The model where you get a movie on DVD in the mail is pretty big.

Does this model exist for adult films? Shouldn't it? It's a huge business. If it doesn't, why not? Are these movies more likely to get stolen at the post office? Are there licensing issues in terms of rental?

Bill?

the biggest issue with adult/XXX in the online/mail business model is the "community standards" part of the obscenity law. laws vary widely from community to community, city to city, state to state. what is "legal" in one part of town could be ruled "obscene" in another community just 5-10 miles away. the obscenity law is known as a "three prong test." in order for something to be legally "obscene" (remember "pornography" is perfectly legal, "obscenity" isn't) all three of these standards must apply (but, in "b" it is the communities interpretation of a state law, which make it even more confusing);
a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest,
b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and
c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

it would be virtually impossible to track all of the local ordinances when shipping into all of those different communities. and if a title was found to be obscene, and you fulfilled that order from a warehouse in another state, it would then also become a federal crime (possibly along with still being a state, county and/or city/community) for inter-state trafficking/distribution of obscene materials. which would be bad. very bad. and expensive. very expensive.

also the dealing w/minors part is a big issue. you have the problem w/minors having access to the "adult" material due to the lack of control w/the mail. to protect yourself as a retailer you have to ensure that you deliver (and receive, you can be found guilty of receiving adult material from a minor if you even accept the return of "X" rated product from a minor, it's an acknowledgement that they were in possession the product) the movies only to those 18 and over.

those are the major issues that i would see.

Thanks Bill, although you just killed my business idea that was going to make me millions

One thing I've found different in the U.S. than Canada is the difference in laws from state to state. In Canada the laws are much more standard across the country. There are pros and cons both ways, just an observation.

Cheers,

Interesting topic.

Bill, don't the local laws regarding "obscenity" and the laws regarding age requirements apply already, though, to R-rated and NC-17 movies? Seems that the issue is already there, but perhaps just not getting much scrutiny?

Lame. What's wrong with "if you think it's indecent/obscene, DON'T FREAKING WATCH IT."

I mean, the networks censor award speeches that don't even have profanity in them...it's really not hard to avoid seeing a naked body part if it offends you that much.

Also, you can pass bullshit "decency" legislation to keep people from buying a copy of Penthouse with their slurpees, but can you really enforce that with private mail? Doubtful. (nor do I think that would be constitutional, although I'm sure the conservative court might decide otherwise by a 5-4 margin) There's hundreds of stores that sell adult DVD's, and I'm sure if you pay for their product, they'll ship it to you no matter where you are. And I'm sure most of them ship in fairly anonymous packaging, since I doubt anyone would order from a place that will ship a box to them that says "HEY, THIS IS PORN!" in big letters on it.

I'm not really planning on doing a lot of research into this , but I'd be surprised if there WASN'T already an adult version of Netflix out there somewhere. Then again, the porn industry is worth billions so there's probably room for some competition.

If this ever does happen, they should mail them in plain brown wrappers, that'd be some funny shiznit.

I definately think the whole "no due dates, no late fees" would really be taken advantage of. *snort*

Oh, yeah, please do...!

Peter, thanks... but I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek. Not my cup of tea really, but enjoy!

yeah sure troy, or was "tongue-in-cheek" the name of the last dvd you rented from this service.

Thanks Peter It's a multi-billion dollar industry so it's nice to meet someone else who actually admits to renting them.

Bob

p.s. I inhaled too

That's a perfectly valid point, I think.... but I don't rent 'em, never have. Wonder who else has or hasn't? Sounds like a poll question...

Many, many years ago... in a galaxy... nevermind.

Last time I saw one was before marriage. We (K and I) went out to dinner with a couple who were friends of ours and came back to their condo. The guy proceeds to ask if we "want to watch a movie"? We say sure, and on comes this porno. Seriously...

The very definition of AWKWARD.

Never had the desire to EVER watch one again.

Eeesh.
J

good point bob. yes, there is a huge market for it, over the years it has become more "mainstream" though a very concerted effort within the "industry."

how "mainstream" has it become you may ask? well...a little known fact, until recently (when they divested themselves of hughes) general motors corp was the single largest distributor of porn in the world, through their wholly owned subsidiary, hughes satellite. and the largest "retailer(s)" of porn are the hyatt & hilton corporations and the hotel industry in general. all (well, other than the continuing paris hilton saga), high profile, traditional, well respected, publicly traded businesses.

No, no.... that was "Tongue-in-Sheik." An Arab porno...

OK, so...

Like you for example? Not that that's a bad thing, but say what it is if so.... I mean, you joined this forum the day you made your first post in this thread, you've only ever posted IN this thread, and your "homepage" in your profile is set to the porn site you're advocating. You're either a stakeholder in the business or a big, big fan of it.

...

Well, I see that "Peter"'s posts have been deleted, but unfortunately his links still remain in quoted text. Any chance those could be altered in some way? Or should I just leave my nose out of it?

I'm pretty sure most of those companies have employees who's sole job is to spam forums/myspace/websites/etc with ads for their porn/dating/adult site.

It's quite possible this thread turned up in Google under the right search parameters, which is probably how he found it.

I was pretty shocked when 'peter' came back and posted a second time...he must be getting paid extra.