Our Situation... Site for Sale
 

First, for those who haven't heard our home was the subject of a search warrant a little over a week ago. The search warrant was for a zoning violation of the city's ?Sexually Oriented Business? provisions. These provisions were enacted to control the operation of ?retail? establishments that deal in sexually oriented materials, but are being written broadly enough so as to impact adult websites. We were unaware as to these restrictions (which was our own fault) and that is why we were living there. Upon further research, I am seeing this language more and more as I look at other small town zoning ordinances. So, for those who feel that we were just careless or dumb, you might want to look at your own local restrictions. This whole process was initiated by a former member who discovered Jen's real name and address and then began posting it on various places around the web. He had purchased various items and private chats, and after these posting began appearing was repeatedly offered a refund and repeatedly refused. He evidently contacted both the press and the local officials to try and cause as much trouble as possible.

I was contacted by a reporter two days before the ?raid? telling me that they had the information from this person and were going to run a story about fraud. After providing him with copies of emails from this member clearly showing that there had been no fraud and emphasizing to them that the publication of our names and address added nothing to the story and placed my family in jeopardy, we were served with the warrant, and amazingly a photographer from that newspaper was strategically hiding across the parking lot with a telephoto lens to capture the moment as it occurred. Five armed officers in bulletproof vests in unmarked cars had encircled my home and moved in to secure the scene. Contrary to all the bullshit which has been reported, I asked and was allowed to have Jen leave and remove the children from this situation. After they removed and seized computers digital cameras, camcorders, personal records, checkbooks, etc. they left. No charges were filed, no arrests made, no citations issued. I was stunned that the city felt that 5 officers spending 5 hours to raid us for a zoning violation was a reasonable use of their time.

Anyway, that indicated to us that their intent was to push this much further than was reasonable. We felt that the safety of our children was more important than anything else. So at this point we decided that we were leaving their jurisdiction immediately. We got the children out of the state and returned to gather up critical belongings. Obviously, we were paranoid over the whole process, but subsequent news reports and the ridiculous statements made, have justified our decision. Besides, knowing that these ordinances existed we could not in good conscience continue to run the site while there.

That is the basic recap of what occurred. Now to our current situation. As I said we have been researching zoning ordinances in other towns and in many cases are finding similar ordinances. That in conjunction with our identities being ?out there? has lead us to consider selling the site and all the content. That would remove us from operating a ?Sexually Oriented Business? restrictions. The site currently has 65 videos and 115 pic sets and all associated code that I have written. Due to the fact that all raw video and pics were seized, the content on the site is the only version available at this time. During initial press coverage, traffic jumped dramatically and probably will again as further progress occurs in their investigation. We would also consider producing additional content on an ongoing basis, if someone was interested and terms were right.

If you're interested, take a look at the site and contact me.

Thanks,
Mike

Good luck with the sale Mike and Jen.

Sorry to hear that... best of luck!

wow sorry to hear that, hope everything works out.

What a cluster fuck... sorry to see so much trouble being caused for you.

Sorry to hear about the problems and the fact they were caused by this douchebag.

This should be a big message to all site owners though...ALWAYS be aware of your local business ordinances and treat your operation as a business, no matter how big or small you are.

Talk about a crazy stalker. Guy sounds like a total douche bag for causing you all that unneeded trouble. Hope everything goes well you two though.

man bummer.. guess i should pull my links eh.

Mike, sorry to hear that. we were jsut talking about our project couple weeks ago. Good luck with everything bro!

Damn, get out of that hill billy state. The only reason to live there is if you are a pilot for UPS...

Thanks for the support everyone. As far as pulling links, I wouldn't pull them. We are still up and converting. What we are trying to do is work out a way to keep it running and minimize the risk to our family. Pulling links or shutting down the site just gives the assholes what they want. We don't feel there is anything wrong with what we do, nor should anyone in this business! We just want a legal way to continue and someone should be able to capitalize off the publicity that this shit storm is raising.

Thanks,
Mike

goodluck guys!
hope everything goes well for you.

If you are not in KY, disregard my post.

Good luck with your situation. Sounds like a bunch of BS. Hopefully there are some industry heavies that can guide you guys...:thumbsup

Why not just add in a partner out of your area. Put all 2257 info in his name etc, and let him manage it. Give him a percentage of the site. I see no need for you to sell it outright. :2 cents:

Good call Sticky

We'd be happy to look into setting something like that up... get in touch UnCut...

We are Canada based... helps with a lot of things.

The problem comes in with ownership of the business and operating it in violation of zoning. That seems to be the new way to fight porn. If we own a percentage, we are still operating a business. It's a shame cause we have fun with it and it keeps her home with the kids.

Shit like that should not happen to good people.

Hit me up on 293 070 684 - I may be able to help.

I am off to the gym now (5am here) but will be on ICQ by about 9am.

My thoughts are with you both, because the whole situation stinks.

Good luck with the situation....as for the site you're selling, buying such a site
without will probably be hard as apart from the content it has right now it's
very tricky for someone to buy and continue forward with it, unless you sell
the naughty wife with it (which I don't recommend as you have enough problem
s on your hands already to also be deailing with modern slavery).

As suggested before you best think of another way that is more interesting
and less risky for someone to pick it up. A partnership deal where someone
will run the sites for you with a revshare and option where you will keep providing
fresh content and some way where the new partner will buy the
site from his share of the profit that comes in.

This way it's less risky for the buyer and he'll be more assured of getting new
content which will work out for the both of you..

You'll probably get a lot more out of it this way if you can afford to get paid
in full for it over a longer period of time. If you can I would go for this option
as just selling at it is you will have to part from it for peanuts.

All the best!

I wish you both the best of luck with this situation.

Too bad you can't give this persons name, address and where they work to the local media and every available news outlet. I am sure his neighbors will be delighted to know what he was doing.
For all you know he could be some executive for a well known firm or even a school teacher.
That would fix their worthless ass.....:thumbsup

Percentage changes to commission batta bing batta boom. You are now a employee that receives money based on your "sales". Lots of ways around it I would think.

Sorry to hear that.

Webmasters need to pay close attention to zoning laws.

This scenario of houses being raided has happened many times, but webmasters don't seem to learn.

Funny thing is his name and town were published too. If you search around on the net there are some intersting comments being made about him at the moment LOL. But we would never have done it ourselves, that just isn't right.

Back to the top!

hang on

you mean some of you people are still living in the US ?

what the fuck ?

Bump for fast sale!

shitty situation. hope it all works out for the best.

What a mess :( I hope things work out and you find a safe place to live!

Reminds me a bit of the Beckalynn fiasco...

What a disaster for you.

Your right when you say that the local police department having five officers spend five hours on zoning enforcement is a waste of time. However, it's clear from their actions that their intention is to shut down - if not run you out of town.

And it seems to me they are looking for something serously illegal. Thanks to the people who created our industry, drug use was everywhere and considered by product of producing adult content. When the average citizen thinks of a "pornographer", they call up images of men in bathrobes with hairy chests having sex with the 'talent" and lines of coke on the table. Being as you failed to mention them finding any drugs I'm guessing that you are drug free - which is good for you and even more so in this case.

However, this brings up a greater issue - the bulk of us shoot content in private homes. This is in effect running a business from your house, and might not be legal. Content producers around the country should be watching your case with great interest.

If you do decide staying in the business, you should consider moving to California. Thanks to court cases in California in the late 70s and early 80s, it's been decided that it is in fact legal to produce content in the state. In fact, I believe this decision went all the way up the California Supreme court.

I don't think your really in any legal trouble. At the worst you guilty of a zoning violation, you'll receive a small fine, and be told not to operate a business out of your house.

Good luck with everything!

Lindsay, tried ICQ you yesterday. Give me a shout when you can.

Rochard, No drugs. We have 4 kids and don't allow that stuff around them. For content shooters, and even for affiliates (submitting etc.) the wording in these zoning ordinances is vague enough to encompass about anyone in this business. This is more chilling than 2257 in many respects due to the fact that there are many more local enforcement people to "watch" over you. But the combination of 2257 forcing addresses out there and zoning is a real kick in the ass.

Darnit, that story is so full of inaccuracies it's comical: begining with name, ages, and many of their "facts". Many of the broadcasts on TV were about as bad. The ridiculous part is that they claim to have been investigating for 2 months. If they really had issues or "feared" for my kids, what the hell were they doing for 2 months?

Back to the topic at hand, any potential buyers? Hit me up.

you wouldn't happen to have a link to some of these stories, would you?

jesus dude, good luck

Sorry to hear about this.

Makes people wonder how free is really USA.

Talk about getting run out of town! Here's a bump for you.

Thanks again guys. I don't feel right posting links to this guys personal info (I know it's stupid, but I just don't feel right doing it). Like I said earlier, it's pretty scary the overall effect of the zoning ordinances. They declare that "sexually oriented businesses" can only operate in places zoned appropriately, and then state there are no places zoned for it.

Sorry to hear that man, good luck with the sale

xXx

thanks man

Bump for some offers

Noone interested in a complete sologirl/MILF site? Any brokers around? lol.

Hugs,
Jen

Land of the free!

What a bunch of assholes. No matter how careful you are though, the laws in a lot of places have so many wholes that any dick with a bit of info can find some way to fuck with you.

Good luck with everything guys!

Bump, and good luck.

Hi!

I'm realy sory to hear that...
Why you don't move your biz in Europe, NL or other place where you can to keep your business online for long time.

Good luck!

ummm sounds a little bit ... ummm ... you know ;) no reports, no names, so many drama ... sorry ... i had to say this ;)

Have you thought about moving? Good Luck with your sale.

oops sorry man havent found that before, so sorry to hear and welcome in czech republic! :thumbsup

if you can hit me up on icq or any other IM i have listed on my profile

regards
vasilis

Wow, how fucked up is that?

Are you guys going to leave porn for good then?

Also, do you have a ballpark figure of the site?

Hey everybody!! I just seen this thread was bumped. We have not sold the site as we didnt have any REAL interest. Mike was finally served here in NY with a criminal complaint last week and has to appear in court on Wednesday, August 1st. It has been tough as we spoke with a great attorney (Louis Sirkin, who has represented Larry Flint in Cincinnati) and he let Mike know of the Voyeurdorm case which won on appeal in the 11th circut. Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to fight the charges (operating a sexually orineted biz without a permit, and failure to obtain Occupational License. It really sucks that the system works the way they do. We have found many issues with the way this has been handled. It really is tough knowing that he is going to need to plead guilty for somthing that really is not against the law as we can not afford the attorney. There be the update. After court next week I will let all of you know how it turns out. I am sure the media will be there to make up some more stupid shit and publish it, lol.

Hugs,
Jen

Ps the site is still up and converting and retaining (thank goodness:)

50 non sold sites.