Piracy is hurting the bottom line of the adult entertainment industry, according to a new public-address video starring porn stars.

The Adult Entertainment Trade Association, a branch of the Free Speech Coalition, says DVD sales are down at least a third because of DVD counterfeiting and so-called internet "tube" porn sites that sometimes infect viewers' computers with malware and spyware. Credible piracy figures are not available, as the porn business is run largely by private companies, the coalition says.

"What we're trying to communicate in these new videos, is that this is not just hurting the big companies like Larry Flynt, but the people who work in production, the performers, the sideline businesses like makeup artists," says Joanne Cachapero, the coalition's membership coordinator, in a telephone interview Thursday. "Piracy is really a problem for our industry in terms of dropping revenues. This is what we're trying to communicate to the consumer."

Cachapero says the porn industry is years behind the anti-piracy efforts of the recording industry and the mainstream motion-picture industry. Those efforts include lobbying, digital rights management and even litigation.

That's about to change.

Many adult-film producers within the last month have begun employing fingerprinting technology to track online copyright infringement, Cachapero says. A bounty of copyright infringement lawsuits might follow, Cachapero said.

Hat tip: Ben Sheffner.

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