ASMAN: We all know sex sells. From dirty magazines to adult films, porn is a multibillion-dollar business. It's also a pioneer of sorts, blazing a path across the Internet. And now it wants to teach Hollywood a lesson. On Monday, Vivid Entertainment is going to start selling downloadable movies that can be burned onto DVDs. Will Hollywood, who resisted this for a long time, be forced to follow? Steven Hirsch is CEO of Vivid Entertainment and he joins us now. Good to see you, Mr. Hirsch.
HIRSCH: Thank you.
ASMAN: I have got to ask you a question up front. I'm in the news business. When I go home, the last thing I want to do is turn on the news. Now you are in the sex business. When you go home, is sex the last thing you are interested in?
HIRSCH: I don't know if it's the last thing that I'm interested in. But it's not the first thing I'm looking forward to. I like to hang out with my kids when I get home.
ASMAN: All right. A lot of people wonder that, whether or not the sex industry guy -- whether he burns out on sex. But you say no?
HIRSCH: No. It's just a business.
ASMAN: All right. Well, now, the technology of the business has always been pioneering. I mean, you guys, it can be argued, did more for the Internet, creating business on the Internet than anybody. This new technology, explain as simple as possible how it works.
HIRSCH: It's very cool technology. You are able to go to alladultchannel.com, click on a button, and begin to download a movie to your hard drive. Once you finish that, you are able to burn it on to DVD. What's cool about it is you are not only burning the actual movie, you get everything that goes along with it -- the menus, the behind-the-scenes, the interviews, all of the extras that are part of the DVD.
ASMAN: I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm just wondering -- Hollywood is resisting this because they don't want a lot of pirating going on. Would this allow people to pirate these things?
HIRSCH: No, we don't think so. This technology has been developed over the last couple of years, and we are comfortable with it. I'm not sure that that's why Hollywood isn't doing it yet.
ASMAN: Why do you think Hollywood is not doing it?
HIRSCH: I think they have to deal with some of their big-box retailers. I mean, people like Wal-Mart and Blockbuster are responsible for a huge percentage of their sales. I think they have to be sure that they are comfortable with it before they move forward.
ASMAN: You think Hollywood is interested in protecting its distributors, so to speak?
HIRSCH: I think that that's certainly part of it. There is the usual amount of red tape that goes along with getting anything done by the major studios.
ASMAN: Now, the question about the Internet. There is always some Internet geek out there who is smarter than the people who are putting out the product. Are you going to be giving away stuff to a lot of geeks that are able to pirate the stuff for free to their friends and family?
HIRSCH: Well, you know, certainly that's a concern. And if we didn't feel comfortable with the anti-pirating technology that's in place, then we wouldn't have moved forward with this. But we are comfortable with it, and we think it's an interesting way. It's obviously much more convenient than going out to a video store, and we think it's cool.
ASMAN: All right, we've got to leave it at that, Steve Hirsch.
