Playboy (PLA) has already cut its staff and cut its office space ... but you know things are bad when Hef starts cutting back on the amount of skin his Bunnies are baring.

According to industry reports, Playboy is planning on a mix of new sites aimed at tackling a tamer market -- and none of them involve nudity. According to Playboy insiders, the company is developing a "free, safe-for-work site" its calling TheSmokingJacket.com, as well as additional subscription content with a slightly tamer feel.

Broadening your appeal beyond a core product is no easy task. But if done successfully, it can forever change the fortunes of a company. Just look at Nintendo (NTDOY) and its efforts to make video games mainstream and not a niche product for pimply-faced teenagers.

Continue reading What Playboy Can Learn from Nintendo

What Playboy Can Learn from Nintendo originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 May 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sex.com Sale Stalled by Involuntary Bankruptcy Filing

Sex.com Sale Stalled by Involuntary Bankruptcy Filing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tired of the prudes over at Apple (AAPL), who keep a tight leash on filth in iTunes? Well, it seems like the folks at Google (GOOG) are keeping an open mind. Even though its Android Market isn't playing in the adult space, Google isn't preventing adult-only content from getting on its devices, while Apple has made it a point to keep its iPhones and iPods clean from the start.

The latest entrant into the Android experience is a company called MiKandi (say it, "my candy"), which provides mobile access to the hot stuff you can enjoy on a screen of any size. MiKandi has no connection to Google other than the use of its technology.

Continue reading Android gets a red light district

Android gets a red light district originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's wabbit season!

There's only good news for Playboy (PLA) when someone expresses an interest in buying it. Shares of the ailing men's lifestyle company shot higher on Thursday when word got out that Iconix is interested in acquiring it. Iconix owns and licenses brands to manufacturers and counts Candie's and London Fog among its holdings. A deal isn't a sure thing, but Playboy now has something it hasn't in a while: hope.

Iconix has been looking to acquire more brands. And Playboy has been looking for a knight in shining armor (and with a hefty war chest in tow) since at least June, when Scott Flanders took the helm. But it looked like acquisition bait well before then, thanks to a rough financial situation.

Continue reading Iconix sets its sights on Playboy

Iconix sets its sights on Playboy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Penthouse bets $500 million on adult social networking

Penthouse bets $500 million on adult social networking originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Being that I'm a hale-and-hearty defender of the First Amendment, I always take special notice of occurrences which could have significant impact on the dissemination of art, literature, or other such things. Once again, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has quashed a request for a .xxx domain to be created for the registration of "pornographic" websites. I cannot blame ICANN for shying away from giving its approval when I understand that the position of responsibility that approval would place it in is unacceptable for it, and would take the group well outside the scope of what it was created for.

So, we are still faced with the heavy infusion of pornographic material within the mainstream internet, and whether or not something can or should be done about it. I myself am in favor of a designated domain for sexually explicit material, for the simple reason that it would make it easier for parents to have success in restricting those materials from being accessed by their kids. I'm not writing this because I want to debate the existence of porn. I'm simply stating that we still have a situation which, in my opinion, must be dealt with.

I find it rather odd that the Family Research Council applauds the decision of ICANN. FRC claims that to provide a designated domain for the lusty sites would legitimize their existence and create a virtual "red light district" within the mainstream internet. I guess they don't understand that the stuff is already entrenched. I ask the Family Research Council to answer me this: If you were trying to displace prostitutes from your neighborhood would you rather do battle with them on your front porch or send someone else to deal with them in their own home? Your short-sighted approval of the ICANN decision is lost on me. Would it not be better to suggest an amended proposal that would get the job done?

In my considered opinion, this is a matter that shall not quietly pass. What we need to do is create the conditions wherein ICANN can to provide porn its own top-level domain without taking the responsibility to police it. The issue of domain monopoly would also need to be addressed. Then, without involving the courts, porn site webmasters could be encouraged to migrate their content to the new domain. After a reasonable period of voluntary change, I suspect about 70% of the adult sites would have willingly moved to the new domain. Then, I think it would be appropriate for adult sites in other domains to be challenged to prove why they should be allowed to remain outside their available "proper" channels.

I don't mean to say that porn should be stripped from the internet. I'm too much of a constitutionalist for that. I'm just saying that if the porn webmasters wish to remain unmolested on the web, we should create the safe conditions to allow them to do that. We will never do away with porn, but we most certainly can do away with being assaulted by it.

ICANN nixes .XXX domain: You bet, I have an opinion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google sued 'for the children' in PR campaign by Long Island politico originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 May 2006 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft software, concert tickets, and now porn for your iPod? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Apr 2006 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.