Pornstars PSA: Stop stealing our content
 

Our roots are about sexuality here. Some of us worked in the industry in some capacity and we did make a living.

At what point is "free" not a sustainable business model. I recently read/listened to and disagree heavily with the business model. It's just not a sustainable model. Many things that I grew up with were free, and are no longer. TV and Radio for one thing were advertising supported, but at some point in time that model someone said, "I can give more content and charge a fee for it." Water, people in the 70's would have never bought bottled water, except knowing they were camping or going somewhere without potable water. People are willing to pay for things. MP3s used to be free, but itunes helped create a business model that made sense to people and people are buying them. The same thing for apps that were for handhelds.

I think that the porn industry needs to find their itunes. Something to help them centralize their distribution and content, and make it easy and simple for people to buy it. It was good in the early days of the internet, and there's still some good subscription sites out there.

While I feel for them not being paid, I'll be damned if I'll pay for porn any more. Fuck that.

The fact is, I'd never see any porn at all if I had to pay for it.

It's true that most people don't want to pay for porn. That said, the industry needs to develop a new business model. The number of people who do pay for it are diminishing.

I'm surprised that we haven't heard about an XIAA based run of lawsuits against downloaders yet. I mean, being accused of downloading mainstream music or movies is hard enough to deal with; imagine how quickly people would settle in order to ensure that their family and friends never know that they downloaded Dirt Pipe Milkshakes #2.

it's quite simple, they just need to go to a digital distribution/membership format. Like I'm pretty sure brazzers (and that whole network) has contracts that protects their actors/actresses. Basically they work exclusively for their site for a duration and in that time they are the only channel in which you can watch their work. Now yeah some of it gets out there and gets pirated but they also make an effort to shut it down because they have a legal department at their disposal.

Like I know pornhub has an arrangement with them where they can only host 5 minute preview clips instead of the full 30minute+ episodes as well as having to link to the site in a referral program nature.

I know entirely too much about porn :\

The problem is there's so much content out there. If every paid pornographer stopped working today, there would still be tons of amateur porn floating around. They popularized their product so much that they now have to compete with anyone and everyone who has low inhibitions and the ability to use a camera.

God bless them. God bless every one of them.

CNBC ran several stories on the Pr0n industry and they provided an astounding look into the "Business of Pleasure".

Check out these links for great insight into the biz...

1) Pr0n: The Business of Pleasure
2) Pornographic Profits

Here are a couple of juicey tid-bits:

"It was once too taboo to talk about, but not anymore. In fact the porn business is so big that every second:

- $3,075 is spent on it
- More than 28,000 Internet users are viewing it
- 372 Internet users are using search engines to find it"

Pr0n has always been the first to adapt to new technology and to adapt to it so quickly that in many cases it's supply chain is mirrored by legitimate business (not that I think porn isn't legit -- but you get the point). This industry like no other is technology driven and with every new innovation it adapts and creates uses of it to extend it's reach into a seemingly endless market.

Samantha Lewis, the CEO of Digital Playground, says that "a higher quality product can break through the clutter of cheap or free internet content and get consumers to buy at a time when DVD sales have slowed dramatically".

Do you agree? Would you pay for higher quality content delivered in 1080p Blueray or other digital format to that new big screen on your living room wall? I think it's so prevalent and so easy to access online that no matter how much of a higher quality product these companies claim to put out the mass market will not pay for it in a quantity that will sustain their operation.

Technology. It moves porn as much as porn moves technology. From the betmax to VHS to DVD to streaming digital content delievered to nearly any type of device with a screen at nearly any place in the world. Porn is always on and always ready for you to get your fix... as long as your fix is for free.

You can't prevent piracy. Period. If your method of distribution is vulnerable to piracy, then you're going to face difficulties. You have two choices: either embrace piracy and try to use your broader exposure to your advantage OR change your distribution methods. Neither is easy, but nobody said it would be.

Regarding "higher quality" porn - I would not buy 1080p porn, but I would buy into Hollywood production, acting and storytelling with hardcore erotic scenes.