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xHamster

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xHamster
File:XHamster logo 2016.svg
Type of site
Pornographic video sharing
Available inEnglish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Dutch
OwnerHammy Media Ltd[1]
URLxhamster.com
RegistrationOptional
Content license
Free;[which?] xhamsterpremiumpass.com is proprietary[citation needed]

xHamster is a pornographic media and social networking site headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus.[1] xHamster serves user-submitted pornographic videos, webcam models, pornographic photographs, and erotic literature, and incorporates social networking features. xHamster was founded in 2007. With more than 10 million members, it is the third most popular pornography website on the Internet, after XVideos and Pornhub.

The site produces The Sex Factor, a reality series where men and women compete to become porn stars. The site has been targeted as part of malvertising campaigns, and various governments have blocked xHamster as part of larger initiatives against Internet pornography.

History

In early 2007, a group of anonymous individuals decided to create a new adult video service,[1][2] and xHamster was launched on 2 April 2007.[3] xHamster was envisioned as a social network; a spokesperson said the site's content organization scheme was intended to allow "people who wanted to chat, exchange erotic pics and share amateur videos ... to find mutual friends online and maybe discover partners interested in intimate relationships."[1] Surpassing 10 million members in 2015, xHamster became the third most popular pornography website on the Internet, after XVideos and Pornhub.[1] In May 2016, xHamster launched The Sex Factor, a reality series competition where contestants compete to become a porn star.[4][5]

xHamster has restricted access to its site and removed content in response to political issues concerning the LGBT community and rape culture. The site blocked users with IP addresses based in North Carolina during April 2016, after the state enacted a law that stopped its counties and cities from passing laws to protect LGBT people.[6][7] In response to the verdict of the People v. Turner sexual assault case, xHamster instituted a "Brock Turner rule", which banned videos involving rape, including those involving sex with an unconscious partner or hypnosis.[8] In the aftermath of the 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak, xHamster offered Debbie Wasserman Schultz a US$50,000 role in a pornographic film with a Bernie Sanders lookalike.[9]

In September 2016, Alex Hawkins speaking for xHamster confirmed that they had purchased a sex tape alleged to portray American actress Alexis Arquette, which was put up for sale by an ex-lover shortly after her death. xHamster destroyed all copies of it, announcing that "Ms. Arquette was an icon and activist in the trans community and we could not see someone smear her memory the way the selling party was trying to do."[10]

Website

xHamster provides various pornographic videos, photos, and erotic stories grouped under categories catering to specific fetishes or sexual preferences.[11] Users uploading content select from a series of set categories. The most popular category, "amateur", tags 30% of all videos posted.[12] In addition to these prerecorded videos, users can view live streams of paid models; the model can interact with several users by means of an online chat service. Models can also activate a "Tip" button, which allows users to provide the models additional money.[13] xHamster accepts Bitcoins as a payment method, which (unlike credit cards) offers anonymity.[14]

xHamster also contains several social networking features.[15] Users have detailed profiles incorporating their profile picture and gender, as well as works added to the site. Content possesses a commenting and rating system, and users can interact by adding others as a "friend" or subscribing to another's content.[15] Privacy settings allow users to make various parts of the account visible only to select individuals, filter private messages, and block certain requests.[15] Users can also verify their identity by submitting a photo of themselves with their username, which confers a stamp upon their profile.[15]

Security

In April 2013, Conrad Longmore, a cyber security researcher, found that xHamster and PornHub were attacked with malvertisements.[16][17] In September 2015, xHamster was hit with another malvertising attack along with YouPorn and PornHub. TrafficHaus reported that it might be the result of a breach.[18][19] On 28 November 2016 it was revealed the usernames, email addresses, and passwords of 380,000 users were stolen.[20]

Censorship

xHamster has been blocked by various governments. In August 2015, the government of India ordered internet service providers to block several sites, including xHamster, under the IT Act.[21][22] In Russia, a local court in the Republic of Tatarstan ruled in favor of a block on xHamster and other pornographic websites in April 2014; the ruling was passed on a year later to Roskomnadzor, the state media overseer.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ben Woods (3 March 2016). "The (almost) invisible men and women behind the world's largest porn sites". The Next Web.
  2. ^ "About Us". xHamster. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  3. ^ "XHamster.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". WHOIS. 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Belle Knox to host X-rated reality show, 'The Sex Factor'". Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Porn star Belle Knox to host racy reality show". Fox News. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Bruce Springsteen or porn site, who will get North Carolina to change its anti-LGBT laws?". Times Live. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  7. ^ Michelle Arrouas. "Belle Knox: Duke Porn Star Lands Hosting Gig on Porn Reality Show". TIME.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  8. ^ Russon, Mary-Ann (14 June 2016). "xHamster to crack down on rape porn, adopts 'Brock Turner Rule'". International Business Times.
  9. ^ Lenz, Lyz (26 July 2016). "Debbie Wasserman Schultz has a new job offer: $50,000 to do porn". The Daily Dot.
  10. ^ Wong, Curtis. (17 September 2016). "Porn Site Buys Alexis Arquette Sex Tape But Not For The Reason You'd Think". Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  11. ^ Lauren Rosewarne (2011). Part-time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture, and Kink Management. ABC-CLIO. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-313-39157-6.
  12. ^ Mazières, Antoine; Trachman, Mathieu; Cointet, Jean-Philippe; Coulmont, Baptiste; Prieur, Christophe. "Deep tags: toward a quantitative analysis of online pornography" (PDF). Porn Studies. 1 (1–2): 85. doi:10.1080/23268743.2014.888214.
  13. ^ Rebecca Sullivan; Alan McKee (19 October 2015). Pornography: Structures, Agency and Performance. Wiley. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-7456-9484-9.
  14. ^ Smart, Evander (29 December 2014). "xHamster Porn Site Helps You and Bitcoin "Rise a Little Bit"". CryptoCoinsNews.
  15. ^ a b c d Bakonyi, Barbara (June 2016). Gender Ideologies on Adult Video-Sharing Websites (PDF) (Thesis). Erasmus University Rotterdam.
  16. ^ Anderson, Steve. "Popular porn websites 'host adverts with malware'". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  17. ^ Lee, David. "Top porn sites 'pose growing malware risk' to users". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  18. ^ Griffin, Andrew. "Pornhub and YouPorn sites hit by malware attacks, as porn sites look to become more secure". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  19. ^ Abel, Robert. "PornHub, YouPorn hit in malvertising campaign". SC Magazine. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  20. ^ Cox, Joseph (28 November 2016). "Hackers Are Trading Hundreds of Thousands of xHamster Porn Account Details". Motherboard.
  21. ^ Griffin, Andrew (3 August 2015). "Porn block in India: hundreds of sexual websites banned, internet outraged". The Independent.
  22. ^ "How blocked websites are trolling India's porn ban". Mint. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  23. ^ "Century-old law cited in request to ban 136 porn sites from Republic of Tatarstan". The Guardian. 14 April 2014.
  24. ^ Zykov, Vladimir (13 April 2015). Роскомнадзор внесет сразу 136 порносайтов в черный список [Roskomnadzor will add 136 pornographic sites to the blacklist] (in Russian). Izvestia.
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