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ETO Technology News - July 2006 edition
Three Day Eventing
The Internext Summer 2006 adult digital media and webmasters event is on at The Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida from the 4th to the 6th of August. It's promoted as the world's biggest B2B expo and networking event for the adult coms and webmaster industry, complete with seminars, workshops and perhaps a party or two by the pool. Full information is available at www.Internext-expo.com.
Video On Demand - On Demand.
Coulomb, an established supplier of Internet payment technology, has launched a turnkey solution aimed at studios wishing to set up their own free and/or premium streaming websites. Called 'VOD On Demand', its content management system allows content producers to upload, sort, categorise and describe their films through a simple web interface. Then visitors can choose copy-protected films to watch and pay for them through a variety of channels, including credit or debit card, SMS and premium rate call. Price points are also entirely under the studio's control.
Studios can drive traffic to the sites in a number of ways: promotion on packaging or within films, from search engines, by offering trailers for free and distributing them through file-sharing networks or by using the product's affiliate tracking to allow the studio to run its own affiliate scheme. A simple example site has been set up at www.smssexpalace.com.
For more information, please contact David Knell at Coulomb on 020 8114 1001 or via David.added-to-avoid-spam-Knell@GlobalCharge.com.
Pixelated porn?
The Sex in Games Conference in San Francisco on June the 8th and 9th seems to have been quite a hit, if the many online news stories about it are anything to go by. Around 150 publishers, game-writers, developers, programmers and marketers gathered for the first ever Sex in Video Games conference. Kicking off with a series of panel discussions, the real business was networking and cementing the idea that the rapidly developing 'interactive adult industry' can support its own conference. In her keynote speech Brenda Brathwaite, chair of the International Game Developers Association's sex special interest group and a conference organiser, spoke about the long history of sex in video games. "Porn is still a passive experience. [Gaming] gives it an opportunity to be interactive and customisable," she said. "We needed a place where we could discuss the issues that are unique to us. We can put heads in bags in games like Manhunt, but sex isn't allowed," she complained. "Nobody writes shocking things about love scenes in books, movies, or TV. But for some reason, in the media [video game sex] gets sensationalised."
In some circles sex in games is still a touchy subject, since explicit sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were highlighted last summer. Only accessible via a download to unlock the material, referred to as a Hot Coffee Mod, the content wasn't disclosed to ratings boards. This lead to the title being withdrawn from some retailers' shelves, costing GTA's publisher Take-Two Interactive Software two million dollars as well as the respect of an industry accustomed to self-censorship.
"I feel sorry for any company going for an ESRB (the US Entertainment Software Ratings Board) rating in the post-hot-coffee era," Brathwaite said, encouraging everyone present to ensure consumers are fully aware of the content in games and to control age-appropriate access to their web sites.
No 3G please, we're Cambodians.
The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, has allegedly responded to a plea from his wife to outlaw 3G phones, fearing they may be used to show women's breasts, etc. PM Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany said video-enabled phones could have "negative consequences for social morality". She officially petitioned her husband on May the 19th (good to know it was done through the right channels with no skipping the paperwork) along with the wives of several other top government officials, saying the new network -which was well into the planning stage in Cambodia- might increase "sexual exploitation of women and children and other vices that would cast our society as a very dark one".
Hun Sen announced his decision to formerly ban 3G last month at a Buddhist pagoda in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. He told his audience, "Hold it. Do not yet start the mobile phone services through which the callers can see each others' images. Maybe we can wait for another 10 years or so until we have done enough to strengthen the morality of our society." Reportedly the petition included dire warnings that 3G phones could be used by women to seduce men with pornography.
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun urged mobile companies not to be upset, not very helpfully adding that the ban would not be extended to the Internet. So Khun was quoted by The Cambodia Daily as saying, "The postponement is made only on the video phone, but the Internet ISP is not banned. It still operates as usual. Phone operators please don't be disappointed. Please understand the ministry. The 3G technology is not banned forever. It is just postponed for a while." A while being 10 years in this case. Cambodia's MobiTel and AZ group had been vying to introduce the first 3G network to the country and are now expected to 'do something else'.
Another date for your diary.
More details of the 'AOE Webmasters: London' event have been released. This networking day out will take place on July the 22nd '06, which is the day before our own ETO show at the NEC. We hope visitors will make a longer weekend of it and head up to Birmingham after the Adult Online Europe bash. This inaugural AOE Webmasters event will draw leading online adult industry players from across Europe and beyond for a day of mixing talk, relaxation and fun in what's a wonderful city. The schedule includes a flight on the London Eye, a luxury cruise along the Thames, a traditional British Pub Crawl and some late night Adult Entertainment. Organiser John Green said, "We've arranged a schedule of activities designed to allow the great and the good of the Online Adult Industry to network, socialise and 'ave a proper knees up. Thanks to our sponsors Hot Movies, Interclimax & Playboy UK there is no charge to attend. All you need to do is visit aoe-webmasters.com and follow the link to the registration page and fill out the form. Guests will not be allowed to participate unless they have pre-registered. We look forward to seeing everybody there."
For more information email john-added-to-avoid-spam@aoe-webmasters.com or visit www.aoe-webmasters.com.
Britons never ever shall be slaves (to our baser urges).
As widely publicised in the national press, a national study of UK online porn usage has discovered Britons are downloading record levels of pornographic material. Apparently both men AND women are spending millions on sexual imagery and voyeurism. According to the major survey by Nielsen NetRatings for The Independent, 40% of men had visited a porn web site in the last year, with the same figure admitting downloading porn in the last month. These figures don't add up for me, as they suggest no men visited adult sites between a month and a year ago. Lies, damn lies and statistics, as Disraeli (not Mark Twain, as is sometimes attributed) said. Anyway, since 2000 the level of self-proclaimed saucy-surfers has leapt from two to over nine million. Women are amongst the fastest growing group of net-porn fans, with their numbers swelling by 30% from a million to 1.5 million (more figures I can't get to add up) in the last 12 months. Clearly a boom.
In some circles (not The Daily Mail) specialists welcomed these figures, claming that they show once-stuffy Britons have an ever more liberated attitude towards sex. Predictably others warn that an obsession with images of graphic sex acts is contributing to the break down of relationships. Unnamed British experts claimed that as many as two-in-five couples that have had problems, believe pornography may have contributed to their difficulties.
Philip Hodson (as seen on TV with glasses and smug expression) of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy warned that 'virtual sex' has made some men too lazy to bother pursuing the real thing. He added the Internet has made sex-lazy men even sex-lazier, citing that men who'd neglected foreplay were now neglecting sex all together.
Christine Lacey, speaking as a senior counsellor for Relate, said: "For many women, the reaction is exactly the same as if they discovered their partner is having an affair. They may not be having sex with someone else but the effect is the same if it is detrimental to their marriage."
Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Sandra Gidley MP, clamed she was "alarmed by the type of material accessible to people, particularly young people. I'm concerned that the boundaries are being pushed on what is acceptable. Some of the hard-core stuff is quite shocking," she said.
According to reports, the UK porn industry is worth approximately £1b per year, approx 5% of the global market. More than that, Brits surfing the web look up the word 'Porn' on search engines more than anyone else in the English-speaking world. If you feel your breast swelling, that'll be pride. As the cherry on the cake, according to the BBFC, more R18 films were past by censors in 2005 than 18-rated films.
Obligatory Hustler TV Story.
Not a month goes by, it seems, without LFP Broadcasting's Hustler TV signing a global (34 countries currently) VOD and PPV distribution agreement with one studio or another. In June it was the turn of our own Harmony Films Ltd to strike a deal to release new films as well as their back catalogue through Hustler TV. Harmony originally got a toehold in the US through DVD distribution via Evil Angel. Having been successful in both the sale and rental markets, as well as catching the eye of AVN Awards judges, Harmony's titles (particularly the Slam It! range) are in great demand.
LFP Broadcasting's President Michael H. Klein said, "It is important that we have exciting, quality content to offer affiliates that is only available on Hustler TV. This innovative partnership will expand Hustler TV's product offering to include world-class adult entertainment with British style."
Steven Elvins, MD of Harmony Films added, "Hustler TV is the perfect partner for Harmony Films' expansion into the VOD and PPV market due to their highly recognised brand. This agreement will allow us to introduce our products to whole new audience, as well as give current fans another outlet to enjoy our films."
Joint Managing Director of Harmony Films Daniel O Sullivan summed up his thoughts; "We are extremely excited about our new relationship with Hustler TV. We already know there is an audience hungry for programming like ours, and now it will be available for them on their television sets as well." It's not recorded what he meant by '..television sets as well'. As well as what?
In related news, Andrew Blake's Studio A Entertainment has also joined Hustler TV's harem of studios.
Is that a .mobi in your pocket, or are you just please to see me?
While .xxx remains stymied, .mobi looks a lot more likely to get the go-ahead - However, porn sites for phones may not be welcome. The new extension (or top level domain, if I may get all technical on you for a moment) is being promoted by a Dublin-based business conveniently called dotMobi. As part of an industry consortium, they hope to establish a .mobi format for sites featuring content for mobile devices. That means no frames, for starters. By publishing style guidelines that include strict rules on accessibility as well as best practices, dotMobi will control more than just the registration of .mobi sites. Essentially the company will be able to withdraw your domain name if you don't comply with their style guides. While their stated goal is to create a consistent and reliable mobile browsing experience, it doesn't take a leap of imagination to suppose guidelines on content may be included too. It remains to be seen if the adult industry is needed to ensure the success of .mobi, or if dotMobi will want to keep things tasteful, wholesome and family-friendly.
Currently only applications from 'industry players' who wish to launch mobi versions of their web sites are being accepted. Open registration should begin later this year. Prices are expected to be around £80p.a. for trademarked names and £25p.a. for more generic domain names.
It's a twin thing for Private as they go Sky high.
Now featuring a library of over 900 titles, Private Media Group has launched two pay TV channels available in the UK with Portland Enterprises. 'Private One' and 'Private Two' are being shown on Sky digital channels 952 and 953 respectively. Over 8 million viewers can have access to the programming for 15 hours per day.
Berth Milton Jr, Private's Swedish chief executive, said, "This revolutionary joining of two of the most powerful forces in adult media will certainly threaten weaker performing channels. We are pleased to work with Portland Enterprises and take advantage of their 10-plus years of experience in broadcasting."