Kink.com
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | pornography (BDSM related fetishes) |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters |  New York, New York, United States |
| Products | Pornographic films, internet pornography and sex toys |
Number of employees | 100  |
| Website | Kink.com |
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Kink.com is a San Francisco-based internet pornography company that runs a group of websites devoted to BDSM and related fetishes.
History
Kink.com was started by UK-native Peter Acworth in 1997 while he was a PhD student in finance at Columbia University. After reading a story in a British tabloid about a fireman who made a 250 thousand pounds in a short period by starting an internet pornography site, Acworth decided to start a porn site of his own. Since Acworth had what he described as a lifelong interest in bondage, he oriented the site toward BDSM porn.[1]
The site was called Hogtied.com and initially featured content that was licensed from other primary producers. The site was successful, and the site was soon grossing several thousand dollars per day. Acworth soon left his graduate studies to work on the site full time.[1]
In 1998, Acworth moved the company from New York City to San Francisco.[1] Finding that sales were leveling off because other sites were using the same content, Acworth began producing his own content, initially featuring himself with various models who he found through Craigslist or through his photographer friends.[1][2] He opened the company's second site, Fucking Machines, in 2000,[3]. and has since opened fourteen additional subscription websites.[4]
Several websites under the Kink.com umbrella feature directors that relocated following the demise of Insex as a result of US government pressure in 2005, but offer more of a focus on consensuality than Insex was known for.
In 2007, the company's website Fucking Machines was involved in a trademark dispute when the United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant a trademark for the name of the site, asserting that it was obscene.[5]
Also in 2007, the company began streaming regular live shows, in part as a defense against copyright infringement. [6] One Kink.com bondage site, Device Bondage, now streams monthly live shows [7], and erotic wrestling site Ultimate Surrender began streaming its competetive matches live in 2008.[8]
In 2008, the company added on-demand technology to its websites, selling updates to their websites on a per-episode basis rather than strictly by subscription. [9] This system recently began adding third-party content, including that from Germany's Marquis. [10] The company's most recently launched site is BoundGods.com, a gay bondage site directed by Van Darkholme. Bound Gods was launched under a new gay-focused division, KinkMen.com. [11]
In November, 2008, Kink.com was nominated for a 2009 AVN Award in a new category, Best Adult Website. [12]
Kink.com sites
- Hogtied
- Wired Pussy
- Device Bondage
- Whipped Ass
- Men In Pain
- Ultimate Surrender
- The Training of O
- Water Bondage
- Sex and Submission
- Fucking Machines
- TS Seduction
- Bound Gods
- Public Disgrace
- Pissing.com (Launched November 12, 2008)
Under development
- Naked Combat
- Snatch Game
- Midnight Takedowns
Other sites
- Behind Kink
- Kink on Demand
- Free Hardcore
Kink.com purchase of San Francisco Armory
In late 2006, Kink.com purchased the San Francisco Armory for $14.5 million, for use as a production studio. A group known as the Mission Armory Community Collective formed to oppose Kink.com's use of the building and in early February 2007 held a public protest in front of The Armory.[1][13] San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom also expressed concern over the Kink.com purchase, and scheduled a special meeting of the San Francisco Planning Commission in March 2007 to review the company's use of the building.[1] This public meeting was well-attended by both supporters and detractors of the Kink.com purchase. The Planning Commission for its part ruled that Kink.com was not in violation of any law or zoning requirement.[14][15][16]
Criticism
Some residents of the Mission District were disturbed by Kink.com's purchase of the San Francisco Armory, feeling that a pornography studio should not be located in the middle of a residential neighborhood near schools or that the site should have been used for low-income housing or other community-oriented uses.[17][16][13] At one point, there were plans to destroy part of the structure to accommodate condominium development. Ironically, the condo plan's changing of the integrity of the building created supporters who welcomed Kink.com's use of The Armory as a way of revitalizing the structure and bringing back business to the area without altering the appearance of the historic building, as well as being in keeping with San Francisco's tradition of accommodating sexual minorities.[17]
Although Kink.com has stated that its activities would be invisible to the surrounding neighborhood, La Casa de las Madres, a neighboring women's shelter, announced in late March 2007 that they would be leaving the location because of Kink.com's presence.[18]
Anti-pornography activist Melissa Farley has compared the images produced by Kink.com to images of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and testified against Kink.com's purchase of The Armory in a March 2007 meeting of the San Francisco Planning Commission.[17][19] Proponents of Kink.Com usually dismiss such comparisons by pointing out that Kink.Com employs the use of a safeword which gives the model complete control over the scenes (and, secondarily, that the model wants to be in the situation), whereas the typical Abu Ghraib inmate had no control whatsoever and most definitely did not want to be in prison.
Past & Present Performers
References
- ^ a b c d e f "A Disciplined Business" by Jon Mooallem, The New York Times Magazine, April 29, 2007.
- ^ "The New Pornographers" by Robin Rinaldi, 7x7, August 01, 2006.
- ^ " The Man Behind the Fucking Machines", Village Voice, July 16, 2008
- ^ "Kink.com Celebrates its 10 Year Anniversary", Behind Kink, February 1, 2008.
- ^ Jeffrey C. Billman (2007-06-07). "THE F BOMB". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ^ "At Kink.com, A Live Tool Against Piracy", CNet News, March 30, 2007.
- ^ "Trina Michaels to Appear Live on DeviceBondage.com", XBiz, August 14, 2008.
- ^ "Ultimate Surrender Streams 3 Matches Live", Adult Video News, August 18, 2008.
- ^ "Kink.com Launches Kink On Demand", Adult Video News, August 6, 2008.
- ^ "Kink.com Partners With Germany's Marquis", Adult Video News, August 19, 2008.
- ^ "Kink.com Launches First Gay Bondage Site", Adult Video News, August 4, 2008.
- ^ "Complete 2009 AVN Awards Nominee List", AVNAwards.com, November 25, 2008.
- ^ a b "Kink hearing: The pornographer's purchase of the Armory faces more roadblocks" by Deborah Giattina, San Francisco Bay Guardian, March 7, 2007. Cite error: The named reference "guardian" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Planning Commission hears Kink.com case" by Liz Highleyman, Bay Area Reporter, March 15, 2007.
- ^ "Ex-armory turns into porn site". San Francisco Chronicle. 2007-01-13.
- ^ a b No welcome mat for adult film studio" by Marisa Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 2007
- ^ a b c "San Francisco Planning Commission - Special Public Hearing", SFGTV, March 8, 2007. (link to streaming Windows Media video and downloadable MP3 audio)
- ^ "Service organization flees from kinky Mission neighbor" by Sarah Duxbury, San Francisco Business Times, March 23, 2007.
- ^ "Kink.Com in San Francisco: Women and Gay Men's Abu Ghraib" by Melissa Farley, Traffick Jamming (blog), February 8, 2007.
External links
- Kink.com
- Behind Kink – Kink.com blog.
- The Kink Kronikles - Interview with the Owner of Kink.com
- Real Sex Tantalizes as Processed Porn Gets Boring
- Kink.com And Porn Hysteria: The Lie of Unbiased Reporting
This article may meet Wikipedia's criteria for speedy deletion because in its current form it serves only to promote or publicise an entity, person, product, or idea, and would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic. However, the mere fact that a company, organization, or product is a page's subject does not, on its own, qualify that page for deletion under this criterion. This criterion also does not apply where substantial encyclopedic content would remain after removing the promotional material as deletion is not cleanup; in this case please remove the promotional material yourself, or add the {{advert}} tag to alert others to do so. See CSD G11.
If this article does not meet the criteria for speedy deletion, or you intend to fix it, please remove this notice, but do not remove this notice from pages that you have created yourself. If you created this page and you disagree with the given reason for deletion, you can click the button below and leave a message explaining why you believe it should not be deleted. You can also visit the talk page to check if you have received a response to your message. Note that this article may be deleted at any time if it unquestionably meets the speedy deletion criteria, or if an explanation posted to the talk page is found to be insufficient.
Note to administrators: this article has content on its talk page which should be checked before deletion. Administrators: check links, talk, history (last), and logs before deletion. Consider checking Google.This page was last edited by 201.137.198.88 (contribs | logs) at 21:02, 1 December 2008 (UTC) (15 years ago) |