I recently spoke to journalist Marie Maurice about online porn and its impact on contemporary culture. Marie used commentary in two pieces recently published on l’Hebdo (French for “The Weekly”).

You can read “Marché du sexe: dans l’univers du porno en ligne” — translated from French as “The sex market in the porn universe online” (8/11/16) — in its original form here.

Below are some translated excerpts related to my commentary directly.

First, regarding tube sites practice of showcasing stolen/pirated content, the costly, legally complex, and time consuming removal of which is the responsibility of the copyright owner:

For Chauntelle Tibbals, pornographic streaming sites are nothing more than “mafias.” According to her, the studios have little choice but to work with XVideos or PornHub insofar as their videos are often illegally on these sites. Chris Jackson categorically denies: “This is absolutely false. We take very seriously the protection of copyright and carefully follow the law.”

I found Jackson’s response hilarious, as 1) That’s not true, the content is often definitely illegally on these sites and 2) I suppose that insofar as tube sites take down stolen content once served with a DMCA notification, sure — I guess they follow the law in that respect. But only begrudgingly, and only after they have been served.

Think about it — Would you have any idea how to remove something that belonged to you from the interwebs?

A second passage is more of a pie-in-the-sky ideal that closes out the piece:

In the US, Chauntelle Tibbals also promotes ethical and responsible pornography. The only way to do that, for her, it is paying. “Do not consume porn for free. If you love scenes, we must learn about the director, go to the website of producers, and buy their work.” A utopia? Today, less than 5% of porn is paid to consume.

I admire Marie’s tenacious reporting and language skills. I am not sure I said that the *only* way to get to ethical porn is via paying for it and being mindful of the workers who produced it, but, for consumers, it’s definitely a key way.

What do you think?

Read about Marie’s other piece re online porn “YouPorn: l’impuissance des grands studios” (8/11/16), also in l’Hebdo, right here.

(pictured: image via l’Hebdo here)

* * *

Got a sociology question? Need some social justice informed life advice? Contact Dr. Chauntelle right here.

Get Exposure: A Sociologist Explores Sex, Society, and Adult Entertainment on Amazon and CT.com