Settle up: voicemails show P2P porn law firms in action

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/settle-up-voicemails-show-p2p-porn-law-firms-in-action.ars

by grellas • 15 years ago

28 8 15 years ago

arstechnica.com

jtreminio2• 15 years ago

I understand the disdain some people may have with the lawyer's tactics.

What most people don't understand, however, is how badly the adult industry is hurting right now.

In the late 90's, early 00's, the adult industry absolutely exploded thanks to the internet. Millionaires were being made every day. Really the only thing you had to do was put up a site with a few images and videos, pay someone to link to you, and you could see the money start rolling in.

Then, the affiliate model came into play, and TGPs were created (thumb gallery posts). Some owners complained that these would hurt sales because affiliates were giving away content for free. It didn't hurt - in fact, sales grew much stronger.

MGPs followed (movie gallery posts), where images were replaced with short video clips. Sales remained strong. The industry was quick to see how these tools benefited them.

What the industry did not see coming, however, were the tube sites. How can you have a profitable business selling adult videos and images online when some website is letting you stream full-length videos for free? Why would you pay for adult content? Thus, adult companies have been dropping like flies. Not only providers, but also payment processors. Millions have been lost or stolen.

I know, I know, "Boohoo those poor porn people aren't getting their money"... but what if you woke up tomorrow and realized that someone was giving away YOUR software for free (assuming you've created software that is not open sourced)? All of a sudden your income gets sliced and diced.

Nowadays, the only adult companies making a good amount of money are those that offer a more "personal" experience - live cam shows, girls/boys who blog with their members and do requests. Things you can't pirate: the human experience.

Oh, and gay sites. Gay always sells.

Porn companies can't really go after these illegal porn tube sites. Many are based in China, and the owners are hidden behind layers of privacy sheets. The know what they're doing is hurting thousands of people, but their greed for personal profits are first in their minds.

While I would not like receiving robocalls from lawyers threatening to sue me if I don't settle, I can see how some of these guys really have no choice but to turn to litigation to recoup some of their lost income.

jbri• 15 years ago

People are giving away software. It's called piracy. Millions of dollars worth of software is being acquired for free.

And yet Microsoft etc. don't feel the need to bully individual users into legal settlements.

jtreminio2• 15 years ago

Ah, but at least Microsoft has the option of requiring keys to use their products.

To watch a full-length video all you have to do is go to www.blahblahtube.com and click a thumbnail.

Also, Microsoft is making quite a bit of money off of corporate users... porn sites don't really have a place in a Fortune 500 board room.

Hipchan• 15 years ago

They should do the same thing brothel owners did when women started giving sex away for free. Get a different job.

true_religion• 15 years ago

Your analogy is flawed here. Brothel workers presumably own their own bodies, and can charge for sex. They would be justly annoyed if someone came and "appropriated" their sex for free for example via rape or more comparable to the situation at hand---via living vicariously through illegally distributed video tapes of them.

cookiecaper• 15 years ago

Such is life -- something unexpected comes up and all of the sudden you're out of your livelihood.

This actually happens to normal people all the time when layoffs or illness occur. The adult industry has to do what everyone else has to do in such a situation -- find a way to make ends meet until you come up with a viable way to re-establish a comfortable income.

The question is: is it viable to order threatening robocalls demanding money out of people? Is this going to be a good long-term solution to their problem?

I recognize that porn has limited opportunities because of the details surrounding its consumption and use, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Whining and lawyering up doesn't seem like it's really going to do much for them, just as it hasn't done much for the RIAA or other content trade associations.

robryan• 15 years ago

Wonder if they bother pushing forward with an individual case against those that don't settle or just quietly stop contacting them. Would probably end up losing them money to with years of legal costs against someone who probably doesn't have all that much even if they win a massive amount.

Sure they have to push on with some high profile cases to prove that they actually would, but that has already been done. Interestingly if no one paid the settlement their model would fail pretty quickly.

bricestacey• 15 years ago

This has been going on for awhile. TorrentFreak reported on the law firm Davenport Lyons doing the same in 2008[0] and later ACS:Law[1].

[0] http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-lawyers-start-protecting... [1] google "site:torrentfreak.com acs:law"