Thursday, August 10th, 2000

Randy West, Frank Towers & Steven St Croix

Chris writes: Randy West was recently seen at the Santa Monica Hooters looking like a worn out surfer/used car salesman ogling all the waitresses. He was there with some white trash looking guy in a cut-off t-shirt.

Apparently Frank Towers works out at the Gold's Gym... For some reason his arms are at least 3 shades darker than the rest of his body. Given his physique, steroids are not out of the question.

And for the biggie, apparently life outside of porn isn't all it's cracked up to be as Steven St. Croix is now working as a bartender at a Mexican restaurant up in Topanga Canyon. How the mighty have fallen...

Throwing Stones at Bees Nests aka the Flying Crocodile Controversy

My site thrives on allowing porners to go back and forth with each other. I rarely weigh in with my own opinions.

I freely admit that I do not practice the tenets of good journalism but rather cut and paste from what people send me. Most journalists would probably consider my approach unethical.

At one time when I wrote on this industry, I tried to practice good journalism. I eventually found that it was a more effective way to get at the truth by allowing a free for all, and creating a circus like atmosphere of accusations and counter accusations on my site.

I also do not pretend to work in the best interests of the porn industry, video or internet or whatever. On balance, I consider the porn industry destructive. I don't know whether or not it should be legal. I have no interest in fostering industry unity.

CzechJewishChick: You just like chucking stones at Bee's nests then making a run for it.

LF: There are institutions in America that I care about, such as organized religion and the Boy Scouts, but porn is not one of them.

For months I've published stuff on Andy Edmond's Flying Crocodile Incorporated operation, which owns SexTracker.com and YNOTnetwork.com. Andy recently testified before a federal government panel on controlling child porn.

A source hostile to FCI writes me:

Luke, FCI info. If you use it, use it anonymously please. It is rumored that:
1. FCI is over 1 million behind in paying their bills and barely met payroll again this month. Supposedly they are billing sponsors like crazy trying to get money in. (Intresting side note) We'll have to see if the payments for the counter he purchased are on time this month or if they are "still auditing" as was claimed. We should all call our creditors and tell them we can't pay our bills this month because we're auditing the checkbook and see how far that flies.
2. The VP of Operations resigned.
3. The CFO was fired (this is the new CFO appointed after the "Friday Shakeup" on the 16th when the old CFO stepped down.
4. Another key, long term employee is rumored to be giving their resignation.
5. MoneyTree cancelled some advertising. This could be because they can't afford advertising now or it could be because they want to take MoneyTree out of the limelight because of an earlier report that MoneyTree didn't track or pay webmasters for half their traffic that FCI sent to paysites without webmasters knowing it.

The corporate structure, its' hefty payroll, and ultimately Andrew Edmond's ego and lack of leadership abilities could very well be the downfall of the company.

"Andrew has alienated FCI to many people in the adult industry. This alienation will likely doom any attempt to control 20% of the adult industry world-wide as is Andrew's goal."

Andrew went before Congress to testify that he is a leader in the Adult Industry and that he knows how to eradicate Child Porn from the adult internet, when FCI hosts Child Porn on its' servers and has Child Porn websites using its' counter. Andrew can't or won't eradicate it in his own back yard. Andrew has no answers. His ego and his own personal "look at me" mentality is the compelling factor that took him before Congress. It should be noted that it was peer pressure from content providers such as John Copeland about websites using stolen, copyrighted images that forced him to have IQCheck built. Had peer pressure not forced this, he would not have had (what is not much more than a glorified email form) IQCheck built. He's trying to talk Congress into making his program an "industry standard" (translation, "my stuff on your site by law")

This is not the corporate resume of someone I'd ask his views on how to eliminate Child Porn. This is also not my choice of someone who should go before Congress to "represent the adult community".

Andrew is not a leader in the Adult Industry. He runs FCI and taking the above things into consideration, you'll have to come to your own conclusions about how well he does that.

FCI responds: "We do not agree with this misinformation and slanted tactics by certain adult industry insiders in an effort to undermine our business. Nor do we condone these persons providing this information behind the veil of anonymity. We believe these sources are individuals who are obviously biased in their beliefs and that wish FCI harm. Therefore, we clearly and unequivocally state these claims have no merit whatsoever."

XXX: The spin never ends. Ask the powers that be at FCI how they can explain that you got the anonymous email from an FCI IP address. That should shut him up.

Cybererotica Controversy

XXX writes: Luke, I think the free hosting that Cybererotica is providing you is slanting your style. You need to ask Ron Levi about how his shaving has cost him what was once the largest webmaster program on the net. This guy is a piece of work.

He used to come on and say how he was paying everyone for every signup etc. Well, then he disappeared for a while and all of a sudden everyones ratios went in the toilet. Then someone posted on one of the web boards about signing up and not getting credit for his own signup. Apparently this guy signed up and cancelled. Then he had someone else signup and this guy didnt cancel and then about 24 hours later he got credit for the signup.

So it became apparent that Levi was not paying for signups that cancelled. These guys signed up via check and discovered that they were not getting paid for check signups. Then low and behold his new program does not pay for signups that cancel within a week. I guess the guilt of cheating everyone got to him. Levi talks about all his hits but the guy runs a console chain that has them getting investigated by the FTC. Sportsfeed hits all come from being about the 8th console on the cybererotica.com site. Its a shame because Levi has ruined that company. They just cant keep up and all the numbers show them slipping big.

I think MaximumCash is about 2 times the size now. I guess this is why Levi hides from the boards now. He is afraid of the truth. He used to complain about all these companies that ripped people off. Now he is partnering with them. It is pretty desperate on his part. There seems to be only 1 really trustworthy company and that is maximumcash.com. That guy runs a tight program and pays for all signups and counts all hits. I dont know how he does it but he does. Try and open your mind Lukey. Don't be swayed by the free hosting.. Signed, XXX

Luke: To the best of my knowledge, Ron Levi and Cybererotica have a sterling reputation for honesty. They don't shave and never have. They've never paid late. And Cybererotica has not hosted me since December of 1998. They do own a site I once wrote, 4porn.net, which I wish they'd use for other purposes. But I have not contributed to 4porn.net since early 1999.

I got back from shul (observing TishuB'Av, the saddest day of the Jewish calendar where we mourn such national catastrophes as the two destructions of the Temple) at 1PM Thursday. It's a fast day and Jewish fasts are tough, no water as well as no food. No bathing, no sex and no wearing of luxuries such as leather.

I called Levi about the allegations.

Ron: "I love these assholes. When a guy sends me an anonymous email like this, I tell them that I won't address their concerns until they reveal themselves. That's my kneejerk reaction on this because it is so far from the truth and what I am all about...

"I'm only going to respond to this as a favor to you. I wouldn't do it for anyone else.

"We don't shave one bit, as I've always represented to you. We pay for every single signup. Ratios went into the toilet when we went to a paid subscription (in March) and our conversions hit the toilet as did MaxCash's when they tried to do the same thing (when they changed over to paying the bonus on the dialer option). I send them a lot of traffic and they went from a one in 300 to a one in 900 ratio. Then they made some adjustments and we're back down to one in 300.

Ron: "When we went from a paid trial to a free trial, our ratios plunged. Why do you think I came back with a free trial? But I had to come back in the new era of programs, paying on productivity. You can't pay a webmaster $45 per signup, which our free programs pay, without the person becoming at least a $34.95 member. So we came up with these free programs where we tell webmasters that if the person who signs up does not convert to a paid membership, you don't get paid. We use full disclosure.

"I don't hide from the boards. I'm simply busy.

"Understand that on that seven day period for free signups, on midnight of the seventh day, we go through what we call housekeeping (cron job). Our customer service updates the credits for the day and within two hours of the eighth day, a signup may be taken away.

"We started taking checks around March 10. It took ten days to incorporate it into our pay system for webmasters.

"Look at our new stats program for our new free program."

Luke: I cruised over to the stats page and saw its realtime stats on visitors and signups, cancellations and credits.

Ron: "This is a state-of-the-art program which we can pop into somebody's paysite if they want us to administer a click-thru program for them. It takes us two days to do it... This is a new era for pay programs because you cannot pay a webmaster for a person who does not pay you.

"The FTC has no problem with our sticky software... Sportsfeed.com does pop on the eighth consul at Cybererotica.com and brings about 1000 hits a day. And traffic to sportsfeed.com does not matter much at the moment because the site does not make money."

Luke: As for Cybererotica's alleged slipping numbers, according to PCDataOnline (which costs $10,000 for a subscription), Cybererotica receives the second most traffic of any adult paysite (next to Karasxxx.com, operated by RJB and MaxCash).

Luke: "Are you partnering with people you've once accused of ripping people off?"

Ron: "I don't partner with anyone I've accused of ripping people off. There are plenty of companies that rip people off. And I won't go to a public board or even talk to you about it. I see everything. We have Risky mail. I don't take advertisers. I pick them. I have my guys sign up for programs and see how they work. And if they convert well, we call them up and say, we need $45 per signup.

"We partner with Homegrown Video and Pornholio (with the Blow Me Live site)..and sold one company to Rick's Cabaret, a publicly held lapdance club. These are not people who cheat people. This email is nasty and false.

"RJB Telecom are friendly competitors of mine. We belong to the same internet organization, the Global Internet Association. We founded it. We've always been friends. We talk. We invest money back and forth with each other. We send big traffic back and forth as we do with JoeE and IGallery."

Paul writes about Luke's interview with Levi yesterday: "Luke, Caught your interview with Ron Levi about Lieberman. If you're going to talk with someone about Lieberman or anything for that matter, it's best you focus in on things more. I realize Ron wasn't aware Lieberman was the pick but it would have been in your best interest to provide him a bit about Lieberman's politics and views to get Ron's feelings. The Lieberman pick may have great importance on the adult net considering his feelings on cleaning up mainstream entertainment. Personally, it is in the best interest of the big net players to set any differences aside and form a political action group which would fund and form a dialouge with both parties. There are a number of players running around and testifying in front of COPA and various other places. This is all well and fine but they may not represent the industry as a whole and they may have their own interests at heart."

Ron writes on Netpond: ....and for anyone who thinks I'm hiding - just watch the next moves made by the CE Crew - we ain't hidin' - we're workin' hard to make all you Webmasters out there MORE BigTimeGreen Amy I agree with you about anonymous posters - when I recieved the anonymous email copy from Luke F-rd this morning - I normally would have never even responded to an anonymous poster - but knowing Luke was going to publish the email evoked a response from me - our programs have nothing to hide - so why let a lowlife slam our programs without rebuttal - kinda damned if you do and damned if you don't!

Monkey I guess you're anonymous as well - I wish idiots like you had the balls to step forward and prove their statements, but then I'm sure we'd see you're just an envious, jealous individual full of hate, and you'll probably never change - doomed to 'a hell on earth' - that what hate is :-) We just want to make money and in doing so make Webmasters mo money - let's do business!!

Our new Free Programs are the "NEXT ERA" of marketing programs. We will soon be offering our Free Programs to other paysites for a fee just like "Click Thru Calvin" SCOOP!!! You should sign up for all of our Free Programs, very soon we will be offering a 'follow me' type program for those who are signed up to all of our Free Programs - then watch the other Paysites out there "FOLLOW US" I'm going back in to hiding, as BobX would say "back into the dark"© btw, I had dineer with BobX and P8 last week and now P8 really knows how to make his Viper fly :-) LOL

Gloria Leonard vs Mike South

Here is an email exchange between two pornographers. Gloria Leonard is the president of the industry's trade group, the Free Speech Coalition. Mike South is a Georgia-based pornographer. Though both can be tart and outspoken, they are both (unlike me) reasonable persons dedicated to the best interests of the adult industry.

Gloria Leonard (Glorioski) Wries: >For someone who doesn't know me at all, I find it fascinating how much you >purport to know about me and the FSC.

MS: I don't have to know you personally to respond to your ramblings anymore than you have to know me to respond to mine. I DO know the FSC quite well, I was a long standing member until I got fed up and had my eyes opened, age will do that you know...to some of us anyway.

Gloriosky: > I won't attempt to dignify many of >your sub-cerebral ramblings save one

MS: Probably a good idea on your part, emotion is rarely a match for logic.

Glorioski: >- I have NEVER been on the payroll of >the FSC, have never received a cent from FSC.

MS: Well I have to admit for that I commend you, anyone who honestly has their heart in it would not accept money for it.

Glorioski: > for any of the endless hours of >volunteerism I have spent trying to protect this increasingly >difficult-to-defend industry from the clutches of government, religious >zealots and yes, even ignorant, ill-informed loudmouths such as yourself.

MS: While I admire your enthusiasm I must say it is you who is ill informed, very ill informed I might add. Lets look at this honestly. I have very high powered political connections in my state national level even. Paul Coverdell knew me on site, as I did him ditto Max Cleland. I have had the pleasure and honor of dinner with the Governer of this state.

But I digress. the bottom line is that if you think for even one second that the Democrats as well as the Republicans would not attempt to wipe us out if they saw any political gain in it you are extremely ill informed. I have taken steps to protect myself and my business in this state, I don't need nor do I want the help of the Free Speech Coalition, the reason why is because you are generally very ill informed, you are not interested in any cause except making your payroll, which includes overpriced do nothings like Kat Sunlove at 50K per year. Shall I go on?

I have a very comfortable situation here and I want to keep it that way, people here see me as an honest businessman and interestingly enough it is the Republicans who have offered me the best advice. Am I immune from problems? Hell no, all it would take is one tin horn politician who wants to make a name for himself at my expense. What prevents that from happening? My efforts at the state and local level to protect myself and my business. Maybe you will be so kind as to answer some questions I have posed many times.

Why isn't the FSC Tax exempt, and don't give me that nonsense about being a lobbying organization because tax exempt organizations have a broad range of ways to legally lobby.

What exactly has the FSC accomplished, where is the money being spent?

Why won't the FSC open it's books?

I have requested this in writing many times and every time it has gone ignored. I even requested years for which I was a member.

Where was the FSC on the GM Video case?

Where is the FSC on the Max/Legend problems, why were you not on the front line for these?

Name three video stores or companies the FSC DONATED money or even services to help with legal problems.

Your lobbying days as you call them are filled with nothing more than photo ops and patting yourselves on the back. I admire people like Christy Lake and Dave Cummings who donate their time and efforts for something they believe in, but sadly they are being misguided by the FSC. The time and efforts of these people could be much more fruitful if directed properly.

Glorioski: >And just what have you done for us lately?

MS: Now why in Gods name would I want to do ANYTHING for you or the FSC? I want an industry organization that we can all be proud of, one that will fight for us, one that will help us battle issues like rampant piracy, one that I can donate money to and feel like I am getting something in return for that money, something called representation. I want an organization that has both backbone and balls. Until then I am not about to do anything for you.

Australian Porn Mafia

Frankel writes: Thought you may like to know some facts about Lasrado and crew. Lasrado makes most his money from beastiality sites. Lasrado and Philips were in business together up until about 2 years ago now. Lasrado said he split from Philips because he didnt agree with his methods and some of the things he was getting into.

Soon after the split Lasrado set up his own porn business, he linked up with a guy called Mike Zulu. Mike then went to Amsterdamn and set up the Beast sites in partnership with Lasrado , all funded by Lasrado. Lasrado did private deals with people , generally people with hacking , password or warez backgrounds. Along the way he did the deal with Carlos Perreira. WTFRC was a company set up by Lasrado but put into a friends name Guiseppe Nirta. This 'friend' of Lasrado's then apparantly tried to rip Lasrado off and had the WTFRC accounts diverted to him. Lasrado resolved this with IBILL. Lasrado and Philips do not have any joint interests together now whatsoever.

Don Reid and Jason Haks were pieces of work - these guys employed at different times, greg ,scott and dean. they had no ethics. sites they run are listed on xsited.com and sindysadultclub.com. these guys also had the controversial site which created an uproar in the webmaster community a number of years ago call nazisexsluts

they stole images , in fact they would join other adult paysites and steal all their content. ( this was before video streaming ) they would rip anyone off. cybererotica was a victim of theirs. on the side they tried to run a few projects - they had a team of about 7 young uni students working for them on a game and some sort of unique chat room , they never paid them for any of their work and treated them like dogs. they promised royalties etc.

a webmaster that popped up on the chat boards from time to time as Nick Tammer, he was pretty vocal not sure if he still is, anyway this person is actually a guy called marc forneaux - a french based webmaster. He was cancelled from a clickthroughs program without pay one day because he was discovered promoting us on a child pornography site. i actually rang this guy up and told him to take his sites down or i would report him to the police, he said he didnt care they would never touch him. he took the site down within a couple of days.

he was also an infamous hacker - in protest he got into this clickthrough program and changed some payment details to that of his own. in actual fact i think he stole someone elses webmaster database and guessed the passwords would be the same for my click throughs and in some cases he was correct. it always puzzled me that despite this being pointed out to people by me and a few others that knew the connection - he was always showing himself on the chatboards and people would actually talk to this piece of work !

Dravyk writes on Netpond: You know we were all bitching last week (rightly so) when that snot from the UK referred to Flash Cash as "a porn gang" and all the inaccuracies in his article.

And yet here is Luke, again, with more inaccuracies, and calling people "porn mafia". It's bad enough when some outsider (like the UK so-called reporter) screws everything up and uses those words, but here is Luke (another alleged reporter, *spew*) -- who isn't but thinks he's part of the adult community -- doing the very same thing ... time and time again.

Give it a rest Luke! You know if you ever had an accurate fact in your articles it would die of lonliness. ;-)

LisaC: Ok enough with the 'aussie porn mafia' crap... I had lunch with one arm of said mafia the other week, and I have to say i was very disappointed... NO horse heads...NO tommy guns...NO pinky rings! And not ONCE did they say 'Go to the mattresses!' How can they be porn mafia if they don't even tell you to go to the mattresses??????

FB: Luke F-rd... Two Words... f--- You!

Bad Unkle writes: Cmon Luke stop re-posting your site on the netpond board. Annoying webmasters serves no purpose other than to annoy and you are hurting new webmasters by piling 6 pages of crap on top of thier questions. Keep something in mind. If your information is about the adult internet, we most likely know it already and knew it before it was told to you. And if it is about porn stars, most of us dont give a s--- about them anyway. Why dont you just post a link to your site and those of us who are interested can check it out instead of you forcing it down other peoples throats. Also I would hate for newbies to think you are a credible source of information, it only hurts them in the long run.

Badmoon writes on Netpond: Luke F-rd; You truly are a retard! Luke drop to your knees you are not worthy of your master

Luke writes on Netpond: I hope that I am being oversensitive, but I detected an undercurrent of hostility to my recent postings.

So I wanted to open up now with a full heart and truly share my thoughts and feelings with this esteemed gathering.

And I want to apologize if there have been times in the past when I have posted in a rather verbose fashion. And perhaps at times, there have been some facts that I did not quite get right.

And if I have ever come across as insensitive to your financial or personal concerns, I am very sorry.

I have been too hasty, and too Jewish, too often and too much. And I am very sorry. And if I were you, I'd probably respond the same way.

Scott Phillips from PinkBits.com writes on Netpond: Luke, If you are wondering why you detect an undercurrent of hostility to your recent postings, the answer is fairly simple.

You clearly have no interest in exposing the truth of a given situation, which is the basic tenet of any kind of journalism.

Your sole interest is in fostering controversy, without regard to the reputations and businesses of those you slander.

You mix half truth with unsubstantiated allegations, post anonymous emails, and emails given by people like me in good faith, completely out of context.

You label Australian webmasters the "porn mafia", you call me an alcoholic (I'm a social drinker, and like most Aussies I like getting s---faced as much as anyone), you falsely claim that I own companies like wtfrc (which I have never had anything to do with). Despite the *fact* that Australian webmasters have an enviable record of paying top dollar for traffic you try to paint us as criminals and gangsters. You imply that anyone who publically criticises me is going to be killed (lets not get away from the fact that we are really computer nerds not pornographers) You say that I steal content when the person you say I stole it from says there is no problem. You attack numerous honest webmasters like Dragonking and the flashcash crew, post unsubstantiated allegations about Ron Levi shaving (Ron Levi is a man of honour whos word is his bond).

By your own admission you have nothing but destructive wishes for this industry. Your credibilty has dropped to zero.

Helpful writes: Along with webmaster credit card industry problems, alleged Mafia control of porn distribution, and your wretched love life please add "Australian Porn Mafia" to the list of s--- that no one cares about. Thanks.

Monkey: Mr. Luke, I read what people write to you on the message boards and I laugh my boney little ass clean off. These are what I call the 'stupidf--- rich', ya know, like the 'noveau rich' except that these people are f---ing stupid and wouldn't have a pot to piss in if it were not for the adult internet business. They blindly follow the bigger stupidf---s around because not a single solitary one of them has the testicular fortitude to have an independant thought.

I have some thoughts on leading webmasters.

RB: Maximumcash is a great program and is one of the few programs that I have found that APPEARS to pay their webmasters what they are due but youze folks need to pull your noses out of RB's ass long enough to see that he supports password sites, he uses child porn tems KNOWINGLY to bring people to his sites, and his constant pop-ups are unethical and wrong. Yo RB, when I want to leave your sites, you need to f---ing let me bro!

[LF: RB's Maximumcash program has an impeccable reputation with most webmasters.]

J$tyles: First he was Warshawsky's ball licker and now he is Levi's ball licker. Nuff said. Yo J$styles, wazuuuuuuuuuuuuup!

Joe Elkind: Yo, Luke, maybe you can answer this one for me..how big do I have to get before I can blatantly break the law, slander and lible hardworking celebrities, and the 'noveau stupidf--- rich' will come to my defense every single step of the way??? Truecelebs is illegal. It is copyright illegal and it is slader and libel illegal. It is not newsworthy and it sure aint public domain, its illegal and yet you f---s back Joe E like he was the second coming of christ. Joe E is nothing but a punk ass theif, but you dont care. It's going to take the governement to shut us down before we get the f---ing picture because we wont regulate ourselves. Hey Joe E, if truecelebs is newsworthy, how come you have it registered under some bulls--- foreign bogus company name you theiving f---???? Hey stupid f---s, ya know those password sites that cripple your webservers and cost you money? Guess who pays them to do that to you??? Thats right your buddy Joe E. Check out the password sites, see all the CEN banners?? I have e-mailed CEN more than 50 times about password sites and they do nothing, f---ing nothing. They are the largest spammers in the world and aol is going to hand them their ass on a platter. Joe E says he stood up to uunet. Ya did? They shut your stupid ass off. Wazuuuup???

[LF: JoeE, like RB and FM of Cybererotica, has generally a good reputation for honest dealings.]

Ron at ccbill: Dude, I met you 3 years ago and boy am I glad i went with ibill instead! Your squeaky clean image is about to unravel..hey Ron, your biggest colocation customer is breaking the law, what are you going to do about it? Can you see contributory liability neighbor? I knew that you could! Anyone who uses ccbill is a stupid f---. Epoch is the only one who can make you any money. I know people who use ccbill and their declines list is longer than their members list. It doesnt matter, joe e will bring cave creek down and bring them down hard.

My fav is the idiots who stand up for these aussie dumb motherf---ers, anyone who doesnt know that phillips and lasardo and serge and the clan are a bunch of theiving motherf---ers is dumber than a bald headed ball licker in the internet business, f---in A, sorry j$styles@! I'll e-mail you more another time, right now I have to go get my balls sucked, maybe j$styles can work for me when levi is all through with him!

Jeff from Sunupmedia writes on Netpond: Joe E is a good friend of my partner KB and KB tells me that Joe E is a good guy and that is good enough for me so if you are looking for an attack on Joe E, look no further because you wont find one in my post. However, the Truecelebs site, as well as all the other celeb sites are illegal. There is a disclaimer on the site saying that it is newsworthy. What I am sure they meant to say is that the images on the site are deemed public domain because they are being used for news reporting purposes. There is nothing newsworthy about the site or any of the celeb sites and the images, specifically the way they are used on the celeb sites certainly do not fall within the realm of public domain by any stretch of the imagination. I suspect that if any of the celebrities or any of the owners of the images on that site were to sue Joe E, he would most certainly lose.

Copyright law and the statutes covering commercial misappropriation are pretty black and white, there is not a lot of gray area in them. It's pretty basic, you only use images that are yours. If the images are not yours, then you get legal rights to use the images from the legal owner. If you cannot obtain legal license to use the images from the legal owner then you dont use them. One of the BEST explanations I have come across for this was from a judge in a case where we had to take legal action against someone for using our images. The defendant said to the judge (his attorney actually said it) paraphrasing: Your honor, how could my client have possibly known who the owner of the pictures was, there were no identifying marks. To which the judge responded: Your client did not need to know who the owner was, because the entire time he always knew who the owner was not. The scary thing is that in addition to the civil ramifications of CI, willfull CI is now also a felony. Not to mention that true celebs could not possibly meet the requirements of 2257 in any way shape or form, also criminal.

Should Joe E take true celebs down? In my opinion, absolutely. Will he? Probably not. Should we as people in the industry look at Joe E with disdain and disgust? Hell no, because he has done a lot of positive things for the industry. Should we in the industry look at Joe E with a little disappointment in our eyes? Yeah, I think we probably should. That is for each one to decide on their own. But what still remains clear to me is that the SECONDARY reason that the government wants to come after us so hot and heavy (the primary reason being the religious right of course) is because we refuse to clean our own house. Rest assured people, our house will get cleaned, the question is, who do we want doing the cleaning? I for one would prefer to do it myself.

I will make one other response...a couple of weeks ago, I emailed maxcash, cyber erotica, CEN, and babylon x and asked them their policy on password sites. I was in a pissy mood because one of them took down my servers for 2 hours, so much f---ing traffic to the box I couldnt even telnet in to see what site was under attack or to disable the password. CEN, maxcash, and cybererotica all responded saying that they investigate and take action. Babylon-x responded by telling me that its just a part of the business and they support it. Babylon x will never have my support, but to their credit, the other 3 all responded within an hour of my e-mail.

RawAlex writes on Netpond: When Luke F-rd sticks to facts and conjecture, he is doing well. When he gets off on one of his "self promotion mud sling" phases, the information loses it's value. As he has foudn no real way to interface with the community and get us to read his stuff, he instead takes the route of biggest controversy. I think he might have learned this from Serge. :-)

Amy writes on Netpond: I don't like Luke F-rd, and I haven't ever since he made disparaging comments about my Asian ancestory a while ago. He seems very much against the very things that make America great. That being diversity, freedom to choose, and the right to pursue happiness. He seems to be someone who wants everyone to fit the mold and be good little Christian sheep. Well Luke, not everyone fits YOUR mold, and here in America, its not only allowed but encouraged to be different. Never forget...it is our differences that make us stronger, and it is small minded intolerance like the kind I have seen you exhibit from time to time that makes us weaker. Hence, if there is a weak link in this society, its more likely to be people like you than people like me! Please take your closed minded hypocritical intolerant bigotry elsewhere. I refuse to educate someone whose mind is too small to accept new ideas. It just seems strange that a journalist would cover a subject that he is avidly biased against, its sort of like Ted Kazinsky (unibomber) being the new technology reporter for Wired Magazine. Journalists are supposed to report completely from an objective point of view, if you can't do that Luke, go do something else.

As far as erotic materials being "bad", I'll never understand how religious nuts can get to this conclusion. If God made us, our bodies, our urges, our hormones and our desires, would it not stand to reason that we should appreciate God's work, and isn't being ashamed of her work a direct insult. When you sit there and pray to God in appreciation for all her creations, aren't you spitting in her face when you say that her work is not worth being appreciated. If that's not enough, maybe you can tell me why its perfectly acceptable for our children to have access to guns, for us to show violent murders on television, and for the poor to be denied medical help, but to show people sharing their love for each other in a physical manifestation is over the line. Those are just my opinions, and I proudly sign my name to them, you may disagree, but here in America, you have every right to do so...at least as long as right wing religious hypocrites like Luke F-rd don't get their way.

Mad Cat: That statement [that LF does not pretend to work in the industry's interests] just makes me boggle. So, here we have this 'journalist', who writes about porn. And writes about it in the most sensationalist way ever. Yet, he doesn't give a crap about it. In my book that makes him nothing more than a sensation seeking mediawhore. Pardon the french but I have a tendency to hate people who try to get to the top of the ladder over other peoples' backs.

As far as the 'free for all' - there will always be people who have a deal with other people. Whether it's founded or unfounded, they just cannot help but brag/complain/whine/bitch/moan or whatever else about it. I'm doing it now actually - isn't it wonderful? Instead of coming to the main board and reading the latest 'he did that he did this i hate so-and-so and i will kill them all because blah blah blah' it'd be ~so~ nice to end up here one day and actually find something of interest. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to start acting like adults again, kindergarten just closed.

Steve: Luke F-rd does a great job of stirring s--- up. You can get all pissy if you don't like what he posts, but remember, he has every right to free speach. he isn't saying it himself, he just has the balls to post what others send him anon. I don't know what is funnier, some of the allegations, or the responses to the charges. Enough with the Aussie Porn Mafia, though. If they were a "Mafia", there would be nervous retractions, public apologies, or just a whole lot of guys MIA.

Kevin Blatt Pornstar

Stefanie from Homegrownvideo.com writes on Netpond: KB- KBpornstar?! Isn't your new title a bit premature, considering you've only done two scenes? Besides, both of those girls were cute- to be a pornstar you have to pay your dues first. You know, sex with midgets and old ladies and the obligatory "ok, I did a gay scene but I was young and needed the money plus I was a top so it's not really gay" scene. Hehehe. Just because I said you did a good job at Mona's bukkake does not mean you are a pornstar, just a pornstar-in-training. After you start shaving your nuts while letting your back hair grow in fast-n-furious, and cover yourself up on sets by wearing a shirt only, then I'll start calling you a pornstar!

Kevin replies: Stephanie: You know I am no pornstar. I am not insecure. I do not live in the Valley. I shave my nuts, only occasionally. I pay my bills and most importantly I like sex everyday, not just when I shoot a scene!

Stef: KBPornstar, If you decide you want to be known as a pornstar, give me a call, I'd be glad to help. Besides being the webmistress, I also do Homegrown Video's publicity, and as you may know, we launched the careers of Anna Malle and Stephanie Swift. We've also made a name for Mike South's Southern Belles, and created the Dirty Dave "The Sugardaddy" persona as well as the whole Steve Sweet's Sweet Loads concept (I know he's your idol!). Well, regardless of your porn star ambitions, you'll still always have a place in Homegrown Video's amateur hall of fame.

Jenna On Later

Jeff writes: hey luke, saw jenna jameson on later, shes still very attractive but there were a few things id like to comment on.

1) i thought jasmin st claire was most hated, people just think jenna'a difficult

2) even though wicked's couples films are high budget, so are private's movies (as well as not forgetting the sex that the fans want) as well as rocco siffreddi's bigger budget films. also check the avn charts. usually evil angel, private, and some extreme and anabolic titles usually chart higher than the condom/copules stuff from vivid, wicked, and vca

3) even though women make more PER SCENE than the men, the men know that more money comes from the production side. rocco makes and distributes his films world wide and has way more dough because of it, same for sean michaels, jake steed, etc.

4) she goe married before and it lasted a minute, i expect this to last as long as jasmin st claire's "marraige"

5) gals like sylvia saint, monique covet, rebecca wild, are easily hotter than jenna, you name it (dp's, facials, interracial,)theyve done it. maybe its a euro thing but who cares?

6) she did okay in her interview but nina hartley is still the most intelligent person to represent the adult biz.

Bono writes on RAME: She looked very good on the show unfortunately it was only 1/2 an hour so there wasn't a lot of time for them to talk. What they did talk about though was ok but hardly new. I would like to see Jenna do say a Larry King Live or a show like Hardball with Chris Matthews and there I think you could get some great newsworthy items to talk about. Personally I think that it is great that Jenna has found someone that makes her happy and I wish her only the best. She was one of my first favs when I really got into watching adult movies and her early work like Lip Service I still consider to totally kick ass, Jenna could really take a killer facial and I will always cherish those days and I was fortunate enough to meet her and get her autograph at an AVN Halloween party back in 96 and she was pretty cool then but I could tell then that the attention was maybe a bit much on her as she was not as friendly as she might have been but still she was and is gorgeous. Again I would love to see her on a more serious show like the ones I mentioned above because I think she could hold her own with those guys and I think she could defend herself and the adult industry well. Maybe a more recent starlet who would be a better choice to discuss the adult industry and any issues related to it would be Tera Patrick who I also think could intelligently explain why she does adult films and any other issues put to her. The thoughts of this group on Jenna seem to run more to the neg side but for me she will always be a fav and I wish her nothing but the best.

Frank Simms writes on RAME: I'm not a Jenna fan, but I will vertainly get a copy of "Dreamquest" - the clips they showed last night put the last doubts out of my mind. I thought Jenna actually handled herself quite well, I was surprised. She didn't promote herself anywhere nearly as bad as I expected her too, and she kept her composure pretty well. Like in Tera's interview with Rog, she expressed concern that the 18 year old girls getting into the industry don't really have the maturity or experience to be making an informed choice, and she seemed concerned that so many of the girls get "eaten up" by the industry. Her best line was when she said that of course porn stars act, and that any girl who performs with Ron Jeremy deserves an oscar.

An interesting thing is that Cynthia Garret apparently knows absolutely nothing about the industry. (Frx, she had no idea who RJ even was.) It led to a different sort of interview than what we usually see when somebody interviews a porn star. The only thing that seemed normal was when she went through the "Later quiz", where she asks the same sort of questions to all her guests (where did you first have sex, etc.) In Jenna's case she asked where JEnna first had sex with a man, and where she first had sex with a woman. Jenna's answer to the first was "passed out after 18 shots of tequila" (probably true, imo, and probably a sex crime) and two the second "under the high school bleachers with the other co-cheerleading captain" which probably has embarrassed the hell out of whoever her co-cheerleading captaion was, whether or not the story was true.

Jenna Jameson writes: I remember the days when people were actually happy for me when I appeared on a mainstream television show that would normally not even consider having an adult performer on the show. I had an awesome time on the show, and I was myself… I shared my honest thoughts, and it seems as if a lot of people ( RAME) hate to see me succeed. A lot of people are comparing Tera Patrick’s success to my early success…And rightfully so. She is incredible. But how long until everyone turns on her when she has a bad day or gets cranky? I hope it never happens to her, because no matter how strong you are, it always hurts. To all the people who supported my appearance thanks for being so loyal, it means a lot. - JJ

RAME FAQ responds: Luke, a quick response to Jenna -- It saddens me that RAME is being painted with such a broad brush, considering with our recent outage there's only been the two articles about her appearance posted. I'd hardly call that "it seems as if a lot of people ( RAME) hate to see me succeed" but rather at most a handful of people. The rest of readers are so far mute on her appearance.

MrMarcus.com Highlights

Johnny Brasco posts: Mr. Marcus, Has the Australian porn Mafia ever 'leaned' on you?

Gloebtrotter: If you're a brotha, and you like White women...then you gotta check out the following countries: Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Germany, Spain, and England. In South America, Argentina and Chile are a must. If you go to these countries--you will get more White and Latin pussy than you can handle--and I mean fine-ass pussy!!!

Jenna's Dad writes: This site is not for slamming Jenna Jameson! It is for praising the man, Mr. Marcus! If you feel the need to rag on a porn starlet then go ahead and thrash on Bianca Trump. That sow deserves it!

George Michael: When will the Mr. Marcus dildo be available?

Ron Jeremy: Be honest if you could have my cock, but be stuck with my face would you do it?

Blackshaft: if you're loking for a hot babe that sucks black shaft,check out nina whett. you wont regret it.

JK: Luke F-rd had a bunch of posts from this board on there especially the one where marcus blasts american chicks for european ones. I guess jewish unity just ain't what it used to be.

SpellCheck: Marcus is pissed because Ford is voting Republican despite Lieberman. Ford is the one turning his back on Jewish unity not Marcus!

John Gray's New Magazine

Tom Jones writes about John Gray's new magazine: "John Gray is a lire! This is the type of crap that gives the adult entertainment community a bad name. John Gray is a pathological lire. He has had more bad dealings in this industry than all the other people in this industry combined. He changes the name of his magazine every month. He had a deal with Adult Stars Magazine, no more. He had a deal with Vivid Magazine, no m! ore. He doesn't even have a magazine in Dallas, Xtreme doesn't have a magazine in Philadelphia and if those guys are printing 350,000 magazine, I will blow you! I know someone who works where both John Gray and Paul Allen print their books and he testifies that they print less then 100,000 copies between them! Then in the August Issue of Night Moves Tampa, Paul Allen writes that Landmark is printing 250,000 copies per month ( another lie just a little smaller one ) Luke, we read your sight often and think that it is the top's. Please don't let a low life like John Grey use your site as a platform to scam the entire adult entertainment community. If you don't believe me, just ask for an audit. You will never get one. Yes it's a mag, mag world.. The worst of the worst just got together to scam the rest of us!!!"

John Gray responds: Luke- its a shame you post idiots on your site like Tom Jones who doesn't know how to not only spell but really don't know all the facts. Its not a new magazine its a new chain and I welcome the audit because my Las vegas issue alone prints 225,000 per month and I would like to welcome this so called Tom Jones or is it Mr. Seidman to sit in on the audit, beside Lukey you need to have him floss and get ready for your hummer.....

Steve Seidman writes: LUKE, First of all I know how to spell LIAR. Secondly, if Mr. Gray would stop blaming other people for his problems he'd be better off. I am not the Tom Jones he speaks about yet he will accuse anyone for his problems. As I've said before to Mr. Gray I won't start s--- if you don't, John don't open a can of worms you can defend. If you want to play hardball just let it out and the games will begin, YOU MAKE THE CALL.

Tom Jones writes: Whoop-Dee-Doo! Another big announcement at the Gentleman's Club Expo form John Gray. Each year a new one. None of them ever last so what's all the uproar about!! I know I can't spel, but I can sure f---ing count! And John Gray is still a lire or liar no matter how you spel it. This is crazy. He can't even cover his own lies with new ones. Lets analyze this. First Mr. Gray writes "...a circulation of 350,000 a month distributed all for free. " so I challenged him on his bulls---. What does he do. First he gives Siedman the credit for my work. What's up Johnny, what does Steve know that the rest of us don't? It's starting to look like your hiding something! Then John totally screws up. He writes, and I quote " ...my Las vegas issue alone prints 225,000 per month ..." ( Yeah, sure! ) But, O.K. John, let's just use your numbers. If we are all supposed to believe you, and you are not the liar that I say yo! u are. Then these are the facts based upon YOUR numbers. Your first quote was that you were printing 350,000 magazines between all of the Landmark Publications. Then you said 225,000 in Vegas alone.( Yeah, sure again ) Well if my math is correct that leaves 125,000 divided between these magazines. Xtreme out of New York City, Boston, Philly and Atlantic City, NJ along with Nightmoves from Tampa, St. Pete, FL, Atlanta, GA and Phoenix, AZ combined with AS Quest in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin . For the grad big total of about 10,000 magazines per city. WOW! Now we all know why your advertisers get such s---ty results. I will say it again, John Gray is a liar ( lire ) ... It is he who will be blowing you Luke. Not I. I don't even floss!!

p.s. John, maybe you should call your new magazine chain " Old Faithful" , after all , that's a Landmark, and it blows just as much smoke as you do!

Germany decides online sex workers have rights too

KASSEL, Germany, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A German court ruled on Thursday that people paid to talk dirty in the Internet's swelling number of sex chatrooms should enjoy the same rights as other workers, regardless of whether their job is ``immoral.'' The court rejected claims by a north German firm offering live online sex chats that the immorality of the work done by its staff should exempt the company from having to pay social security contributions for them.

Crime & Punishment

Chaim writes: Want to know why crime fell in the U.S. in the 1990's, whereas it rose in the 1960's (another era of prosperity)? Here's why:

Reuters: The nation's prison population has swelled by 77 percent since 1990, an increase of nearly 600,000 inmates, the 16-page report found. One in every 110 men in the United States has been sentenced to at least a year's confinement, the report said.

About one in every 11 black males in his late twenties was serving a sentence of a year or more in state or federal prison. At the end of last year, blacks made up 46 percent of all inmates with a sentence of at least a year, while white inmates accounted for 33 percent and Hispanics 18 percent.

Lynne writes: Would be nice if my buddy Mr. Marcus would back me here, but Chaim, the nation's prison population represents the latest twist in our war against blacks. Although crime has dropped, prison populations soar. Why? Because there's money in it, for those who contract to build and run prisons. Most of the men currently in prison are there for drug crimes, Chaim. Not robbery, not murder, certainly not rape....but because they use illicit substances themselves, or sell them to those who do -- to overcome the angst brought on by a society which makes sure that a full third of all black men do prison time for something.....

The chances that you will end up in trouble with the law increase inversely to your ability to afford legal help....a poor black man with a marijuana cigarette becomes fodder for the incarceration business.... Whites wouldn't stand for it. Notice we don't throw whites caught driving drunk, a real societal menace, in jail? Just poor blacks trying to forget the racism and disrespect shown them everyday by the white powers-that-be...

Per Chaim's formula, 1/2x + 7 = 45 as indicating an appropriate age differential between men and women, with x = man's age and 45 being my age on my next birthday, September 13, I shall attend all social functions from now on searching for a seventy-six year old man who can best me in all activities, physical and mental (just to keep his male superiority complex intact.) Hope he has lots of money...gonna ask him to buy me a unicorn...

What kind of ageist mysogyny would condemn a woman in the prime of her mature life to changing diapers for a husband who is pushing the edge of his life expectancy envelope? At this rate, I could plan to have a new husband every two years for the next twenty years! The last one will be over one hundred years old! Think of the inheritance I could receive just by keeping this many men from dissipating their estates on nursing home fees! Is this a valid description of a egalitarian relationship? Luke, I'm gonna do twenty push-ups and puke...

American Negroes are one of the greatest treasures of our culture and of the modern world.....and we abuse them as individuals and as a group. Basketball players make more than shoeshine boys, but an occupational ghetto is still a ghetto.