Ben Dover on BBC News 24

[Floydoid]

Technically it is illegal to send porn through the post:



I agree that the price of DVD's needs to come down. You can get most regular movies for typically ?5-?10 if you shop around online, so why does porn have to be about 3 times as much? Surely burning the disk and adding packaging doesn't cost that much.

I agree if the prices came down, more units would be sold and everybody would be happy.

[m100]

The irony is he's been producing films for such a long time that a substantial amount of his fan base was formed from bootleg videos.

[jimslip]

Talking of selling cars and watches sounded like a very badly rehearsed attempt at sounding glamourous and rich. Personally, I found it cringingly embarrassing and no truly wealthy celebrity would ever talk like this in a recession, where thousands are losing their jobs and in hardship. They might say, "I'd have to tighten my belt" or something like that.

I know I am committing blasphemy, daring to criticise the "God of Porn" but I don't think his attempts at being the self elected spokesman on porn, do this industry any favours.

I will now kneel in humility and face the inevitable tirade of abuse!

[m100]

I know about the post bit but that is one of the things that needs to change if you can order by mail from europe but not within the uk then the only people who are gaining are companies who are based their rather than here and the discs makers, cover printers, banks where cheques are being cashed etc must also be based there as well otherwise covers, boxes and discs have to be shipped from uk to europe to be posted back to uk which is ridiculous. Personally I don't want stuff coming through customs and neither do I want to download so my only choice is a regular trip to a licensed shop. The shops have to cover the expense of applying for a licence and then also, I suspect, make a tidy profit from knowing that people who want anonymity will buy from then as in most cases there is only one or two licensed shops within a certain area. Increasing the licensed shops would create competition which would bring prices down, create employment in new shops and enable produce to sell more of their product within the uk.

To jimslip - I could be wrong as I'm not involved in the business at all (and yes I am a fan of Ben's work) and please don't take this as any sort of abuse because it's not intended to be but I don't think Ben has appointed himself as spokesman I think that is purely down to the media who see him as the most instantly recognisable to any viewers a) because of the length of his career and b) because he's been on so many other shows. In terms of a short piece they don't want to spend half of it explaining who they are talking to.

[RobD]

hmmmm, I am frankly highly sceptical that the industry needs any financial support, over the last twenty years porn in Britain and the world has grown by billions, with the internet and dvds etc and in increase in mediums we have seen an explosion in production companies, pay per view channels , internet sites, the industry is a behemouth compared to what it was.

Lets face it, in many cases people pay way over the odds for pornography, if the recession means some companies slash their prices as a way to attract business or innovate and continue to produceoriginal work (which ben dover hasnt really done in a while) then all the better.

I mean where will it lead, the nationalisation of porn?!

[intrigued]

Why does he think we need a new, separate and specific task force for adult industry related piracy?

Also I have to agree with Jim- the "jokes" were pretty poor and in bad taste. I never quite know where I am with the "industry". Do you want to portray an image of a serious and professional business, or a "nice little earner for jack-the-lad"? If it's the former, one would have to question the wisdom of this particular interview.

[laralatex]

You mean the hand that gropes from behind the camera is instantly recognisable???? He's been behind the camera much more than he's been in front of it.

What I would like to say is that when you go on a T.V. programme of any kind, make sure you look in the mirror before you go on. The dodgy camera angle he was given was because he was wearing his porn academy t-shirts and not just to show off his watch. The presenters looked far more groomed than him. I also liked the way they had to gently tell him 'DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THE INTERNET HAS TAKEN OVER FROM DVD SALES'!!!


Also, when your consumers are probably clinging to their jobs by their finger nails it's not a good idea to say, i might have to turn off the heating in my swimming pool. And no, her wasn't being ironic.


It's such a shame that an inarticulate person has chosen to be the spokesperson for this industry (or the media has chosen him, whichever viewpoint you stand on).

[laralatex]

Sadly, Intrigued, they weren't jokes. He was being deadly serious. My response was it looks like you've already sold all your shirts, so selling a car won't matter. !laugh!

[Moosebumps]

Ouch - very sour comments from Jim and Lara.

I thought he was extremely tongue in cheek. And of course he was joking about having to turn off the heating in his pool. I met Mr D at one of the shows last year and he was extremely funny and engaging, on his stand chatting with fans and having a laugh for the 3 hours i was there browsing around.

[jimslip]

Well, I've known him since 1981 and believe me he WASN'T joking, he was trying to impress and having a contrary view to that of BO doesn't make one, "Sour".