Internet Video X News

    Guess What is in Demand

From TV Predictions

A trade magazine says adult films account for 40 percent of overall Video on Demand revenue. Cable TV operators often say their subscribers love the variety of programming available on Video on Demand. However, a new report suggests that what they love most is love itself.

Adult Video News, a trade magazine serving the adult film industry, says that porn generates approximately 40% of cable's overall VOD revenue ($800 million of a $2 billion market). The number is particularly impressive because some cable operators have just recently added adult films to the VOD lineup.

In addition, the magazine says that a whopping 55% of people who order VOD in hotel rooms select adult movies.

AVN estimates that the adult industry is raking in more than $12.6 billion a year, with one-third of that revenue coming from video sales and rentals.

The adult industry could get another boost in 2006 when new High-Definition TV DVD players hit the market. Many adult producers have been shooting their films in high-def in anticipation of the growing HD market.

    A Juicy New R18 Hardcore TV channel

In the new year Atlantic Television will be distributing Blue Juice Television, the first Hardcore Adult Entertainment Internet TV channel in the UK.

Blue Juice UK is the UK's first R18 Hardcore TV channel that for obvious reasons has to be delivered via broadband. Due to current OFCOM rulings it will not be available via Satellite.

At the moment the doors are open for viewers to come and watch a one hour broadcast free of charge

Unlike current 'unicast' or 'Video on Demand' streaming services that many websites currently offer, Blue Juice is unique in that it offers the viewer an 'always on' multicast channel which the subscriber can access.

For £10 a week, 512k (or faster) Broadband users will have uninterrupted access to not just Hardcore Adult films but also live interactive evenings from our studio in Oxford.

With a capacity of TENS OF THOUSANDS OF viewers at any one time, Blue Juice's subscribers should never experience poor quality broadcasts or have connection issues.

New technology always drives the adult industry first, especially online. This is the start of "the next big thing" for adult entertainment around the globe.

The "FREEVIEW" pilot can be viewed here: BLUE JUICE TELEVISION

    On Demand In Demand

From Media Week

A third of homes around the globe with a TV set will have signed up for on-demand services within five years, a new report has predicted. The sudden uptake of video-on-demand and television-on-demand services, such as Sky+ and HomeChoice in the UK, will create around £6.2bn in revenues globally by 2010.

Business thinktank Informa Telecoms & Media said in the fourth edition of its On-Demand TV study, to be published this week, that North America and Europe would between them account for 86% of the revenues.

Simon Dyson, author of the report, said: So much of the content available through VOD is free of charge and many of the more successful operators are looking to expand their free offerings. Although this doesn't generate much in the way of revenues at the moment, it adds value for subscribers and has become a really useful tool for reducing churn.

In Europe the number of subscribers for on-demand TV services is expected to reach around 98 million by 2005, a jump of nearly 60 million on the numbers expected by the end of this year.

But while the increase in household numbers is strong, revenue increases over the same period are dramatic, with Europe seeing a rise of £1.8bn from £743m to £2.6bn. Dyson added: Within a few years subscribers will be migrated to paid content and then significant revenues will be generated.

    Two to Simulcast

From Digital Spy

BBC Two will be simulcast via broadband from next year, channel controller Roly Keating has confirmed.

Earlier this year the corporation announced that it would be making one of its main stations available over the internet as part of a drive to increase content availability over new media platforms.

We will start at the website - upgrade that and move it in to broadband, Keating confirmed at Broadcast's commissioning conference in Manchester. We want to have as full a service as possible.

The BBC is also trialling the BBC iMP, an on-demand service that allows viewers to download recently-aired programmes to their home computers.

    Primetime On Demand

From Digital Spy

Several primetime shows will be available ad-free and on-demand just hours after they air.

Starting in January, US cable operator Comcast will offer CSI, NCIS, Survivor and The Amazing Race on their VOD service. The shows, which go out as part of CBS's primetime lineup, will be available on the service from around midnight each night for 99 cents. Because new seasons of Survivor and Race debut in March, Survivor: Guatemala and Race: 8 will be available on the service at launch.

This is an incredibly exciting evolution for CBS and network television -- video on demand is the next frontier for our industry, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Comcast in taking this giant, positive leap forward, said CBS chief Les Moonves. We're offering hit programming that is extremely well-suited for this new medium, and we're confident the lure of watching these shows at one's own convenience, will make this feature wildly popular. From its days as one of the first radio broadcasters to its leadership in HDTV, CBS has always been on the cutting edge of broadcasting technology, and this latest.

    Free MCNB TV on IPTV

From MCNB TV

MCNB TV is live internet gay and hetero television for adults. MCNB TV is free to watch, Our Promise to you - Absolutely No gimmicks, No catches, No loopholes, No setup fees, No forced advertising, No popups, No fine prints, No contracts and No hidden charges. Please read first the TV schedule, so you know when to visit the free webcast shows! Go to MCNB TV and Click the TV Schedule button and enjoy.

    BT teams with Philips for On Demand Service

I wonder if any one is coordinating open access issues or will the set top box tie one into BT selected softcore rubbish when it comes to adult films?

From The Telegraph

A new internet television service that will allow millions of viewers to download films and television programmes over a telephone line was unveiled yesterday.

Users of BT's video on demand service, due to start next summer, will be able to choose from a library of thousands of films and TV shows.

They will also be able to replay instantly programmes from the previous week's digital television schedules including EastEnders, Coronation Street and Desperate Housewives.

The new – as yet unnamed – package will be the first to be nationally available without subscription.

Initially the new service will only be offered to BT Broadband customers who will need to buy a set top box, manufactured by Philips. The box connects to their television, telephone line and a roof top aerial. Microsoft will provide the software for the boxes.

Using a standard 2MB broadband telephone connection, owners of the boxes will be able to choose from a library of old films, television shows and music.

Each programme is likely to cost between £1 and £3 to watch and can be paused, rewound or fast forwarded like a conventional video or DVD.

BT will also offer a selection of programmes from the previous week's broadcast schedules. They are likely to include shows from all the major digital and non-digital channels such as BBC1, ITV1 and Sky 1.

The broadband connections found in most homes are not fast enough to allow live television channels to be received over a telephone line. So the set top box will contain a Freeview digital television receiver, giving owners access to 30 terrestrial digital channels.

The box also comes with a built-in personal video recorder capable of storing up to 80 hours of programmes on its internal disc drive. The set top box, which will start trials in the spring, will also be able to handle the new high definition television signals due to start in the next few years.

BT claims it will be simple to use and will appeal to people who have been reluctant to upgrade to digital. It will allow viewers to take part in on-screen video conferences with friends while watching football matches, or to text each other during soap operas.

BT has yet to confirm the price of the set top box or the cost of downloading video. It is expected to offer a "season ticket" which allows users to download as many videos as they want during a month.

The move will position BT against Sky and other video on demand companies such as HomeChoice. Not all BT customers will be able to use the service. The speed of internet connection varies across its network and not all customers have fast enough connections.

    ITV IPTV

From the BBC

One of the UK's leading terrestrial broadcasters is to throw its hat into the broadband TV ring. ITV will trial a TV service via the internet, which will offer people the chance to create their own schedules and broadcasts.

Local content, including classified advertisements, will be key to the new service. Using high-speed net connections to deliver TV content is capturing the imagination of broadcasters and telcos.

The three-month trial will initially be aimed at viewers in Brighton and Hastings, although ITV plans to extend to other regions if it is deemed a success.

Viewers will be invited to upload their own reports and budding film-makers will be able to showcase their films as part of a drive towards citizen-led TV.

    Light on Sincerity

How many times have we heard of politicians who don't believe in censorship BUT...  then impose it with undisguised relish

From DTG

Culture secretary Tessa Jowell has pledged the UK Government will pursue a light touch approach to the regulation of television content distributed via broadband internet and mobile networks.

Speaking at a Creative Economy Conference, Jowell said it was clear that new measures would be needed.

But in a clear signal to Brussels, which is reviewing its Television Without Frontiers Directive for the era of multi-network digital distribution, Jowell said: We don't want to use a sledge-hammer to crack a nut, as regulation of these platforms will have an enormous impact on how they develop. Creativity and enterprise can't flourish if they are beset by reams of red tape.

In May, Ofcom senior partner Robin Foster cautioned against more stringent regulation of the internet, amid proposals being considered by the EU to extend its regulatory guidelines for the media to cover online broadcasts

    BT On Demand

From The Guardian

BT has revealed that its much trumpeted foray into television will start next summer, when it will launch a new set-top box allowing viewers to download programmes over broadband internet lines.

Andrew Burke, chief executive of the company's recently formed BT Entertainment division, confirmed the launch date at the Enhanced TV Show in London and yesterday the company said that plans were "progressing well".

While keen to stress that it does not see itself in competition with the big pay TV groups such as BSkyB and NTL, the launch will bring to fruition the company's long-held aim to expand into television. The box will contain a Freeview tuner but will also use a broadband connection and Microsoft's IPTV technology to deliver video on demand.

Trials are scheduled to begin early next year with a full consumer launch set for July or August. Since Burke was appointed to lead BT Entertainment, he has recruited several experienced television executives including Dan Marks, formerly of Universal Studios Networks UK.

It is envisaged that the box will allow viewers to switch seamlessly between Freeview and video downloads. BT is in negotiations with several broadcasters and Hollywood studios to provide content but also hopes that demand for niche content, including local football matches and regional news, will help to drive uptake.

It believes it will bridge the gap between broadband lines, typically hooked up to a computer, and the main television set in the living room and provide access to services such as MyBBC, the corporation's planned service giving access to any programme from the past seven days. BT will also seek to make incremental revenues from new services such as "voice-over internet" telephone calls integrated with television shows. A spokesman said BT would announce soon which company had won the contract to supply the box but would not comment on its likely cost.

Some industry observers warned that BT's involvement could stunt the growth of the emerging IPTV market. Generally it's a good thing that IPTV will be rolled out nationally after KIT in Hull and HomeChoice in London laid the groundwork. The concern is BT using its power to dominate the market at such an early stage, said Simon Perry, publisher of convergence website Digital-Lifestyles.info.

    Hardcore at the Hilton

Typical tabloid bollox. Presumably the films are distributed electronically as per the Internet (or an Intranet) and hence are not covered by the VRA which governs physical media nor by broadcasting considerations.It is perfectly legal to view R18 type material distributed by the Internet so why shouldn't hotels take advantage. Besides that, a hotel room is considered as an extension of ones home rather than a public space, hence one can buy drinks from the night porter outside licensing hours etc.

I wonder when the Daily Mail will pick up on the challenge of legal hardcore distribution to anybody who wants it via the Internet. And just to make it easier for all, the Internet computer can be hidden away in a neat and easy to use set top box.

Based on an article from Hotels

Major hotel chains are showing hardcore pornography, rated R18 on sets in guests' bedrooms.

The Mail on Sunday claimed that this was enabled by a legal loop hole and that pay-per-view sex movies are on offer in luxury hotel groups including Hilton, Intercontinental and De Vere.

Last night the Government announced a belated inquiry into why the hotels should be immune from a rigidly-enforced blanket ban on the broadcast of hardcore films on terrestrial, satellite and cable television channels.

Ironically, the hotel TV porn system the Government is set to investigate is readily available in at least one of the two Hilton hotels being used by the Prime Minister and Cabinet colleagues at this week's Labour Party Conference in Brighton.

The films now on offer in many British hotels would carry the special 'R18' certificate, which is issued by the BBFC, primarily 'for explicit works of consenting sex between adults.' R18 films can only be purchased by over-18s from licensed sex shops or viewed in specially-licensed cinemas where the age of every ticket purchaser can be verified.

The Hilton Group, whose hotels offer the 'adult' channel at Pounds £12.95 per 24 hours, said yesterday it had consulted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport before making the R18 material available.

When The Mail on Sunday first approached the DCMS to ask what it planned to do to shut down the legal loophole, a spokesman said it was ultimately for the hotel chains to decide what television services they provide for their customers but obviously they have to do operate within the parameters of the law.

The hotels showing hardcore porn insist they can put an electronic block on adult TV channels in guest rooms and say there are onscreen warnings that the viewer is about to access explicit material unsuitable for minors.

Last night a spokeswoman for Hilton, which offers the films in 60 of its 70 UK hotels, said: We started to introduce these films in our hotels in April, which was after some of the other major chains. We took advice from leading counsel and the DCMS before we did so and we are satisfied that it is within the law. Our supplier, Acentic, has also assured us that we are not breaking any regulations. There is also no question of children accessing this material.

There are warnings on every stage of the menu process on the pay-TV screen and when families check in to our hotels it is our policy to ask the parents if they want the adult channel blocked. A spokeswoman for De Vere, which has 19 four-star and fivestar hotels in the UK, confirmed they were also showing R18 films. We understand from our suppliers that it has been legal for two years,' she said.

We offer this service because it has become standard throughout the industry and it is a service that our guests demand. At the Intercontinental Group, which has around 300 hotels in the UK, including the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, a spokeswoman confirmed it began showing R18 films in the spring of this year after taking legal advice.

In a second statement issued late yesterday afternoon, the DCMS said: 'The Government takes very seriously extreme pornographic images and the protection of children. We are grateful to The Mail on Sunday for drawing this to our attention. It may be that the present legislation creates a loophole for new technologies to provide pornographic material that was not intended under existing legislation. We are therefore examining with the Home Office what action needs to be taken to ensure that the law as intended is complied with. The DCMS spokesman added that he was not aware whether any of the hotel chains contacted them before installing the film system.

    Playboy Magazine On Demand

From The Independent

Playboy magazine is not what it was. It has become diluted and over-merchandised until it stands for little more than a parallel version of the worst of hip-hop culture, all bling and no substance.

And so to try and make sense of this: Playboy UK has re-launched itself as a digital multimedia entertainment company with a presence in every portal . The new brand integrates the "full suite" of Playboy products (six Playboy television channels, the newly launched website www.playboy.co.uk) and, of course, the magazine. According to Richard Gale, director of marketing and sales, this collective offering brings the consumer "an array of exclusive lifestyle benefits".

According to the chief executive Jeremy Yates, this re-branding is a reaction to user demand for a single billing point for TV, online and magazine services . At Playboy, they are very excited about "convergence" - that one day we will all have one box to unite all our pornographic needs - but until that time it is enough that they can "deliver content wherever you want it", or, in other words, deliver adult entertainment to your television, your computer, your phone, your PDA or your portable games machine.

And where does the magazine fit into all this? Subscribers to the full digital package (£36pm) receive Playboy magazine as part of the deal - but it seems like an afterthought, a bonus for the viewer, rather than anything the company is focusing on. This seems to be the view shared by the magazine's editorial offices in New York. Yes, the magazine is bundled with Playboy UK as a promotion, but it is just that, a promotion, says a spokeswoman, when I ask to speak to someone from the editorial side. Because of the differing explicitness of content in various territories we would probably not want to comment further on the magazine in relation to this re-branding.

While playing up the men's lifestyle elements in Playboy on-line (for which read boy's toys and gadgets), Yates admits Playboy's central contradiction: that, on the one hand, the hardcore stuff is not branded (so, in addition to the softcore Playboy TV, the stronger broadcast content appears on the internet broadband versions of the Adult Channel & Spice), but, on the other hand, the hardcore stuff is what Playboy feels compelled to provide, to compete with the internet and pay per view, and despite keeping it at arm's length to try and protect the lucrative teen clothing and stationery image, the hardcore streaming is, to use Yates's indelicate phrase, "the meat in the sandwich".

    Diminished Rights Management

From Lasher_UK on the bgafd forum

I am looking for a British movie site or site with good British content that you can pay monthly for like Adultbouncer or Deluxepass.

Why do so many have these stupid deals involving X amount of pounds gets X amounts of minutes, spend more pounds get extra minutes and a free toy or phone sex ?

For Christs sake what's the matter with say £30 per month download what you like when you like and no bloody DRM movies?

I thought I got there with Relishvod but again a plethera of purchase choice and all the divx movies are non Brit. All the Brit stuff is tied into silly buy minutes again.

The problem with DRM movies is that you can't burn them to dvd. I'm hardly gonna set up the pc in the living room so me and the missus can have some naught fun watching it all on the pc. We'd end up getting tangled in the wires!

I can't see the problem, I understand piracy issues but in the meantime you are all missing out and the yanks are raking it in!

I really like AB and Deluxepass for the way they work it's just I miss the Brit girls. Why can't someone offer this?

Is it too much to ask or are there to many issues to resolve legal copyright etc?

    EC Warned off IPTV

From The Register

The European Commission should be cautious about extending the Television Without Frontiers Directive (TVWF Directive) to cover the provision of online audiovisual content services, according to trade group the E-Business Regulatory Alliance.

The group made its comments in response to a consultation by the European Commission on whether the provision of audiovisual content services – by television broadcast, broadband or 3G – needs a new legal regime.

The Commission believes that telecom providers will soon be able to deliver broadcasting services in a quality equal to traditional TV, while traditional content providers will enter the communications markets. It therefore wants to make sure now that the new regime has better competition and consumer choice together with protection for children and cultural diversity.

Comments on the proposals were invited by 5 September, in time for a forthcoming EU audiovisual content conference to be held in Liverpool later this month.

According to the E-Business Regulatory Alliance, the existing framework governing audiovisual and information society services is working well. It is not convinced that any change is necessary.

"The internet is not a virtual 'Wild West', but is already heavily regulated with several instruments, for example the e-Commerce Directive and the Copyright Directive. Member States also have horizontal laws that can be generally applied to the internet," says the Alliance.

"Where public policy issues, for example the protection of minors and human dignity, are important to the online environment, national legislation or industry self regulation is already adequate. The online business sector has done much to protect children and minors by introducing, for example, parental/guardian controls and age verification," it adds.

The Alliance calls on the Commission to conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment – along the lines of the UK's model – in each business sector likely to be affected by any new regulations.

It is also concerned that simply extending the Directive will not solve the problem, in that businesses are unable to predict what developments will take place, and therefore what laws will be needed in the future. Nor does the Alliance believe that the timescale set for publishing the draft Directive – the end of this year – is workable, especially given the need for proper Regulatory Impact Assessments.

It calls for a light touch in respect of any proposals for regulating the internet, and questions whether the proposals will provide for legal certainty. It calls on the Commission to ensure high levels of subsidiarity and to maintain a strong country of origin approach – so that businesses are not subject to different rules if offering services in different Member States, but merely have to satisfy those in their country of origin.

    G Spot G Rated

From The Times

The BBC is launching a cinema-style classification to warn parents of programmes containing sex, violence and strong language. Programmes suitable mostly for adults are to be labelled with the symbol "G" for "guidance".

Initially the G-certificate will be available only to people viewing on their computers, but audiences using the next generation of televisions should be able to click on the symbol on their screens to be alerted to the adult content. The symbol could eventually replace the traditional 9pm watershed.

The corporation is introducing the system to coincide with the release of most of the output of BBC1, BBC2 and its other networks on the internet. Many of its radio programmes are already available "on demand" in this way for seven days after they have been broadcast.

Because viewers will be able to watch programmes from the previous week's output whenever they want, children will no longer be protected by the conventional watershed.

Initially only 5,000 viewers taking part in a trial this month of the BBC's system for downloading programmes — the "integrated media player" — will encounter the G-system. Now, any BBC programme included in the new service will have to be classified as G or non-G.

If downloading television programmes on computer becomes nationally available — the BBC's director-general Mark Thompson is hoping to win the governors' approval to launch it next year — the G-symbol will become familiar in almost every household and is likely to be adopted by other broadcasters. We need to give audiences the equivalent of a new watershed, to give them a different signpost ," said Rachel Hermer, the BBC adviser on editorial policy.

Parents will be able to adjust computers so children cannot watch G-rated programmes without permission.

All Amateurs

From www.all-amateursdvd.com

Our site Feature Hardcore Amateur Porn Downloads, full length films in high resolution near DVD quality format.

Basically what we offer is just a little bit different, we are a British outfit producing genuine amateur hardcore featuring British participants, I hesitate to use the word model since none of the people featured in our films would fit that category. They are regular everyday folks and since our appearance fees barely cover expenses it is fair to say anyone watching these films can be assured the participants are doing it for kicks. I guess you would get a much better sense of this if you were to visit the web site.

We have a number of DVD's R18 rated in the adult shops, We decided not to sell DVD's online. Recently we started embarking on a program of offering our own films, and some of those that we distribute to the trade for purchase via download on the net. We have set up a dedicated server for this and all the work conversions of films web site etc is all done in house we are totally self sufficient in that respect.

A point of interest maybe to note for you is that a few people who approached us to buy via mail order which for legal reasons we won't do were converted, to buying downloads online after recommendation from us.

Our overriding attitude regarding online sales of downloadable movies is to give the best value for money possible, we want happy customers to come back to us.

We use the DivX format and unlike our DVD's of the same title The DivX footage is usually completely unedited which means a lot longer, Ok that means some shaky camera work and long lead ups sometimes but on the plus side the viewer does get a real sense that this is something real a tangible (Reality Sex) not staged or directed, which of course it isn't.

We also put footage on our download movies where applicable that is or would be rejected by the BBFC, I mean you know something's anally retentive when they have a rule that says fingering past the third knuckle is classed as fisting and banned doesn't seem to matter that it might only be 2 fingers.

Whilst our output isn't going to appeal everyone there is definitely a market for this reality sex stuff featuring ordinary folks, Our DVD's are selling very well in the sex shops.

As a business we are hoping to attract other amateur producers to come on board for DVD Distribution and DivX Downloads.

Finally regarding a sales model for the downloads, we decided straight off that its a download and keep thing, bugger streaming it's frustrating for folks anyway our films are too high spec quality to make streaming viable, and rental nah we will keep the buy and keep forever at a fair price thing. Some companies charge for rental what we sell outright for.

Oh perhaps good to mention that we are also going to add a goodly number of single scenes for download and keep later this month give folks a better choice perhaps.

Suggested by a Melon Farmer Dude

From band3 on The Melon Farmers' Forum

I subscribed to www.moviedude.com (run by reputable company movieflix.com) and at current exchange rates for only £5.69 / month I can stream VOD from a selection of 100s of DVDs @ 225kb stream in RealPlayer (Good) or Windows Media (not so good).

Gotta admit.. it`s cheap!

Bulldog Broadband

From DTG

Cable & Wireless' high-speed broadband internet unit, Bulldog Communications, is reportedly set to launch a video-on-demand service. Bulldog is one of the pioneers of local loop unbundling, the process by which broadband providers install their own technology at BT telephone exchanges, thus creating their own access network.

Cable & Wireless acquired Bulldog in May 2004 for £18.6m. In April this year its founding CEO Richard Greco was replaced by Emanuele Angelidis, a former chief operating officer of Italy's Fastweb, the broadband internet provider that offers consumers a bundled triple-play of video services, telephony and high-speed internet.

Bulldog is not commenting on the reports, but a further hint that Bulldog is planning to launch a video-on-demand service is the recent appointment of Elaine Safier its head of entertainment. Safier was previously strategy director at AOL Europe.

Meanwhile, Kingston Communications' broadband ISP, Eclipse Internet, has announced it is to trial a national platform for digital television, telephony and broadband. Eclipse is working with set-top box maker Netgem to create a triple-play service allowing subscribers to use Netgem's iPlayer+ box with a 2 Mbps broadband connection.

The box combines that broadband connection with a Freeview tuner, also offering the mini-pay-TV service Top Up TV.

    IPTV Marginally Better than DVD?

Some interesting points, I do not see IPTV as Utopia as I tend to be a collector and like to own DVDs complete with covers and a belief that I can watch them again any time in the next few years. Maybe porn can be an exception as far too little is of sufficient quality to worry about watching again.

From UK adult producer Phil McCavity

DVD sales have been dive bombing over the last 12-18 months and there is less profit margin in the production and distribution of them due to the pirates that are rife in the industry. All the biggest movie distributors, Warner Bros, MGM, Disney etc are all going down the IPTV route and it is expected that all movies in the future will be streamed for a global audience on the same day with no delays to all regions. This will undoubtedly close the black hole currently draining the DVD industry of some $80 million a month either spent on fighting piracy or lost revenue to piracy.

In an attempt to fight piracy Gladiator was used as a test. Eight thousand prints of the movie were made at a cost of $40M and distributed via Cannes etc and it was the biggest loss ever to piracy even being pirated before it reached the first screening cinemas.

This is why IPTV is going to be the only solution to combating DVD piracy. On a given time and date the AVI stored in a server and secured with Digital Rights Management is transmitted globally to Cinemas, then a few weeks later the server will be opened up to the end user in the home to stream to either PC or set top box. This will mean the DVD distributors of today are becoming the online streaming distributors for the IPTV age and it's happening right now.

As an example take Harry Potter 4 . People will be able to see the making of the movie long before it even becomes a product. It will generate revenue streams before the movie is even a production and captivate the audience and media interest ready for the launch day. At the time of launch a button will be pressed in a data centre storing the master AVI file and instantaneously enable cinemas all around the world to have a premier of the movie on the same night. The glitz and glamour of the premiers we see today won't have to be in one cinema in the country or region but in every cinema around the globe capable of receiving the signal through fibre lines.

The home consumer will receive the same treat as the cinemas only a few days or a few weeks later when a reduced stream is enabled and controlled under DRM license as an on-demand movie. There will be no DVD availability, no download and therefore DVD pirate copies for sale at the car boot on a Sunday for £5. Instead the consumer can pay £2.50, £4 or whatever the cost is set at to stream it over the phone line and be allowed a set number of plays for the price.

No DVD and cheaper to watch than a PIRATE at Hi-Def quality if you like,

Its here......Consumers, Punters, friends and gentlemen get prepared coz its coming your way, www.gdbtv.co.uk

    Consultation on Demand

IPTV capable broadband set to reach millions by 2006

From Ofwatch

NTL are planning to roll out 10Mb broadband to all of their 1.5 million customers by the end of 2006 at no additional cost to subscribers. Instead of pricing by broadband speed, prices will in future be based on data throughput (usage). Existing 3Mb users usage limit will be increased from 30Gb to 75Gb per month and they will be upgraded first. The usage limit for other bands have yet to be announced. 10Mb is plenty fast enough for full broadcast quality television. Television Without Frontiers

Ofwatch has responded to the European public consultation over updating the Television without Frontiers Directive. As IPTV services are likely to be included within the scope of the revised directive, the TVWF directive will become an important regulatory issue for adult service consumers. Although it is unlikely that it will be possible to prohibit Internet based television services it is possible that UK suppliers of R18 content on such services could be handicapped by inappropriate regulation. It is therefore important that adult service consumers make their views known to the commission.

Details of the consultation can be found here: http://europa.eu.int/comm/avpolicy/revision-tvwf2005/consult_en.htm

The key paper is the first one rules applicable to audiovisual content services . Responses must be in by 5th September.

Expensive VCDs for Download

From The Register

A UK firm has started a video download service in the hopes of creating a viable commercial alternative to renting or buying DVDs. The service - BoxOffice365.com - which allows customers to download videos of VHS quality was launched in a trial version last week. So far only a handful of live comedy and music video services are available but the British Internet Broadcasting Company (BiBC), the firm behind the service, promises a significant content catalogue will be uploaded by the end of September.

Some of the content, such as The Sex Pistols' TV debut of Anarchy in the UK will be made available for purchase for the first time. The firm has signed publishing agreements with a number of publishers including V2, ITN, Laughing Stock. But only one film studio (Universal) has thus far signed an agreement. BiBC's founder, Paul Hague, admitted Hollywood has been reticent about offering legal downloads of films even though content is wrapped in copy protection technology to prevent unauthorised sharing.

Downloads are available on a "pay-as-you-go" basis with prices of between £1.50 for a music video, and £6.99 and upwards for a full DVD. That's more expensive than renting a DVD but BiBC hopes the convenience of not having to go to the shops will appeal to its potential customers. A trial allowed us to download Bob Marley, The Legend Live. As advertised it took 45 mins to download and the 500MB WMV file offered VHS-quality footage of the Reggae legend in his prime. The site was easy to use with IE but doesn't yet work on Firefox or on Macs. BoxOffice365.com techies are working on making the service - essentially still in beta - work with Firefox.com. The service offers downloads - not streaming media - so once punters download content they can view it offline as often as they like providing they don't try to do anything more than transfer content to one portable video device.

BoxOffice365.com wants to do for video downloads what iTunes did for legal music downloads.

    Warning: Playboy aren't Playing Ball

From  The Melon Farmers' Forum

Philim77

Playboy.co.uk Has anyone else had any problems in getting signed up to this service? I used to be registered with Playboytvonline.co.uk (excellent service) but upgraded my package over a week ago to Playboy.co.uk. Ever since then I have been unable to use this service despite numerous e-mails asking for help and passed deadlines promising it will be sorted......

Crowman

I have had exactly the same problem. They supplied a temporary logon id and password and told me I would receive my permanent details within 14 days. However, the temporary id and password was disbled before I received my new ones. I am, once again, chasing them for access. Needless to say, their billing department is super efficient.

Free Hardcore vs Paid For Softcore

From Band3 on The Melon Farmers' Forum

It`s quite funny... There I have TVX playing on the TV - showing absolutely NOTHING worth watching... and on my PC I am streaming www.adultinternet.tv (crappy 100k stream) but free - and I am watching a program called London shaggers... and recognise many of the British cast. So basically I am watching an American company showing British hardcore for free while a British company is charging me £9.99/month to watch softcore crap....

Television without Frontiers but with Frontiers

By Paul Taverner of Ofwatch at Westminster Media Forum's TVWF consultation seminar: The View from UK Stakeholders
held on the 20th July.

A more complete article is available on Ofwatch

I was fortunate enough to attended a Westminster Media Forum seminar concerning the revision of the Television Without Frontiers (TVWF) directive last Wednesday (20th July). The TVWF directive is of great importance to adult service consumers as it lays down the basic regulation required for television services across Europe. It is of particular interest right now as the European Commission have announced their intention to expand this directive to include many web based services.

There is still a great deal of work to be done before the new version of the directive is anywhere near ready, but the basic thrust is clear. Television and Internet technologies are converging and what we need (so we are told) is more regulation that includes Internet services. Regulation will continue for traditional broadcast services in much the same way as it does now, but will be extended to include IPTV, streamed content and near Video On Demand under the heading of linear services. In addition a new tier of regulation will be created introducing basic regulation with fewer restrictions for non-linear services (where the consumer decides the schedule) such as full VOD services and similar.

The subject of the seminar was the five discussion papers that were released on the 11th July to prompt debate over draft proposals. These draft proposals were a very mixed bag.

Some of the suggestions were highly controversial such as extending the existing broadcasting right of reply to web based services. Perhaps not a serious issue from an adult service perspective, but that one will run and run nevertheless. Expect to see it in the papers when the time comes in the coming months and years ahead.

Some of the suggestions were totally ill conceived and even the rather conservative Chris Bone from the DCMS was heard to mutter that "some of these proposals loose touch with reality" when faced with suggestions that foreign web sites might choose to register in one country or another to avoid being regulated by all nations separately.

There was great support for the idea that trans frontier communications should remain unrestricted, indeed this is such a fundamental point that the directive is named after it (i.e. Television Without Frontiers). There was also support for the idea of continuing to allow nation states their national margin of appreciation when interpreting the TVWF principles over what content was acceptable and where lines should be drawn in their territory, but there wasn't any real idea of what would happen when you mixed these two principles together in a fully IPTV enabled world, or any appreciation that they are in fact mutually exclusive.

If trans frontier communications are to remain truly open and free and if any person in any country can watch any content from anywhere, what is the point in a national margin of appreciation? But if every nation needs to enforce its own national margin, then it will be necessary to ring fence each nation with barriers to ensure that content that falls outside the national margin is kept out. Hardly in keeping with open communications and probably entirely impractical as well.

Of course this problem is already with us today, but has been limited for various technological, financial, geographical and political reasons. Whilst Transgression of one national margin into another does occur (e.g. Euro adult services such as Satisfaction TV), it is limited in scope and within politically manageable proportions. But IPTV will bring this issue into sharp focus by removing the technological, financial and geographical obstacles.

The massive force of technological progress pushing towards open trans frontier communications would seem to be unstoppable and yet national Governments resolve to maintain control at all costs would appear to be immovable. So there is guaranteed to be tears before bedtime on this issue not to mention a serious risk of creating a number of white elephant regulations  for political purposes in the process. The real problem was highlighted by one of the other speakers at the seminar who said "legislators and regulators are trying to regulate in a world that they don't understand".

So there is no answer to this conflict at the moment, but there is certainly the need for us to get involved in the European consultation on these matters. More of that later. 

Specific questions posed by Ofwatch

Paul Tavener: I would like to ask what is going to happen when the national margin of appreciation meets the future reality of Internet Protocol TV. In a world where citizens from any nation can access any television service from any other nation what place is left for the national margin of appreciation over what is acceptable to broadcast? And on that note I would also like to ask him what happened to the request for a proscription order for Satisfaction Television that the ITC requested almost five years ago? Is the minister still considering the matter?

Chris Bone : OK I'll answer the second question first. Um ya we, er, still have that under consideration. You may or may not know that there was actually a proscription order posted earlier this year against another television service which has since gone off the air; nice to know. And we're still considering in the light of that and various other legal considerations what can or can not be done about Satisfaction so there we are.

As regards the first question I think this is perhaps where I say ask the commission what they think, because there is clearly a major issue about this. If there is not, and undoubtedly there never will be in our lifetimes, world wide sort of international control of what's available on the web then people are going to be able to get what they want through the web. There's only so much that nation states and EU commissioners can do. There are co-regulatory and self regulatory solutions, we have found, for example through the work of the Internet Watch Foundation over the last few years that the amount of unacceptable child pornography coming out of the UK has diminished very markedly. That doesn't stop it being available unfortunately if people want to see it, but it's not coming from the UK anymore and it does show that solutions which involve the operators themselves getting together with Governments and regulators and trawling there own content on a notice and take down basis, these solutions, do work and that's all I can say about that.

Paul Tavener: What is going to happen to the national margin of appreciation in the future when we have Internet Protocol TV and where citizens from any nation can access any television service from any other nation?

Tim Suter of Ofcom: Well to the extent that services are regulated by virtue of a licence, they are regulated by virtue of a licence that is handled through Ofcom and it's codes and where that regulation doesn't run to unlicensed services, such as services delivered over the Internet, they are not licensed in the same way.

Paul Tavener: The question really was why are we having a big debate about what the regulation is in this country when really the debate needs to be in Europe. It's a Europe based issue. If we can access content from anywhere then what is the point in having specific UK regulation if we can access French services, Polish services, whatever services?

Tim Suter Well I think there is a principle of regulation that has been fully reflected in the recent comments about the country of origin principle. A lot of content regulation is culturally specific and that is part of the point of it and we need to recognise that and therefore there is a sense that there is a basic set of rules that can be adapted within certain frameworks by content regulators in member states. The subsidiarity principle is terribly important. I don't think the fact that something is necessarily available somewhere else or not available somewhere else should be the determining factor for what we as a society decide we want to have.

The tentative proposals

Chris Bone (head of International broadcasting at the Department of Culture Media and Sport) gave us an outline of the initial thinking:

Existing regulations covering traditional broadcast television should be extended to include new Internet based services such as IPTV and VOD. There should be two tiers of regulation with 'linear' services covering existing television, IPTV and near VOD where the broadcaster decides the schedule and where the rules will be " detailed " (in other words strict), and " non-linear " services for VOD and similar services where the viewer decides the schedule and where the rules will be " basic " (in other words less strict). All Regulations should be technologically neutral meaning that the same rules apply regardless of the means of transmission. Rules for the basic tier of regulation should include: 

• Protection of minors and human dignity

• Identification of commercial communications

• Minimum qualitative obligations regarding commercial communication

• Right of reply

• Basic identification / masthead requirements.

The right of reply requirement will be hugely controversial and may not make it into the final directive, but as far as protection of minors and human dignity were concerned there was less controversy and this is what the focus groups had to say:

"The implementation of the TVWF Directive in the Member States shows that there are no European standards of public decency which would allow the terms "pornography" or "gratuitous violence" to be defined at European level. It therefore should to be left to the Member States to define these notions. Although the level of protection should be similar notwithstanding the linear or non linear character of the service, the means employed to protect minors and human dignity would vary according to the characteristics of the service."

One key point made was that the country of origin principle should be retained. The country of origin principle means that any services must be regulated by one country and only one country. Despite this there was still some pressure to water down the existing principle allowing exceptions in cases where broadcasters have been established in another country with the sole intention of circumventing the target countries rules (e.g. Red Hot Dutch etc) and new powers to restrict retransmission within a target country in some circumstances. 

Timetable

• 11th July: Issue papers released for discussion
• 5th September: Closing date for comments from the public
• 20th-22nd September: Major conference in Liverpool discussing TVWF issues
• Late 2005: draft directive white paper
• 2006/7 council of ministers and European Parliament start to process the draft directive
• mid/late 2007 New audio-visual content directive
• 2010 incorporated into UK law 

All of the discussion papers are available for those who wish to read more. Westminster media forum will make electronic copies of the seminar discussions available in a months time.

The next big event will be an EU conference in Liverpool where more than 500 regulators, legislators and experts from the broadcasting industry from across Europe will meet to discuss the new directive. It will assist the European Commission in developing its proposals for the revision of the directive. I was given the opportunity to create a 600 word article that will be included as part of the information pack that will be given to all 500 delegates at the Liverpool conference. Hopefully at least some of them will read it. 

    BBC On Demand

Sounds technically bollox, I am in Thailand at the moment and am paying for a TV licence in the UK. I bet their implementation doesn't recognise this situation and treats me as a foreigner. I am getting well pissed off at US software companies charging me UK VAT when  I am in Thailand. They seem to go by the credit card address rather than the delivery address (which of course is arbitrary for a download).

From The Guardian

The BBC is to sell its programmes to overseas viewers over the internet and may also take advertising on its website for the first time under plans to boost its commercial revenues. The director of new media and technology, Ashley Highfield, confirmed that plans to bring in extra money by selling downloads of popular programmes such as Doctor Who, Little Britain and the Blue Planet over the internet were "coming up the agenda".

It's something we've been mandated to do by our charter. It's now become possible because we have internet rights that we could charge for, and we now have the technology, he said. New technology makes it possible for the BBC, which operates the UK's most popular website, to identify exactly where its internet users are coming from. During the Athens Olympics last year, when the BBC provided hundreds of hours of live coverage to broadband internet users, it successfully tested software allowing it to restrict transmission to UK licence fee payers.

Highfield said that in the future the "flip side" was that the BBC could also acquire the international internet rights to big events and charge overseas users to watch them. Any such move would have to be handled through the corporation's BBC Worldwide commercial subsidiary.

The BBC has previously investigated advertising to overseas users of its website, but concluded that the technology was too unreliable. Now, it is prepared to re-examine the idea. While it is unlikely that straightforward online news coverage would be accompanied by advertising, other elements of the BBC.co.uk site could be accompanied by ads if viewed from abroad. Highfield said the BBC already accepted advertising on its overseas TV channels and the principle was the same.

As the BBC invests an ever increasing amount in its online strategy, the director general, Mark Thompson, is looking at ways to offset the distribution costs. According to the BBC's annual report, 22.8 million of the website's 48.1 million average monthly users were overseas. It spent £69.2m on BBC.co.uk, a figure expected to continue rising as the number of broadband users around the world consuming audio visual content increases.

Later this year the BBC will stage a large scale public trial of its interactive Media Player (iMP) technology, aimed at providing UK licence fee payers with the means to download any programme or radio show from the previous week. It is also developing a parallel project known as the Creative Archive, which aims to provide a library of classic programmes for personal use.

For the iMP trial we're having conversations with Worldwide and other commercial providers to see what a commercial version of iMP would look like, said Highfield. The iMP "console" could be available through a number of partner sites.

Under such a system, overseas users would be charged a one-off fee or a subscription to download programmes to their computer or television over a broadband connection.

By making its iMP player one of the standard ways of viewing its programmes, the BBC could retain control of their distribution and ensure its content was well promoted. There could also be a separate charging structure for viewing so-called "streamed" content.

A commercial version of iMP is one model, but we might also look at partnering with Google, for example. If we're making all this investment to make audio visual content available free of charge in the UK, if we could make some money back internationally it could help mitigate some of those costs, said Highfield.

    Japan on Demand

From The Guardian

Japan's biggest broadcaster, Nippon Television Network, is to begin distributing TV programmes via the internet. NTV is aiming for its new online TV business, due to launch in October, to sell £52m-worth of programmes within three years and plans to attract 10,000 members within a year.

The broadcaster will offer more than 10,000 programmes from its portfolio of drama, entertainment and documentary shows on a members-only site with a flat fee of 50p a programme.

NTV - whose network includes 30 affiliate stations - refused to comment on its online plans.

Despite growth in Japan's advertising market, the world's second biggest, the top three TV broadcasters posted weaker profits in the last business year and projected further falls due to the costs of developing new content and lower revenues from its mainline broadcasting business. Some of Japan's TV companies have tried to reduce their reliance on advertising revenue in recent years as the emergence of Sky+ style digital video recorders, which allow viewers to skip commercials, have clouded the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising.

    Amazon on Demand

From CNET News

Amazon.com has purchased a DVD-on-demand site in an effort to broaden its portfolio of digital media services.

Amazon purchased CustomFlix last week, a Santa Cruz, California based company that produces and sells independently produced DVDs

Amazon considers this an additional way of offering customers a wider array of titles, of more niche titles, than it already does, company spokeswoman Patty Smith said. We're always trying to help customers find what they're looking for online.

The CustomFlix buy also follows industry speculation that Amazon would be expanding its DVD operations, though those predictions have centered around the rental side of the business.

    Censored Hardcore for the US

It sounds like one to avoid as the tag XX rated means that it is censored hardcore with all anal and cumshots excised.

From AVN

Deep Star Broadcasting Systems, Inc. took a major step forward with today's announcement of the launch of its first adult video-on-demand service, Heat On Demand.

Through the initial launch, which took place last Thursday, July 7, Heat On Demand is now being introduced to 2,000,000 VOD homes in the United States

Heat On Demand features talent such as Michael Ninn, Simon Wolf, Suze Randall, Private Media Group and Illicit Pictures.

John Chambliss, president of Deep Star touched on an important revenue sharing program that ensures Heat On Demand a position of dominance in attracting filmmakers. This is a distinct advantage we will continue to enjoy because of our willingness to share revenues with our content providers, representing financial rewards offered by no other adult aggregator.

Bill Furrelle, senior VP of affiliate sales for Deep Star, announced that in August, the broadcasting company will next launch a new XX rated Spanish language, VOD service, Caliente En Demanda. Combined with our cutting edge Heat on Demand, I think we now have all of the bases covered as we embark on a journey of satisfying an insatiable audience whose thirst for adult entertainment continues to show no end.

    Regulation On Demand

From The Times

Europe wants to begin to regulate the internet for the first time by introducing controversial rules to cover television online.

Brussels is considering regulating areas such as taste and decency, accuracy and impartiality for internet broadcasters. More broadly, it is thinking about relaxing rules governing the frequency and amount of advertising on television.

The proposals are expected to prompt an immediate battle because Ofcom, the media regulator, believes that traditionally strict broadcast regulations should not be extended to the internet.

Viviane Reding, the European Information Commissioner, will set out the idea today as part of the biggest revision of European television regulation since 1989.

She will unveil five "issues papers", one of which will discuss the impact of technological change since then, and conclude that "non-linear audio-visual content", television downloads, needs to be subject to regulation.

Some of the changes mooted, such as the extension of rules governing the protection of children, are unlikely to be controversial, but others, such as the need for internet broadcasters to provide a statutory right of reply, are likely to provoke fierce debate.

Tim Suter, Ofcom's partner for content and standards, said: Whatever happens, it is not appropriate to take the set of rules that apply to television and apply them to other media. Where possible, we should be looking at self-regulation or co-regulation, because that is something that can deliver the goods.

The idea is that any website trying to make money from broadcasting television, perhaps by providing video clips in addition to text, could be brought into the net. However, Commission officials say that the rules for websites will be less strict than those currently applying to the BBC.

Today, television delivered via the internet is unregulated in Britain. There is, therefore, nobody with legal power to force an internet broadcaster to respect rules governing accuracy and impartiality or taste and decency that apply to all other analogue and digital broadcasters.

Home Choice, the leading internet television broadcaster, has formed its own self-regulatory body, which mirrors most of the existing rules. Ofcom believes that this approach is sufficient for responsible broadcasters, while any others are likely to operate offshore from jurisdictions beyond the European Union's reach.

The new rules will come out of a rewrite of Television Without Frontiers, the 1989 European directive that set the benchmark for television regulation.

Although the issues papers to be published tomorrow will not contain firm conclusions, broadcasters will have until September 5 to respond in writing. A draft directive will be produced at the end of this year.

As well as covering internet regulation, the consultation documents will signal a liberalising of the prescriptive regulations covering the amount of advertising that a TV channel can sho, an existing limit of 12 minutes an hour, is likely to be scrapped.

    IPTV Set-top Box for 70 Quid

From DTG

BT is reportedly aiming to launch its internet protocol television (IPTV) service after a full-scale trial next March, with set-top boxes retailing at £70.

Advanced-television.com said Andrew Burke, CEO of BT Entertainment, had said the service would include all the Freeview channels plus a 14-day forward and seven-day back electronic programme guide (EPG), along with a video-on-demand service and personal video recorder (PVR).
Advanced-television.com said BT would subsidise the box to ensure the £70 price point was achieved. The PVR in the set-top box will "seamlessly" interact with a network PVR.

Burke revealed to Advanced-television.com that licence deals to cover all previous programmes for seven days were in place with the BBC and in hand with the other Freeview channels.

Last month BT announced it would deploy Microsoft's software solution for its hybrid digital terrestrial and IPTV service.

    Will Video on Demand outdo DVD?

The American studios obviously have noticed the ridiculously restricted UK market where video on Demand may become the easiest way to get TV hardcore

From AVN

Early views of adult Internet entertainment appear mixed as to whether Video-on-Demand (VoD), Web-based and elsewhere, will eventually overthrow DVD as a platform of choice for movie consumers.

Greencine content director Jonathan Marlow – a cinematographer whose company is a small outfit taking on mainstream Hollywood because its rapture with big DVD revenues won't let it take the VoD plunge until VoD is a proven moneymaker: DVD revenues are so out of proportion to every other aspect of this business. There has to be some proven revenue in the space before the big studios will even think about dismantling a model that has proven so lucrative for them.

VideoSecrets chief Greg Clayman said that the growth of the broadband population means that the Internet will grow greater and faster, and that the future is likely to be multiple content platforms – DVD, VoD, and others – without any one standing to make the other obsolete.

Distributed Computing Industry Association chief Marty Lafferty also believes multiple platforms will prove the enduring rule: None of the newer technologies have supplanted the others as much as they've expanded the pie for others and given consumers more choices.

Homegrown Video chief Spike Goldberg said VoD won't have a major impact upon DVD revenue for the time being, but changes are likely to come as VoD secures a stronger position over time. Goldberg didn't come right out and say VoD would make DVD obsolete just yet, but neither did he deny that new technologies have done just that to earlier ones in the past. VoD will not kill DVD now, Goldberg said, but he added the change has already begun—and those who keep their heads in the sand, as he put it, show a sign that they could be overrun.
Every studio is doing something with VOD on the adult side. Somebody in Hollywood's going to be making some tough decisions down the road … and whether Hollywood wants to deal with it now or not, they will have to, at some point. Or they could cause their target audience to be out on the Web trading their stuff. And if the audience wants to have this and you're not providing it to them, the Internet will find it for them.

    BT Looking to IPTV

I wonder if any of the big companies will somehow manage to enable a hardcore channel or two.

From The Guardian

BT yesterday took a major step towards its long-held goal of launching a television network delivered over its phone lines, announcing a deal with Microsoft to provide the underlying technology. The telecoms group confirmed that it planned to launch a trial of the service early next year. It will deliver a range of existing TV channels complemented by new video-on-demand services through a set-top box. A full consumer launch will follow in the summer.

The so-called IPTV service is a central plank of BT's plans to diversify its business away from traditional voice calls towards broadband-based data services.

Increased broadband speeds mean that the launch of video-based services is now a viable option, with smaller operators such as HomeChoice having already launched similar offerings in the London region.

BT's television offering will use a set-top box which will receive conventional Freeview channels but also offer extra features delivered over broadband. As well as video on demand there will be access to niche video content ranging from regional news broadcasts to non-league football matches.

Gavin Patterson, group managing director of BT Retail, was keen to stress that the BT offering would complement existing pay-TV services such as Sky Digital rather than competing with them. This isn't a direct attack on pay-TV. Both through satellite and digital terrestrial there are far more efficient ways of delivering mass audiences. It wouldn't be smart to go head to head. But we see there is an opportunity to complement broadcast TV with on-demand content, catch-up TV and some of the interactive experiences you get through broadband, he said, pointing to the possibilities for playing and downloading games, video calls, online chat and gambling.

The move into television will allow BT to compete with cable providers NTL and Telewest by providing the so-called "triple play" of telephone, internet and television services on a single bill.

BT said yesterday that the Microsoft TV platform would allow it to provide an advanced television service to its customers, including high definition channels, personal video recorder functions such as live pause and picture-in-picture capabilities.

According to Microsoft, its software also allows telecoms companies to deliver a more converged consumer experience, integrating the television with other broadband services to home computers, telephones, games consoles and mobile phones which run the same software.

France Telecom, which has already launched a similar service in some areas of its domestic market, is also planning a video-on-demand service through its Wanadoo internet division in the UK this year.

    R18 on Demand in Hotels

As far as I can see an internet based video on demand system would be perfectly legal for hotels to implement. Hardcore is perfectly legal in the UK on the Internet as it is not covered by the arbitrary applied licensing authority of Ofcon nor is it distribution via disks or tape that would put it in the scope of the Video Recordings Act.

Perhaps IPTV technology will make Ofcon's recent ban on broadcast hardcore pretty redundant in the very near future. The weight of money driving Internet based hardcore will surely brush aside the moral high grounders of the British establishment.

From The Melon Farmers' Forum

LDB1:

I have been watching with interest the R18 scenario for a number of years and was incredibly peaved at Ofcom`s code which was recently released and the subsequent denial of R18 material on PIN protected subscription satellite channels.

I was recently staying at a hotel in the UK and was flicking through the usual film selection on offer in the room. I noticed an "Adult" section which was quite obvious in the listings and not hidden away, and decided to adventure. The trouble was that the channels were PIN protected - oh damn I thought, whats the PIN? I selected the "help" option on the remote and it quite simply told me on screen - put 0 in front of your room number and thats the PIN. Curiosity got the better of me and I entered the "Adult area".

Sure enough there were 4 "Adult" films in the list and they all had the R18 certification logo next to them! Surely these films cannot be accessed this easily I thought, so I selected 1 of them. I was presented with a warning that the film would be billed to the room and would appear as "Room Service" on the bill - so that it can be easily hidden as food or drink - how childproof is that! Well you guessed it, I selected it and yep it was full blown R18 material.

My point is, why on earth can we gain access to R18 material via a PIN which is "given to you" - literally, and is not secure against child access on a non subscription service in a hotel room in the UK, yet we cannot gain access to R18 material via a protected PIN which we keep to ourselves in our own home on subscription satellite!

Kit Ryan :

That pretty much sums up the stupidity of the current situation. It sounds like the system in the hotel was some sort of Video on Demand system (not regulated by Ofcom) and will be perfectly legal.

    SinCity in Demand

From AVN

SinCity.com has added a pay-per-minute (PPM) streaming video option to its Video-on-Demand (VoD) service.

The PPM option is in addition to the downloadable DiVX VoD the studio had previously offered on Sin City and Mayhem titles.

" Customers can view scenes from their favorite Sin City and Mayhem titles, without waiting to download, for as little as 8 cents per minute, " says Sin City Internet division director Winn.

Clips stream at 500k and users can switch between scenes at will.

To kick things off Sin City is giving away 20 minutes of free streaming to new users and starting July 1, the first 500 people to sign up for a new account will get a $9.99 VoD title for free.

    I Want my IPTV

From The Guardian

The technology to turn the phone line into a TV delivery system is IPTV - television delivered over broadband internet lines to a set-top box that is attached to the TV set. There have been tests and smallish commercial rollouts of IPTV over the past decade (including a pioneering service at Kingston Communications in Hull), but making the sums add up has been difficult. The technology was expensive and the biggest phone companies were not that interested. But all that is about to change.

Over the past year, some of the world's biggest telcos have tested IPTV. And by the end of the year there will be hundreds of IPTV trials running around the world, including one on BT phone lines.

IPTV is the hottest product in the TV world , says Peter King, an analyst at Strategy Analytics. The telcos realise they have to get into the business of providing video, either broadcast or video-on- demand (VoD).

According to forecasts by Strategy Analytics, the number of IPTV set-top box subscribers will grow from less than two million in 2004 to 12 million by 2010. US-based Multimedia Research Group (MRG) is even more bullish, calculating that there will be 25m IPTV homes worldwide by 2008. All this activity has attracted the attention of companies from Microsoft to Pace Micro Technology, a maker of TV set-top boxes. Microsoft wants to extend its hold on software in PCs into the software for the IPTV television world, while Pace wants to leverage its know-how in developing satellite and cable TV set-top boxes into the IPTV market.

Last week, Pace launched a new IPTV set-top box that it hopes will outdo its main competitors. The new Pace box includes decoding software built into the box and a compression technology called MPEG-4 that means a telephone company can transmit high-quality TV pictures with only half the bandwidth previously required. The result is a set-top box that is more flexible and that will cost less than $100 (£55) to mass produce, according to Strategy Analytics, or less than half of what most IPTV set-tops cost today.

The new, cheaper box is important to the economics of the fledgling IPTV business and it is also crucial for Pace. Last month the company won a contract from the biggest US cable operator Comcast Corp, worth up to $550m over the next three years. Our IPTV revenues are very small at the moment, but we expect it to be a significant part in the next three years , says David Gilles, director of technology at Pace.

Although the telcos are the primary market for IPTV suppliers, some cable companies such as NTL are also experimenting with TV-channel delivery using IPTV rather than the more bandwidth-hungry standard broadcasts. And BT is expected to unveil its plans for delivering TV to consumers over the telephone line as early as this summer but it is still wrestling with decisions about which suppliers and systems to use. BT did not return calls for comment but it is understood that it will launch a set-top box that receives the Freeview channels and has a VoD service capability so customers can download TV programmes and films that they pay to watch.

The telcos have to get it right from launch, says Peter King. The user interface has to be spot-on. So until BT are 100% comfortable with it they are not going to rush it to market. In the UK this is particularly important because there is already a lot of competition in the TV market from Sky and cable and Freeview. It's not like there is pent-up demand for IPTV. There aren't lots of people saying 'I want my IPTV' because they don't know what it is yet.

Perhaps someone should tell them that IPTV may be the first media enabling mass market hardcore on British TVs. Perhaps a little porn gold may encourage them to get a move on.

    No Demand for On Demand Regulation

From Ofwatch , who have also posted Lord Currie's full speech to the newspaper society

Ofcom's Chairman Lord Currie recently made a speech to the Newspaper society in which he reiterated Ofcom's position concerning television regulation and it's diminishing role. There was talk of "evidence-based and transparent regulation" and "a bias against intervention". This short extract gives an encouraging impression:

The Communications Act, rightly, in my view, gives Ofcom no powers over television content delivered over the internet. It follows inexorably that when your TV programme can be delivered via broadband alongside the conventional broadcast signal, Ofcom's powers to regulate must fade.

However, there will be, and should be, a lively debate about whether content regulation of the kind that we are used to in broadcasting should extend to internet content. To fully inform that debate, in the year ahead, Ofcom will ask the following questions and will research the answers:
 

• firstly, is regulation of TV content over the internet practicable?
• Secondly, are there effective alternatives to direct regulation?
• And, thirdly, is regulation, on balance, desirable?

While I don't want to say in advance what the research is likely to show, my hunch is that the answers will be:

• On the practicability of regulation of TV over the internet – probably not;
• On whether there are effective alternatives to direct regulation – definitely;
• And on the desirability of direct regulation – almost certainly not.

Even if feasible, my own view is that extending direct regulation is absolutely not the right response. It would give enormous succour to oppressive regimes around the world which seek to censor what their peoples can access. I do want to see parents given the knowledge and the tools to protect their children against inappropriate content. The need for such protected walled gardens is very high on the list of concerns that people have about the digital age and the internet sector is already responding to that need.

    Would You Adam and Eve It

From AVN

The major US producers all seem to be going with the flow and introducing Video On Demand services. The latest are Adam & Eve who have started a site at adamevevod.com .

    Ofcom Reply to Brussels

From IT Week

Ofcom has said it would be impossible for it to effectively police television content streamed over the internet and this job must rest with the individual viewer. The warning from the communications watchdog comes after proposals from Brussels aim to make media regulators such as Ofcom responsible for keeping television content on the internet clean.

Both live and recorded television content is already available on the internet. Using the internet and especially broadband to deliver programmes gives content providers and broadcasters new ways of offering new services to their customers, such as programmes on demand.

But under a revamp of the Television without Frontiers directive, the European Union has suggested that in the same way regulators monitor and rule on television programmes for taste and decency, they should regulate internet broadcast content.

Currently, a complaint to Ofcom about harm and offence in a television programme would be investigated by the regulator, and if the broadcaster was in breach, this would trigger regulatory action. But Ofcom said trying to regulate the myriad new services and technologies delivering television such as broadband or 3G couldn't be done using the traditional methods.

It pointed out it currently did not have the necessary powers to regulate television content accessible via the internet. Ofcom said the proposals also didn't take into account different laws and interpretations of laws in other countries. Parliament has decided in the Communications Act that Ofcom should have no remit over internet content. I believe this was the right outcome for today's environment. Ofcom has no role to play whatsoever said David Currie, Ofcom's chairman.

The proposals have also concerned internet service providers who don't believe it is their job to act as monitors of people's viewing habits and believe such laws would not be feasible to enforce. The need for consumer protection is evident [but] the issue could run into areas of censorship, a can of worms that Ofcom would surely prefer to avoid opening - where would the line then be drawn? Begin regulating internet content and do you then have to regulate internet-based phone conversations, said Steve Harris of the UK Internet Forum.

Ofcom said it is in favour of a mix of existing laws such as obscenity and copyright and protection for children. The industry as a whole has a duty to provide 'safe havens'. But this had to be combined with greater consumer internet literacy because ultimately said Ofcom, the regulators would ultimately have to be the viewers themselves blocking content they personally were unhappy with.

    Television in the Frontier Zone

From The Guardian

Media regulators across Europe could be forced to police internet content for taste and decency in the same way as television programmes, according to proposals under consideration in Brussels. The plans have led to fears at the British media watchdog Ofcom that this may stifle innovation in the nascent broadband content industry and prove impossible to enforce.

This year the UK regulator will review the likely impact of broadband and other new services such as 3G over the next decade and consult the public and the industry over whether content delivered over them can and should be regulated.

The issue has come to a head as Brussels debates changes to a revamped Television Without Frontiers directive, which sets the agenda for European media regulation. New draft proposals are due to be issued later this year. The thinking in Brussels is that it will contain plans for Europe-wide regulation of television-style broadcasts over the internet.

And with overseas content providers able to broadcast internationally over the internet, there are also concerns that it would put British companies at a competitive disadvantage.

The proposals, if implemented, would run counter to Ofcom's determination to reduce its regulatory burden and switch to a "light touch". Robin Foster, Ofcom's senior partner in charge of strategy, said: [Television Without Frontiers] seems to be geared to extending traditional broadcasting regulation into new media and the internet. The slight worry is that it takes a very regulatory approach to new media, which may have a number of benefits, but it may not be positive and may stop new ideas developing in a broadband world. We shouldn't just assume that we should regulate.

Instead, Ofcom is believed to favour a mix of existing laws, such as those on obscenity and copyright, and advocating greater media literacy so consumers can block unwelcome content themselves. One idea floated last year would be to rate content on all websites.

The industry, from internet service providers to websites, is also sceptical over whether the medium can be regulated in any meaningful way.  A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers' Association, a trade body, said: There's been laws passed against spam. But in a situation where spam is coming from around the world and there are different laws in place in Europe and the US, what do you do?

Already an increasing number of broadband subscribers watch television programmes over the web as prices come down and connection speeds increase. Later this year telecom companies including BT and France Telecom's Wanadoo plan to launch video-on-demand services to be delivered over broadband lines via a set-top box to the television.

    Playboy Improvement Maintained

From Playboytvonlineadvisor on the Melon Farmers Discussions

PlayboyTVOnline is still looking very good. There have been daily updates even at the weekend and I can honestly say that for a week they have provided far more new material than I have time to watch. A huge improvement.

Alas - I cannot comment on whether it will last though, but would echo Paul`s advice of perhaps joining for a short time period but holding off 3 month subscriptions until end of May when we know the R18 outcome for sure.

It is currently showing hardcore versions of:

The Mating Game
Single White Female Seeks
Naughty by Nature
Pornomedics
Union Jaxx
Uniforms
Deep Desire
Wet Welsh and Wild

and much more

    At Last Playboy TV Revamped

From Playboytvonlineadvisor on the Melon Farmers Discussions

At last Playboy TV Online has been revamped.

It now hosts only 4 channels but: It now claims on the main page that all four channels are hardcore and they will change every day. I have just had a peek and all four channels are indeed hardcore. I will let you know whether they live up to their promise of updating every day.

This is the schedule at the moment (they have gone back to putting a description of each program). Obviously there will be repeats but hopefully nowhere near as many as before. I will try to post a daily schedule so that you may decide whether you feel it is worth purchasing.

Playboy TV UK:

1. City Chicks on Heat
2. Temptation Towers
3. Sammi Jayne`s Hardcore Harem
4. The Mating Game 1
5. The Mating Game 2
6. The Mission 1
7. The Mission 2

Spice Extreme: Programme Schedule not advised.

Spice Platinum:

1. Medieval Mischief II Ep 6
2. Anal School Girls Ep 5
3. Superstud 5 - Sachy Lee
4. Pornomedics 7
5. A Christmas Tale
6. Union Jaxx Down & Out in LA 1
7. Threesomes 1

Adult XXX

1. Titney Spheres Ep 1
2. Anna`s Mates Ep 1
3. Pornomedics Ep 1
4. Deep Desire Ep 1
5. Wet Welsh & Wild Ep 1
6. Interview with a sex Maniac

    Xplicit Caution

From Melon Farmers Discussions

Xplicit XXX who broadcast sofcore on Sky channel 984 have launched their 24 hour XXX British hardcore broadband service www.xxxtv247.com. Now everyone including viewers of the censored Xplicit XXX Sky channel can watch the full length uncut versions on its broadband service for as little as £5 a night! This month Doll Theatre exclusively showcases 9 of its Dollightful, Dollicious, Dollovely movies starring UK favourites Donna Marie, Jo May, Vicki Holloway, McKenzie Lee, Faye Dixie, Fran Lord, Katalin Varga, Freya Lee plus many many more so be you'll guaranteed plenty of BG, GG, ANAL, DP, P2M, A2M, FACIALS - quite simply - the bollocks!!

However the website is hardly inspiring with very little detail or contact information. There is apparently a pretty well hidden contact email but it bounces back.  It seems that the service will cost £5/night, £14.99/month or £39.99/3months and that the programme should be updated weekly.

However until the weekly update is proved, then caution is observed. Xplicit seems to have become part of the Playboy TV empire and their broadband service has been a technical disaster with updates rarer than scenes of penetration on UK TV

    More Providers on Demand

From AVN

The leaders of two adult studios have announced the formation of Deep Star Broadcasting Systems Inc. Deep Star will make its first offering a new video-on-demand (VOD) service called HEAT On Demand.

The principals of Deep Star are John Chambliss, CEO of Simon Wolf Productions and Richard Arnold, CEO of Pure Play Media. Chambliss said: Today's television audience is constantly shifting, and while we're targeting the traditional adult viewer base, we're also focusing on the continually expanding 'cross-over mainstream audience' with additional categories designed to reach this relatively new market comprised primarily of couples and women who are starting to embrace adult entertainment .

HEAT On Demand will offer a number of distinctive features, designed to make the platform unique among current VOD offerings, including: (1) all of its titles will be offered in both Spanish and English; (2) every performer I.D. in every program it delivers is actually validated by the authorizing governmental agency; (3) a supporting Website will be offered in both English and Spanish; and (4) its greatly expanded content selection of 17 uniquely different program categories is designed to capture both existing adult viewers, plus the constantly expanding "mainstream" market.

In addition to offering content from Ninn Worx, Simon Wolf Productions and Pure Play Media, the new service will also feature an array of productions from Illicit Pictures and Private Media Group, with special presentations from Seymore Butts and Suze Randall. Additionally, Chambliss and Arnold are now negotiating with a host of other studios and independent producers and directors who wish to become a part of HEAT On Demand.

    Playboy: The Only Thing Worth Demanding is a Refund

From Melon Farmers Discussions

It seems that the promised improvements to Playboy, Spice and the Adult Channel On Demand services have failed to materialise

Salvor 1-Mar-2005

Well - its the first of march and ..... guess what - no content change!
  Playboy TV 1 - endless censored 'sex, lies and video tape'
  Playboy TV 2 - endless censored (some H/C actually quite good) 'cold coupling'
  The Adult Channel 1 - endless censored 'A is for Ass' that ALWAYS starts at the begining!
  The Adult Channel 2 - censored 'best of bums night' 9th january with sky drop outs.
  extreme 1 - repeating censored stuff
  extreme 2 - repeating censored stuff
  AdultXXX 1 - repeating H/C (about every hour)
  AdultXXX 2 - repeating H/C (about every hour)
  Splat 1 - 'man eater' followed by 'heels and hose' ALWAYS starts at beginning.
  Spalt 2 - 'searching for Sylia' (I think) repeating
  Climax 1/2/3 - assorted censored stuff repeating
 
  I actually cancelled my sub at the beginning of feb but Playboy fucked up, they have only just cancelled it after charging for march (got a refund)

caligula  1-Mar-2005
  
I Paid £49.99 for 3 months of the same 4 hour loop on every channel.... I'm fuming!
 
I will give until the end of today, then I will request for a full refund of my £49.99 and if not forthcoming I will ask my credit card to look into it and pass them details of all e-mails sent/received with every promise broken and failing that I will take this case directly to the Trading Standards Authority.

    Adelphia has Gone Soft

From AVN

Cable TV provider Adelphia Communications has announced that the company's short stint of providing triple-X Adult entertainment is over, at least for the time being.

Citing their bankruptcy status – the company filed for Chapter 11 in 2002 – and eventual sale – Adelphia closed bidding to potential buyers on January 31 – company executives decided dealing with the reaction to providing hardcore entertainment was an issue they didn't need to add to their plate.

Keeping in mind that Adelphia has a lot of other issues going on right now with Chapter 11 and its sale process, we just thought it would be better to remove (triple-X programming) and re-evaluate the situation, Paul Jacobson, Adelphia's vice president of corporate communications told AVNOnline.com. We still have all the other Adult content on there. It's just that triple-X was the source of concern for some groups, some organizations and some individuals, and right now we need to focus on other issues."

America's fifth largest cable provider, Adelphia will continue to provide X and XX-rated content. Their flirtation with hardcore, which was to be delivered to consumers via the cable providers Video-on-Demand (VoD) service, was almost over before it started.

The move into hardcore was initially announced by the Los Angeles Times on February 2 with a front-page story. At the same time, the newly reintroduced Broadcast Decency Bill was being tossed around in the House of Representatives – a culmination of events and increased public awareness that didn't exactly work in Adelphia's favor.

The company released a short statement on February 10, quoting Jacobsen, Adelphia recently launched adult programming edited to triple-X standards on its Video-on-Demand platform in selected markets. This programming is widely distributed through satellite and other cable providers and there is readily available technology to block it. Some concern has been expressed over this type of Adult programming. Adelphia will remove it from all of its systems."

Other than Adelphia and hardcore porn-hungry consumers, Playboy Enterprises, which was the exclusive provider of the triple-X content, is also affected by the move. Adelphia has acknowledged, however, that they may revisit the relationship once they have all their ducks in a row.

    Mixed News on Playboy XXX

Why on earth would anyone want to watch the X portion of such a service? Do they think customers enjoy bobbing foreheads in ankle-O-rama or Shoulder-Vision? I presume their system provides a fast forward facility. I also hope they are using the XXX term honestly, unlike the channels on Sky Digital who choose to mislead their viewers.

From Ofwatch

In recent correspondence with Richard Gale, Playboy's director of marketing and sales,  Ofwatch has been informed that a fix for the current problems with the streamed content service will be implemented by the 1 ^st March 2005.  Comments have been taken on board from both Melon Farmers Discussions  and BGAFD forum . Whether this will occur remains to be seen, but we are hopeful. Richard had this to say concerning the new service:

From 1 ^st March 2005 we will not be offering the live broadcast streams (as has been stated, you can see these on SKY), but instead each channel will now be individually scheduled with a mixture of X and XXX content. Each channel will have a 4 hour schedule (looped for 24 hours) that will change on a daily basis, and will include XXX content. This means that we will now be offering PlayboyTV XXX , Splat , Adult Channel XXX and Spice Extreme XXX as a bespoke online service.

    Playboy to Be Hustled

From AVN

FlyntDigital, the online arm of Hustler, has announced the launch of their Video-on-Demand (VoD) site www.HustlerVoD.com. The site is run through HotMovies and offers the entire Hustler and VCA catalog in the pay-per-minute VoD format.

While our pay sites remain the standard by which the industry is judged, there is no doubt that different surfers have different needs, said Mike Youtan, FlyntDigital's vice president of business development. Clearly, one of those needs is the ability to enjoy our product without having to purchase a monthly membership. Pay-Per-View was the clear answer. We took a look at the VoD marketplace as a whole and realized that affiliates were being grossly underpaid elsewhere. We are thrilled to get this thing going. There is no doubt that the VoD marketplace is booming. The Hustler and VCA libraries are clearly the cream of the crop when it comes to production quality, models, etc.

HustlerVoD.com offers first-time users 10 minutes free to peruse titles such as Barely Legal , Busty Beauties , VCA's Deep Inside series, and The Sopornos .

    CinemaNow

Thanks to Paul for noting a contribution from Band3 on Melon Farmers Discussions

Following the problems of the Playboy streamed service, readers might well be cautious of new developments in streamed content. However, CinemaNow are providing a service that is at least worthy of consideration.

I signed up last night for the free 7 days trial and they have loads of all types of movies on there (comedy, thrillers, crime etc etc AND loads of adult movies. Some old stuff like deep throat and also newer hustler titles etc. The streaming quality at 700k is excellent - and it has small, double size and full screen (which is watchable). I wish playboytvonline had that kind of quality streaming.

Details of how Cinemanow works can be found at www.cinemanow.com/how.aspx . There are more than 616 assorted adult titles mostly on a pay per view basis. At the current rate of progress Ofcom's long awaited consultation process over broadcasting standards is in danger of becoming an irrelevance.

    Playboy a Soft Target

Well the Playboy channels seem doomed to softcore oblivion on satellite for a while. Unfortunately their webcast operations continue to be beset by 'technical problems'

The latest question was posed by Caligula on the Melon Farmers Discussions Myself and many members from the websites Ofwatch and Melonfarmers are increasingly concerned about the following:

• The cessation of Live services on Spice Platinum and the lack of live coverage even beginning on the other channels.
• The word "live" being removed from the terms and conditions. Is this because "live" broadcasts are not currently being shown or because none are now intended?
• The lack of any updates on the majority of the channels for two weeks (with the exception of Spice Platinum), and the failure of updating Adult xxx despite being advised in the below e-mail from yourselves that this would be updated at the end of last week. 

I and many others have subscribed for a 3 month period at a cost of £49.99. Although you have kindly extended my membership free for one month, I will need to know your intentions regarding Spice Platinum to know whether I should continue.
 
At the time I signed up for the service – the terms and conditions stated "live" coverage. This has now been removed with no explanation. When first joining, Spice Platinum was live and it was on my advice and praise for your service that several people to my knowledge joined. Many more may have joined after reading my articles on both Ofwatch and Melonfarmers. I and other members of these organizations are now having to retract and advise against potential members subscribing at the current time.

I very much wish to be able to spread the good word about Playboy TV Online and encourage people to join again. I will only be able to do so once I know that the services provided will be as originally intended.

Playboy TV Online responded:

I apologise for your email of the 2nd February not being replied to and I hope this email will clear up your concerns.

As our original response to you stated we have been experiencing technical trouble with the live streaming of the channels and hope to have this remedied in the near future.
 
The word live was removed from the T&Cs to avoid confusion, and has only been removed as the channels are not currently being shown live. The next line in the T&C's states: However PBTV reserves the right to amend the nature and extent of the Services available at any time and this has been in the T&C's since the site launched.
 
The content onsite has not been updated as regularly as we anticipated but we have put into place a new mechanic that will from next week ensure that all the channels content are updated on a regular basis, with Spice Platinum and Adult XXX being updated a minimum of twice a week.
 
Once again I am sorry that u are disappointed with the service you are currently receiving, but if you bear with us you will see a significant improvement over the next 1-2 weeks.

    Demanding Money Back from Playboy

From Caligula on the Melon Farmers Discussions I'm sure Playboy realise the huge potential in an Video On Demand service. They should indeed have ironed out these technical issues before the service went live. The mail they sent me also referred to the issues as "minor". I do not personally see the failure of every channel (with the exception of Platinum) to offer the live service as "minor" - indeed with Platinum now also completely down I view the issues as very major, and despite their comment of "minor", I am sure that they too realise the seriousness of the situation.
 
  I very much hope that once the feeds have been sorted out that I can once again spread positive thoughts about the service. I'm am pretty sure that our comments do have a knock on influence on potential subscribers.
 
  Very often we have posts on this forum from people who have viewed the forum for a long long time and make their first post, so far far more people view this forum than the handful who post on it.
 
  If you haven't done so already, it may be a good idea to e-mail them to see if they can offer the same goodwill gesture with regard to your 3 month subscription. £50.00 is a lot of money and will only be worth it if the service lives up to their terms and conditions.
 
  All websites experience technical difficulties from time to time, and I can except loss of live feeds from time to time on an internet based service, but surely if the product had been tested properly then such severe problems would not have ensued!
 
  However, I do very much hope that by the end of the week I will be able to offer praise for Playboy TV Online - the potential is great. Playboy, if you are reading this, please please don't let such a fantastic enterprise die a quick and painful death!

    Private On Demand

From AVN Private Media Group has announced the launch of a secure online broadband TV channel and Video-on-Demand (VoD) service at www.private.com

The venture arrives through an agreement with Alfa Audiovisuales and allows broadband subscribers to stream or download DVD-quality Private titles on their computer or watch them on TV through a cable connection.

We are very excited about being able to offer consumers our own TV channel and all of Private's substantial and growing catalogue in a cutting-edge, user friendly, digital format. The immediate availability of content in DVD quality, coupled with discreet and secure methods of payment provides a new level of purchase convenience for customers, said Private president and CEO Berth Milton.

Currently, the Private TV site is only available in Spanish, but the company plans to follow shortly with an English version and then a German version.

In addition to end-user-generated revenue, the service also employs a back-office capability that allows for integration with third party networks, thus opening another revenue stream for the company through licensing.

Consumers who use the service will have access to TV programming in six-hour blocks, featuring such things as industry news, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. The VoD service offers streaming or downloading of full-motion, full-screen, DVD-quality movies. Downloaded movies are accessible for 48 hours and include the ability to pause, rewind and fast-forward.

It is becoming clear that broadband is reshaping the global entertainment market; new entrants are inundating the industry and rattling established players. Content providers such as ourselves are suddenly able to close deals at fair margins with a much wider spectrum of delivery networks. Meanwhile, we are getting closer to the end consumer, which benefits us all, Milton said.

    Broadband Hardcore from Playboy

  Playboy circumvent Ofcom via web

Thanks to Paul at Ofwatch for keeping an eye on the Melon Farmers Discussions

Reports coming in suggest that Playboy TV are now providing streamed hardcore content via the internet at playboy tv (note, you will need to temporarily disable any popup blockers to see this). After £10 registration fee subscriptions are available for £5/night, £14.99/month or £39.99/quarter. You will need to have windows media player 9 and Internet explorer 5.5 or above installed as well as a broadband connection. The service appears to be available at 180kbs, 350kbs or 500kbs, test loops are available to ensure you will be able to receive the transmission..
 

Playboy tv	2 streams	softcore
adult channel	2 streams	softcore
spice extreme	2 streams	softcore
adult xxx	2 streams	hardcore R18
spice platinum	2 streams	hardcore 24 hour
Climax 3	6 streams	softcore

As Ofcom does not regulate the Internet it will have no ability to censor these webcast services. Comments from IanG

4 channels show TV censored feeds from PBTV, Spice Extreme, TAC and Climax3. All have at least 2 channels with approx 8 hours of material. Climax3 has 6 channels in total. Spice Platinum is flagged as yet unavailable (but seems to be available See Caligula's comments below). Adult XXX has 2 channels showing 4 full length hardcore films on each channel. Video quality is good in window mode even at 256K however, even at 1MB speeds video is a bit fuzzy in full screen mode.
 
Films available on Adult XXX last night were:
 
Pink Velvet 1 & 2
Vera 1 & 2
Playteens 5
Made in Sweeden 1 & 2
A Christmas Tale

A good selection of g/g & b/g quality R18 Euro hardcore from the likes of Viv Thomas. Including 1-off registration fee and ignoring the softcore TV fodder, 8 films for £15 is not bad value for money. I do wonder just how many people could watch 12 hours of hardcore within the 24 hour subscription period though. Also, there's no control over the programmes on the 2 streams, you join the feed where it's at and so if you missed a particular programme you could have over a four hour wait for it to start again.

Overall rating: not bad, probably worth a look Comments from caligula

I've just joined playboytvonline. Getting intermittent jerkiness but guess that's my connection. My connection is 750k so as they only stream at 500k I image its a bit pointless upgrading to 1.5meg.

Despite it saying spice platinum is not available - it actually is:) and its a 24 hour live broadcast of it and boy it shows what we SHOULD be seeing on our TV screens. Now I've paid for 3 months I'll keep it going for probably 6 months until (hopefully) hardcore is allowed on our screens. Please note it is obviously only worth getting this for the hardcore feeds as the soft stuff might as well be watched via a normal subscription.
 
I believe (reading the terms and conditions) that the 24 hour broadcast switches to live playboy/adult channel etc in line with what is on TV at the appropriate time. Spice Platinum for instance broadcasts 24 hours so a continuous live feed is being shown on that.
 
Apart from the intermittent jerkiness - £13.00 per month is pretty good value for all these channels even if it is via the computer. By the way - my subscription is a quarterly one so you can indeed subscribe quarterly as I have done, which is much better than a £5 per night fee. Downside is that you can only choose "window" or "full screen". Full screen is too fuzzy and window is really too small - it won't let you use window media player the conventional way so you cannot resize. Sitting in the armchair about 5ft from pc (20 inch monitor) I would say the quality is akin to VHS rather than DVD.

Because the above all show 24 hour this is just recorded stuff rather than what is transmitted at the same time on tv. I checked playboy at 8.00 pm bearing in mind it normally starts on TV at 8 but they are still showing taped stuff (i.e. not what is on playboy tv at the mo). Reading their terms indicates that all these channels show live (i.e. broadcast what is being broadcast on tv at the same time) so it could just be that they switch them all at 10.00 pm.
 
Adult xxx is all R18 strength films on 2 feeds. The best of the bunch - Spice Platinum is a live 24 hour feed showing exactly what is scheduled on the spice platinum website - in other words all hardcore - your viewing the channel as broadcast live. There is a second feed of Spice Platinum showing previously shown stuff.
 
I would prefer these channels on my TV, but I have a very powerful pc and good broadband connection so am getting them as best as can be from the pc. I very much hope we'll all be able to watch Spice Platinum without having a special satellite dish to do so in the near future.

    By Public Demand

Playboy TV have issued the following press release to start up a video on demand service (with very limited availability). Now Video on Demand is not regulated by Ofcom so theoretically could now be a hardcore service. I have now confirmed with Playboy TV that the content will be at the same level as material broadcast on existing satellite and cable services.

Playboy TV is the exclusive supplier of adult Video on Demand content to ntl

Playboy TV UK, a leading provider of high-quality, adult entertainment programming, and ntl, the UK's largest cable company, have concluded a long-term distribution agreement for Playboy TV to be the exclusive adult Video On Demand (VOD) content provider carried on ntl's new VOD service, ntl On Demand. The new VOD service launched on 18 January in Glasgow and will be followed by regional roll out across the UK.

In this ground breaking partnership, Playboy TV UK will use ntl's VOD platform to offer its 1.4 million digital cable viewers access to high-quality adult films and programmes on an 'on-demand' basis. And, because the content is 'on-demand', viewers can pause, stop, fast-forward and rewind - just as they would with a normal video player.

Commenting on the deal, Jeremy Yates, Managing Director, Playboy TV UK said: "We are very excited to be part of this latest development in the UK digital TV market which keeps Playboy TV at the forefront of content delivery solutions."

"With one of the most diverse libraries, we are perfectly positioned for the VOD market and can finally offer the consumer the ability to take control of what they want to watch when they want to watch."

"With the ability to cater for every niche, the VOD service will grow the viewership outside of the customer base for the linear channels and attract those who wish just to watch their preferred programmes."

Over 50 hours of content from Playboy will be available on demand at launch. The number of programming hours will grow as the service evolves.

David Thatcher, Managing Director, Sales and Marketing, at ntl said: "ntl On Demand is an exclusive service for our digital TV customers and is another example of where we are adding choice and value. Playboy TV is a world famous brand and we welcome them to the new service."

Playboy TV UK will continue to offer on ntl three premium channels, Playboy TV, Adult Channel, and Spice Extreme in addition to the new VOD service.

About Playboy TV UK

Under the banner of Playboy TV International, Playboy TV UK, The Adult Channel, Spice Extreme and Climax3 are among the biggest and most popular adult entertainment television networks in the UK. Available on Sky Digital, ntl and Telewest platforms, the channels are available as encrypted premium services on a monthly subscription and Pay Per Night basis.

About Playboy TV International

Playboy TV International, wholly owned by Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (PEGI), a division of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: PLA), develops and operates quality adult entertainment television networks worldwide under the Playboy TV and Spice brands. PTVI has full ownership of the Playboy network, The Adult Channel, and Spice in the United Kingdom and Europe as well as an equity interest in Playboy TV Japan, Channel Ruby and Playboy TV Latin America & Iberia. Playboy TV International is headquartered in Los Angeles with major presence in key European and Asian markets. Under strategic alliances with leading international partners, PTVI operates branded networks in Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, South Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Scandinavia, and Turkey.