A prominent feature story in today's Los Angeles Times titled "Porn Industry Again at the Tech Forefront" features Vivid Entertainment Group and its endeavor to begin selling burnable movies May 8 through online movie service CinemaNow.
LA Times writers Dawn C. Chmielewski and Claire Hoffman say that "Southern California's multibillion-dollar adult entertainment industry may again set the technological pace for Hollywood."
The article, which started on the front page and also includes a picture of Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch and president Bill Asher, discusses how Hollywood has resisted burnable discs that can be watched on televisions because of fear of being pirated and possibly alienating retailers. Thus, the report says, mainstream studio chiefs will be watching's Vivid's "online experiment" closely.
"The simple fact is porn is an early adopter of new media," Paul Saffo, director of the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, told the newspaper. "If you're trying to get something established … you're going to privately and secretly hope and pray that the porn industry likes your medium."
In addition to Vivid, other companies such as Red Light District plan similar services, according to the Times. The newspaper also reported that LFP is interested, but still evaluating the new technology.
To view the entire Times story, click here.
