paidContent:UK news watch | Adult

Microsoft SkyDrive 'Confuses Naked With Nude', Art Account Frozen

2012-01-17T10:27:23Z

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has an image police - but an arrest they have made may be mistaken. A blogger using its SkyDrive cloud storage service says it froze his account when it confused a famous work of art with pornography.

UK-based Michael Ohajuru, who on Twitter describes himself as a “sales and marketing specialist, art blogger, communications evangelist, art historian, communications philosopher [and] geek social networker,” among other things, notes that, after starting to use SkyDrive to store and share photographs with a closed group of contacts, he discovered one day that his account had stopped working.

When he appealed to Microsoft for an explanation, a representative, Kayla, sent him an example picture that led to his account getting frozen. It was a “Reclining nude,” a painting by Amedeo Modigliani from 1917, from the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a picture he took in London. Apparently, it violated Microsoft’s Code of Conduct, which forbids any image that “depicts nudity of any sort.”

The case echos a recent a mini-kerfuffle when Google (NSDQ: GOOG) removed the avatar of one well-known blogger because, in his picture, he was giving us “the finger.”

Ohajuru was confused about whether it was actually that one picture, or others like it. So he took to his photographs, discovering not only other paintings with nudity, but photos from beach holidays (lots of skin) and at least one other graphic work of art, piece of decorative art called the “Warren cup” with two men in an embrace (also naked, or are they nude?).

Were all these pictures also unacceptable to Microsoft, or just the one Modigliani? Pondering the question, Ohajuru—being of both artistic and technological inclinations—thought of an ironic parallel: “What Kayla and Microsoft have done, today, in 2012, was a almost an exact repetition of what happened when Amedeo Modigliani first exhibited his now acclaimed nudes in 1917, according to Modigliani’s Wikipedia entry.” He continues:

“Then:

On December 3, 1917, Modigliani’s first one-man exhibition opened at the Berthe Weill Gallery. The chief of the Paris police was scandalized by Modigliani’s nudes and forced him to close the exhibition within a few hours after its opening.

Now, to paraphrase Wikipedia

On January 8, 2012 Modigliani’s Reclining Nude, 1917 was uploaded by me to my SkyDrive. Microsoft was scandalized by Modigliani’s nude and forced me to delete the file within 48 hours.”

Rather than delete all those other pictures, Ohajuru took a calculated risk, and took away just the “Reclining nude,” replacing it with another image (this is a bit of classic art censorship protest, and also reminiscent of MG Siegler taking away his middle finger, and adding in a cute Google+ logo):

It worked, and now the account is up again.

Does that make sense? It doesn’t to me. Ohajuru’s conclusion, “The more things change the more they stay the same,” is certainly the case here—as is the fact that, as he notes, “Microsoft’s Code of Conduct policy confuses naked with nude.” One being objectifying, and the other being artistic.

But shouldn’t we expect a bit more from technology today? Given how many other images there were in Ohajuru’s SkyDrive that didn’t make Kayla and Microsoft flinch, the incident highlights not only the question of whether whether automatic image systems can be honed to differentiate between art and porm—but also the inconsistencies of such systems. If they work like this, they’re simply just ridiculous and pointless.

We Love Us Some Mobile Internet In The UK

2011-08-31T10:14:32Z

Numbers out this morning from the Office of National Statistics in the UK give us the most up-to-date picture yet of the growing role mobile is playing in the digital divide: 45 percent of the country’s Internet-using population have taken to mobile devices to go online in the past year. The rise in usage among 16-24 year-olds is most impressive: 71 percent today are using mobile devices to go online, compared to 44 percent only a year ago.

The figures underscore how much smartphones and advanced feature phones, combined with low-cost data plans and WiFi, are transforming how the internet is consumed. It looks like the UK is standing out as one of the leaders in this sense. It’s not a 100 percent, like-for-like comparison but as a point of reference, comScore yesterday released figures that showed that in the U.S. some 41 percent of consumers used the mobile web browsers on their handsets in the last three months.

But despite how long we have been able to access the mobile web on our devices—the first data networks came into place a decade ago, as did the first phones to browse the Internet—mass market growth has come only recently. The ONS notes that in the last 12 months, six million people accessed the Internet for the very first time on their mobile phones.

Other key points:

» Overall, the UK has some 37.7 million Internet users at the moment. That means that nearly 17 million of us have used our mobile phones to access the mobile internet.

» Other “mobile” devices such as laptops and tablets are also making a big impact: 38 percent of people say they have used these kind of devices to access the internet. That’s on top of mobile phone usage, by the way.

» WiFi is big: usage of hotspots has doubled in the last year to 4.9 million users (13 percent of internet users).

» People over the age of 65 are the least likely to use a mobile to access the internet—only eight percent of internet users in that age group have used mobile devices to do this. (A market opportunity?)

» In terms of what it is that people are doing when they go online, it looks like social networking is a key driver of usage. Among adults, 57 percent say they have used social networks online, compared to 43 percent a year ago. Among that much-coveted demographic of 16-24 year-olds, the number is amazingly high: 91 percent. To compare to the comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) figures from yesterday, in the U.S., around 30 of mobile phone users in the country used their devices to access social networks.

» The digital divide: now 77 percent of all UK households have access to the internet, a rather small rise on the 73 percent from a year ago. Of those, 93 percent are using broadband to go online.

The full report is here.

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This Isn't FarmVille: Playboy Kicks Off Gaming Label With 'Poisonville'

2010-08-25T18:00:32Z

Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) is forming a new video game label this year as part of a wider digital strategy to make its brand more mainstream, Paul H. Lee, the company’s managing director for new digital ventures, told paidContent. The company hasn’t decided on a name yet, but it already has lined up German online gamer Bigpoint as a partner to help it create and distribute games on Playboy.com. The first game to be featured on the Playboy site is Bigpoint’s urban crime fantasy, Poisonville, which exits out of beta today.

The label is expected to fully launch at the end of 2010. The games will aim at Playboy’s primary target of 18- to 35-year-old men. While gaming might seem a little outside Playboy’s editorial and TV strengths, Lee told paidContent that the company’s found a lot of overlap between gaming sites and Playboy.com visitors. “One of our core competencies involves using our brand to present quality content,” Lee said. “Gaming is a growing, mainstream area. And part of our plan is to extend Playboy’s brand into the mainstream.” The recent unveiling of the safe-for-work site, TheSmokingJacket, is in keeping with that motive.

Lee wouldn’t say how many staffers will be put to work on the label or how much of a financial commitment Playboy is making to this new venture. He did assure paidContent, however, that the backing is “significant.”

Eventually, the game pages will be ad-supported. But for right now, the goal is attract users, so expect Poisonville, which is in the same genre as Zynga’s Mafia Wars, and the titles that follow to be ad-free for a bit. The famous Playboy bunny logo will also show up from time to time, but Lee says that for the most part, any overt signs of branding will be played down.

Poisonville, which has a dedicated Playboy.com channel here, is an action-oriented, massively multiplayer online game involving a fictional U.S. city “where crime and corruption rule the streets.” Players must complete a series of missions in order to counteract corruption, regain respect, and rebuild their reputations. The one slight difference here, according to Playboy, is that players will be encounter “beautiful, Playboy-caliber women.” In other words, you’re not in FarmVille anymore (though, down the road, Playboy expects to add games to Facebook and other social net sites).

While Lee wouldn’t discuss whether the company is in talks with other game developers, it is actively looking.

One of the reasons that Playboy went with Bigpoint was that Lee got to take a close look at it two years ago when he was at The Peacock Equity Fund, NBC Universal’s venture capital arm. In June 2008, Peacock teamed up with UK PE Firm GMT Communications Partners to acquire a majority stake in Bigpoint for $110 million.

“We’re looking for quality developers and the time I spent looking at Bigpoint showed me that they fit the bill for what we needed to get started,” Lee said. “Previously, Playboy’s gaming interests included a few licensing deals and some editorial in the form of gaming reviews. But there was no clear, over-arching strategy in place. With Bigpoint, we’ve established a clear path in terms of where we want to go.”

In working with Bigpoint, Playboy doesn’t have an equity arrangement. But other partnerships could include some investment along with a working contract, Lee said. “At this point, we haven’t made any decisions, and we’ll see how these first steps go,” he said. “We could possibly do some investing down the road, depending on what we find and what our needs are.”

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Premium Porn's Getting Hit By Free Competition, Too

2010-04-26T09:20:27Z

The online porn business - long regarded as one of the few publishing sectors to successfully charge for web content - is now suffering from free competitors, just like other parts of the industry…

Digital revenue at Daily Sport publisher Sport Media Group (SMG) fell 42 percent to £5.4 million over the 17 months to December 31, from £9.3 million in the previous 12 months.

“Revenues in the entire adult industry have fallen dramatically in the last two years, as a consequence of ‘free’ adult internet content supported by advertising,” SMG said.

SMG in its current form was created when web and mobile adult operator Interactive World acquired Sport Newspapers Ltd in 2007. The combined group’s 19-person digital division now leverages its services, which also include mail order, through the Daily and Sunday Sports. It’s not that SMG isn’t playing the free game itself - it says it makes some money by giving away DVDs in the Sunday edition using “lock ‘n play” technology.

But SMG acknowledged it “lost customers and margin as well as some key support contracts as the market declined”. It’s trying to diversify in to online infrastructure, forming a host called Telecom2.

The group has been wracked by debt problems over the last year and took a £1.7 million rescue loan. It’s now spending 35 percent less on producing content each month, and today announced a renegotiation of banking facilities until 2013, giving it much more certainty about the future.

In the print division, “bad winter weather impacted both newspaper distribution and readers working in the building sector”, the group says. Here, it’s planning “our own studio facilities will significantly improve the opportunity to provide exclusive video and still content online, to complement the printed products”. This will feed “wholly-owned content to the digital division to help reinvigorate the mobile side of the business”.

Group revenue over the 17 months was £30.9 million, down from £29.4 million in the previous 12 months, and losses widened from £18.2 million in the previous 12 months to £29.2 million over the 17.

Release.

Former Exec Griffiths Also In Talks To Buy Playboy

2009-11-13T17:10:08Z

A second bidder has emerged in the battle to take over Playboy (NYSE: PLA). The LA Times and Reuters both report that a group led by former Playboy Entertainment chief James Griffiths and PE firm Golden Gate Capital is in discussions to buy the company for around $300 million. This follows Thursday’s report that Iconix Brand Group, the company behind apparel brands like London Fog and Starter, was looking at Playboy’s books.

While Iconix is likely interested in Playboy’s licensing assets, Griffiths’ interest is probably more media-focused. He spent six years as president of worldwide television distribution at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, before joining Playboy in early 2004. (He left less than two years later, as part of a management reorg). Golden Gate’s holdings, meanwhile, include TV and radio station operator MAX Media.

One interesting aside if Griffiths/Golden Gate and Iconix are in fact the two bidders: Golden Gate beat out Iconix in the auction to buy outdoor clothing chain Eddie Bauer this summer. Playboy is not commenting on any of these reports, although it has said since February that it would be open to offers for a buyout.

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Playboy Talking To Iconix About Possible Sale

2009-11-12T18:52:44Z

Playboy (NYSE: PLA) is in discussions with Iconix Brand Group to sell itself, Bloomberg News reports, citing unnamed sources. The report is short on details but says that Iconix—which owns brands including London Fog and Starter—has looked at Playboy’s books. Considering that almost all of Iconix’s holdings are in apparel, it would appear that is where Iconix believes most of the value in Playboy lies; although Playboy is famous for its pictures of people shedding their clothes, it has a big business in licensing its brand to consumer companies, including clothing makers.

Playboy has said since February that it would be open to offers for a buyout. The company had reportedly reached out to several PE firms, although they balked at the company’s $300 million asking price. At one point, Virgin Group was also said to have been interested, although it later denied those reports. Playboy is not commenting on Iconix’s possible interest.

While Playboy CEO Scott Flanders has said that the company’s iconic magazine will remain its “flagship,” he has also said that a big goal is to “accelerate the growth” of the company’s licensing business, which currently accounts for the vast majority of its profits.

On that front, Iconix could be a good fit. The company says it licenses its brands to retailers and manufacturers “that touch every major segment of retail distribution from the luxury market to the mass market in both the U.S. and around the world.” Last month, it paid $109 million for a majority stake in Ecko brands—a deal which it said was “consistent with our strategy to opportunistically acquire leading consumer brands that offer long-term growth potential.”

The firm was also in the news in October after it paid a $250,000 fine to the FTC for collecting personal information from children on some of its websites without asking their parents permission first.

A big question mark, of course, would be what would happen with Playboy’s digital, print, and entertainment businesses, if Iconix did in fact acquire the company.

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Europe Round-Up: Russia's Microsoft Probe; Dailymotion Stats; Deutsche Telekom IPTV; Fremantle CEO

2009-06-05T09:47:14Z

—Russia vs Microsoft: Russia’s anti-trust authority has launched an investigation after alleging that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has cut its supply of Windows XP software while promoting the newer Vista OS in the country. The anti-monopoly agency says: “The transfer to the new Windows Vista operating system is occurring while demand for the previous operating system, Windows XP, continues.” The case will be considered on July 24; MSFT says it will answer any charges in full. From Reuters.com.

—Dailymotion: The Paris-based video-sharing site says its traffic has grown by almost 63 percent year-on-year to more than 59 million unique users in April, according to comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) data, putting in second place behind YouTube in the online video traffic stakes. The UK site has grown to 1.85 million UUs in April, also according to comScore, a 40 percent year-on-year increase. The company also announces it is to use the open source video format Ogg in partnership with Mozilla. See a demo here.

—Deutsche Telekom: Four new channels for DT’s T-Entertain IPTV service: MTV HD, TNT-Serie, Hustler TV and Timm, Germany’s first gay channel, go online from July 3. Release.

—Fremantle CEO:: A promotion for Fremantle Media France CEO Monica Galer—she moves to the new role of head of northern and southern Europe and will oversee six countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. From C21media.net.

Virgin Looking At Playboy—But Will Branson Buy?

2009-05-27T14:45:49Z

While a number of PE firms have reportedly balked at Playboy (NYSE: PLA) Enterprises’ $300 million asking price, actual billionaire playboy Richard Branson’s name has been increasingly mentioned as a prospective buyer. The Chicago Tribune, picking up a piece from the UK’s Daily Mail, says the Virgin Group chairman could be interested in making a play for the adult-themed media company. Both Playboy and Virgin have said no comment, but the rumors have sent Playboy’s stock up to $3.12 today after shares had been been hovering around $1.15 two months ago.

It’s hard to say whether Branson is the person to turn it around, but Playboy did thrive under another out-sized personality of Hugh Hefner. While the 83-year-old Hefner still owns a majority stake and serves as chief creative officer, he stepped back long ago from the day-to-day running of the company, which currently has a market cap of $100 million. Playboy had been banking on a major digital revamp, which was completed last January, but it clearly made little positive difference in Q1, when digital revenue fell 39 percent—though to be fair, Playboy said the move to outsource e-commerce was part of the reason for huge decline.

In the meantime, while the speculation is rampant about who if anyone will buy the company, it certainly has distracted observers from wondering who or when Playboy will choose to permanently replace Christie Hefner, who left the company and handed the role of Chairman and CEO to Jerry Kern in December on an interim basis.

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Yes, You, Too, Can Manage A Playboy Playmate (Virtually, At Least)

2009-05-11T20:43:57Z

E! has got the Girls Next Door, but Irish video-game firm Jolt Online Gaming is making the Playboy Playmate experience even more interactive. It plans to launch Playboy Manager, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) casual game that lets players live out the fantasy of managing a group of Playboy (NYSE: PLA) models. Jolt picked up the rights from Playboy; the startup’s CEO and founder Dylan Collins told the Sunday Business Post that it was “the first time that Playboy has come into the online gaming space.”

The free game will pull in videos and photos of real-life Playboy models, though players will be able to pay for upgrades; they’ll compete to get their models in the “top spot” as a Playmate (and a permanent room at the Playboy Mansion). It’s one of three games in Jolt’s roster; Collins told the Sunday Business Post that it has two other titles in development, and that it plans to acquire the rights to more: “We will either do deals with big brands such as Playboy and develop the games ourselves, or we will acquire solid, existing games.” Jolt is backed by private investors and Enterprise Ireland; the startup plans to raise more capital this year. Release.

Broadband Content Bits: Channel4; Fox Web TV; Playboy.co.uk; Sony PSP; Imagine Publishing

2009-02-24T09:52:47Z

—Channel 4: While it negotiates with BBC Worldwide and Lord Carter on its future, Channel 4 is still innovating commercially: the broadcaster is to sell ads for its online content distributed to third party sites like Bebo and YouTube as part of a shake-up of its digital ad sales department. Currently, Channel 4 content distributed to third parties comes with adverts promoting Channel4.com or other Channel 4 TV shows—but now commercial messages will be shown instead. From Mediaweek.

—Fox International Channels: Fox has chosen Italy as the place to launch its first web TV offering with the launch of the in-beta comedy-centred Floptv.tv. The site, produced by Italian new media division FoxFactory, has originally-commissioned as well as bought-in shows which range from two to 10 minutes in length. The site is on mobile, games consoles and MySpace. Via Variety.com.

—Playboy: Ahead of a re-launch of its flagship US site this Spring, Playboy.co.uk has re-launched here as an ad-funded, upmarket men’s lifestyle portal. Likes its Us counterpart, the site will have sport, entertainment and music channels—but its most premium content, pictures of Playboy (NYSE: PLA) girls, is locked up behind a paywall and costs “less than £ 3 a month”. Playboy’s UK recently re-launched as an ad-funded TV channel on Sky between 8pm and 11pm and a free mobile site is due soon. Via Mediaweek.co.uk.

—Sony (NYSE: SNE) PSP: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has confirmed it will wind up its Go!Messenger instant messaging service for the PSP, co-developed by BT (NYSE: BT), at the end of March. Sony wrote on the official PSP messageboard: “Although Go!Messenger brought innovative communications features to the PSP community, the service has not developed the base of users that we were hoping for.” The free service was added to PSP a year ago

—Imagine Publishing: The first of a series of 2009 web launches for Imagine Publishing, NowGamer.com went live on Friday. The site has news, reviews, features and blogs and promises a customisable element to its users. Imagine has now launched 25 websites and 20 magazines since its launch in 2005. From Journalism.co.uk.

Private Media Group Buys Adult VOD Portal GameLink

2009-01-23T09:30:12Z

Barcelona-based multimedia adult content producer Private Media Group (PMG) is extending its global empire, buying US adult VOD portal GameLink for 8.5 million PMG shares, plus a further 4.6 million based on earn-out targets. The deal gives the company a bigger foothold on content production and digital distribution in both adult and mainstream sectors and gives Private the use of GameLink’s US and Europe sales staff.

Nasdaq-listed PMG already has online or mobile distribution deals in 37 countries so now expect a global re-launch of GameLink’s VOD portal, a re-launch of Private.com (which is not for the faint-hearted), more localised content for more countries and increased distribution to other platforms. Between them, the two companies made $35.3 million in revenue for the nine months to September 30, compared to $22.7 million for PMG alone. Private magazine was launched in Stockholm in 1965, though the company is now based in Nevada.

Release.

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Earnings: Sport Media Losses Swell; Seeking New Finance, Online Income

2009-01-08T08:34:57Z

Daily Sport publisher Sport Media Group, which also operates several of websites and mobile adult content offerings but yesterday admitted breaching its bank loan covenants, promised a number of projects are underway to monetise SundaySport.com, as it seeks urgent new funding by March 6.

The group scored seven percent better pre-tax profits of £6 million in the year to July 31 on percent better turnover of £29.4 million - but is taking impairment charges of £18.4 million on the acquisition of Sport Newspapers by mobile adult publisher Interactive World (the 2007 deal that formed the group) and of £2.3 million on its software and licenses plus photo and film rights, so the group settles on an overall £18.2 million loss for the year, more than tripling from last year.

—Online may be one revenue generator: SMG “soft-launched” SundaySport.com in November and, though it admits the site is in its infancy, now plans initiatives such as SMS marketing and “lock-and-pay” adult DVDs - films that are bundled free in newspapers but which have scenes unlockable only through online payments. Netcollex, the trading name of the Interactive World company that bought the Sport in 2007, also has a range of mobile adult sites and also produces a host of mobile products including ring tones, wallpapers, screensavers, Java based games, as well as gambling games and horoscopes.

—Covenant breach: A statement from the company’s chairman today confirms a revised agreement has not been reached, but its bank has agreed to extend the current terms for another two months – while the company sets out on the urgent task of finding alternative forms of credit.

—Newspaper struggling: The Sport, famed for soft-porn spreads and outlandish headlines, is going through a rough patch. The company admits to “setbacks” in the past year – a lads’ mag-styled redesign saw circulation dip to 77,000 in November, far below the target of 100,000 to 110,000. And the company says that a 10,000-copy fluctuation in sales can mean a loss or gain of £2 million on an annual basis. Print display advertising for the papers is down by almost half year-on-year, and SMG warns of more cost-cutting to make ends meet. Classifieds are slightly up year-on-year and the company argues the newspapers were in a far worse state in 2007, when they were “almost entirely reliant on classified advertising revenue from the adult industry” and lacked direction. Newspaper costs have been cut by £1.6 million, though, mainly through redundancies.

—£50 million price tag: Some more details emerge from the results on just how Interactive World got its hands on Sport Newspapers in 2007 from longstanding proprietors David Sullivan and partners. The company paid a staggering £50 million, raised by way of a £5 million loan, a £5 million cash payment and through the issuing of more than 58 million shares worth £43 million.

Results.

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Daily Sport Publisher Breaches Banking Covenant

2009-01-07T11:16:15Z

Sport Media Group, the company that last year took over ownership of the Daily Sport, Sunday Sport and their online and mobile counterparts, today announced it has breached one of its banking covenants. SMG says its bank has provided a two month extension on its current lending facility to see it through and the company is talking to other lenders to secure more cash. In extremis, the lending bank can demand the full repayment of the loan when a covenant is breached or even petition for the company to go in receivership to get its hands on the debt. SMG’s shares were down from 7.5p to 5.25p this morning following the announcement.

Manchester-based SMG was formed in 2007 when porn company Interactive World bought the titles from long-standing proprietor and Birmingham City FC owner David Sullivan and at first things went well: for H207 the company made a pre-tax profit of £2.3 million and turnover of £14.4 million, helped by the purchase of adult film site StrictlyBroadband.com (which we’d rather not link to). For its full year to July 31 the company made more than £6 million in profit and said it was optimistic for 2009. We’ll find out more when the company releases its preliminary results for the year to 31 July 2008 tomorrow. More after the jump…

With a great deal of the kind of content that, shall we say, does very well online, SMG has a potentially sound business model and already supplies content to other sites and mobile services. The company’s website says it sells mobile content to “major UK network operators” and “users of leading UK internet key search engines”. But like every other newspaper publisher, it’s still heavily reliant on a dwindling print product for the majority of its revenue, and with circulation dipping to a daily average of 85,000 last year—well below the company’s target of 100,000 to 110,000—it’s simply doesn’t seem enough in the long-term unless the company can ramp up the content distribution side of the business. Maybe tomorrow’s results will show whether the appointment of News International sales director Chris Lomas as circulation director last month (via NMA) will have had any effect on the newspapers’ fortunes.

Founder of lads’ mag Zoo Barry McIlheney and Loaded founder James Brown were appointed early last year to steer a £1 million newspaper and online re-design and the purchase of ailing lads’ mag Front for £260,000. It was all designed to re-align the cheeky, sex-led titles into the mainstream, as was moving the papers’ hardcore adult ads to a specialised mid-section. But McIlheney has now been replaced as editor-in-chief by former Cambridge Evening News editor Murray Morse and the company has admitted its “news-zine”, lads’ mag styled approach was unpopular with readers.

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Private Media Group Takes 1Million Euro Stake in Horse Creek Entertainment

2007-12-10T05:01:00Z

Spanish adult content provider Private Media Group has taken a 17.2 percent stake in Swedish company Horse Creek Entertainment, a content aggregator and creator of a broadband VOD platform. Horse Creek has done two private share offerings ahead of a planned IPO on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, with Private Media Group participating in both rounds. In total, PMG has acquired 4 million shares at a total price of Euro 1 million, with the option to buy 2 million more at a pre-set price. The strategic investment brings together each company’s content and distribution platforms. Release.