Stickam: Would You Let Your Children Use A Service Owned By Pornographers?

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1. Search*Engines WEB
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 12:50 am

   It is an interesting reflection of society’s concerns when Teens have ready access to online games featuring surreal, nightmarish violence, and DVDs of movies depicting every possible act of violence - but everyone gets up in arms at the thought of them being exposed to online sex or even naked bodies.

2. Wayne Smallman
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 12:57 am

   Issues of ethics and morality aside, the guy is a business man. He’s hardly going to shoot himself in the foot and let one side of his business spill over into t’other.

   Besides, don’t we have other types of businesses whose moral compass could be questioned?

   Think of any major government defense contractor, for example. In a very real sense, the technology that zips you from one country to another by jet airliner is the same as what’s to be found in your average surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, or fighter-bomber aircraft.

   Anyone care to add to that list?

3. alex
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 1:00 am

   Especially if there is not exposure at all. If it is kept separate (and it clearly is) what is the difference for stickham users?

4. Duncan Riley
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 1:05 am

   Wayne
   I understand what you are saying which is why I did note that porn is a legit business, but as a parent (be it that my son is just shy of 5, so not at the webcam stage) I’d be horrified to know that he would be using a service run by these folks, not separately mind you (which would make it a whole pile better) but allegedly in the same office and with the same staff. It’s not inconceivable that an employee may have control over a 14 year old on a cam whilst at the same time having a live porn stream being controlled in another. I’m no prude, and for example I happen to think Australia’s censorship laws (where I live) on porn are way wrong (it’s illegal here) but there’s a line there somewhere, and this may cross it.

5. Alaska Miller
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 1:06 am

   You mean your first thought when looking at stickam.com wasn’t that it must have been made by a porn company?

   Who else has expertise in understanding how to scale and launch a cam website except for pornographers?

6. Watch TV
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 1:10 am

   lol that’s just too perfect! I mean we already know kids are out there doing god knows what on YouTube, but this is hilarious because if it breaks out to popular media parents will go ape crazy trying to figure out what else is sponsored by ‘adult’ companies. Maybe myspace? lol

7. Joel Price
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 1:12 am

   WebSideStory has a similar story. The hitbox platform, now called HBX, was the porn industries main web analytic tool. When they went public they tried hard to distance themselves from their porn roots and Wall Street never could embrace the one time analytic leader. WebSideStory is now called Visual Sciences.

8. Alaska Miller
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 1:13 am

   @6 It’s already alleged eUniverse was a spammy dating site and that Tom Anderson used to run asian porn sites. And myspace was bought back in 2005, keep up with the times.

9. Peter Jenkins
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 1:17 am

   This was obviously a disgruntled employee. Sounds like he was trying to milk stickem for money and this is him making good on the blackmail. MySpace was started by viagra spammers and tons of other sites have ridiculously worse histories than porn. Seems wrong to be supporting this kind of blackmail stuff when there’s not even any real news here…just an angry relationship gone awry and someone trying to do damage.

10. Stephen Sclafani
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:21 am

    It’s surprising that it took the NY Times to make this a story. It’s been widely known, at least among people affiliated with the various live streaming services, for a long time.

11. Prashant
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:23 am

    It does seem quite dodgy but the fact that both websites are separate shouldn’t concern parents.

12. Alexa
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:26 am

    This is really quite worrying - and I would not be surprised if the two do overlap. Lack of effective controls and child protection measures on streaming services is permitting the growth of a generation of Japanese “camgirls” - teens who offer online sex shows in return for gifts via Amazon wishlists, Paypal tranfsers, etc.

    There are some anecdotal indications that EU and USA teens are starting to move in the same direction. Sex per se is not an issue in the EU - we are not really worried about children being exposed to nudity (compared to the US for instance) but are concerned about increasingly early sexualisation of children, particularly girls, and the current growth in child prostitution in some Western European countries, both of which are quite well documented by research. Technology unfortunately seems to be playing a role in this, combined with both organised crime and legal but ethically-dubious businesses.

13. Ben
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:31 am

    Wait a second, are you saying that my kids are using the same internet tubes that pornographers are using? I sure hope there’s no tube leakage! My kids were born with clothes on and are asexual.

14. Larry Chiang
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:49 am

    Dirty! Japanese also disavow all knowledge of “comfort women” but hey, if you can get away with it, dishonest/shady people might try it.

    No offense to legit 4th gen Japanese Americans (whom I love). I am merely referring to the war attrocities not acknowledged by nationalist Jap history books. Is Jap derogatory?

    Just say sorry. It’s that easy. Just say, “Sorry I killed those people and took women as “comfort women”. And hey USA and China: Here’s a token monument for the 2,000,000 we killed since 200b.c….

    p.s. there’s no better formula for world peace than China’s turn the other cheek policy for dealing with unsolved war atrocities.

    The book of Matthew really doesn’t address these issues (or does it?) but then again forgiveness isn’t my strongest Christian trait.

15. Darren Stuart
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:49 am

    I kinda agree noway these should share the same office or servers.

    you have to say the owner has good insight, hes already got the adult market down and then looked to see if his tech could be used else where.

16. Rich.List
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:50 am

    For Wataru Takahashi, Stickam is a business. He must follow the game rules. Stickam will not become a porn site. No need to worry about this.

17. Sarah Gubert
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:51 am

    Peter Jenkins is a dipshit..

    “This was obviously a disgruntled employee. Sounds like he was trying to milk stickem for money”

    In the story, Alex was the Vice President, and had no contract. He could have stayed, but decided to take the high moral road and to inform concerned parents of what stickam is.

    “Seems wrong to be supporting this kind of blackmail stuff when there’s not even any real news here…just an angry relationship gone awry and someone trying to do damage.”

    Is making parents aware of the dangers their kids are being exposed to?? and stickam is not doing their job at handling complaints. NOT REAL NEWS?? PETER YOUR AN IDIOT! Hmm, let me see, stand by the people who are hiding the fact they are interoperating with porn business or the Former vp who decided to quit based on his morals? hmmm hard choice there. hi lae.:)

18. Alonzo
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:51 am

    There is an alternative! I found out about that a few days ago (the porn thing) and looked up for an alternative. There is this new site http://www.blogtv.com where you can broadcast yourself and chat. pretty cool I would say. No porn connection as far as I know.

19. Peter Jenkins
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 2:01 am

    @Sarah

    It said he worked there 4 months and was trying to negotiate a contract to launch his own new site. Sounds like his bullshit “morals” only surfaced when his blackmail attempt failed and this is the result we’re seeing here. What’s the news? This NY Times reporter is engaging in some pretty yellow journalism…must be desperate for a story. Whistleblowers are one thing but he didn’t even expose any actual harmful things….whats the story? Porn money funded this site? This looks like classic case of (probably illegal) blackmail to me.

20. maleksh
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 2:11 am

    there is a very big problem owning a pornographic business

21. Chris
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 2:17 am

    The difference for Stickam users is that their privacy policy states “We share Contact Data with our affiliate companies who may want to send you information about their products or services”.

22. Tecumseh
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 2:23 am

    Whoever or whatever you are, please leave my land!

    The euroschwag came over and stole it, then you jumped on the bandwagon.

    My tomahawk craves your christian flesh.

23. AGronowski
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 3:02 am

    Would you let your children use Wikipedia knowing that it was started by a pornography company (Bomis, owned by Jimbo Wales)?

24. Browse
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 3:05 am

    BRING ON THE LEAKY TUBES!

25. Nolan Eakins
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 3:08 am

    Oh no! The same company that owns a cigarette company also owns a company that produces food! I can’t trust them to make non-addictive food.

26. Sarah Gubert
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 3:48 am

    @Peter

    Your stuck on “an Alleged Blackmail” idea. and “harmful things?”WTF? Having these two business intertwined is dangerous for both parties, Do you want your son or daughter on stickam? Unmonitored? I think not. And If you Do your Research other employees also said the same thing a month ago here: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007...../#comments

    and if no one says anything about it, how would we know? We won’t so the reporter did a good job. You should reread the story again and look deeper.

    Cause from what I’m hearing your making excuses and shuffling the blame for stickam’s unprofessionalism and lack of management. Scott Flacks should take responsibility for not dealing with all this at the beginning, be more strict on their policy, and Run Stickam entirely separate. Stickam’s operations have not changed in 6 months or more and they have not evolved to develop the site. And Since they don’t have any advertising revenue, the porn pays for everything, Bills paid for a free site under a red light.

    I pity you for your cynicsm.

27. Jeremiah Owyang
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:10 am

    There’s quite a few other companies that offer a similiar service, the list is here:

    http://www.web-strategist.com/.....streaming/

28. Steve
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:21 am

    I think using this story for traffic makes me ask the question, would I suggest friends, family and children should use tech crunch? Tech Crunch, the NY times, and many other places uses use sensational headlines and bold words like porn to get attention.

    Stickam has not used porn to get users.

    AT&t shareholders profit off of porn, AT&t shares lines with adult companies, should they also be avoided by children?

    I think you have more chance of intercepting a dirty phone call with a cordless phone, yet you are quick to jump in and mention your kids and stickam. What other products and services do you keep away from your kids?

    Video games?
    TV?
    Music?
    Myspace?

    Hey if you are one of those, that’s cool. Using tech crunch as a way to push conservative “family values” - that’s pretty lame. This is almost like one of those stories you see sent from the “family values” organizations that are going around the country pushing for legislation to shut down strip clubs, and restrict video game sales.

    My company builds web sites and sometimes takes clients who want adult sites. Doesn’t mean we can’t make a non porn site.

    Tech Crunch to stickam - hello kettle, this is pot…

    New digg story - TC author blocks stickam (which doesn’t have porn) from kids - doesn’t block TC which frequently earns readership (and money) from porn application reviews.

    Thanks for the laugh this morning. reminds of the story in AVN today about Ohio’s Citizens for Community Values leader being run by a three time divorce’ bankrupt porn addict.

29. prash
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:22 am

    Overheard from the Stickam office: “What do you mean you switched from Server A to Server B???!!!”
    

30. Ralph
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:27 am

    Huh? What? There is obviously a concern that the streams of data may cross, and innocent children may inadvertently be presented with adult material. However, as long as the systems are on different web servers and different database servers, then there should not be a problem.

    There are millions of web sites out there that are hosted on shared servers, but there are very few (any? I’m not aware of any) instances of requesting site aaa and instead seeing data from site bbb.

    If we’re going to question the adult industries server configurations, then let’s go ahead and carry our concerns of conflict-of-interest into the real world…. as mentioned by previous posts, numerous politicians and large corporations would be guilty if examined more closely.

    I can certainly understand the suggested concern in this topic, but let’s not jump to screaming “fire” until we actual smell smoke or see flames.

31. Brandon Watson
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:41 am

    We actually blogged on this last week:

    http://parents.imsafer.com/art.....m-and-imvu

    Not that the site was owned by pornographers, but rather that there is an interesting cross section of new products coming to market which allow unprecedented new ways for children to interact with other people (be it children or adults). We found a room the next day with two girls who claimed to be 17 doing a strip show for a bunch of guys. It degerenated quickly, including one guy’s video being pointed at his masturbation. It was, erm, interesting.

32. Summervillain
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:45 am

    For pity’s sake, people, do you trust an eCommerce vendor to charge you for what’s in your shopping cart as opposed to what’s in somebody else’s shopping cart? Do expect to see your bank balance on the screen, or do you worry that it might have got crossed with someone else’s bank balance because they’re on the same server and run by the same people in the very same office? The whole idea of sending information in packets is based on the fact that the technology is pretty good at getting each packet to the correct destination.

    If people want to boycott Stickam to express moral disapproval of part of their revenue stream, that’s obviously their right. But I don’t see a technology issue here.

33. fkl
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:49 am

    WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN??

    thanks for the alarmist garbage

34. beyondwww
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 5:01 am

    Well it really might not be as bad as it seems and might not even mean any thing. Mr. Wataru Takahashi has been a very successful business man and he definitely knows his target audience. So as far as I see it there isno harm at the user end to use the site.

35. Russell Coker
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 5:23 am

    Some years ago I worked for a large ISP (>1M users) that made a significant amount of money from advertising porn sites (by my estimation a significant price increase for DSL would have been needed if porn advertising was ceased). I was ran servers that had adverts for porn sites and servers that had users’ web sites (including some amateur porn and probably some children had web sites hosted there too).

    I don’t think that there is a problem with this. When running an ISP if you give data to the wrong people then you risk the security of online banking and many other services that are significant. Regardless of the porn angle decent security and protection of users’ data is required.

    Where can you find an ISP without some type of porn use anyway?

    What about the postal system? I find that it’s not uncommon to receive parcels that are addressed to my neighbours and expect that other people have this problem too. I’m sure that it’s a regular occurrence for a Playboy subscription to go astray, but we don’t seem to get any news reports about that…

36. David
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 5:46 am

    Oh no, oh no, the same company that owns pornographic websites owns sites aimed at children, the world is coming to an end. The next thing you know major corporate interests (Walmart, Walgreens and on and on) will make money off of tobacco…oh wait, they already do that. Oh well, tobacco only kills people.

    OK, forget that analogy. The next thing you know major corporate interests that sell food to children are going to sell tobaocco that kills people and also product products that poison environment…of wait, they already do that.

    Ya, I’ll be losing sleep over this tonight. But no doubt it’ll get a lot of play in the media. Gotta celebrate Mom and apple pie after all.

37. Dave
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 6:31 am

    If you are a parent, watch what your goddamn kids are doing on the internet. Not doing so is just like sending your kid out into a big city, alone… there are plenty of good things and plenty of bad that might corrupt your precious baby.

    Assuming that you are taking the road less traveled by actually paying attention to what your kids are doing, I think it’s great that you would be appalled by something akin to a strange man who really does just want to give your kid a lollipop, but the man lives with a Hannibal Lecter type. Good for you that take an active role in your child’s safety- online and off… and shame on the parents who would jump on this as yet another excuse to let your kids run amok while you enjoy your night out with friends, your soaps, your marathon WoW sessions, your cam-dating, etc etc.

    I’m always leery of the posts that are essentially “warning to parents”– because they always seem to be missed by the real parents out there, and always seem to be carried on the shoulders of the real shitty parents.

38. Wayne Smallman
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 6:33 am

    Hi Duncan, I can certainly see your point, so as someone who isn’t a parent (but does have 10 nephews and nieces, so I’m no novice when it comes to kids) on the balance of things, this guy should have exercised some discretion with regards to his choice of business venture…

39. website copywriter
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 6:41 am

    I’m not sure about allowing children to use other services that are owned by pornographers in general. But then again if the service has nothing to do with pornography at all, I don’t see any harm in that.

40. M. Watson
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 6:42 am

    Right on the front page of Stickam is a link to Carmen24. Sexy photo links to a fully accessible ( no filters or adult only warnings) broadcast featuring partial nudity and sexy poses–chat, web cam, available.

    Here’s the kicker. Postings on her page scream alerts about the site being a virus and the whole thing a massive scam.

    Check it out–go to Stickam…look on front page (right).

41. AC
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 6:54 am

    I’m sorry, I don’t understand your point at all.

    Why does it matter who owns a site? If, for example, Orbitz.com were owned by scat fetishists, would that make their travel deals less legitimate? Would you still shop there, but ban your kids?

    I don’t understand what you think is going to happen — because Stickam has a sister site that serves porn, do you think your children are going to be *recruited* into pornography? Is there some invisible taint that’s going to magically spread through the tubes and *infect* them? Seriously, what are you afraid of?

    To me, this reeks of a combination of prudishness and hysteria. “Oh, god, won’t someone please think of the CHILDREN?!”

42. Leslie
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 7:09 am

    The question was, “Would you let your kids use this site knowing it’s owned by a porn company?”. Okay, paraphased, but that was the basic question. I wouldn’t. Why? Because it’s a matter of how much I trust that company and personally, I don’t trust any company when it comes to the safety of my children. I trust myself and I trust their father and certain other family members. Maybe I’m over-protective but my kids are safe and I manage to do it without keeping them so sheltered that they are totally naive. Personally, I wouldn’t trust any cam company. There is no need for my young kids to be on the web where anyone can see them. I monitor their online activity. I use the parental controls that are packaged in Vista so I know what they’re doing on my computer and they do it in full view of me. My kids and I talk. I don’t restrict them from things without telling them why.

    Some adult on xbox live said something to my 11 year old son about porn and that was the last time he talked to him. And yes, I was in the room with my son at the time and I took immediate action. Electronics do not babysit my children. Do I blame Microsoft? No. These are my kids. I can’t risk their safety no matter how much it might make me seem irrational or over protective or just plain un-cool.

43. Dave
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 7:15 am

    Leslie– right on– agreed on all points. Thanks for taking the road less traveled. My parents were the same way and I bitched and moaned for years. But now I’m very grateful that I was raised the way I was. I am a well adjusted, social, and successful member of society. Keep it up and your kids will be off to a great start.

44. LonelyBloggers
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 7:24 am

    I think that you can find adult content almost anywhere - Google profits from xxx ads, so does that mean we shouldn’t use Google to search the net? The arguement is ridiculous… Many companies profit from adult content in one way or another..

    I will point out however that if I had children that even came close to using a webcam, I would definitely monitor their activity VERY closely or not allow them to use it at all. If Stickam does have younger people using the service, then there should be no links to adult content though…

    The people behind Stickam run a business, I don’t think they’d be dumb enough to cross their lines of business..

45. Ty Webb
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 7:29 am

    Jackie Treehorn is in the internet biz now?

46. Concrete Stain
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 7:34 am

    very valid reasons for concern here ..

47. Chris Yeh
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 7:57 am

    If live video is going to become a mainstream phenomenon (which I think it is), it’s going to be critical for the companies within the industry to make mainstream people comfortable with using their services.

    At Ustream (http://www.ustream.tv), we’re very specific–our terms of service prohibit all illegal and/or obscene content. We want the Ustream community to feel safe for everyone who uses it, including the churches, presidential candidates, and even government agencies who currently use Ustream.

    It doesn’t seem like Mr. Takahashi and his team have violated any laws or regulations, and it’s unfortunate that their service isn’t being judged on its own merits.

    The reality is that in a rapidly emerging industry, there *is* a lot of uncertainty, and part of the job for all members of the industry is to do everything they can to reassure potential users of its safety and appropriateness.

48. Naruwan
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 8:16 am

    This is vaguely reminiscent of the Jack McGeorge story from five years back - he was a UN weapons inspector and leather fetishist.
    Well, I did say vaguely reminiscent.

49. sputnick
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 8:48 am

    I find it interesting that Mr Takahashi has chosen to invest in webcam streaming. Could it be the case that content proliferation has started to dent the profitability of his other business? Excuse me while I go off and do some market research.

50. gleuch
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 8:54 am

    kraft cheese was once owned by phillip morris (altria group), along with General Foods and Nabisco, but did tha that make the food and beverage unsafe and suspectible to tobacco marketing?

51. Bill
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 8:58 am

    I agree with Lesli and Dave our children are exposed to too much sex as it is, they see it on TV every day and are taught it in many of our public schools. They certainly do not need the Internets help in that regard.

52. jccalhoun
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 9:01 am

    regardless of who owns the site it is not someplace I would want my underage child to go. Look at the profiles of most of the girls on there and you will see things like, “no I don’t show,” “I don’t want you to show,” and “creepy old guys stay away.” Now those things wouldn’t be so common if there weren’t a bunch of people on there asking for and or doing those things.
    I’ve spent a couple hours on stickam checking it out since Leo Laporte first used it to stream video of his radio show and more than once I’ve went into a chat room and been greeted by video of a guy with his junk hanging out or a bunch of people begging a girl to take her shirt off.
    So it is basically a bunch of horny teenagers and 20 somethings regardless of who owns it. And regardless of who owns it there’s no doubt that it is only a matter of time before this gets picked up by Dateline NBC and the other moral panic news shows.

53. Leslie
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 9:01 am

    Dave - My kids actually don’t complain about how I raise them. I have a good relationship with both of them, but I accredit the fact that I tell them why I do the things I do with that. We have very open communication which I think is very important. My daughter is 17 and she’s still a virgin while her friends are sleeping around. She still calls me to tell me where she’s at and where she’s going because I raised her to do that letting her know that if anything happened to her, I would have a place to give the police to start looking and it wouldn’t be hours after she disappeared so they have a better chance of finding her more quickly. When the ads used to come on TV asking “It’s 10 o’clock do you know where your kids are?” I can say “yes!”. She has consistently shown good judgment in typical teenage situations which have kept her out of trouble. I consider myself very lucky that she’s turned out so well.

    Lonelybloggers - I have never seen a XXX ad on Google and that’s with content filtering turned off in my preferences unless I was specifically looking for xxx content. I’m not saying they aren’t there, but I haven’t seen them. Speaking of preferences, how many search engines have you seen that even have prefs like Google does? Kids will see xxx content in Google search results if that’s what they’re looking for. That’s where parenting comes in.

    When my daughter is on the computer, I’ll randomly walk in and look at what she’s doing, or read her IMs. She doesn’t complain, she knows I’ll do it but she never knows when. Her father and I are listed on her MySpace as friends and we monitor her page not just for what she’s doing there, but for changes in mood and behavior. We even monitor her friends pages just to know what kind of kids she’s hanging out with. She’s not allowed to add location specific information in public forums and we know who the people are that she’s talking to or is “friends” with as they are either people we know or people that go to school with her. There is no one on her page that she doesn’t know personally.

    We do give her some latitude, because we were both troubled kids when we were her age, we’re just keeping an eye out. Her father calls me sometimes with concerns about things he’s seen on her page and 99.9% of the time, I can tell him exactly what this means or why she posted that.

    When she’s out with her friends, she will come home for dinner just to eat with her family and then go back out. How many teenage kids do you know who want to do that? I sure didn’t. When she turned 17, I dropped her curfew but she’s always home by 12 at the latest.

    I know I’ve gone on and on, but my point is that as parents, we have to be aware, involved and follow our best judgment regardless of whether the rest of the parental community or even our kids think we’re cool or not. There are a lot of comments on this article aimed at demeaning the more concerned parents or blithely making fun of them in the face of new technologies or busniness models and we can’t afford to let those people bully us into being more lax or less attentive just because some business MIGHT not cross their lines of business or to naively think that those businesses even care about our kids and what they’re exposed to.

    There is a difference between them being exposed to surreal fantasy violence and being sexual objects. Someone said they doubt a business man is going to “shoot himeslf in the foot” but the truth is businessmen shoot themselves in the foot every day. My kid will not be the fallout if I can help it. Someone said that the websites for stickcam and their porn interests shouldn’t be of concern to parents if the sites are kept separate. I say anything our kids are exposed to should be of concern for the parents.

    To the person who wrote this: “I can certainly understand the suggested concern in this topic, but let’s not jump to screaming “fire” until we actual smell smoke or see flames.” Do you mean we should wait until our kids have been exposed or victimized?

    I’m not telling anyone how to raise their kids and I’m not saying that a site should be banned because of porn interests. I’m saying that what our kids are exposed to and what sites they use are our responsibility as parents. People want to use stickcam? Great. Have at it. My issue isn’t even their porn sister site. It’s the idea of my kids being on the cam period. I won’t allow my kids on any cam site. They will get to an age where they have to make that decision for themselves. I know this. But until then, it’s ultimately MY responsibility.

54. Todd
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 9:24 am

    Direct TV has the Disney Channel and hardcore pornography, together on the same bank of servers - where’s the NYT article on that? Oh wait….Direct TV is a major advertiser across all of the NYT properties. Hmmmmmmmm

    http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/.....Id=1200002

55. Al Ramirez
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 9:49 am

    I think its about ethics… the Stickam leadership needed to be transparent and forthcoming about their business holdings so people can make their own informed decisions. So in fact whatever reason brought this truth to light is valid journalism.

56. Chris Sack
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 10:36 am

    oh please, Go back to church!

57. John C
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 10:52 am

    Is this even a story worth covering? Porn money is all around us. Wiki, Myspace, Google… It’s not like Stickam is allowing porn on the site. Will you not buy Kraft cheese because it’s owned by a tobacco company?

58. huh-are-all-stupid?
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 10:53 am

    Err… Wake up folks you don’t think your kids know about free websites like pornotube or youporn?

    If you want to know the latest porn sites, ask your 12 year old!

    Stickam is so last year.

59. Ronald Lewis
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 10:55 am

    I don’t think it matters. Look at today’s teenagers and think to yourself how “innocent” they are.

60. Melanie
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 11:02 am

    I’m curious what industry people WOULD have thought that a company with the technological expertise to launch what is, essentially, a mainstream “cam girls” site would have roots in?

    The adult industry is actually responsible for the creation and/or proliferation many of the advances in the way we use the internet - including the affiliate marketing model and DRM, for instance.

    Regardless of how you feel about adult content, trying to access web-based technology but steer clear of tech or companies that have their root in adult is a losing proposition. Not to mention a pretty pointless one. :/

61. tish grier
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 11:03 am

    hmmm….nobody got *this* upset when Rupe Murdoch (Mr. Page Six Girl) started marketing MySpace to teens….as if it wasn’t already hosting pages for fetish nites, strippers, and other adult-oriented enthusiasts…..

    In fact, “social networking” as we know it, has some roots in adult-oriented “dating” sites going back to ‘01 or ‘02…..

    It’s widely acknowledged that porn is often a testing ground for new ways of socializing and distributing media on the internet. It might not be general public knowledge, but if you follow the media industry the way I do, you’ll read about it. It’s a wink-wink, nudge-nudge kind of thing, but it’s there….kind of like giving Mikey the Life cereal because he’ll eat anything….

62. opinion
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 11:10 am

    This really is complete alarmist garbage, rather disappointing to see this tripe on both Valleywag and TechCrunch.

    Sweet jesus! They work in an office where people that also work on porn sites work, and they may or may not share servers with pornographic web sites! Oh my, what if the streams got crossed?!

63. Francis Wu
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 11:28 am

    Don’t freak out, but we’re eating food owned by a cigarette company.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_Foods

64. bdb
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 12:21 pm

    @Leslie, you scare the hell out of me.

    You must have raised a pretty stupid kid for her to rely on you so heavily at the age of 17 (crack baby?).

    Being friends with your kids is fine, but being their friend on a social network or any other place that is intended for peers of similar ages to interact is completely overboard.

    You probably think the patriot act is fine with regard to civil liberties as well.

65. Jeremiah
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 12:27 pm

    Oh, whoops, I thought of one - Zoooooooooooooooooooooomr

66. Anne
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    Has anyone bothered to investigate Alex Becker’s questionable background?

67. Andy Fox
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 2:22 pm

    Its great how these stories are supposed to dissuade parents and kids from using a site. The best way to do this, would be to not mention the site at all.

    Or Better yet, write an article that Stickam is the most popular site in the 30-45 Mom and Dad demo.

    Who wants to bet this story was planted?!

    The best way to get teenagers to go to a site is to tell them that its dangerous and full of sex and nakedity (yeah i made it up, so what).

68. Give me a break
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    I am a former employee and I know Scott Flacks who I always thought was a dipshit who talked out of both sides of his mouth and would take credit for a success even if he was not involved and pass the blame to save his skin. I mean can you believe a man who claims he makes only $5000 in order to not pay alimony to his exwife and 3 kids when he actually makes $20000 a month and I can proove this coz I worked for payroll and I was smart enough to archive documents so go ahead and try to say I am lying I am more than happy to email these to anyone. Alex Becker I did not know so well but he was always friendly and saying hi even with the security gards who most people ignore. I am gained major respect for him for finally saying what all AVC employees are to chicken to admit. So the person who claims Alex is some sex offender should back up his claim with a link, a date a police record. I know I can prove what I say about Flacks.

69. Bill
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 2:33 pm

    This is for bdb.What I’m reading between the lines is, you are a bleeding heart liberal.

70. Woot
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    @Letty( or supposedly)

    “Alex Becker’s real name is not Becker, His real last name is Desparalles.”
    This is True.

    “He may be a convicted sexual predator from France I read about. A history of molesting young boys I think.”
    This is Unconfirmed(but I doubt this accusation is True since The person posting this should know who Letty is, which a few of us know)

    “He has a boyfriend in Los Angeles named Chris, who has a boat in the Marina.”- Another unsupported accusation.

    –Can the Real Letty Please Voice–

71. Guffman32
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 3:52 pm

    Shocking!! Porn involving the Internet and a webcam…Man, Get Scotland Yard on the phone.

72. snappy
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

    Having worked at said companies and accidently leaking company information (that was pretty much public if you have the brains to do a couple of fucking DNS lookups or hit the right sites)… and been given a warning, I had truly thought I had done something wrong. Alex Becker, puts me to shame.

73. bdb
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:08 pm

    @Bill, What I’m detecting is that you know really DO NOT understand how this Republic was founded or the principles upon which it was founded (I’ll give you a hint: something to do with FREEDOM).

    Just because you fascists have taken over the republican party, does not make me a “bleeding heart liberal” (nice and original name-call).

    I can prove it buddy-boy-BILL, come try and take one of my guns, I’ll show you a bleeding heart….gladly.

    You need to read the Federalist Papers, the U.S. Constitution, amongst other great works instead of taking your political views from your mommy, limbaugh, coulter, blah blah blah

    You do not deserve to live here or in freedom.

74. bdb
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:15 pm

    I just realized something….

    Move to china!

    They will ban all of this stuff and protect you and your wittle kids.

75. Michael Arrington
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

    #74 - yes, please email me those documents immediately.

76. Andy Fox
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 5:20 pm

    @Michael Arrington, Shouldn’t this be more about Stickam the service and less about dragging people’s names through the mud? Someone being gay or having a yacht doesn’t pertain to tech, unless they are like super technical about being gay or sailing their yacht.

    Or maybe if they sail their yacht while gaying off.

    ‘TerminateThread()’.

77. brian ziemba
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 5:23 pm

    a much higher concern would be raised if takahashi didn’t have the dexterity to share his resources, considering this is the SAME EXACT broadcasting technology. what is your point?

78. Guffman32
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 5:33 pm

    I’m still trying to get over the shock that an SNS would have sexual connotations. Maybe the Stickam employees can wear radioactive suits so to not be contaminated by the porn employees. Do they play lunchtime games like ” red rover red over let the porn employee come over”?

79. Peter Jenkins
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 5:50 pm

    I hope newspapers and bloggers are this friendly next time I want to try making good on my future threats of blackmail.

    The big story here is that a NYTimes reporter and Techcrunch can be tools for implementing such threats. Valleywag should be worried, this is their turf.

    He was supposedly a “VP” (whatever that means on a little website) and this is the best he can come up with? He didn’t prove _any harm_ to _anyone_. There’s no substance whatsoever. His claims of moral obligation are transparent and it’s clear his real reason for going to the papers was to make good on a threat after a falling out of some kind.

80. DTI Services
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 6:05 pm

    Sign up to DTI Services now! Click on my name!

81. Wataru
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 6:24 pm

    Yes I have to admit that My Businesses are shady, I do own many porn sites such as
    en.dxlive.com/home.html
    en.exshot.com/en/home/home.jsp
    and sites like:
    advancedvideocommunications.com/
    stickam.com

    and Have skirted the international laws to make a profit off of, such as going around Japanese ban on certain levels of pornography by hosting servers here in the US for Japanese consumption.

    I have been making very bad hiring choices by hiring Scott Flacks and Aaron Novak to represent my companies interest. I really didn’t know what I was thinking in the whole scheme of things. People Should be concerned as am I with the interoperability of my businesses. But Trying to hire good people is hard when trying to hide the fact that I am pushing porn, they keep leaving and post comments that are true. Even though no one ever blackmailed me, which They never needed to cause what I am doing is far worse and cannot hide it. I don’t blame them for trying to show people the truth in what I am doing.

    After careful consideration and council, on the above topic. I would like to offer free membership(90 days free with credit sign up) to anyone to any of my porn sites. Please take this offer to ease your grievences. Please follow this link to sign up: en.exshot.com/en/home/first.jsp

    Michael its ok to let them uncover facts about what I am doing, best to let it come out now. If anyone wants to post anymore fact about my activities please do.

82. mc manus richard
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

    An who said they are going to mix the pornography business with Stickam ???? Very stupid nonsense article…

83. Jeff
    

    July 11th, 2007 at 10:11 pm

    Good question, Dunc. My answer to your question is “no”.

    I hate pornography and everything it stands for. I’ve had a few friends who have had their lives (and in a couple of cases, their family lives) ruined by addiction to pornography.

    I really doubt that Stickham would start to show porn to my kids, but it worries me that people who are willing to sell out to to porn for a few bucks might sell out in a smaller way on Stickham if there was enough money on the table.

    The primary reason that I wouldn’t want my kids to go onto Stickham is because I don’t want to give any pageviews to a company that supports something that has ruined so many families.

    I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m judging anyone’s moral values here. I’m just saying that porn has ruined the lives of people that I care about. I’m not down with that and I don’t want to support it.

    My two cents …

84. peggy
    

    July 12th, 2007 at 2:04 am

    I don’t get it - the story is about stickam, not about any of the individuals. I worry because there is a new feature on stickam : one-on-one sessions. Are those monitored? And are reports of abuse to the TOS taken seriously? It seems they are not since I have reported to abuse@stickam.com and never gotten response, and the profile i reported is still active. In addition their staff is flippant with users; I was in the LA Film Festival chat room 2 weeks ago and one of stickam staff told a user to get lost and when he didn’t went on to say “i heard your mother bent over last Friday”. Needless to say he was upset…. he’s only 15. And these are the people monitoring?!! doing support?! I so do not believe Scott Flacks when he says in the NYT that stickam and security go hand in hand!!

85. Heather
    

    July 12th, 2007 at 2:05 am

    I’ve used stickam many times. I heard of it by word of mouth. I quickly saw how teens with raging hormones were prompt to get down and dirty on screen be it private or public video chat. Not only this, but, seeing how many underage users this site had and with no regulations to protect them. It got to a disturbing point when one time, while I was conversing with my cousin live on stickam, her video feed suddenly changed to DXlive, and I was receiving live video feed of a woman masturbating while urinating!!!! (What kind of human would do such a thing in the first place?) I quickly turn my computer off and received a phone call from my cousin that she too had experience such a thing. Appalled by this matter, especially since my cousin is a minor, I promptly wrote an e-mail to stickam support to express my concern. I asked my cousin to delete her account, but she told me she couldn’t delete her account because stickam wouldn’t do so. I honestly wanted to get an answer of how this might have happened and why in the world could she not delete her account. I myself tried to delete my account, and found myself given the run around. Needless to say, I guess how the new york times article stated, my e-mail must have been deleted along with the rest, now I’m sure no one even glanced at it maybe because they are so used to seeing such hardcore porn that it does not bother them and may have the mentality that its not a concern and our distress do not matter. As an alarmed individual, I discourage the usage of this website, especially for minors, since I am sure that my case is not the only like this. I want to tell Takahashi that if he can’t clean stickam and separate his porn from social networking intended for minors and up, then, he probably should kill it now before he is in deeper shit.

86. peggy
    

    July 12th, 2007 at 2:25 am

    Also don’t bother trying to email for copy of contract mentioned in post 90 above… that Email address is non-existing: Gmail returns it as undeliverable/unknown… Talk about questionable practices!! Because of this I totally disbelieve everything said in that post. And it makes me wonder why so intent on dragging this Alex Becker through the mud…. it’s just too personal… makes me think several things: everything Alex Becker said is true and so stickam personnel trying to take revenge??? Disgusting!

87. Michael Arrington
    

    July 12th, 2007 at 2:52 am

    turning comments off now. go do this somewhere else.