You heard it here first, MojoHost now hosts all kinds of tube sites.
 

Hello Everyone,

When I came to the boards about a year and a half ago and publicly declared that MojoHost would not host tube sites which contained unlicensed content this was my sincere effort to help change things. My thinking was that if we took a stand and convinced others to do the same, this would establish some battle lines and have affiliates and program owners voting with their dollars differently and not patronizing the largest hosts of such content. Knowing hosting economics as I do, I have known all along that even these high volume accounts produce little margin to coincide what is usually very high spend. If any large volume of customers would have been driven to move away from any such hosts, these providers would have collapsed financially. It could have helped, perhaps worked.

After much time and effort reaching out to competitor hosts, many of which didn't even host tube sites yet, not a single one would make the same public declaration. I can't be an army of one on all fronts. In the final analysis, the decision was made to not actively seek such business but to manage it responsibly along with all other clientele that we serve.

I brought attorney Corey Silverstein on board for many reasons. Perhaps one small benefit was the creation and effective management of a fast and effective DMCA process. Nobody can make tube sites go away, at least not yet. We host hundreds of tubes with ALL licensed content and a handful of small ones which receive occasional DMCA complaints. To this date, we host very few sites which receive DMCAs and I can count the clients on one hand who receive more than one per month.

Our clientele want and expect our support in the life of their business. It is my mission for us to be the absolute best at what we do and support our clients through good times and bad. With some added traffic volume, we have been able to pro-actively be there for our clients with surprising rate reductions and increased bandwidth allowances to support them far into the future.

The market is extraordinarily competitive and the bottom line is three-fold:

1) Every other host that can sell or provide it already does;
2) I already tried to be the stand-out, it didn't work or change anything;
3) The best thing we can do to support our clients is stay viable, increase service, increase performance and give additional value to customers. I help the 99% of my clients fight back by giving the best price, support and service so they can make their mark and have an ace in their corner supporting positive growth.

We have always had and will continue to have the best neighborhood of clientele, all things considered, in every respect. It would be poor character to not advise of this change of policy after the original public declaration. While we do not host much of this business as a percentage of either clients or revenue, I felt it important to lead by example again and simply be open about this. In discussion with many of our clients large and small already, there is a solid understanding that to serve them best we can NOT be at a competitive disadvantage.

We will continue to be a rock on service, performance, reliability, value and morals far into the future. "Everyone else is doing it" doesn't make the situation ideal or even what I had originally envisioned. Ultimately, our participation is required to a lesser extent to serve our clients immediate financial needs. Ironic, isn't it?

Flame away, be your worst, but don't throw stones in a glass house and not acknowledge the sponsors, billing companies and other hosts who have made this phenomenon an unavoidable travesty of our industry.

Sincerely,

Brad Mitchell

P.S. - Let JFK take you on a tour of our data center by clicking here.

http://www.fubarwebmasters.com/galle...221/z01924.jpg

You have to do what you gotta do and thats all there is to it. You are in biz to make money like the reat of us on here...no flaming from me

I'm surprised I haven't received DMCA's yet. Either that or Corey's getting them and laughs at the people who issue them :)
WG

So, basically, in the end you realised that while your crusade was well-intentioned, business-wise, it was better to do what your competitor hosts had decided to do all along...
:2 cents:

Fair enough attempt, but like they realised, business is business, and if it's illegal, deal with it on an account-by-account basis. Don't shut the shop globally.

the ones that will flame you neither have nor ever will have a server with you anyways :2 cents:

Business is business Brad. Props to you for stating it publicly!

I have a server with Brad. I'm extremely diappointed to hear his decision. That said, I understand it, it's his decision to make, and at least I can say it was stand-up to come in here and explain his decision.

I can totally understand where your coming from and good to see you taking proactive approach and I wouldn't expect less. Keep on doing the great job you guys do! :pimp

I remember you coming to the boards (well, GFY) about this to the end of last year, but I don't remember seeing a post at say WHT.

Just a question - Is mojohost a purely adult-oriented host?

you must do what you must do

this doesn't make sense if you were taking a stand, and were offering a price that was comparable with your competitors would all those programs bitching about the tubes flock to you

being the only host to make the stand should have been a competitive advantage not a disadvantage.

i wonder who gets the most DMCAs per month? lol

i'm with ya brad, fuck the haters

Was good to see you give it a shot. Now make some money.

Brad you probably have one of the most transparent businesses in an industry that has few if any. Just the fact that you are open and honest in what you are doing speaks volumes.

We as business people must understand that there is no such thing as a perfect business model and certainly not one that will work for everyone. The fact that you are up front about the whole situation to me is above and beyond what is necessary but I would expect nothing less from you.

Fight the good fight as best you can and we will all do the same! :thumbsup
_

That's the farce of it all. There isn't great money in hosting this stuff, only volume. This, combined with the financial risk of it's associated clientele running on mostly thin margins themselves. Definitely a slippery slope.

It's having additional volume which enables us to empower the other 99% of our clients to fight back online with the cost side they need to push their business forward.

Brad

Very cool that your upfront about your change in strategy. If your not making that "tube" money someone else will be.

This isn't about "You have to do what you have to do" at all.

Brad, you have been a leader in our industry since the day you stuck your big toe in it. ALWAYS being straight up, informative about your business to your clients and peers and just flat out 100% genuine as a person. Your stand last year was for the best, you were looking out for OUR industry we ALL share and willing to take a hit for it. A true leader if you ask me...

Your right it could have worked if the model stayed the same. But the tube site model is evolving just like it did with TGP and MGP so fuck yea I would accept sites too. There is nothing wrong with that and if anyone flames you... Pfffffffff

The thing I'm most impressed about this thread... That you publically stated what your going to do and the adjustments you have made to your stance last year. Most people would have just gone and done what your doing without saying a word. Your so different dude - It's refreshing seriously.

could'nt have said it better myself:thumbsup

Good luck with the business decision.

I've never had any problem with Tubes and Mojo host has always been great to me. As far as i'm concerned a tube is just a single movie gallery. I LIKE and support the idea of free porn.


My only issue is with stolen content, and DMCA complaints in my opinion are not to be taken lightly.

any host with integrity would investigate any legitimate complaint of stolen content and warn the client on a first occurrence, severely warn on a second occurrence and drop the client if it continues.

Stealing content - whether legal or not, is wrong.

when tgp started a lot of people stole content. I was one of the first to licence everything as an affiliate (not content producer) and helped to start a trend of integrity.

tubes got big fast but are starting the same way as TGP, with illegial content.

The illegal content has to stop.

competition is one thing, theft is another. I have no problem with someone LEGALLY giving EVERYTHING AWAY even if it ruins his competitor, but if he steals - different story and that is wrong.


I encourage MOJO to go after the tube marketplace.
I encourage MOJO to drop clients that steal.

but i can't tell someone else how to run their business.......

If you read it right, it's probably that business wise, he thought the crusade would bring him tons of customers, and it didn't.

You have to do what you have to do, and as long it is legal..... The question is; how will you deal with piracy?

I dont understand why you changed your mind, but that is your business. It looks like you took a stand against tubes, but gave up on the fight because you dident get the result you expected. Business ethics should derive from moral, rather than profit margins

What should matter most in this case anyway, is how you handle the DMCA notifications, and if you handle that well, then I dont see you do anything wrong.

You're always so negative. No, it is as I say it was - we made the stance and attempted to band together other hosts and make a difference. The decision was never about MojoHost being opportunistic, it was us trying to change what has become today's reality with tube sites.

And with regard to bringing us tons of customers, we've earned that ourselves with stellar service and support. I have a wait list on quotes and installations - it's been that way for some time. We have had tremendous growth, far more than our competitors in the last several years.

Just like every other host, we respond to DMCAs aggressively and as much as we can filter out bad clients from good on their way through the door.

Brad

Sweetie sean summed it all up. A lot of this reminds me of the Shap threads.

Here are the facts in general:

- are any of the complainers going to push more traffic to me if i stay away from dealing with "questionable" others? NOPE

- are any of the complainers going to push more traffic to me for being such a top notch dude? NOPE

- If my business starts to goes down because I choose to do right thing 100% of the time, will anyone have my back? NOPE

- If my business is hurting because i can't pay affiliates $2000000 per sale, BUT i'm honest without shady billing and all that, will anyone care? NOPE

Look, no one will tell you how good you are when you're doing the right thing. But they sure come out in droves when the business landscape starts changing.

And the same people complaining are also the same people who 'all of sudden' put their honest views aside and choose a $40 shady payout over a $25-$30 honest payout. It's all just gay.

So Brad, you do what you feel is right for YOUR business. Because in the end, no one has your back BUT YOU. No one is putting food on your table but YOU. Fuck everyones opinion and stick to your guns.

You might lose a few clients just based on a difference of opinion, but you'll gain far more with your integrity, transparency and honesty.

Cheers Brad

some smart reading here, i think we may be back on the right track.

that all sounds nice if you dont plan in being in adult in five years from now. this used to be a recession proof business.

Brad, If you have tube clients that receive one DMCA notice a month - what does that mean? That they steal content once a month? That they "accidently" uploaded something that wasn't theirs - once a month? Or maybe they are full time thieves but only one person a month takes the time to submit a DMCA???

What it looks like to me is that you stood up for something that you believed in. You followed your heart and your morals. Then when none of your competitors would step up to the plate to join you, you crumpled and decided that you would do business with the scum of the earth because if you didn't, they would go to your competitors. Does that about sum it up?

I can appreciate you being so honest and saying that you can't fight the good fight alone. That you'll do business with questionable companies because if you don't, they'll go somewhere else. That you have clients that receive more then one DMCA notice per month. Most hosting companies would not admit that they are happy to do business with thieves & illegal tube sites. At least your honest about it :thumbsup

I think Brad...that you would have a completely different outlook on this situation if you were the one laying out hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to produce content. Content that some of these tubes sites steal and feature for free on their site. Ironically, most of the support that I see for the tubes are folks who have never spent any significant amount of money on content. It's no money out of their pockets so why should they have a problem with it? It's no money out of yours either so that explains why you backed down from your original stance and decided to take the low road.

Obviously, it's been good for business though right? Your company is growing and you are doing well. Get it while you can Brad :winkwink:

wow.... brad - so I can have producers send DMCA's directly to you?

The fact that you will host sites that receive more than 1 DMCA a month is disturbing to me. Why don't you shit can them? They are obviously stealing content, otherwise they would get ZERO DMCA's a month, every month.

He does it because his competitors do it. I think he pretty much spelled it out for us in his post :Oh crap

what the fuck are you yabbing about? do you think google pull the plug on youtube because they get 5000x the amount of DMCA/copyright claims every month

get fucking real

with The large tube sites , and the discounts the hosts are offering them, barely any profit when they have to offer bandwidth at an insane low rate, and the amount of time you have to dedicate to these clients, is it honestly worth it?

Have nothing against tube hosting, but the amount of hours you have to put in for these types of clients is insane.

Plus if they decide to leave you with a big bill not paid thats another thing you have to worry about.

I will be here in many more than 5 years and our clients are safe with MojoHost. I can say with certainty that many competitors won't, all for various reasons. We are fully committed to adult, perhaps one of the few who rather than diversify and lessen the focus on service and support to our vertical has upped the ante in every area.

All of the decisions I made were with our content producing customers in mind. Lest anyone forget, we're already carrying tons of programs and producers on our shoulders through the thick of this. Writing down monthly spend, increasing bandwidth allowances and decreasing overages is how we're helping when this market needs it most. Being flexible to the point of exhaustion, helping people retool and investing our time in counseling the future of their business - that's what I'm busy with. My clients don't need cheap shitty hosting to survive - they need the fortitude and continued excellent service from MojoHost in their corner at a continued great everyday value.

You are certainly entitled to your own view but all of this is very matter of fact for us and as I already stated, a very small percentage of our clients, revenue and actually bandwidth. It was with a heavy heart that we changed policy but that is my charge - to make tough decisions on behalf of our employees, customers, surfers even when they are unpopular. The fact that I have changed my position to be that of every other industry host (with perhaps added discretion) is what I felt that we owed in a public declaration to continue our legacy of complete honesty, transparency and higher road than the rest.

Sincerely,

Brad

Business is business.

At least you are always upfront and candid enough to be transparent about your goals and ambitions as well as caving to market forces. I wish others could say the same.

:2 cents:

Every adult and mainstream hosting company receives DMCA notices. All companies you have ever been exposed to, especially those which specifically market to you and the rest of the adult internet have significant clientele which fall into this category.

Take it a step further, nobody anywhere doesn't do it. If you happen to find a host that won't, they likely don't host adult content, wouldn't be able to make the sale or be capable of fulfilling it technically.


Be nice. Get everyone organized and DMCA these sites out of existence. Right now, that's evidently the legal remedy.


All totally true. Hardly worth it. This will be the eventual downfall of several competitors who are so heavily weighted in revenue, bandwidth and client count that they will eventually trip and fall and be unable to recover. I'm not kidding when I say we don't have much of this business and I can assure you that what we do have has not taken the focus off of supporting our grander clientele. My post isn't to suggest that we've morphed into a different company, just that this exists on our network.

Brad

i've had probally 100 or so since I've been in business and I buy licence to ALL my content.

there are a lot of jealous people out there, and people that just want you to go down.

(none turned out to be real by the way)

You just said Brad all the hosts that host adult do it and I have no doubt.The sad thing is adult made these hosts and now they are helping give it away. You seem like a nice guy but this whole thing makes me sad. this industry is killing it self. Its nice at least your upfront most arent.

That is why ToeJo is an industry leader.

:thumbsup

Brad, just to be crystal clear on this. You are happy to take payment for hosting services from a content-producer - and then take payment from an illegal tube site that stole his content and using it on their site? And then, come right out on GFY and tell the world that you are doing it because all of your competitors do it and that even though it's morally wrong, we should respect you for being honest?

I just want to make sure that I'm crystal clear on your approach here. I don't have anything against you - never met you and have never had any run ins with you so I'm not trying to attack you. Just trying to gain a clearer understanding of what's rolling through your head...that's all :thumbsup