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Porn is a big/booming industry

Not really; porn is having all kinds of problems as a money-making enterprise: http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/arts/... (link is dated but those trends have not changed).

The established players are having trouble in the new economy. The upstarts who leverage the technology and innovate are being richly rewarded.

I think we've heard this story before...

I read that article when it came out - it's an excellent snapshot of a niche industry in flux, if you don't mind the adult orientation.

We can't be sure that they don't invest in porn. General Catalyst Partners and Highland Capital Partners quietly invested in Cash4Gold [1] (whose business practices are a lot more questionable than porn) [2].

[1] http://venturebeat.com/2009/02/03/sleazy-measures-for-sad-ti... [2] http://consumerist.com/5147418/florida-ag-examining-cash4gol...

I read somewhere how the porn industry is usually ahead of the others and leads in innovation in many areas(especially billing/bandwidth etc.).