Newsletter Signup
Where current and emerging technology trends meet.
TecTrendsInformation Sources, Inc.
  | About TecTrends | Email Signup | Contact Us
 Live Search:
Live Search | Articles | Companies | TecTerms | Products
  Loading TecTrends Live Search - please wait... 
View Noteworthy Articles      PRNewswire
 
Article

Title: You Get What You Pay For

Author: Barret, Victoria Article Type: Product Analysis
Source: Forbes, v181 n3 p60(1) Publication Date: Feb 11, 2008
  ISSN: 0015-6914
  Illustrations: Photographs
URL of Publication: http://www.forbes.com

There are thousands of free websites devoted to fleshly fare, but one couple is launching a social network aimed at getting people to pay a monthly fee for access to tasteful pictures of scantily clad women. Scott Banister is aware of the dozens of free fleshly fare websites, having co-founded IronPort to stop porn from flooding corporate inboxes. Banister netted $45 million in June 2007 when Cisco Systems purchased IronPort. Now Banister and his wife, Cyan, are starting their new venture of charging a monthly fee for respectful pictures of scantily clad women. Their website, Zivity, is in trial phase until 2009, the waiting list is 20,000 names long, and Scott Banisters former colleagues dont know what to think. According to Banister, the hidden cost of free Facebook and MySpace is censorship. Banister says, We like to think of Zivity as the HBO of the Web. Zivity has no advertising, just lots of photos of women posing nude or costumed. Members vote their approval of each shot, with each vote earning the model sixty cents and the photographer 20 cents. Members get five votes with their monthly subscription and can purchase more. Zivity does have ground rules, including no naked men, no girls with other girls, no sex acts, and no extreme close-ups. Models must prove they are over 18 years old. Photos need to come in sets of 15 to 50 shots that tell a story, and costumed striptease is the most popular theme. Zivity will attract an audience that appreciates erotica, yet the big money is in trashier content. A similar website, AdultFriendFinder, was successful, being sold with Various Inc., its parent company, to Penthouse Media Group in November 2007. Scott Banister plans to do even better, stating Were going for a multibillion-dollar, publicly traded company,

Special Features: Photographs

Companies:
Cisco Systems Inc Facebook Inc
IronPort Systems Inc MySpace Inc
Penthouse Media Group Inc Various Inc
Zivity

TecTerms:


[Get Copyright Permissions] Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2004-2008 Information Sources Inc.
 


Home About TecTrends About Us Contact Us Privacy Statement Terms and Conditions

TecTrends | P.O. Box 8120 | Berkeley CA 94707 | (510) 525-6220 | Email: tectrends@tectrends.com
© 2006 INFORMATION SOURCES INC | All rights reserved.