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The Future of Porn on the Net
I am opening Pandoras box with good intentions.
I started in this business in 1996, after six years I want to make a few observations.
1. The adult industry is no more or less corrupt than any other industry and yes I have been in a quite a few. Check on Enron, Worldcom etc if you have a doubt.
2. The pioneering phase is over and we are in the competitive phase of the marketing model. The fast bucks are gone for most people. Those with good ideas and good work ethic will earn money. Scammers will have a short burn and flame out.
3. The government would love to make us disappear but lacking laws they will try to cut the cash flow using the credit card companies to do what they cannot; regulate content.
4. Most of the amateur (real amateur) sites are pretty upfront and honest. Most of the commercial sites recycle the same content and prey on people not contesting rebills. If rebilling disappears sites will need to provide quality to retain customers.
5. TGP's and other free sites are fueled through affliliate programs by sites that wish less was given away and more was sold. There is so much free content on the net that closing ratios are lower than they should be. If all the free stuff disappeared those who have content would earn a lot more.
6. Like the software industry content providers are the victims of continuous theft because people think if it is on the web it is free. Or I bought access to the site so I can do what I wish with the content. Intellectual property has value only if the copyrights and trademarks are enforced. I deal with copyright enforcment issues daily and usually need to threaten ISP's to get things resolved.
7. The future; my crystal ball.
a: Continuing tightening of credit card processing. More fees, more rules, etc. I think auto rebills will go away for high risk merchants this coming year.
b: The government is too busy making war to worry about us right now. After they declare peace that might change.
c: The IRS will be the first arm of the government to become involved, that is a cash producer and they need cash. Be sure if you live in the US that you declare and pay your taxes. From prior threads it is obvious the Canadian government is already auditing webmasters.
d: In a competitive market more sites will fail, processors will fail, sites will be acquired and the strong will survive. A new wave of startups with new ideas will emerge.
e: Marshall McCluhan was right, the world has become a global community and one country will have problems enforcing it's laws on the world. Someone please explain that to George W and John A.
In summary the business will change and evolve and will still be here next year but just a little different and maybe running out of Holland.
What do you think?
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