Porntifications

Posted by mikezillion at January 26th, 2008

52 ABC Television affiliate stations face a proposed fine of $1.4 million for showing a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue in which a woman’s butt was exposed and displayed for several seconds. The fine is based on the assumption that a butt is a sexual organ. Challenging that assumption was the basis of ABC’s classically Disney-esque defense to the charge, but that argument was rejected.

I say this is great news for butt sex. Finally, a mainstream endorsement. Huzzah!

Posted by mikezillion at January 24th, 2008

It’s so much easier to blame piracy for declining DVD sales. The fact is, the decline comes from the availability of cheaper, more consumer-friendly options for casual viewers. Folks are no longer required to pay the “souvenir” price for a physical DVD just to see what your movie is like. If they really like it, they will still buy the DVD. But trying to make your DVD’s increasingly difficult to copy is only going to frustrate legitimate customers, and it won’t make the determined pirates blink twice.

Posted by mikezillion at January 2nd, 2008

Seth Godin is one of my favorite marketing gurus. That doesn’t make me very special, since he’s arguably one of the most popular writers on the subject of getting a good idea into the minds of the folks who will appreciate it most. But Seth is clearly not up on the advances in personal marketing that drive the adult entertainment industry.

In his latest blog entry, Seth asks in passing why movie directors are so reticent to promote the movies made by their colleagues. Bloggers and other writers certainly seem to do a lot of cross-promotion for their fellow writers, and they reap the benefits of good word-of-mouth.

But Seth might not have noticed how much more friendly directors are in adult entertainment when it comes to praising movies from other directors. My guess is that the limited niche of adult entertainment, constantly under threat of legal and pseudo-moral attack, creates an atmosphere which encourages folks to work together rather than split up into stovepiped factions.

Either way, the adult entertainment industry is leading. And with Seth Godin pointing out the advantages of sharing positive reviews of your colleagues, you can bet the rest of the media community will follow.

Posted by mikezillion at December 13th, 2007

Seth Godin’s postings always entertain, and sometimes point out useful resources, but this one surprised me. There’s no question that the adult entertainment industry is in the throes of violent upheaval. My inclination has been to go with my strengths and produce original and unique content that feeds the interests of my preferred niche. That’s based on seeing my agenda as a producer with known connections and a solid audience. But Seth’s right; opportunity comes when times change. Now I have to ruminate about the actual implications of these changes in the industry, and how best to leverage them. (Humph!)

Technorati Tags: media, chaos, publishing, adult entertainment

Posted by mikezillion at December 4th, 2007

Some of the bareback studios seem to think that giving the performers treatments after exposing them to unsafe sex on camera makes them responsible. Well, it seem that the term responsible may be getting some testing.

A bareback performer in the U.K. who goes by the name of Craig may be filing a lawsuit against the studio where he claims he was infected during a shoot. It’s a shame it has to come to this. Frankly, I don’t know if the young man has a case; he did make his own choices, and he was old enough to know the risks. It may also not be easy for him to prove that his infection was actually related to the shoot. I am less familiar with the laws in the U.K. than I am with the laws here in the United States. We tend to err on the side of individual responsibility over social conscience.

It’s great that HIV infections are treatable, and that the disease that
can result is no longer a death sentence. I don’t think infected
performers (or people in general) should be stigmatized. The point is that there are real consequences to filming bareback porn. Beyond the overall social impact of eroticizing dangerous activities, there are actual men getting actual diseases on camera for money.

Posted by mikezillion at December 2nd, 2007

Bareback is the norm in straight porn. It is also the driving business model of several edgier gay porn companies. This split comes as a result of the higher level of awareness in the gay community about the dangers of barebacking. Some gay consumers get off on the danger of barebacking, either in their porn or in their personal lives. I don’t know of any studies, but I imagine that the popularity of bareback sex in porn has increased the popularity of bareback sex in real life.

Straight consumers don’t really seem to consider it a sexual act if some body fluid isn’t shared. At the moment, straight porn companies are hard-pressed to sell safe sex porn. Instead, the industry has turned to testing performers. That works for the performers, but it is a cop-out when it comes to social responsibility. Instead of eroticizing bareback sex, we as an industry could be demonstrating the broad erotic potential of safe sex.

The social networking sites are also split between bareback and safe sex seekers. Now a company called Safe Sex Passport is capitalizing on the popularity of bareback sex and the fear of disease with a service that will certify people as disease-free for a membership fee of $75 and a testing fee of about $200 or so. They claim to have over 15,000 registered members already.

It will be interesting to see how this new business model develops.

Posted by mikezillion at October 27th, 2007

It’s looking more sensible in legal land. Secondary producers may be able to breathe easier now that the U.S. Court of Appeals has declared the 2257 record-keeping requirements overbroad. One of the reasons that this is exciting is that it establishes a legal basis for distinguishing between illegal child pornography and now-legal adult pornography. Once you get a foot in the door, the sale is half made.

Posted by mikezillion at October 17th, 2007

I don’t generally object to the notion of typosquatting (apart from the fact that it is illegal in the United States). The practice involves registering a domain that a user might type in accidentally when misspelling the intended domain name, and using the space to market products that might be relevant to visitors of the intended site. It seems to me that it could be a slightly sleazy but perfectly legitimate form of targeted advertising. Where it gets creepy and sick is when folks target terms clearly aimed at children, such as “Teletubbies,” and put adult content on domains with minor spelling variations. I thought John Zuccarini got the hint from his $164,000 fine in 2003, but the Federal Government apparently wants him to stop using his typo domains to market non-adult products as well. The law is the law, until it is challenged and changed in a free market.

Posted by mikezillion at October 16th, 2007

The Folsom Street Fair is urging supporters to contact their sponsor, Miller Brewing Company, to counter protests from religious organizations about this gorgeous promotional poster for the popular annual leather community event. Apparently some people think it is sacrilege to parody a painting of a scene from the bible. What part of “icon worship” don’t they get?

Posted by mikezillion at October 15th, 2007

I have to hand it to Jack over at the Gay Porn Blog. I can’t imagine how he comes up with this stuff. Here’s one very sexy (but not explicit) clip, featuring hot gay porn star Francois Sagat, that I personally can’t get enough of: