Will Criminals In This Industry Bring It Down?

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by Shelleehale

Right now it looks like some of these mainstream scammers will be taking a lot of attention off adult and finally the blame will be shared; actually the way it looks to me the blame meter really goes to mainstream right now. I am trying to follow the money trail with the cj/zango stuff if anyone can help email me... shellee@pornafia.com

Shellee

Oh rest assured there is everything from guys who'll take a rather unethical shortcut to outright thieves in both courts.

There are a couple of differences though. The mainstream guys dont tend to be quite as shameless or prolific. Most mainstream ventures are created with an exit strategy in mind from day one. That exit plan is typically buy out or IPO. For both of those you have to be able to withstand a lot of scrutiny at disclosure time.

Whereas in adult, it's very very tough to exit. Early on we saw a lot of business people come to adult simply because that was the easiest place to monetize internet action. The playing field has levelled quite a bit though, the easy money is gone. There are still business people here, but they're the minority.

Instead, if you look at the sheer number of participants you'll find a ton of college age kids who are quite content to work for beer money in their spare time. And if they ever make enough money to buy a BMW, they consider themselves a success.

Another group you find are those who for whatever reason do not fit in the typical 9-5 corporate world. It could be they just aren't responsible enough to show up for work every day. They could be rebellious. They may not be able to pass a piss test, but for some reason they cant simply go get a corporate job.

Inside both of these groups you find people who are willing to take some chances and may be predisposed to ignore the law and ethics and do what's easiest.

The really dangerous ones to the business though are those who are calculating. They know right from wrong, they are very smart, but they come in the door with a business plan of get as much as you can any way you can and get out. The FTC is ineffective against these type operations and it goes all the way back to Crescent and Xpics. What's a $30 million dollar fine and payback if you made $150 million over the same period? As I said in another thread, it's cost of doing business.