-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from: http://www.routledge-ny.com/cgi-tin/framedisplay.cgi?/cgi-tin/hotdisplay.cgi?0 415920965 Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.routledge-ny.com/cgi-tin/framedisplay.cgi?/cgi-tin/hotdisplay .cgi?0415920965">Routledge N.Y. Online : Hot Titles</A> ----- Obscene Profits The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age By: Frederick S. Lane Routledge, New York 12/1999 272 pages 6 x 9 Cloth ISBN: 0415920965 $27.50 (US) $39.50 (Canada) Qty: OBSCENE PROFITS The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age by Frederick S. Lane III "[Lane] offers a fascinating and informative look at the business of porn-ography and the boost it has gotten from technology. Telephones, VCRs, computers, and, especially, the Internet have increased privacy and reduced the potential for public embarrassment and prosecution . . . Lane looks back on the history of pornography for fun and profit, from early fetishes found in archeological digs to Ben Franklin's little-known contributions to current video games that titillate with sex and violence." -- Booklist "[Lane] provides a timely case study of the business and economics of pornography. What makes this an interesting study is that with the advent of VCRs and the Internet, barriers to pornography's market entry were effectively bulldozed . . . The book is written in such a way that parallels can be made to other Internet enterprises." -- Library Journal In May 1997, the Wall Street Journal ran a feature article on the business skills of Danni Ashe and her success in using a new medium-the Internet-to sell sexually explicit images of herself and other models. A subheading proclaimed "Lessons for the Mainstream." The Journal article concluded with an impressive recitation of the site's yearly revenues: "The pay site boasts 17,000 members, putting Ms. Ashe on pace for more than $2 million." Our fascination with economic success fuels the media coverage of the online porn business. For instance: "How to Make $$$$ with XXX (Wired); "More Buck for the Bang (Newsweek); "Sex on the Net: Small Operators Can Make Big Killings on the Web (USA Today); and "Smut Purveyors Find Profits Online (New York Times). Why is porn so popular? So lucrative? So legitimate? OBSCENE PROFITS: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age by Frederick Lane, is a social and technological history of the porn industry. Lane traces the developments that have made it possible for a former stripper to be profiled in an unabashedly positive front-page article in the Wall Street Journal. The combination of an enormously successful sexual entrepreneur (Hugh Hefner), a well-attended sexual revolution, government deregulation, First Amendment politics, and a steady flow of technological innovations to increase the privacy of pornographic consumption have significantly reduced or eliminated much of the stigma attached to pornography. The porn industry makes $10 billion in total annual revenue (equal to what Americans pay for sporting events and live music performances combined). Baby boomers have made pornography a full-blown sector of the American economy. A series of technological advances (including "Dial-It" 900 numbers, voice mail, Xmodem, computerized bulletin board systems, Usenet, Hypertext Markup Language, Internet Relay Chat, and Web Cam) have revolutionized the pornographic industry. It is now very easy for virtually anyone to become a producer and distributor of sexually explicit materials. For less than $200, for instance, someone can purchase a camcorder, make a videotape of him or herself in the nude or having sex, send the video to a distributor of amateur videos, and earn royalties on its sale. Although the initial investment is higher, the cost of distributing sexual images across the Internet is even lower -- and the potential return is far greater. With over 60,000 adult websites online, it's undeniable that a lot of people -- a lot of ordinary people -- have recently decided to become porn entrepreneurs. About the Author Frederick S. Lane III is an attorney and founder of Pro Se Computing, Inc., a computer consulting firm. He is the also the publisher of the Journal of Electronic Discovery and Internet Litigation. He lives in Burlington, VT. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. 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