Porn Maker Allows Downloads for TV Viewing

Porn star Mary Carey poses for the media before attending the United to Victory dinner sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee, Thursday, March 16, 2006, in Washington. Carey, who ran for governor in California, has become a supporter of the Republican Party. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari) (Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP)

The system, which is easily circumvented, is built into every DVD player to block the playing of movies on discs burned by a computer.

That obstacle has been overcome in the design of high-definition DVDs, which are just now becoming available.

Both rival high-def brands, HD DVD and Blu-ray, use new protection schemes that allow DVDs burned in a computer to play on a DVD player. But it will be years before new players that accommodate those discs replace older models.

The studios say they are preparing to allow the online burning of DVDs for playing on TVs once the new high-definition players become widely adopted.

Vivid says its downloads, which will cost $19.95, do not use CSS. Instead, online retailer CinemaNow is using an alternate, proprietary system that it says will protect the adult movies by preventing the burned DVD from being copied to other discs.

"They built a better mousetrap," Asher said of CinemaNow.

Despite the challenges, mainstream studios are taking some risks and inching toward downloadable DVDs.

Both Warner Bros. and Universal Studios have launched hybrid programs overseas in which consumers who download films also get a DVD in the mail.

But the real goal, analysts say, is to pipe major Hollywood movies and TV shows over the Internet directly to TV sets, bypassing DVDs altogether.

"How about I just turn my set on and press 'go,'" Greeson said. "That's the holy grail."

Hollywood is moving slowly in that direction but must first devise ways to placate retailers, broadcast affiliate partners, movie theaters and others with bottom lines threatened by the move.

"The more they champion Internet distribution directly to the consumer, the more it seems they're turning their back on their old media partners, which they can't afford to do," Greeson said.

So yet again, unencumbered by such business roadblocks, the adult film industry could lead the way.

"The vanguard here is porn," Greeson said. "They made a tremendous amount of money on the Web, but they know they can make more if they get to the living room."