In the beginning there was the Wild West of the Internet. Everyone wanted to rush in and cash out. There were no limits and anything was possible, from bestiality sites to overcharging credit cards and online pyramid schemes. The adult online industry enjoyed doing business any way it liked. It thrived by a code – get rich quick – regardless of ethical considerations and paid no mind to how extreme the content was. No one wanted anything to happen that would impede making money. Justice was two ornery hombres squaring off for a showdown on the boards, and the loser could destroy a company overnight. A great “land grab” of people stampeding for domains was going on. Like the great cattle barons of old, the larger you were, the more you could get away with – because big also meant you were judge, jury, and executioner.
That is not the industry we work in today. Today things are more corporate. Credit-card processors refuse to take bestiality and scat sites. Fraudulent billing is tougher to accomplish and carries stricter penalties. However, people still want to push extremes when it comes to content. Truthfully, porn has always pushed the envelope in order to provide people with something edgier or different. That is what the public demands in a never-ending quest for getting what they can’t otherwise get except in their fantasy world, the cost of a site membership, or a DVD.
I, for one, believe in setting a limit on content extremes. I have heard all the arguments about free speech and the right to do and show what you want, but I feel that people need to take a good look at what content they are willing to push. In our case, we are not willing to paint a target on our back or anyone else’s around us.
We should be taking on an air of professional responsibility in regards to our business. This means that you are not just sending traffic to any old program but are actively looking at what you and your associates do. You have to ask yourself the question “Could I defend this in front of a jury of grandmothers?” I don’t know about everyone else, but I don’t think most grandmothers would find donkey punching to be a cool thing.
Are you prepared to have the government regulate your business? Some people believe they can skirt the system. Maybe they think the Free Speech Coalition will protect them (even if they don’t pay dues to the trade organization) or going off shore will hide them well enough. There is, unfortunately, no easy way out. For those who think that going off shore is the key, they should investigate just how many offshore companies were sued by Acacia and were able to get out of fighting with or paying Acacia. Currently the number of offshore companies that were able to avoid paying Acacia is zero.
So what will you do when the federal government comes-a-calling to regulate what you do? Will they distinguish between types of content or will they see all the content the same way: bad? No one wants to fight a lawsuit against an entity like the federal government, which has enough assets to make anyone suffer in a prolonged legal battle.
The question is not whether extreme content will sell; it’s whether or not we should sell it. My answer is no. Nor would I support that type of business behavior. I want to feel like I can defend our content to a jury of Bible thumpers, grandmas, and man-hating “feminazis.” About the companies we choose to do business with, I ask “Is this a company that is behaving and working with a professional responsibility, or is it just trying to make a quick buck?” There are plenty of companies out there that are trying to lead the industry to a better place, where we have a solid legal standing in society that is not subject to political lynching and public hangings. These are the companies that are “taming” the wild, bygone days of the past and ensuring that we can all make our living in this industry for a long time to come.
Michael “Spike” Goldberg is chief executive officer of New Destiny Internet Group, a multi-service company best known for running the successful HomegrownVideo.com.
