The Content Protection Retreat Absolutely BLEW Me Away!
 

I was very hesitant to go. I thought it was going to be like most industry events, a lot of fluff and no substance. That said I can't tell you how happy I am that I decided to go. Without a doubt the most educational and most important event I've ever attended.

As someone who spends a lot of money on content I was embarrassed at how little I knew and how little I was doing to protect my content. The main reason I did so little was because I didn't realize the options and tools that are available to content owners.

The only sad part about the Content Retreat was the demographics. I think 90% of the attendees were gay content owners. It's a shame the straight side isn't doing more.

Thanks again to Allison and the Pink Visual crew for putting this together, inviting me and encouraging me to go. I highly recommend all content owners to find a way to attend a future retreat. It's not about just one company doing something, if each of us start doing something to protect our content we can start making a difference for everyone.

gay side of the biz has always been more business savvy

by 'more' i mean in proportion

(mostly)

Nice review. Thanx for the info.:thumbsup

What were some of the highlights?

and what new measures will you be considering?

Gay only content owners / sponsors are light years ahead of straight / mixed content owners and sponsors... In all aspects, affiliate tools, promotion, listening to the members, interaction with the members, giving the members exactly what they want and in what format they want it... To name just a few things... They always seem to go that extra mile to make shit work all-round... Is it because they are more focused ? or is it the gay persons mindset ?

I know there is a few exceptions in the straight niche that do so also, but it is very "few"

They had a 2nd one?

http://www.rachelleb.com/images/queer_eye.jpg

Can't wait to see some positive results... :thumbsup

ADG

i hope kink.com people were there too :)

Damn,i wish i could go,is there anywhere online to see what was told there?

Was is videotaped for release (ala TED talks) or are they protecting their content. (OMG I just went there)

Sinclair

So fucking true fine sire. Open up any monthly edition of XBIZ.
:2 cents:

did ya have a chance to tkae that walk on the wild side? :1orglaugh:helpme:pimp

Yes they did, during the Xbiz LA show, no media no pictures were allowed. It was workshop style, you had to be there for both days, in order to really get the full benefit of it.:2 cents:

Thanks Shap, we were glad you were able to make it and benefit from the knowledge and discussions shared.

Good to talk to you at XBiz, you have mail. (:

you have to be kidding. for affiliate tools for most gay programs you are lucky to get a working link code. very hobbyist and cottage industry.

I expect there will be a third meeting in a few months as the anti-piracy efforts continue to develop new methods, legal positions and goals.

Thank you Allison for all your hard work. Your efforts are appreciated.

did brazzers show?

For the vast majority of site fighting piracy is pointless. They all have the same content and if Studio A bothers to fight, Studios B, C & D won't bother and the downloaders will still have a great selection.

For a few sites it makes sense. Because they have something that's unique and if the devotee wants it he has to buy it.

This is without even entering the debate of legal piracy like "User upload" sites. Unless you can sue the uploader in the Philippines.

The cat is out of the bag and it's kittens are having kittens.

you are safe from piracy simply because no one wants to download a broken record.

Is that the best reply you could make?

Maybe I have said it before, but is it right or wrong?

Doing something accomplishes more than doing nothing.

Btw I don't think it's a coincidence one of the companies growing in sales happens to be a company who's brand is well promoted but content hard to find.

Thanks Shap and all the other attendees for their participation and feedback. It's very hard to get across what the event is about because as Shap said there really haven't been any similar events in this industry.

Our position around the Content Protection Retreat is around education, collaboration and options. With knowledge about the problems, our rights as copyright holders, and services that provide solutions, each company can determine the best mix of strategies for their company.

Regarding some of the other comments on piracy in general. Here is my opinion:

Piracy is part of being in the business of producing media, but ignoring it is one of the worst things we can do. Just like department stores have to deal with shop-lifting on an ongoing basis and consider that as part of the business, they put things in place to minimize it from happening in the first place, create ways to catch it when it does happen, and follow through with consequences to those that steal from them. They also upgrade their technology to deal with it and I'm sure they update their policies to reflect their legal rights.

It's that simple. But to continue the department store analogy, each department store is responsible for their own policies, but as more and more department stores create consistent policies, the more they contribute to the overall commercial culture & consumer perception that:

1) Stealing has consequences
2) Gettting the item for free is a hassle
3) Buying the item has value in itself (quality, convenience, risk-free, etc)

I'm sure department stores still have theft going on, but it's reduced to a minimum.

And I dunno, but when a piracy site is ordered to pay $110 Million in damages, like what the MPAA did with TorrentSpy 2 years ago, I would think they made it incredibly inconvenient for them and others probably think twice about opening up similar business models.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...es-to-mpaa.ars

People will claim (especially those on the other side like Torrent Freak) that the MPAA and RIAA's efforts aren't working, but I would disagree because the average person does purchase movies and music. In my opinion, it's the adult industry's strategy of doing pretty much nothing that didn't work because it's resulted in the average consumer thinking porn is free. (see user comments on https://youtube.com/watch?v=U114qDMORFM

However, our industry mobilizes fast and we've seen a lot of action and we're seeing a shift in both site-operator and end-user perceptions in a positive way. So I encourage all studios to seek the information about copyright infringement, copyright holders' rights, and anti-piracy services that are catering to the adult industry.

the only content you like is corny old styles from the 80s and 90s. you don't get the current tastes of todays porn consumer. and since you don't get it you think all the current problems adult has is because of current content styles.

it's like blaming the decline in cd sales on the fact that music today doesn't sound like benny goodman.

initials please! or just name the company - off the top of my head I can't think of a popular paysite that's content is hard to find on forums.

how many full length brazzers videos you see on the tubes?

tube shmubes - Hotfile, Filesonic, Fileserve, Rapidshare's servers are filled with Brazzers content.

file sharing sites are worse than tubes - i get a shitty Flash video on a tube site, file sharing sites I get the same file a paying member gets.

especially solo girl site niche because photo content is still very popular.

From a pornhub poster :1orglaugh

Pornhub deleted his account, but moved all the videos we didn't DMCA to
their anonymous account.

http://www.pornhub.com/users/WasHereBefore (his new profile)

Hi,
My account has been removed as you can see by Pornhub. The videos that I have upload are still here but with the account 'Anonymous'. You have to be friends with this Robot Account to watch the private videos that was on my profile before. That's what happen with your videos when you delete your profile or when you got delete by Pornhub

http://www.pornhub.com/users/anonymous - Full of "attendee" content

FYI - It was US who had this guy's account canned. Props to Nate, with takedownpiracy.com, for giving the us the information.. therefore allowing us to forward to media.

yep it's called Loss Prevention and it's a big part of all their businesses.

ok THAT was funny :1orglaugh

Agreed, doing something is better than doing nothing.

But what will it cost to protect content that's no different from content on dozens of other sites?

Would it be cheaper and better to sell to produce content that isn't duplicated on site after site. Or content that has little innovation, imagination or even skill to produce?

The EASIEST thing today is to put up a website, even I can do it LOL. The next easiest thing to do is to point a camera at a girl/guy. Then design is next and the hardest thing to do is market a site that's got loads of content with little going for it.

So the industry spends the most time and money on doing the marketing. When it comes to innovation, imagination and skill it's all there in the marketing.

Protecting your content against pirates will cost money. The ROI will be small if the content isn't worth protecting.

FYI - There is a reason we are not involved with this effort and I am not going to get into why on this board. It has nothing to do with the participants in any way. In fact, I wish we could've been there. Due diligence and inside information is all I am going to say.

yeah i figured that out the moment i posted and reread you post. you're right.

The current style is to pay little, for the most quantity and anyone can shoot porn.

If you have porn that's good an individual you can protect it from pirates. If it's a clone of everyone else's porn there's little point. The user will watch someone else.

It's like if every band sounded like every other band.

But I see that's too complicated for you grasp.

Here some more information. One of the companies, in attendance there, who essentially ripped me off in concept and pricing (not uncommon these days) claims to remove from thepiratebay. I have some dated ICQ logs with this proof. They also represent several other companies, by default,who have been ripping off our own clients for years. Another individual, who is involved with one of partners of this group, is also ripping off another client. In fact, I just got off the phone with them (regarding theft) two days before going to Xbiz to meet some folks. No fucking way am I going to partner with them.. and when I say "them".. again.. I am not referring to any of the studios involved. :2 cents:

Hey Shap, it was great to see you in LA. :)

Stewie and I went to the first CPR last year, and I completely agree with your comments. It was the most informative and productive industry event we have ever attended. Allison and her team did an amazing job creating a non-biased, open atmosphere that was truly educational and encouraged the sharing of ideas. Plus, this wasn?t just for the big studios? There was a ton of useful information and strategies for programs of any size. The only difference I can see, based on your comments, is that we had more straight companies at the first one. If they announce plans for a CPR3, and you?re a site or program owner that missed the first two, I would highly recommend that you sign up.

I'm sure that any porn made with that attitude in mind will come out top notch.

Imagine if the studios caught Youtube doing something like this in 2011. It would almost certainly provoke a lawsuit. BTW, each time I see something incriminating posted here or where a link was provided I have made an effort to take a screen shot of it and have it on file. I hope you guys are doing the same if not something better such as having it notarized. It may come in handy one day. :)

Or maybe having a smaller share of the buying/affiliate demographic simply requires more
work and they can't just "wing it" like non-gay.


But people would have to stop trying to attribute someone's work ethic to
their sexual orientation in order to make such simple and obvious deductions as
I have.

:2 cents:

There's SO MUCH MORE going on, behind the scenes, that obviously won't be presented at ant public seminar. Trust me.. those that need to know do... at least on this end.

Vendors at the Content Protection Retreat have the option to showcase their services via quick introductions and meet with potential clients independently. The Content Protection Retreat does not revolve around promoting specific vendors or law firms, but we do have a no drama policy so we require all attendees, panelists, and vendors to act professionally with each other. Any anti-piracy service that meets those expectations could register to attend.

From a studio and client perspective, drama amongst anti-piracy service providers is counter-intuitive to moving the industry in a more positive direction. Actually, the more competition that exists for anti-piracy services catering to adult the better. In my opinion, increased competition in that area contributes to having additional options, services being forced to improve their services to remain competitive, and it drives rates down. The behind the scenes drama is frustrating for any business (we all deal with it), but it doesn't matter too much to a client who will primarily be focused around the results and the quality of service.