Adult Industry Anti-Piracy Org. Established!

Finally, the adult industry is responding the blight of video piracy:

For Immediate Release

ADULT INDUSTRY TRADE ORGANIZATION ESTABLISHED TO FIGHT INTERNET PIRACY

Appoints Industry Veteran Caryn Goldberg as Interim Executive Director

Los Angeles, CA, July 10, 2007—Leaders in the adult entertainment industry are banding together to form an independent, not-for-profit trade organization, the Global Anti-Piracy Agency (GAPA), to work on behalf of the industry to combat theft of intellectual property.

Millions of illegal downloads from file sharing networks, pirate servers, websites and hacked computers, as well as illegally duplicated DVDs sold through auction and other websites, cost adult industry producers, distributors, retailers and VOD providers an estimated $2 billion a year in revenue. By identifying and stopping intellectual property thieves and taking legal action against them; by lobbying U.S. and international government bodies to put in place, strengthen and/or enforce piracy laws; and by educating industry members and consumers about the impact of piracy, GAPA will fight back.

Spearheading the cause is Eric Johnson, President of Sureflix Digital Distribution, Inc., parent company of the Maleflixxx global VOD network. Johnson, who is serving as Chairman of the Board of GAPA, said, "Sureflix is committed to providing initial and ongoing support to enable the long-term survival of the organization. We're looking to members of the adult industry for organizational and financial support to ensure that GAPA becomes an effective and independent organization. Towards that end, we've appointed Caryn Goldberg, a well-respected leader in the adult entertainment industry, as Interim Executive Director."

GAPA has filed for non-profit status with the IRS and will be setting up permanent offices and staff in Los Angeles this summer. An independent Board of Directors will oversee operations and an annual budget, which will be raised through member contributions.

Goldberg, formerly President and Publisher of gay adult entertainment powerhouse, SpecPub, Inc., said, "Adult content producers, distributors, retailers and online providers are facing an inescapable truth. Piracy not only affects sales volume, it puts downward pressure on the price consumers are willing to pay for adult content. GAPA will be the adult entertainment industry's watchdog. We'll fight piracy at every level."

For more information about GAPA, contact Caryn Goldberg, Interim Executive Director, at 818-287-8383.

Im not sure how i feel about this to be honest.

On one hand, im happy that another anti-piracy organization has been created.

On the other, i feel its just another organization claiming to look out for the industry in order for hard working webmasters to 'donate' in the name of a cause.

Hopefully time (and positive results) will tell if this is anything more than just another attempt to extort money out of the individuals and companies in the industry under the guise of 'defending' it.

Regards,

Lee

How will this cover newzbin, USENET and IRC

Look at it this way... anything that provides a forum for the industry to speak with one voice and has some influence over policy and legislation is a good thing.

FSC may not be perfect, but I do think that the defeat (so far) of .xxx and the negotiations that have resulted in the significant changes to the new 2257 regs are due in significant part to FSC's actions.

I suspect that the adult industry is the ONLY trade group with the large volume of business it has that has no trade group and no organized lobby in Washington... and that's one of the reasons it keeps getting stepped on. This is a small step in the right direction.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gaybucks_chip

I suspect that the adult industry is the ONLY trade group with the large volume of business it has that has no trade group and no organized lobby in Washington... and that's one of the reasons it keeps getting stepped on. This is a small step in the right direction.

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Chip,

We did have a lobbyist in Washington, the FSC decided that the lobbyist wasnt worth keeping.

Regards,

Lee

This new organization is desperately needed and BananaGuide will be supporting it however we can. Why not give it a chance before you pass judgement, Lee?

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Originally Posted by BananaMan

Why not give it a chance before you pass judgement, Lee?

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I never passed judgement, i actually said that im both happy and sceptical about it until it has been given a chance to prove to us that they have our best interests at heart.

Regards,

Lee

Well I think this is great news. I admire Eric Johnson for creating an outstanding VOD company, Sureflix. I'm confident that this organization, with good focus and talent, could be effective.

To expand on what Chip said --- Combating piracy is a separate mission from the Free Speech Coalition's - and it's extremely unfortunate that something as basic as a lobbyist cannot be maintained to advocate our views in the US Congress. That alone speaks pretty clearly about the FSC and the organization of the adult entertainment industry.

Steve

Quote:

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GAPA will be the adult entertainment industry's watchdog. We'll fight piracy at every level.

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Sounds good, but these are empty words until they come forward with a plan that will actually be productive.

Being that a great deal of porn piracy is taking place right next to music piracy, it's a little far out there to believe GAPA is going to successfully shut these places down when the RIAA and MPAA (with their huge budgets) aren't even making a dent.

This, to me, is just a publicity stunt to get certain names in lights.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Matt 26z

This, to me, is just a publicity stunt to get certain names in lights.

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Kind of like a Company Branded PSA

Well, it would be nice if it does pan out. The folks at Sureflixx are a bit more savvy I think than the lawyers running the FSC. imho.

And I would not be giving the FSC so much credit for the defeat of the XXX TLD either. I would say it was the barrage of emails from ordinary webmasters that turned the tide on that, and I know that where I heard about XXX was not from any FSC member going around posting about it, but from ordinary folks that had heard of it.

I don't recall seeing any galvanization by the FSC leadership on the boards I frequented, and I suppose that doesn't mean they didn't, but somehow, only time I have seen them, is when they are looking for money.

my nickels worth. :kickcan:

yeah. that organisation will probably achieve better results than the billion dollar movie and music industry has.:broccoli:

Dream on guys.

I'm just glad Caryn Goldberg landed a new job!

Does anyone know if this is part of the organization the FSC has just setup trying to solicit donations from the adult industry to fight piracy instead of free speach?

I just find it strange that an organization who has totally failed us in fighting free speach issues thinks they will be any more successfull fighting piracy when they are already spread to thin $0.02

If this isnt the same group, why the fuck do we need two anti-piracy organizations, isnt that just, well, stupid?

Regards,

Lee