5 ms·

You say "porn is avidly pirated", as if that's a distinction that is unique to porn. Every single media type on the internet is avidly pirated, except the ones

by emmett 17y ago

You say "porn is avidly pirated", as if that's a distinction that is unique to porn. Every single media type on the internet is avidly pirated, except the ones which are annoying to digitize like books - and even those more and more are pirated. Your point about the collapse of the cost of production for porn is a good one though. That's really hurting the industry's profits.

brianto2010 17y ago
> ...as if that's a distinction that is unique to porn. No, the argument was that like other media, porn is avidly pirated. However, it doesn't embrace DRM like other media. It is a compare/contrast.
- omgsean 17y ago
  Does DRM have a measurable effect on piracy rates?
anigbrowl 17y ago
This is quite true, and I didn't put my point across very well - I apologize for all the hand-waving and sweeping statements. I see porn as a bit different from other content in 3 ways: 1) it's smutty, so it's not worth much of the industry's time/money to serve DMCA takedowns or RIAA-type lawsuits, since they're unlikely to gain much public or legislative sympathy; 2) distribution is very fragmented - 80 distributors serving approx. 8000 adult stores in the US; and 3) branding is relatively weak, due to the factors above. These differences put a lot of pressure on content providers and limit their growth potential (quiet there at the back). The reason I think this matters, in the context of the OP, is that with such a fragmented market it's difficult to identify serious long-term investment opportunities. I think the most successful adult product in the last year or two was some 'male enhancement' pill marketed on cable TV, which isn't content-related at all. For porn media, the market is like thousands of independent or small-chain bookstores that sell fanfiction-quality-dreck right alongside premium offerings, creating an inexorable trend towards lowest-common-denominator content. since advertising opportunites are limited (porn mags and websites) providers have to produce a constant amount of relatively low-profit material, rather than being able to follow a more traditional launch & cash-in cycle like movies or pre-internet porn where the barriers to market participation were higher. tl;dr the unique distribution challenges in the porn industry significantly limit profit margins compare dot other media. All IMHO.

by emmett 17y ago

brianto2010 17y ago

> ...as if that's a distinction that is unique to porn. No, the argument was that like other media, porn is avidly pirated. However, it doesn't embrace DRM like other media. It is a compare/contrast.

omgsean 17y ago
Does DRM have a measurable effect on piracy rates?

anigbrowl 17y ago

This is quite true, and I didn't put my point across very well - I apologize for all the hand-waving and sweeping statements. I see porn as a bit different from other content in 3 ways: 1) it's smutty, so it's not worth much of the industry's time/money to serve DMCA takedowns or RIAA-type lawsuits, since they're unlikely to gain much public or legislative sympathy; 2) distribution is very fragmented - 80 distributors serving approx. 8000 adult stores in the US; and 3) branding is relatively weak, due to the factors above. These differences put a lot of pressure on content providers and limit their growth potential (quiet there at the back). The reason I think this matters, in the context of the OP, is that with such a fragmented market it's difficult to identify serious long-term investment opportunities. I think the most successful adult product in the last year or two was some 'male enhancement' pill marketed on cable TV, which isn't content-related at all. For porn media, the market is like thousands of independent or small-chain bookstores that sell fanfiction-quality-dreck right alongside premium offerings, creating an inexorable trend towards lowest-common-denominator content. since advertising opportunites are limited (porn mags and websites) providers have to produce a constant amount of relatively low-profit material, rather than being able to follow a more traditional launch & cash-in cycle like movies or pre-internet porn where the barriers to market participation were higher. tl;dr the unique distribution challenges in the porn industry significantly limit profit margins compare dot other media. All IMHO.