YouPorn!
It was an eventuality you knew was coming:
The latest imitator of You Tube is the aptly named You Porn. It is precisely what its moniker suggests: a Triple X version of YouTube.
Like YouTube, people can upload their own homemade videos. Like YouTube, these video uploads get watched, rated, categorized, and reviewed. Like YouTube, categories include "New Videos," "Top Rated" and "Most Viewed." The oldest video I came across dates back to Saturday, August 26, 2006.
There is, however, one small but crucial difference between YouTube and YouPorn: The latter is all porn all the time. There seems to be a burgeoning number of people -- "Amateurs" in industry parlance -- who have been getting busy videotaping themselves, well, getting busy.
This represents an interesting reversal: For most of the internet's history, Porn was a driving force behind many of the technological advances we have come to take for granted: Streaming media, P2P, online credit card processing, associate programs, micropayments, all found their start (or got a healthy push) from commerical internet porn. This is one of the few instances I can recall where Porn is imitating a mainstream innovation, rather than vice versa (titles of Porn films notwithstanding).
Three legal issues are likely to dog the YouPorn site: First, the name is close enough to YouTube that a trademark issue may arise; Google does't seem to shy away from enforcing their IP. Second, there is enough commercially produced XXX material on the site that the standard copyright infringement issues which are causing problems for YouTube are likely to be similarly problematic.
The potentially stickiest problem I can foresee is the ages of the performers. There seems to be an inordinate amount of very young players here (late teens early/20s) -- and given the explicit nature of the uploaded videos, they may run into a child pornography problem. I would imagine that verifying the ages of all the anonymous performers on YouPorn is an administrative challenge of the highest order.
~~~
Related story: About 7 years ago, I was working on a research project involving Scour -- a P2P video version of Napster. At the time, the MPAA and RIAA was threatening litigation against them. Despite an investment from Michael Eisner, the lawsuits eventually sent them belly up. I never bothered to publish the piece. But the MPAA's participation in the litigation surprised me, since ~90% of Scour's traffic was triple-X rated. Too bad I never published the piece (working title: "Defenders of the Porn!") -- it made the MPAA look foolish.
Ever since that project, very little in the porn industry surprises me.
Which brings me back to YouPorn: The post-Gen Y crowd has a penchant for chronicling their entire lives for all to see online. And as many are learning to their chagrin, digital media is even harder to erase than tattoos; both are likely to be a source of embarrassment in the future. It may even have professional repurcussions ("Miss Jones, we were about to hire you for the research position, but based on this video that surfaced, your skill set is obviously more suitable for sales").
You Porn takes the wages of bad judgement to another level entirely.
\>
UPDATE: March 9, 2007 6:05am
One final note: Would someone please explain to me what parents -- and which plastic surgeons -- are giving 16 year olds breast implants? What is the I thought process (or lack thereof) at work here? I have to admit to being totally stumped. Then again, I don't understand the million dollar sweet 16s.
Any father considering getting his teenage daughter implants would do well to watch this video ("Sexy teen webcam strip") prior to making the purchase. This is what you are setting yourself up for: Creepy boyfriends with video cameras, and permament records of her bad judgment -- and yours.
\>
UPDATE: March 23, 2007 7:05am
Here's a variation for you fans of Japanese animated porn: YouHentai
Thursday, March 08, 2007 | 06:30 PM | Permalink
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Comments
dude...you mean you haven't been using PORNTUBE???
Posted by: SINGER | Mar 8, 2007 6:55:58 PM
Defenders of the Porn? What was the inspiration for that working title?
Posted by: rob_halford | Mar 8, 2007 7:22:12 PM
Given that Scour was mostly Porn Traffic, the MPAA was essentially fighting on behalf of non-Academy commercial porn producers . . .
Posted by: Barry Ritholtz | Mar 8, 2007 7:24:41 PM
Jeez, I think the world has officially gone mad, seriously. On the one hand I've rabid political correctness telling me what to think, say and do and then this crap being displayed for anyone, including young kids to see.
Humans.....where the hell did all the class go?
Posted by: Si | Mar 8, 2007 7:47:39 PM
I'm just glad the internet wasn't around when I was 14. My GPA would've been HORRRRRRIBLE.
Posted by: muckdog | Mar 8, 2007 7:51:18 PM
There seems to be an inordinate amount of very young players here (late teens early/20s)
And you know this... how?
:-D
Posted by: semper fubar | Mar 8, 2007 8:06:46 PM
Uhm Xtube.com has been around for at least a year....
Posted by: dave | Mar 8, 2007 8:09:14 PM
Who knows. One day the internet may decay American society so much that women even dare to go topless at the beach. Just like those savages in Europe. Heaven save us.
Posted by: Bob A | Mar 8, 2007 8:21:03 PM
So there I am on Bellsouth DSL checking out Barry's latest find. Bellsouth which is all over the southeast.
When I notice that in the commercial links over on the right side of the page there's a note in hot red that says, "Hot girls in ..." my little town.
How did they do that? How can they tell that a BS DSL url is located in one small town?
Anyone know?
=============
"then this crap being displayed for anyone, including young kids to see."
Weren't the top edges of all the sex-word-related index cards in *your* high school library card file a lot more worn than the Latin and Greek ones? They were in my local public library, too...
Posted by: Britt | Mar 8, 2007 8:31:58 PM
"And as many are learning to their chagrin, digital media is even harder to erase than tattoos; both are likely to be a source of embarrassment in the future."
Don't you get it Barry?
"embarrassment" is soooo 20th century.
America is entering it's Satyricon phase....
Posted by: brion | Mar 8, 2007 10:07:35 PM
I remember almost getting stampeded about 4 years ago at a library branch when it opened for business. Seems the race was on (all guys) to get to the unfiltered internet terminals. And according to the reference librarian it was a normal day.
One thing is for sure: free, unfiltered interent has brought a group back to the library who wouldn't be there otherwise...
Posted by: Chief Tomahawk | Mar 8, 2007 10:33:47 PM
<>
It all starts in the shoe department.
Posted by: Leisa | Mar 8, 2007 11:52:47 PM
When I notice that in the commercial links over on the right side of the page there's a note in hot red that says, "Hot girls in ..." my little town.
How did they do that? How can they tell that a BS DSL url is located in one small town?
Anyone know?
Britt,
answer 1. We know everything about you as we have since the day you were born. This is an experiment and the studio audience is snikering at your ignorance even now. We were wondering how long it would take for you to begin to catch on
answer 2. Your ip indicates that you are from a certain geographic location. Click here to see a demonstration of what can be known about your general location
Posted by: DavidB | Mar 9, 2007 1:20:59 AM
This makes what, the 250th porn related youtube clone?
Posted by: Adrasteia | Mar 9, 2007 1:31:33 AM
O, Barry! How I love thee! Words cannot express the dandy delight I felt when the word "Porn" appeared as title to your top post!
Incidentally, I have some anecdotal evidence that Wall Street's consumption of porn has increased substantially since last week's Chinese Black Tuesday. Especially the BDSM and rough sex stuff...
Posted by: Sherman McCoy | Mar 9, 2007 2:09:20 AM
Barry,
You amaze me dude. I never would have figured you for a porn junkie. Were you up all night watching porn and trading some Yen? That webcam strip was top notch. I love spanking it in the morning.
Posted by: Sponge Todd Square Pants | Mar 9, 2007 6:21:46 AM
Purely intellectual curiousity -- nothing prurient at all!
The funny thing is, the person who showed me this is a CEO of a respectable internet company who was a former senior management person at a very major (top 5) web company.
The reality is that adult stuff is a vastly disproportionate part of the internet. Too many people ignore this/pretend it doesn't exist, but it is a very significant business.
I cannot afford to let my prudishness (heheh) keep me from learning alla bout what is going on . . .
Posted by: Barry Ritholtz | Mar 9, 2007 7:47:23 AM
dude that chick was born to be a stripper whether her parents like it or not...some people are born to be radiologists others are born to be strippers...she is the latter. She even has the stripper clothes!! Anyhow...how can anyone prove she is underage...and if not they simply have to take it down...it's not their content anyway...they didn’t post it per say...they are still held responsible??
Posted by: DD | Mar 9, 2007 8:21:58 AM
Google's $1.65 billion purchase of Youtube last year allows us to put a price tag on this potentially new and important user-generated content site. Just doing a back-of-the-envelope calculation based on GOOG's purchase price and Youtube's revenue we can get a pretty good estimate of what YouPorn is worth.
* YouTube generated $50 million in revenue last year.
* Online porn generated $2.5 billion in revenue last year.
* By my calculations, based on GOOG's $1.85 bln purchase of YouTube, that makes You Porn worth an estimated $6.73 to $11.46 trillion.
I hope YouPorn does a b-round investment raise. Where do I sign?
Posted by: Kevin Depew | Mar 9, 2007 8:55:10 AM
Britt - click the Borg logo Site Meter box in the lower right hand corner of this blogsite ... incredible amount of info
DavidB - it's not funny ... that powerful tools in the hands of fools make trouble for all
Posted by: greg0658 | Mar 9, 2007 9:02:31 AM
Barry,
You said "The oldest video I came across was" -- oh nevermind, it's just too easy of a setup. :-)
Posted by: Michael | Mar 9, 2007 9:44:09 AM
DavidB - it's not funny ... that powerful tools in the hands of fools make trouble for all
Greg, you can either laugh about it or cry about it. In between makes you a non feeling human....Crying about it is a waste of time considering all the good we can do with that time on the fringes of the madness
My philosophy has always been that if you are not willing to die for what trips off your tongue then what is the point of saying it? If you start there everything gets a lot easier.
Either the state or a bus will get us one day anyway. Most people have wasted their lives worrying about both.
When it finally comes time to stand up and punch some totalitarian in the nose either literally or legally or whatnot(and I don't doubt that day is coming......probably soon)....I'll be there. Until then don't waste lighter fluid setting your hair on fire.
Myriads of Peace to you
Posted by: DavidB | Mar 9, 2007 10:42:01 AM
Fathers giving daughters breast implants?....really,
what a bunch of f*****g morons.
Posted by: Si | Mar 9, 2007 11:09:14 AM
i just watched a bit of that stripper girl....
okay, now who found that erotic? Hands? (boners?)
Didn't do it for me but then again my wife is pretty and i probably think too much...
What i saw was "monkey see-monkey do".
What i saw was nothin more than cultural brainwashing.
Porn has become mainstreamed in a logical progression of the marketing to Americans of TRANSGRESSION! (Remember how everything became "extreme" a while ago? Extreme sports, extreme music, extreme fighting, extreme food,extreme paper towels etc? And Gansta Hip Hop with its' focus on hedonism, uber materialism, violence and self gratification? Or our Politics. "Here. Let's have a war. And NO sacrifices, in fact we'll CUT TAXES! Because...IT's YOUR MONEY!! NOW GO SHOPPING PATRIOTS!!)
The girl is too young to be convincingly erotic but she is just young enough to be brainwashed into aping the current envelope pushing transgression in our culture.
It's pretty sickening really.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not a prude. But some things are best left to the pros.
Posted by: brion | Mar 9, 2007 2:39:19 PM
Brion,
excellent points. I must not be quite as evolved as you though, because I was aroused watching it. I am 19 bid on her age.Which is a sophmore as far as strippers go.
Posted by: Sponge Todd Square Pants | Mar 9, 2007 3:07:45 PM
