Online porn often leads high-tech way
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Gail Harris is an unlikely high-tech pioneer. The former model and queen of B-movie gems Cellblock Sisters and Galaxy Girls fished nude photos out of a trash can years ago and went on to create a multimillion-dollar Internet company with the world's largest collection of erotic images.
Jason Tucker was a mainstream film producer frustrated by Hollywood's bureaucracy and resistance to change. "No one was willing to take a risk on new ideas," he says, explaining his decision to start a profitable Internet company that sells technology to porn Web sites.
They're among the Web's most innovative and profitable entrepreneurs, but pariahs among mainstream business people. Online pornographers have been among the first to exploit new technology for more than a decade — from video-streaming and fee-based subscriptions to pop-up ads and electronic billing. Their bold experimentation has helped make porn one of the most profitable online industries, and their ideas are staples at Fortune 500 companies.
The company Harris founded and runs as CEO, FalconFoto, has grown into the world's largest privately owned library of erotic photos, with more than 1 million. The collection, which is licensed to publishing and Internet companies, is worth more than $25 million, online-porn experts say.
"Technology turned trash into cash," Harris says. "That's a lesson other industries can learn."
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