Download illegal copies of adult DVDs, if you will, but be prepared to get caught and shamed. That’s the warning from industry big guns who are on the warpath and looking for file sharers. Adult DVD studios get tough on piracy – because it’s costing them money.

Illegal downloading of adult films has been around for 10 years or more but really gathered pace when broadband Internet became widely available and affordable and peer to peer networks such as Bit Torrent were developed. This in itself has always caused a huge revenue loss for the adult industry but since the rise of YouTube in more recent years, the Internet has become awash with adult Tube sites working on the same free to view video streaming model but targeting exclusively XXX material. The problem with this is that upwards of 80% of the material available from such sites is not authorized and infringes copyright laws.

Because the adult studios never produce films that are released for the cinema in the same way as the mainstream movie world, the only way they make money is by selling adult DVDs so they are in a significantly worse situation than the major studios because they don’t have cinema revenue to fall back on. The adult DVD industry has decided to directly tackle the bigger free video distribution websites and this is relatively easy to do because they can usually prove they are carrying unauthorized content, however, they have now started to target individual private file sharers and force them into paying to avoid an embarrassing court case.

The technique they use has already been widely employed by the mainstream film and record companies and involves monitoring the peer to peer networks and collecting the IP addresses of file sharers offering illegal copies of adult DVDs. The Internet service provider is then approached with the complaint that illegal activity is suspected so they are obliged to hand over the details of the customer related to the tracked IP address. The customer is then contacted by lawyers and served with a flat rate “fine” that if paid will avoid a court case being brought.

Now this technique has worked with only limited success in the film and music industry but the big difference the adult DVD studios are counting on is the shame and embarrassment caused by having to go to a court hearing relating to illegally downloaded pornography. In Germany, leaked documents sent between lawyers and adult studios have revealed that potential targets are profiled on the basis of their likelihood and ability to pay, the thinking being an unemployed person of low socioeconomic status has less to lose than a professional person in a higher status job.

Whether this technique will curb the illegal downloading of adult material in the long run is not yet clear. However, it does at least give food for thought to those who might be tempted to explore their more exotic sexual interests through illegal downloads. I think even the most liberal minded people would baulk at the thought of standing in court while their lawyer defends them against charges of downloading “Transsexual Love Parade” or some similarly salacious title. Like much in life, it seems perfectly OK until you get caught and this is the sort of dirty laundry nobody wants aired in public.