LOS ANGELES—Domain confusion may result from Amazon's decision to name its new video streaming service Fire TV. That's because people who try to access the service by going directly to firetv.com will be redirected to fyretv.com, which will offer them quite a different experience that the one offered by Amazon.
Fyretv.com, as industry observers well know, is a VOD porn site that goes way back. In fact, as cruelly noted by CNBC.com,. the site is still being updated but otherwise has fallen somewhat off the map.
"The site has been flying under the radar, even in adult entertainment industry terms, for the past several years," wrote Chris Morris. "Fyre TV has not updated its Twitter feed since last August and it has not made any corporate announcements for years, though it does seem to be updating its catalog with recent releases."
Of course, none of that will matter to Fire TV-curious surfers who types firetv.com into the browser, only to be redirected to fyretv.com. Awaiting them will be a bevy of boobs amid a fountain of flesh.
All of this on the launch day for Amazon's Fire TV. Doh!
In a related note, the geeks at TechCrunch couldn't help but use the occasion to remind readers that way back in 2009, " We reviewed it and concluded that it was an impressive device even if it was just for porn." They mean fyretv.com, not Fire TV, which wasn't even a line of code forming in its daddy's brain at that point in time.
But TechCrunch's Matt Burns remembers how impressive fyretv.com's technology was, before everyone and their uncle was into streaming. "The FyreTV porn streamer launched in the early days of video streaming," he writes. "In 2008 and early 2009, Netflix was still dabbling with the market with a partnership with Roku and Vudu was trying to find its footing. But as Doug showed in our video review, porn streaming was alive and well even in those dark days before ubiquitous web video.
"Thankfully for Amazon," adds Burns, "FireTV seems to have a kid-friendly SEO and doesn’t show up with Fyre TV. That said, a tip of the hat to Fyre for leading the way in enjoyable streaming content for the masses." Amen to that.
By the way, the correct URL for Amazon's FyreTV is kind of long—http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX5P8FC/ref=amb_link_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=1TDJ4PETZMV5GRPHME1X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1770217382&pf_rd_i=507846—so until it's bookmarked maybe it's best to access it via Amazon's homepage at the much easier to remember www.amazon.com.
