I couldn’t agree with you more about your latest post. Consumers have become a lot smarter than the porners these days. The problem was all of these porners sat back and counted their money while the average consumer became fed up with the low quality porn made available. Why should a consumer spend $30 a month on a web site that is the same rehashed bullshit and thats if they even update at all. Many companies started absorbing the smaller sites in their quest to build megasites (i.e. Bang Bros, Reality Kings, etc…) Quality porn will always sell but perhaps not always at the margin it once did.

Porn is no different than movies and music. One needs to travel back to the 80s when compact discs arrived on the scene. The labels told consumers the cost would increase until they recovered their cost of investments. They never did come down. Now imagine all the consumers who kept buying cds only for the one song. At $15-20 a cd, thats a mighty expensive fucking song. Before long, consumers started to realize that they were getting screwed until the day mps3 made it on the scene. Then consumers began to become educated on how to stick it to the RIAA. They began to illegally download music and shared with friends and families. The MPAA and movies suffered the same fate. Why should porn be any different?

The truth is simply that while many webmasters and companies were happy to give free shit to surfers with hopes of them buying, they hurt themselves more by sporadic updates or hideous content. Not to mention, hour long scenes. (Who the fuck jerks off that long? If they do, they suck at it!!!) Meanwhile, those that cashed in on the net porn craze made a ton of fucking cash. One problem, they were no different than the meth porn chick who fucks to get her fix. These moron webmasters went out and paid cash for houses, cars, booze, drugs, expensive toys, etc….They fucking forgot to put money away for the rainy days. Now that the rainy days are here, many are crying about business being down. Seriously? How much fucking overhead is there honestly on a video for web distribution? I guarrantee a lot less than there for DVDs. But porners forgot the one thing that has always been their strong point. Porners were always ahead of the game. Now the consumer has become the game.

I am sure the economy, gas prices, etc…. has alot to do with down sales. Piracy and legal issues as well. But seriously, can you honestly blame consumers for going the route they have? For $20 a month, surfers can get a Usenet account, download 3-4 TB a month and never need a membership…oh yeah, all the fucking places they might have joined, they get that content on usenet. And for that same $20, they do not get hidden cross sells, upsells, or bogus charges that they have to fight back. For $20, they have instant access to the latest releases. It sucks but the consumer will always be right.

Other reasons for low margins is much talent refusing to adjust their performance fees or moron prroducers who are willing to continue to pay scale. Most of these girls are looking to pay their rent, bail the boyfriend out of jail, etc… They aren’t thinking long term business. They are thinking about now only. They are suffering the same thing as webmasters. A porn chick gets paid today, tonight shes eating shrimp, lobster, and steak, buying $500 new clothes, shoes, etc…Then the next day they are out there again doing the same thing.

Porners used to have more money than they knew what to do with. Now many are living hand to mouth and still refusing to see that you have to continually evolve with this industry. I bet you companies like Reality Kings, while may be losing some sales, aren’t hurting nowhere like many others are. Why? Look at the amount of sex they offer their consumer. They update weekly. Same for Bang Bros. I would even throw in Amatuer Allure when it comes to quality video and smoking chicks!!!

Porners aren’t the only industry suffering. Education, business, housing, etc… is suffering as well. Porn’s problem is that it arrogantly assumed that consumers will buy whatever they put out, regardless of quality and true stroke value. The days of making a major killing in porn are gone…theres no getting the download genie back in the bottle. So now the industry will have to find new ways to reel the customer back in. How does that happen? Who the fuck knows?

The only thing I can possibly see saving porn is something like Adobe TV or ITunes that actually has DRM that works. Theres that nasty word, DRM! Guess what? There is no fucking way porn will ever make it on to those platforms.

My suggestion is this. Either drop rates to entice consumers to join by making it easier to download content than it would be for them to have to go searching through newsgroups for the latest naughty america release or find a site and combine businesses and offer the consumer something more. Give the consumers compelling reasons to join. Learn how to photograph and capture video correctly. Make me want to fuck the model on the screen instead of making fun of her or remembering some crack whore on the corner who reminds me of her. Show me the true personality of the model instead of some scripted bullshit. The days of make up, fake tits, etc… have really passed. Give me something I have a chance of scoring at some point in my life. Add some contest or something. Instead of giving away trips, Iphones, laptops, dates,etc… to those affliates who pump your shit, take care of your fucking customers. Find ways to make your customers feel appreciated. It is a wonder what a free laptop would do for a loyal customer or imagine if a customer actually got to bang some chick? I would like those odds better than the lottery.

For the females, its a simple recipe. As long as you keep your rates up, you will not work in porn. Unless the dollar recovers, many sites will make due with the content they have or simply move to bying brokered content for a lot less. Oh yeah, how about actually looking like you want to fuck and enjoy getting fucked? Is that too much to ask? If I want to jerk it to someone who isn’t enthused about being fucked, Ill go to jerk it to my ex-wife. Heres another thing. Pander to the fans. Actually write, respond, fuck even call your fans. Fuck your fans. I don’t know, maybe fucking care about them. Show them that you are more than just two tits, a hole, and a heartbeat.

That brings me to a little story. I overheard this porn chick one day at Starbucks in LA. Her and her agent were talking about how to increase her popularity and you can imagine the same bullshit. Go on KSex, web sites, radio, etc… So I mention the same things I just did above and the porner looked back at me and said and I quote: “Are you fucking stupid? Why would I ever want to fuck any of my fans? Have you ever seen my fans? They are fucking gross and fat. Why do you think they have to jerk off to me? The day I fuck my fans is the day I become a whore.” Now imagine that. I simply replied, you fuck for money, youre a whore. Its no wonder sales and demand are down for chicks. I am sure that is every guys dream, to jerk off to some chick who thinks he isn’t worth shit. A customer who gets to fuck a porn chick will most probably become a fan of hers for life.

This brings me to how to improve the overall image of the porn industry. Guys like Rob Black. Kahn Tusion, and Max make it really hard to overcome the nasty label associated with porn. Try building some fucking goodwill for once. Do something without expecting something to be done in return. If you are a webmaster and have major skills, help someone breaking in the business thats new. Show them how to do things the right way instead of the right way for today only. If you are talent, build some good will by doing a scene or two here or there to help others out. Seriously, its no different than fucking some dude from the club or getting screwed on payment. Maybe this producer will throw some more work your way, cash, referrals, etc…Producers, actually learn your craft and those that do know their craft, show someone else how to do it the right way. Be a mentor. Instead of always trying to make a sale, get to know your customers. Send them a survey. Ask them what they want, not what you want them to want. Cater to the consumer. Volunteer your time in your community without expecting a press release or coverage. If you have content that won’t sell, donate it to someone else who needs content. Its not like you are losing anything other than the money spent and guess what…you already lost that. Chicks, drop the diva attitudes. Youre in porn. Somedays youll be asked to take a creampie, swallow, or even do anal. Its going to happen. If you don’t like it, go get a 9 to 5 job. Distributors, start paying your fucking bills or once web distribution takes over, youll be out of fucking job with no where to go. Producers, directors, feed your fucking talent. Treat them like family. Fire up the barbecue, invite them over to swim and hang and blow off steam ala Boogie Nights. Everyone needs to build friendships. Quit fucking each other over just to get a sale or to earn an extra $100. Quit with all these fucking trade shows. Its wasted money that could be spent on something more business friendly. If this is all sounding like giving away free services for nothing, then you got it right. Because the porn industry has made it all about money, the consumer has done the same thing. If its not about money, then why are they stealing the content without paying for it? Goodwill goes a long way in all business, maybe when the porn world realizes that….they too will receive some goodwill.

Matt!

It’s pretty much official now, despite all the living in denial for the last year or so porners are actually admitting that theres a problem. Steve Orenstein at Wicked has said it, so has Steve Hirsch at Vivid, LFP everyone now admits it, we are in a slump and sliding badly.  Big companies are laying off people, shutting down operations and/or scaling back releases and productions.  The bubble has burst.

Everyone has a favorite scapegoat, the internet, piracy, legal issues yada yada.

To understand what to do you have to first understand how we got here.  With the advent of the VCR people no longer had to leave their homes to watch porn, a market was born practically over night, making porn was expensive though. Quality cameras weren’t cheap, editing equipment wasn’t cheap, it required knowledge and skill. And people, couldn’t get enough porn.

The industry was set to grow, it simply couldn’t fail.

Technology and computers were taking over everything and in a short time cameras were exponentially more capable, higher quality and cheaper. And with the advent of the under five thousand dollar Sony VX3  professional quality was now in reach of maverick film makers.  Editing bays were still cost prohibitive, but every company had one and the demand for product was sky high so shooters were starting to shoot product and send it to the respective companies for editing and porn ramped up production yet again.

By the Mid nineties the next generation “pro sumer” cameras hit and they were digital, ten fold the quality of even the hi 8 cameras and even more capable in terms of auto exposure and focus, and still in the sub 5 K price range, and again porn valley ramped up production to meet demand. by now anyone who could hold a camera and point it at the action was considered a Director; talent and skill had no place here, it was a grind mill, get it out as fast as possible to satisfy the growing demand.

The industry was releasing 1000 new releases a month, piracy was limited to the illegal dubbing of video tapes, generating a poorer quality copy.  Not that there was any quality there to begin with. Porners started cutting prices at a time when demand was highest, strong armed by distributors hungry to improve margins.

Then out of nowhere popped up this little thing called the World Wide Web and you talk about a medium MADE for porn, this was it. You didn’t even have to leave your house. Pornsites popped up over night and just about anyone with knowledge of HTML and some content was making serious cash, pictures of people fucking were worth a pile of money, and guess who had these pictures?  Porn Companies. Suddenly people were scanning pictures from adult magazines and creating websites, they were using promotional materials, anything they could get their hands on and all these porners with all this content were letting it get away from them, they didn’t see the train coming, the internet wasn’t a threat, they were making money as fast as they could release the next video.

People downloading pictures wasn’t a big deal, hardly worth dragging a lawyer into it after all their stock in trade was VHS and DVD, you couldnt get quality video over a 1200 baud internet connection, or even a 2400 baud one.

There was nothing to worry about.

This internet thing was catching on though and people were wanting faster and faster access, suddenly even 56KB wasnt fast enough. Enter technology again. Here comes DSL and Cable, soon lots and lots of people had access to internet connections that were very fast, fast enough to download high quality video clips and video compression technology was getting good enough to cut the size of the file down to 25% of its original size and still leave it undetectable to the human eye. After all the TV then was an appallingly poor 525×320 resolution (roughly)

Soon adult sites were adding decent quality video to their offerings and the public ate them up.

And porners were releasing videos at the rate of about 20 per day, and at margins  that were paper thin. VHS went away and DVD became king.

Editing bays were cheap, anyone with a 600 dollar home computer could now become an editor and a director, and anyone did.

While the quality of the image got exponentially better, the skill of the director became non existent, it wasn’t about who could produce the best product, it was about who could produce the cheapest product and porn fell into an abyss, almost void of anything that could remotely be considered talent.

Soon internet connections got even faster, pushing into ranges nobody expected and programs that could copy a DVD and break it down into a bunch of smaller files popped up and it didnt take long before you could download and burn a perfect copy of a DVD in less time than it takes to drive to the porn store and buy it.  Torrent sites were popping up everywhere, but they had a downside, they were notorious for spreading viruses, and spyware, they were resource hogs, and difficult to set up. But quietly a very old (older than the world wide web) concept was enjoying a resurgence. Usenet was becoming the defacto repository for pirated porn, music, mainstream movies, programs, you name it.  There were no ratios, no centralization, no governing authority, it was pure anarchy, anyone could post anything and anyone could download the posts. It didn’t take long and you were seeing full quality DVDs appearing the same day they were released, mainstream movies and porn and piracy, got rampant, because now you didn’t even have to buy the DVD to make a perfect copy of it, print near identical DVD covers and replicate and sell it for less than the manufacturer could.

By and large porn didn’t notice, most people were not even tech savvy enough to diversify to the web much less understand usenet, and to this day most porners still don’t, despite the fact that the same day DP releases the Blu Ray version of Pirates II I would be able to download it for free in full bluray quality, menus and all, in just a few hours.

Tubesites began to pop up and in the middle of slumping sales porn vally started to take notice of the internet and the damage that its was doing to their bottom line. And tube sites were easy, they didnt require an special knowledge, they didnt require any special software and there was lots of porn for free.  Not porn made and submitted by so called users, but porn made in porn valley. Suddenly it hit home.

So lets look back here at what happened.

There was a rapidly growing demand for our product, we raced to fill it, and when we filled it we kept increasing output, to the point that the market plit into vertical markets, no longer was generic porn viable, there was so much of it that the consumer could satisfy his fetish by renting titles that were specifically shot for his likes. Those niches further branched into micro niches we simply had too much product, supply had far outstripped demand. But we were like a locomotive heading full speed, we didn’t see the curve coming and we didn’t slow down, talent rates skyrocketed even though there was a huge glut of talent, we kept producing product with no concern at all about the quality of the product, after all it was cheap and the public was buying it we never saw the slow down coming, even though a lot of knowledgeable people were saying…hey  something is wrong here. Most importantly we never took took the steps to protect our property and our market until it was too late. Its like theives took everything in our house and we didn’t notice it was gone for a year, and by then there was no getting it back.

The preferred delivery method for porn is no longer the local video store.  It is the internet. So when you look at your declining sales, look back at your catalog and ask yourself, was I delivering quality product or was I making money as fast as possible with as little investment as possible.  Remember years ago when people were saying that our industry’s worst enemy was an educated consumer?  Guess what? The consumer got educated, and Porn Valley is in the throes of a very rude awakening.

Several things have been on my mind lately and I’m going to pontificate on them eventually.

But lately I have been asked a good bit about how I am doing, post surgery.  I never wrote too much about it since it happened but it was quite an experience.  I learned a lot about many of the people around me. Particularly two, one a sworn enemy and one who  claimed to love me.

The one who claimed to love me and admire my ideas of personal responsibility, yada yada wasn’t speaking to me at the time. She was upset because basically I wasn’t doing what it was she wanted me to do. Well I never heard a word from that one while I was having the hardest time of my life.

On the flip side I had a guy, Kurt Lockwood who was a sworn enemy, it was no secret that we didn’t much like each other.

While I was recuperating in the hospital I got an email from Kurt, in it he said that he had lost his father to the same surgery and that he wouldnt wish what I was going through on his worst enemy and that he hoped my recovery was swift and full and that there was no serious pain or complications. He said that in a case like this you have to put your differences aside.  He also said he fully expected me to make fun of him sending me those wishes.

How weird is that, my enemy turned out to be a much better friend than my friend. Kurt misjujudged me in a big way if he really thought I would use that against him, he showed himself to be a better person than a whole lot of people who claimed to be better than him. At that point I buried that hatchet, the fact that he did what he did made me reconsider and wipe the slate clean.

I learned a lot  from that trauma, about myself and about who I consider my friends.

From a long term standpoint post surgery I am doing fine.  My ability to run, jump or do anything that involves a lot of ankle movement is long gone. The tumor and the surgery left permanent nerve damage in both ankles and feet but mostly in the right one.

I can still offshore fish, but its a lot harder and causes a lot of pain afterwards in my back, largely because not having the ankle flexibility on a surface that moves on three axis is very hard on your back. But it’s Ok I got it way better than plenty of folks and besides we all have stuff we have to face in life, this was just one of mine. I’m happy and lucky to be here and aI appreciate everyone who emails me and asks how I’m doing. I’m doing well y’all, Thanks!

I promised Mike that I would return to the realm of commentator and contributor.  I realize that I am an unknown quantity in the world and I apologize for the infrequency of my participation.  The last few months have been filled with real world stuff.

Some random notes:

What is the fascination with porn and shooting the images in kitchens and laundry rooms?

Kayden Kross’s postings are really interesting and provide some insight into the adult entertainment world for the more than casual pedestrian observer.  Thanks!

Tim Case and Felicia Fox and their upcoming wedding!!  They seem to me to be a great couple and really in love and they already have a cute little fella.

Finally (at least for now) Mike is always telling me how laid back and friendly the “porn” community is, and so far I find that to be true.  I have given that some thought and came up with this; basically you guys “cum” for a living and often . . . what could be better for living a laid back daily existence and always have a smile on your face than that.

TAMPA - A federal judge this morning denied a new trial for a video producer convicted in June of distributing obscene materials.

Attorneys for Paul Little, also known as Max Hardcore, requested a new trial on several grounds, including the fact that one of the jurors was fired from her job the night before the verdict was returned.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew ruled that the issues relating to the firing of the juror and other instances of alleged irregularities involving jurors did not affect the outcome of the case and did not detract from Little’s constitutional rights.

According to a defense court filing, the juror who was fired from her job had resisted convicting Little and his company, Max World Entertainment.

Before reaching their verdict, jurors sent a note to Bucklew stating they were deadlocked and that the deliberations were emotional.

Three jurors were holding out, according to the defense court filing. One of them was the woman who had sent a note to the judge earlier in the day asking to talk to Bucklew because the juror had been fired.

The judge didn’t meet with the juror until after the verdicts and didn’t tell attorneys in the case about the juror’s note, defense attorneys asserted in their court filing.

The defense maintained that the court’s failure to disclose the note to attorneys was improper and warrants a new trial.

The defense sought a new trial on several other grounds, including an assertion that a prosecutor made an improper comment to a juror during the trial. According to the defense filing, midway through the trial, a federal prosecutor “reported that he engaged in an inadvertent, but prejudicial dialogue with a juror in the elevator,” the defense motion states. “The attorney questioned whether the juror was going upstairs to ‘watch that porn,’ and the juror affirmed that he was.

“Although there was no apparent motive on the part of the attorney to taint the jury, the fact remains that the juror was chided by a government lawyer for being exposed to the allegedly obscene materials in this case,” the defense motion states.

But Bucklew said there was no evidence that the juror, who was not wearing his button identifying himself as a juror, was chided.

Little is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 5.

[I could be wrong, but I don’t think the Allman Brothers were singing about “rambling” in the sense of writing without having a particular subject in mind. No matter. I considered using a quote from Bob Seger’s “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” as a headline instead but, as my gambling experience is limited to a few pulls on quarter slot machines at Main Street Station in downtown Vegas during several years of AVN expos, it just didn’t seem fitting. Yes, Mike South was also there, but he didn’t drink or gamble like the rest of us — he was too busy eating the Ahi Tuna at the Grand Lux Cafe http://www.grandluxcafe.com/aboutus.htm].

But enough about Vegas. Let me tell you about a few things I’ve had on my mind here lately.

 #1. Kayden Kross. Cool as hell. Classy, professional, intelligent, and a credit to the adult industry. She’s definitely someone to keep an eye on. Maybe even both eyes. She even single-handedly saved the Ohio strip club industry last week. What’s not to love about the girl?

#2. After 14 years of shacking up in various locations, the beautiful Felicia Fox has agreed to take my hand and join me in wedded bliss. The ceremony will take place in Dayton, Ohio on September 14th. Mike South will be my best man, Lisa Sparxxx is in the wedding party, Dirty Bob is taking the photos, and a number of porn-oriented people have announced their intentions to be at the wedding. In addition to those XXX-type folk, the guest list is filled with a host of people from all walks of life – her family, my family, bikers, strippers, DJs, bouncers, prostitutes, clowns, Canadians, cops, rednecks, homosexuals, karaoke singers, hillbillies. Harry Weiss may even show up. Yes, we’re going to be having karaoke at the reception, though I’m not sure if it’ll be topless or not…that probably depends on whether or not the grandparents have gone home. It promises to be quite an evening. I’ll let you know if any of us survive.  

#3. Kiki D’aire. What a great gal. I love her, and you should, too. Fall down on your knees now and worship her like the goddess she is.

#4. Thomas M. Disch. A great writer. I’ve been reading some of his work this week — I’ve been a fan of his for many years, and I was shocked and saddened to hear that he shot himself in his New York City apartment this past July 4th. 

#5. Stripper Quote of the Week: “But I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Camille, former Flamingo dancer, after being arrested by Dayton Police for possession of 104 grams of crack cocaine. The contraband was hidden inside her vagina.  

From the Dow Jones Newswire

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- In the latest setback to congressional efforts to police pornography on the Internet, a federal appeals court has invalidated the federal Child Online Protection Act, a law designed to keep children from viewing sexually explicit material on the Web.

The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the law is too broad and intrudes on constitutionally protected speech.

The court said the law would drive protected speech from the Internet and force publishers to incur significant technological costs in trying to keep adult content away from younger viewers.

“We are quite certain that notwithstanding Congress’s laudable purpose in enacting COPA, the government has not met its burden” of defending the law’s constitutionality, the court said.

The court also said that parental use of Internet filters was a better, less restrictive way to protect children from explicit material.

“Filters are more flexible…because parents can tailor them to their own values and needs and to the age and maturity of their children,” the court said.

The law, passed in 1998, barred publishers from knowingly posting material ” that is harmful to minors” on the Internet for commercial purposes. To avoid sanctions, the law required publishers to verify the ages of viewers before allowing them to access explicit Internet content.

Violators faced fines and up to six months in prison.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law on behalf of a coalition of bookstores, media organizations and free-speech advocates, cheered the decision.

“For years the government has been trying to thwart freedom of speech on the Internet, and for years the courts have been finding the attempts unconstitutional,” said ACLU attorney Chris Hansen. “The government has no more right to censor the Internet than it does books and magazines.”

A Justice Department spokesman said government lawyers were reviewing the ruling to determine their next move.

“Needless to say, we’re disappointed that a court of appeals struck down a congressional statute designed to protect our children from exposure to sexually explicit material on the Internet,” the spokesman said.

The case has been in litigation for a decade.

The Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the law in 2004, but did not issue a definitive ruling on its legality.

There are between 275 million and 700 million sexually explicit Web pages available on the Internet, according to the estimates of the trial judge in the case.