Porntifications

Posted by mikezillion at February 12th, 2007

Minstrel in the southern California home of both the mainstream and the adult entertainment industries, The Los Angeles Times is reporting that adult producers may be the tie-breakers in the high-visibility struggle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Apparently, executives supporting both formats have been “secretly” meeting with adult entertainment companies to lure their business to one side or the other. It’s fun to be the popular girl at the prom for once!

Posted by mikezillion at February 11th, 2007

Mark Kernes has a fascinating article about the dangers of being labeled a terrorist, and the ease with which that term may be applied to pornographers. Quoting some of the run-of-the-mill anti-porn rants of Attorney Jan LaRue, (not to be confused with porn icon Chi Chi LaRue) and extrapolating from testimony before the Fourth Circuit about the Military Commissions Act and the rights of American citizens, Kernes warns that the Bush administration may already have the authority to declare pornographers “domestic terrorists.” So much for the right to a fair and public trial, legal counsel, etc. I wish it didn’t sound so plausible.

Posted by mikezillion at February 9th, 2007

I have always loved the old armory building on 14th street. I walk or drive past it pretty frequently on my way downtown, and I’ve always harbored a secret fantasy about buying it. Well, the folks at Kink.com are living my true fantasy, and it only cost them $14.5 million. Of course, local residents (always eager for an opportunity to get some press attention) are protesting the goings on behind those stately brick walls. It’s not as if they really know what’s going on there, unless they’re logging onto the website and downloading the videos and pictures at night, while protesting their creation by day. But that’s just silly, isn’t it?

Posted by mikezillion at February 8th, 2007

Does it seem to anyone out there that I’m in love with Jenna Jameson? This woman continues to fascinate me with her business sense, and her universal charisma. Recently named AVN’s Crossover Star of the Year, Ms. Jameson is now appearing in mainstream advertisements for a fine jewelry company. LEOR,  owner Leor Yerushalmi says that he didn’t consider that he was working with a “porn star,” just with Jenna.

Posted by mikezillion at February 7th, 2007

The Department of Justice has asked for an additional $25 million in 2007 to battle obscenity and child pornography. They’re probably going to get it. And they’re probably going to waste a lot of it hassling legitimate porn producers instead of clamping down on the fly-by-night creeps who slip in and out of this industry looking for a fast buck at the expense of their performers and the folks who get exposed to their illegitimate offerings. I have no sympathy for anyone who makes money by exploiting children, either in front of the camera or in front of their computer screens. I also have no sympathy for anyone who gets funding by exploiting the exploitation of children, attacking legitimate business operators with unreasonable record-keeping requirements, and playing on the American public’s irrational fear of consensual adult sexuality.

Posted by mikezillion at February 5th, 2007

Are you surprised to learn that 2/3 of children between the ages of 10 and 17 who have seen explicit adult images while browsing online weren’t looking for it? Whether or not the children feel injured by such exposure is irrelevant; they are children, and we are adults, so it is our duty to protect them from potential harm. It’s important for all of us in this industry to keep our explicit adult content behind the registration links on our sites. Pop-ups and spam which feature naked performers are just the tip of the iceberg. Organizations such as ASACP (the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection) have some useful guidelines. The responsibility to follow them is ours.

Posted by mikezillion at February 5th, 2007

My favorite unwilling pundit, Seth Godin, has a nice piece about the recent marketing stunt pulled off in Boston by the folks behind the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. Now I love Aqua Teen like nothing else, and I aspire to become Master Shake when I grow up, but I have to agree with Seth; this may have been stupid, but it wasn’t anything unusual or even unexpected. What’s noteworthy is the way they’re taking the negative publicity, and turning it into buzz for their product. Can you think of another industry that gets a lot of negative publicity, and could use some more positive buzz? Maybe one intelligent enough to play to adults? Anyone?

Posted by mikezillion at February 4th, 2007

Well, I just finished my second year of Law School, so I was well prepared to read an article by Mark Kernes on AVN this morning. Prepared logically, but perhaps not emotionally. It would be easy to dismiss this article as a defense of a horrible, nasty person who pimped out a fourteen year old girl until she had to be hospitalized with AIDS. That’s really not what the article was about. The point of the article is that this pimp was indicted in Federal court, even though his actions all took place within the state of Florida. The justification for escalating this to Federal court was that the condoms, cell phones, and hotels used in the activities were all part of inter-state commerce. As Mr. Kernes points out, although hiring performers for adult entertainment purposes is explicitly legal in California, what porn producer in any state doesn’t make use of condoms, cell phones, and hotels? Federal investigators used similar wording to justify attacking medical marijuana facilities in California after the state legalized medial marijuana. Whether or not you endorse the use and sale of medical marijuana, and even though we can all agree that pimping out a fourteen year old girl is abominable, this sets a precedent for federal prosecution of in-state activities which should raise everyone’s red flags.

Posted by mikezillion at February 3rd, 2007

Well, I’ve been crazy-busy over the last couple of days putting together a mailing for some special business partners. My company, CyberBears, is launching a new print publication called BearParty Magazine in April, 2007, and we wanted to get the word out to folks. I’m totally stoked about this! It ties together some of my favorite activities and interests in a way that I think is going to be great for the community, and not bad for business either. And I get to dust off my Editor-In-Chief title to boot! Be sure to look for us in your favorite bear bars around the world! (And if you don’t see it there, ask for it.)

Posted by mikezillion at February 1st, 2007

Don’t get me wrong. I’m delighted to see Kathy Griffin getting down with all us gay guys in San Francisco as she hosts the GayVN Awards. I’m just a little surprised to learn that Chi Chi Larue won’t be doing her usual fabulous (ultra-fabulous) job in that role. Big shoes to fill, Kathy!