Page 28 - AVN March 2018

FEATURE | INTERNEXT
FEATURE | By Dan Miller
The Internext and GayVN Welcome Party took over the Paradise Penthouse Suite at the
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. The bash was sponsored by Paxum, Eroiy.io,
Men.com and BCHomestead.com. Photos by JFK/FUBARWebmasters.com.
Jay Phillips, the CEO of iWantEmpire, suggested every performer in today’s industry should have a
clip store.
“Any artist that is filming content, you definitely need to have a clip store,” Phillips said. “Owning
content is owning your future.”
Bratty Nikki, a model who is the president and co-founder of iWantEmpire, said she has found that 6
to 8 minutes is the sweet spot for the length of her clips, “but I do believe it’s different for every model.”
In terms of figuring which site is ideal for your brand, Fioriniello reasoned, “it’s the same concept as
media buying. Do some tests, you never know until you test the different platforms.”
The Age Verification panel, assembled to help attendees prepare for the looming UK Digital Economy
Act in April, showcased remarks from Murray Perkins (British Board of Film Classification), David
Cooke (Mindgeek/AgeID), Ian Green (Aristotle Integrity Group), Alastair Graham (AgeChecked),
Steve Winyard (AVSecure), Warren Russell (AVyourself) and Tim Henning (ASACP). MojoHost CEO
Brad Mitchell, a 2018 inductee into the AVN Hall of Fame - Internet Founders Branch, moderated the
discussion.
The BBFC’s Perkins said the Digital Economy Act “is not anti porn legislation” as some perceive it to
be. “It is not designed or intended to disrupt the industry any more than putting the controls in place,”
Perkins said.
AVyourself’s Warren Russell added, “It’s about transparency.”
Steve Winyard said, “People generally are fearful of entering in any personal data to access adult
content.” His AVSecure platform is built on a blockchain so the personal data is kept private.
Meanwhile, the second-ever Pot & Porn Panel at Internext featured John Kent (Jardin Premium
Dispensary), Russell Bleck (High Times), David J. Allen (Mezz Brands), Actual Mike Ackerman (Actually
Helping) and Lauren MacEwen (7 Veils). Stewart Tongue (EngineFood.com) moderated the session.
In spite of Attorney General Jeff Sessions issuing an order on January 4 that ended federal “hands-
off” policies for states that have legalized pot for either medical or personal recreational use, the legal
marijuana industry remains undeterred.
“It’s actually galvanized this community,” said David Allen of Mezz Brands.
Sessions’ elimination of Obama-era policies stopping federal authorities from enforcing anti-pot laws
in states that legalize the drug has the potential to end or at least slow the trend toward nationwide
marijuana legalization; and make pot users and retailers in states where use is legal vulnerable to arrest
by the feds.
The moderator Tongue noted, “the closer you get to the product the greater your liability.”
Meanwhile, the Billing Trends panel—last but not least on January 21—brought out several
seasoned executives in the space: Harmik Gharapetian (Epoch), Wendy Nelson (NETbilling), Matt
Mund (MobiusPay), Gary Jackson (CCBill) and Karen Campbell (OrbitalPay). Actual Mike Ackerman
moderated the savvy vets.
Ackerman asked the panelists to share something of their choosing with the audience that they
thought was important.
Gharapetian told the Internext crowd the critical nature of the UK age verification law cannot be
overstated.
“Start looking into that because you are going to lose your traffic from the UK if you don’t have a
solution,” Gharapetian said.
Campbell pointed to mobile payments, noting that 60 to 80 percent of all transactions now are done
on smartphones.
“If you have a website that’s not mobile ready, you lose a lot of business,” Campbell said.
NETbilling’s Nelson said paysites are making a comeback.
“And people are lacking in the area of customer support when it comes to the pay-site model,” Nelson
said.
Matt Mund added, “Don’t just accept the chargebacks, talk with your payment provider. There are
multiple strategies you can put in place.”
28 | AVN.com | 3.18