is an HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript playground and real-time editor for web designers and developers created by Amit Sen who made the tool to allow coders to test, practice and share their skills. In use, LiveWeave offers a resizable quadrant panel-based interface that allows users to adjust their individual HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript window sizes, according to their needs, easing the way they write code (or “weave” it, as the publisher calls it). An unlimited number of these weaves can be freely stored in the Cloud, allowing users to share their project’s URL across websites including Facebook and Reddit, StackOverflow, Twitter and more, for easy peer review. Weaves are also downloadable as a single HTML file. According to its publisher, LiveWeave provides two ways to write your code: You can either write everything together (i.e. HTML5 + CSS3 + JS) in the HTML5 panel for a combined view, or separately in their own respective panels — so it works the way you work for maximum flexibility. LiveWeave allows users to write HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript and to test their coding visually and in real-time, with an advanced context-sensitive code-hinting feature for core JavaScript and jQuery calls, plus HTML5 and CSS3 tags and attributes, to guide developers in writing the proper syntax for their code and to help users learn JavaScript much faster and easier. LiveWeave supports a variety of JavaScript libraries including jQuery, jQuery UI, jQuery Mobile and YUI, etc., selectable from the JavaScript menu, or any others, as long as the libraries are included in the website’s HTML <head> tag. Color palette tools and utilities for tidying and reformatting HTML, statistics on how many views your weaves receive, plus a full screen demo mode and intelligent dragand-drop tools round out the current feature set. “For example, if you have a HTML/CSS or JavaScript file in your computer, you can just drag and drop it in the respective panels (i.e. HTML file into the HTML panel, CSS file into the CSS panel, and so on), and just save it as a weave. You can then continue working on it from anywhere as long as that computer connects to the web,” a LiveWeave rep reports. “Once, you are done you can download the weave anytime later. Of course, you can always use the traditional way of copying the contents of the files and pasting them into the panels, but drag-and-drop is definitely faster.” LiveWeave is compatible with IE10 or above (although partial support is ava ilable to IE9 users), as well as top all newer versions of Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari. Partial support is also extended to certain mobile platforms, including iOS (iPad) — although features such as auto-completion seem “very glitchy” in these applications. Although you may not want to use LiveWeave as your primary development platform, it serves as a quick and easy entry point, learning experience and scratch pad for coders in the cloud. } limeweave.com

PINNECT PINNECT MAKES SOCIAL PINBOARDING A SNAP

Easily create your own Pinterest-style clone site with premium-level open source product

There is no denying the continued popularity of Pinterest, the market defining social pinboard site that allows user uploads of photos and other media — a seemingly ideal application for adult websites, if it wasn’t for Pinterest’s pesky “no porn” policy. The simple solution to this problem, of course, is to create your own Pinterest style clone site. Enter Pinnect (Uniprogy.com/pinterest-clone), a premium-level open source product starting at $200 that can power even the most advanced media-sharing site and whose publisher claims allows users to build their own Pinterest clone site in a matter of minutes without being a programming genius. The Pinnect site lists the system’s modest Unix-type or Windows server requirements, which include a minimum of PHP version 5.1.0 (5.3.x is recommended), MySQL greater than version 4.1, .htaccess and mod_rewrite modules enabled, a memory limit greater than 32M, plus a small range of PHP Extensions — with a downloadable script to automate the server testing process. Built on the Yii framework, Pinnect extends automation to the site’s operation by using cron jobs. “The ability to create cron jobs (scheduled tasks) is available on most hosts, including shared ones,” a Pinnect rep reveals. “This is not a mandatory requirement, but recommended. If there is no ability to run crons on your server, you will still be able to execute them manually from an admin panel.” Although the base installation is feature rich, it is only a starting point, as Pinnect users have a wide selection of additional premium modules available for extending the basic functionality of the script —with in-demand features such as a Facebook Connect and Twitter Login tool. “Almost the whole world is registered on Facebook or Twitter, so why require users to register on your site separately?” the Pinnect rep asks. “With Social Module your visitors can login to your site using their Facebook or Twitter account without registration.” Avatars are automatically loaded from the user’s Facebook profile, and Facebook “Like” and Twitter “Tweet” buttons added to all posts on the site. An Ads Module allows advertisement insertion into the site’s header and footer — as well as inline among the posts; while the Cloud Module allows users to save money while boosting speeds: leveraging the power of the Amazon S3 service and enabling load balancing by installing the script, database and all images on separate servers. Other modules enable Google Analytics, automated site backups and more. A video module adds support for adding YouTube and Vimeo clips, with adult webmasters tossed a bone via Pinnect’s “Adult Pack.” “We noticed that Pinnect is often used by our customers for adult websites,” notes a Pinnect rep. “We decided to help and released an adult pack for Pinnect that adds an ability to grab videos from most popular adult video sites.” These sites include Cliphunter, Eporner, Fapdu, HardSexTube, Pornhub, Vidz, XNXX and YouPorn, providing a lot of opportunity for those seeking a solution for building the next generation of adult sites. If you have an adult pinboard on your mind, Pinnect is a great place to start. } Uniprogy.com/pinterest-clone

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 101

THE INDEX

Premier Services & Solutions |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| AFFILIATE PROGRAMS DDFCASH Exclusive European glamour babe, fetish and niche program ADAM & EVE CASH Tangible goods affiliate program with name recognition Affiliates can bank on the Adam & Eve brand through competitive commission rates of at least 20 percent on all sales plus a $1 reward for every new customer; bonus commissions on future sales, a $5 affiliate referral bonus, plus an additional five percent of the referred affiliate’s commissions along with other perks. } ADAMEVECASH.COM

The affiliate program of DDF Productions, one of the biggest European adult website companies since 1999, DDFCash is known for its selection of glamour and fetish sites offering 1080p HD video and high resolution photography, combined with cutting edge technology and customizable choices such as a rotating banner system, custom banners, mixed photo and video galleries and more. } DDFCASH.COM

BADOINK

EVIL ANGEL

Profit from next generation video downloads and streaming

Promote high-quality content from renowned brand names

Paying affiliates $25 on every free join or 60 percent for the life of each membership via wire, check, Paxum, or PayPal, BadoinkCash offers unique sites and upsell plugins plus the ability to monetize desktop, mobile and tablet traffic with proven white labels as well as through exclusive upsells that add revenue and increase ‘good’ transaction volume.

From top directors to world-renowned actors, John Stagliano’s Evil Angel is a multiaward winning studio offering more than 5,000 hardcore movies catering to consumers’ wildest fantasies, while the Gamma-powered FameDollars sponsorship program allows affiliates to profit from this popular brand.

} BADOINKCASH.COM

} EVILANGEL.COM

BUDDY PROFITS

FAME DOLLARS

Gay adult affiliate program offers hand-picked exclusive videos, pictures.

Content is king for this star-struck affiliate program

Buddy Profits free hosted galleries were built to convert your traffic. The affiliate program offers hand-picked exclusive videos and pictures, free bandwidth and great designs.

Gamma Entertainment’s Fame Dollars affiliate program offers porn star content from Peter North, Tera Patrick, Silvia Saint and Rocco Siffredi as well as studio content from Devils Film, White Ghetto and Silverstone.

} BUDDYPROFITS.COM

} FAMEDOLLARS.COM

CASHINPILLS

HUSTLERCASH

Affiliate program offers an array of choices

Affiliate program offers content from Hustler

CashInPills offers an affiliate program for numerous products, including Derminax, Untoxin, Maxatin, Natural X, Probolan 50, AcaiBerry 900, Climax Control, Therma Cuts, iBright, Vigrax, UltraSlim and XTRASize.

The Hustler affiliate program has scores of websites, including Hustler.com, BarelyLegal. com, HustlerHD.com, AnalHookers.com, AsiaFever.com, MuchasLatinas. com, ScaryBigDicks, HottieMoms. com, and DaddyGetsLucky, among others.

} CASHINPILLS.COM

} HUSTLERCASH.COM

CECASH

NAKEDSWORD

A veteran affiliate program offering cutting-edge features

Make money in the gay porn business

Featuring more than 50 sites for affiliates to promote using new marketing tools and a new user friendly stats interface, the CECash 3.0 was designed to make affiliates money through the company’s innovative sites that have been enjoyed by more than 2 billion surfers and 6.9 million members, generating $105 million in webmaster payouts.

A business division of AEBN, the NakedSword VOD site and exclusive content paysites with affiliate payouts of up to $40 per trial join or a 60 percent revenue share.

} CECASH.COM

1 0 2 XBIZ WORLD January 2014

} NAKEDSWORD.COM

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| MRSKINCASH.COM

Celebrity online content, affiliate program MrSkin.com is the No. 1 resource for celebrity nudity online and MrSkinCash is the only place where affiliates can promote it. The company boasts the best conversion and retention rates as well as the most respectable brand name in celebrity. } MrSkinCash.com

SEXENTERTAIN The best source for leased content

Thousands of movies, thousands of stars covering every conceivable niche and genre, the SexEntertain Movies collection is a great source of bonus content for your sites, tubes and blogs. Hand picked from dozens of smaller adult studios, the SexEntertain Movie collection specializes in black, Asian, teen and Latina stars. } SEXENTERTAIN.COM

PORN ACCESS Porn Access is where one password give surfers “infinite” porn and unlimited downloads of about 1,400 sites, including those that offer high-quality, full-length movies. } PornAccess.com

MOBILE SOLUTIONS

AFFIL4YOU Redirect mobile visitors to a custom monetization platform Wister-backed Affil4You allows adult website owners and entrepreneurs to quickly set up a customized, mobile friendly white label site featuring high quality content from top studios, such as Adam & Eve, Holly Randall and Private, as well as custom integrations of the affiliate’s own content. } AFFIL4YOU.COM

PUSSYCASH

BITTERSTRAWBERRY

A progressive provider of interactive content promotional tools

An independent network for maximizing mobile profitability

With sites such as ImLive, Sexier and others, PussyCash is home to an affiliate program that pays webmasters for traffic sent to these adult sites through banners and exit traffic, offering the combination of extremely powerful traffic and revenue inducing incentives, along with its popular WebcamWiz.com white label generator.

BitterStrawberry provides mobile offers in more than 60 countries using WAP and Premium SMS billing to deliver increased profits from an affiliate’s current traffic levels, redirecting visitors to the best offer at the moment to find the best advertiser and offer for every country, device, operator and channel from partners all around the globe.

} PUSSYCASH.COM

TOTEMCASH Great solution to earn cash with VirtuaGirl TotemCash is the best solution to make money on sexy girls with its desktop strippers VirtuaGirl. } TOTEMCASH.COM

} BITTERSTRAWBERRY.COM

ONLINE DATING

ADULTFRIENDFINDER Popular Adult FriendFinder is an online personals community website AdultFriendFinder is an online sex personals community site. It allows members to meet new friends or sex partners. The site won the 2010 XBIZ Award for Dating Program of the Year. } ADULTFRIENDFINDER.COM

CONTENT PROVIDERS

ADULT CENTRO Robust tools for content creators, buyers and sellers AdultCentro offers its AC Publisher program for marketers seeking to build a site or add feeds to existing sites and the AC Marketplace, bringing digital content buyers and sellers together, while its AC Cloud service enables creators to distribute and monetize content. } ADULTCENTRO.COM

DATING GOLD One-stop online dating and webcam affiliate program DatingGold offers the advantages of a single source solution to monetizing dating as well as webcam and mobile traffic, from sources such as exiting site visitors, 404 error pages, search engines, geo-IP banners and text links. } DATINGGOLD.COM

January 2014 XBIZ WORLD 1 0 3

THE INDEX

Payment processing and high-risk merchant account acquisition

Find, communicate and meet like-minded people amongst millions of profiles. Chat in real-time, share your photos, and watch thousands of videos on one of the largest social networks of its kind.

The Eureka, Calif.-based team at iProcessing offers decades of merchant services and transaction processing service experience for both U.S. and international merchants and supports all major credit cards in multiple currencies, as well as ACH, European debit and mobile phone billing, coupled with fraud prevention services that result in increased revenue and lower chargeback ratios.

FUCKBOOK.COM

} IPROCESSING.COM

PAYMENT PROCESSING

CCBILL Credit, debit and other online payment processing and support Founded in 1998, Tempe, Ariz.-based CCBill offers a range of international billing solutions in multiple currencies and languages along with advanced fraud protection, member management, 24/7 customer support and innovative marketing services to make CCBill a trusted partner.

L3 PAYMENTS Flexible and customizable merchant account-based billing systems Westlake Village, Calif.-based L3 Payments LLC is a trusted vendor of merchant processing solutions and payment services providing merchant account processing that allows users to easily create new pricing structures, sites and join forms, without the limitations imposed by third party processing services. } L3PAYMENTS.COM

} CCBILL.COM

COMMERCEgATE

NETBILLINg

Comprehensive online billing solutions

Merchant account acquisition, billing and support systems

CommerceGate provides a complete set of online billing solutions that can be instantly used to sell services to customers quickly and safely.

From its headquarters in Valencia, Calif., NETbilling offers flexible solutions for adult merchants wanting to process credit cards, electronic checks (ACH) or telephone orders, with advanced reporting, membership management, fraud scrubbing, a free shopping cart, and 24/7 live service for merchants and their customers.

} COMMERCEGATE.COM

} NETBILLING.COM

EPOCH

ORBITAL PAY

Since 1996, Epoch has been a worldwide

Credit card and ACH processing plus call center services

leader in online billing. Epoch has processed millions of transactions worldwide and is fully certified by the card associations. The company accepts multiple currencies and offers regional billing options presented to your surfers in their local languages.

California-based OrbitalPay is a premier gateway billing solutions provider, offering merchant accounts for businesses including product sales, membership, VOD and cams, with competitive rates, a superior gateway and relationships with multiple banks for stable processing.

} EPOCH.COM

} ORBITALPAY.COM

gTBILL

SEgPAY

Payment processing and affiliate payout services

At SegPay, the client always comes first!

Based in London, GTBill offers the needed diversity and experience required to be a competitive global payment service provider, by processing credit cards, phone orders and electronic checks, with advanced stats reporting, membership management, fraud scrubbing and 24/7 support for customers and merchants.

CMYK Mix SegPay, launched in June of 2005 as an EU IPSP, has a global reach and has secured multiple acquiring relationships that support merchants in the US, Canada and the European Union and supports consumer payments globally. It’s processing engine is designed on industry standard technology and its hardware is fully redundant with load balanced servers that are scalable both “upwards and outwards.” The servers reside in a 24/7/365 managed hosting facility.

} GTBILL.COM

1 0 4 XBIZ WORLD January 2014

} SEGPAY.COM

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

ELEVATED X Leverage CMS technology to save time and make more money Elevated X provides content management system (CMS) software designed for building and managing adult websites, with more than 2000 sites using its advanced platform that not only manages content, but prepares it through integrated video editing functions and other unique features designed to give users a competitive edge.

JUICYADS

Advertising marketplace for publishers JuicyAds is an advertising marketplace for publishers to sell ads and earn money, as well as for advertisers looking to buy traffic } JUICYADS.COM

} ELEVATEDX.COM

ADULT SITE RUNNER Providing tools to make the most money possible with your content Adult SiteRunner is a cloud content management system (CCMS) that comes standard with file ingestion, cloud video encoding, and secure-streaming video delivery using CDNs to both desktop and mobile devices. It also includes a monetization engine that combines traditional membership revenue with downloading of individual scenes and cloud stashing. ADULTSITERUNNER.COM

VIDEO-ON-DEMAND

AEBN Promote top selling movies and interactive technology The Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network provides affiliates with a range of branded video-on-demand sites in every popular niche to promote, with both straight and gay theaters providing exclusive, high definition content unavailable elsewhere; along with the RealTouch haptic device, which brings virtual sex to a whole new level. } AEBN.NET

TRAFFIC SERVICES

ADAMO ADVERTISING Innovative advertising and publishing Whether it is monetizing mobile, web or app traffic, driving more sales, receiving a higher ROI or reaching the right target audience, ADAMO Advertising understands that our clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; business goals are our business goals. Driving maximum exposure for each brand globally with the first real-time bidding ad store through industries biggest traffic sources.

HOT MOVIES Affiliate program offers one of the largest VOD collections HotMovies is one of the largest online adult video-on-demand services. It operates on a pre-paid minutes system, offering more than 160,000 videos from 2,300 studios. The service continues to add new titles daily covering every angle of erotica from the latest features and gonzo titles to a wide range of vintage, gay and transsexual offerings. } HOTMOVIES.COM

ADAMOADS.COM

ADXPANSION Buyers and sellers of targeted adult traffic AdXpansion is the worldwide leader in targeted advertising for the adult market. Advertisers use keywords to target the consumers they want while publishers earn more money by selling their traffic to the highest bidders. } ADXPANSION.COM

WEB HOSTING

MOJOHOST A one-stop solution for hosting content Hosting company MojoHost offer solutions that vary in size from as small as 1U of rack space to mutiple racks, cabinets or cage space. The company offers managed dedicated hosting, managed virtual hosting, corporate email solutions, colocation, domain registration and more. MojoHost is privately owned and operated. } MOJOHOST.COM

EXOCLICK

REDAPPLEMEDIA

An innovative advertising network with a focus on technology

Providing managed web hosting and media delivery services

ExoClick was developed as a platform that would better monetize web traffic whatever its origin or the format of the ad spot and is powered by an open ad network that uses a proprietary ad serving technology to provide efficient solutions to every advertiser and publisher around the world.

Red Apple Media offers Cloud hosting, managed dedicated servers and ecommerce packages for both beginners and professionals, coupled with peerless customer service and technology such as video streaming, and PCI and PA-DSS compliant shopping carts, with more than 99.999 percent uptime year after year.

} EXOCLICK.COM

} REDAPPLEMEDIA.COM

January 2014 XBIZ WORLD 1 0 5

On the Scene EuroWebtainment

Photos by FubarWebmasters.com

1 0 6 XBIZ WORLD January 2014

JANUARY 2014 XBIZ WORLD 1 0 7

GameLink.com 20th Anniversary Party Photos courtesy of GameLink.com

1 0 8 XBIZ WORLD January 2014

This month, Surfer Feedback focuses on the previous month’s best and most-active sites, as well as the mostactive adult niches plus the all-time best DVD, EuroCourtesy of pean and Asian websites. We also examine watching porn on a mobile device and the best video resolution. PornUsers.com & Vegas Ken Do you ever watch porn on a mobile device like an iPod or cellphone?

52%

32%

12%

I probably would never do that

Sometimes, but not often

I haven’t tried that yet

I tried, but it was not for me

Select user comments

graymane

My eyesight is poor enough already; why aggravate it further by reading off smaller devices? qvtta It would be good if more companies put more effort on offering pics in mobile version also. I’m more of a pic guy, so i would love to watch pics on mobile also. Mobile versions tend to be mostly just videos.

REVIEWED SItES fOR DECEMBER 2013 RANK sITe

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Brazzers.com RealityKings.com PerfectGonzo.com BabesNetwork.com Private.com.com JoyMii.com GoddessNudes.com DevilsFilm.com X-Art.com MichaelNinn.com

RANK sITe

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

X-Art.com Joy Mii.com Perfect Gonzo.com Bangbros Network.com Fake Agent.com Michael Ninn.com Private.com The Life Erotic.com Subby Hubby.com Brazzers.com

ACtIVE NICHES fOR 2013 RANK sITe

Parsnip I sometimes use the iPhone to look at the sites I’m a member of while I’m away, just to see what the latest updates are and to check on comments and occasionally reply. I never actually download the material though, far too small!

Denner

REVIEWED DVD SItES — All-tIME

What is the best video resolution for you?

52%

32%

12%

1080p 1920x1080

720p 1280x720

640x480

Other

Select user comments

Wittyguy

While 1080 is the “best,” I also consider file size since I don’t want a bunch of externals sitting around so I usually opt for 720 since it has almost the same look as 1080.

Marcus

It depends on the file size, but often I’ll go for 720 for the same reasons as Wittyguy.

pat362

I also go for the 720p because of the file size and since the quality of porn is less than stellar. Why would I want to see it in 1080p HD? TheSquirrel I’m on the 1080m bandwagon. It looks fantastic, providing you have the production values to start with, and a decent monitor/screen to appreciate it.

1 1 0 XBIZ WORLD JANUARY 2014

92.0 90.0 88.0 86.0 84.0 82.0 82.0 82.0 72.0 70.0

ACtIVE SItES fOR DECEMBER 2013

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

On a small screen like that — never.

scORe

Hardcore Videos Glamour Porn Stars Photography Reality Softcore Amateur High Def European

RANK sITe

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

AdultEmpire.com ActionJAV.com DVDUnlimited.com BaDoink.com SexAsian18.com VideoBox.com HotMovies.com XMovies.com Tainster.com AmericanVice.com

scORe

95.0 94.0 91.0 91.0 89.8 89.7 89.2 88.7 88.3 88.2

REVIEWED EuROpEAN SItES — All-tIME RANK sITe

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

HandsonHardcore.com Met-Art.com EuropeHotties.com PolishBigBoobs.com Russian-Mistress.com AdoreAnjali.com Xisty.com MPLStudios.com OnlyBlowjob.com Tainster.com

scORe

90.5 90.3 90.0 90.0 89.0 89.0 88.9 88.5 88.4 88.3

REVIEWED ASIAN SItES — All-tIME RANK sITe

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

ActionJAV.com AllJapanesePass.com AsianAppleSeed.com NatashaYi.com IAmTrouble.com SexAsian18.com JSexNetwork.com MeFuckYouLongTime.com Idols69.com BigDicksLittleAsians.com

scORe

94.0 90.0 90.0 90.0 90.0 89.8 89.4 88.0 87.0 87.0