Internext, Miami, 2005… I made it back and consider this year to be, once again, another great show. There were the usual complaints you get from any show. Lower attendance, too expensive, blah blah blah. My opinion is: until you put together a large event such as this, don’t bitch about it. You don’t like it, don’t attend – or better yet, develop your own large scale convention. Kudos and props to AVN for providing yet another professional arena where adult webmasters could learn and network.Myopic and minority complaints on this year’s Internext can be duly ignored. There was a panel which should have been attended by every webmaster at Internext. This seminar alone paid for my entire expense list for the week. Those of you who chose to sleep in, were hung-over, or simply did not attend, will have nothing to complain about if you missed the .XXX seminar. If you had attended, you’d know how this issue could shape up to destroy the flow of our industry’s growth. This should have been a mandatory seminar…get your pass, go to this seminar, learn, now fight back.

As monster as the topic of .XXX is, and how it will affect our industry, I was shocked there were probably less than 100 people in attendance. Here is the true threat to our industry. Forget about Acacia, 2257, Visa regulations, the Protect Act, whatever… think thoughts of .XXX and how your life will be drastically changed if this goes through.

But before I get to the emails stacking up, before I return any calls or messages, I still have one question left. This question is eating and burning at me in a way I haven’t felt since the acquittal of O.J. Simpson…

My question, and it is a simple one, is this: Jason Hendeles and Stuart Lawley, the two visible promoters and founders of the .XXX initiative, do you think adult webmasters are stupid?

Yeah I know, such a simple question. Yet one which has gone unanswered in all conversations with the .XXX peeps… so once again, do you gentlemen think adult webmasters are stupid?

Let us start with the .XXX panel at Internext. The panel was supposed to be set up on an even scale – two pro, two con, and two middle ground. On the “pro side” there were the two proponents of .XXX, Mr. Hendeles and Mr.Lawley. On the “con side” there was Connor Young of YNOT and Tom Hymes of the FSC. In the “supposed” middle were Monte Cahn and Greg Piccionelli. Did I mention Hendeles and Lawley “appointed” Piccionelli and Cahn as the middle ground? I’m told they wouldn’t attend the seminar unless these two were on the panel. This also meant a previously chosen panel member was left off the seminar.

I also say “supposed” because it seemed that Mr. Moniker himself, Monte Cahn, had more at stake financially in this than almost Lawley and Hendeles… I mean, where are you going to go to register these .XXX domains? Ahh yes!!! Moniker! Having Monte be neutral in this panel would be similar to having Donald Trump try and tell you real estate is not a profitable investment.

Did I fail to mention that the moderator, Fred Lane, originally had his travel expenses covered by ICM Registry until AVN found out, stepped up and picked up the tab? Shoot, I have moderated many, many panels, and have never ever been paid for this service. In all honesty though, Fred did a good job of being neutral. But what if the panel got out of hand? Where would his loyalties be? Fortunately that problem never came up.

So as you can see, as for having an even panel, it was actually two against four (or five, depending on how you score Lane). Nice work being impartial and fair. There is nothing like bringing in some ringers and stacking the panel. Shame on Hendeles and Lawley for creating these odds. Even more so, shame on them for thinking the odds were now in their favor. With Tom Hymes and Connor Young on our side, the odds were still on the side of the “good guys.” Tom Hymes and Connor Young, faced with a moral battle and one with the potential to literally bring down our industry, handled two against five with relative ease.

So, back to my question, do you gentlemen feel adult webmasters are stupid?

Reason number one… Mr. Hendeles, in his opening statement, said there has “never been any money paid or offered” to anybody in the adult internet to garner support for their .XXX proposal. Well, what about Jonathan Silverstein, who openly admitted to being paid money by ICM Registry to publicly arouse support for .XXX? What about the Free Speech Coalition, which turned down a “cut” of every domain purchased because it was concerned about the Free Speech implications of .XXX? Nice work Hendeles, you can’t even keep to the truth right in a prepared opening document. Do you think adult webmasters are stupid?

Reason number two (and this one is almost a no-brainer)… Mr. Hendeles stated .XXX will protect children from child pornography. These words shouldn’t even be mentioned with .XXX. They are alarmist, and very irresponsible. .XXX will not, and cannot stop child pornography. And last time I checked the adult internet does not support, nor ever has supported child pornography. I have been in this industry a long, long time, and have met literally thousands of adult webmasters, and I can count the “child pornographers” I have met on one finger. Also, how in the world will this actually help keep children from accessing porn? I can go into the details of this, but there is existing free software which can accomplish all this without the threat of exclusion and restriction that comes with the .XXX mantra.

Lets talk about reason number three… the proponents of .XXX on the panel tried to soften the blow of the reality of .XXX by stating nobody is being forced into purchasing these domains, and currently this is a “voluntary” domain. Do you really think adult webmasters are stupid? Let us say you have been building up your brand and URL for years. You have a solid income and invested your valuable time and hard earned money in the growth of your business in the adult marketplace. Now there is another domain extension available, specifically, yet voluntarily, for adult traffic. Are you going to take the chance that someone else will grab it and capitalize on your .com efforts? Or will you buy the domain? You will buy the domain. So the “voluntary” nature of this beast sounds more like extortion…buy your correlating domain, or someone else will make money off your brand. Do you think adult webmasters are stupid enough to think this is actually voluntary?

Let’s chit chat a bit about reason number four… there will be a “Board of Directors” to oversee the development and regulations of .XXX domains. Hendeles and Lawley stated this board will have two members from the adult market, a member from a free speech group, ICM Registry, themselves, two from child advocacy/family groups, and one from some other commercial organization. I don’t know about you, but would you want your livelihood to be represented by a minority two seats? What if the “majority” decide their personal family values are more important than adult internet values? For example, they could determine, in order to perpetuate the family in their “world,” all homosexuality is a “sin” and “anti-family,” so now no gay sites are allowed on .XXX domains. Bye bye gay.xxx sites. By the way, did you notice the IFFOR board would be stacked 2 v 5? Please see seminar summary above… 2 v 5. Nice coincidence, huh?

Couple more things to think about here. When ICM was asked during the seminar which “free speech groups” were in support of .XXX, they failed to name any groups but actually named a lawyer on their payroll as a supporter. The Free Speech Coalition, the actual free speech organization which is already fighting battles for us, is not on the support side here. If .XXX is in our industry’s best interest then let’s have this IFFOR board weighed in favor of our industry. If this is for the adult internet then why not elect board members from within our industry, who have been voted upon by our industry’s participants? Why only two of us representing tens of thousands of webmasters and billions of dollars? The numbers here are just not making sense, so I ask again, do you think adult webmasters are stupid?

Stating to ICANN that “free speech groups” are in support of .XXX, then finally revealing that these “groups” are actually lawyers on your payroll, is deceptive, sneaky, and very shady.

Lawley also stated he has traveled the world and spoken to many leaders of the adult internet seeking input on the .XXX. Of course he hasn’t been able to provide these names, or spoken to anyone at YNOT. Once again, do you really think webmasters are stupid?

The funniest yet saddest part of the entire seminar was when it was asked why we should hand to Hendeles and Lawley control of our livelihoods. They said we needed to “trust” them.

Let’s recap… so far Hendeles has been caught lying in his opening statement, has stacked a panel in his favor, has developed the organization to support .XXX without proper adult industry participation, has carelessly and irresponsibly used “child pornography” as an emotional catalyst to promote his domains, and finally, has been caught talking with a tongue more forked than George Bush’s during a State of the Union address. Excuse me for not blindly following their flute to the edge of the cliff and over to our death.

Just the simple precept that we have to “trust” them should send of warning flares that rival a fourth of July celebration. At the expense of our entire industry, and for the benefit of padding a few very, very deep pockets, the .XXX argument simply crumbled at the hands of Lawley and Hendeles. Watching their porous argument in favor of .XXX unfold to serious, intelligent, and concerned webmasters was like watching an infant play poker against Chris Moneymaker.

So for those of you who were bitching about the attendance, for those of you who felt this show was too expensive, but who missed the .XXX seminar, you can increase your complaints for next year when they will be more valid. Picture a world where .XXX is approved and coerced. How many of you are prepared for the changes this could bring? How many of you are ready to abide by the rules of an IFFOR Board, where your voice is a minority? How many of you can survive redevelopment of branding and traffic? How will you do it? Are you smart enough to survive? Or are Jason Hendeles and Stuart Lawley right to treat us like we’re stupid?