Sony says ‘no’ to porn on Blu-ray Disc

We were pleased to learn of this report in InfoWorld, 1/19/07:

Sony said it will not work with the adult film industry to help put their movies on its Blu-ray Disc format, although it will not try to stop them completely.

The company will not allow its disc replicating subsidiary, Sony DADC, to handle adult film titles, it said this week. In markets where it operates around the world the company won’t duplicate any movies above a certain rating or that have not been certified by a local motion picture association.

Sony wouldn’t disclose exactly where it draws the line, but the rule means that adult movie makers will have to find someone else to reproduce their films in bulk. While other companies offer such services, the adult industry feels it is being cut out of the Blu-ray camp altogether.

The choice of which high-definition disc format to use was “kind of made for us, so everything we are replicating right now is in the HD DVD format,” said Robby D, a director at popular adult film maker Digital Playground Inc. “As far as I understand, Sony has said to the replicators that if you replicate adult, you’ll lose your license.”

We applaud Sony’s principled decision. See also Corporate Self-Restraint at Leading Domain-Name Exchange.

5 thoughts on “Sony says ‘no’ to porn on Blu-ray Disc

  1. Here is an even more recent article from PC World on the subject. I get the clear impression that Sony is discouraging adult merchants from using its Blu-ray technology, to the extent that it has control. That’s good enough for me to give Sony praise. And let’s put in a cheer for Disney while we’re at it:

    Eight companies worldwide can replicate Blu-ray Discs, Hirsch said. Two
    of those companies are controlled by Sony, which won’t allow them to
    handle pornography. Five other companies have contracts to replicate
    discs for Walt Disney, which stipulate that they cannot handle adult
    films if they want to work with Disney.

  2. If this IS the case, then Sony is discouraging the replication despite issuing a public statement that they are not.
    None of this is official – it’s second-hand speculation from the porn merchants themselves (who themselves may be lied to by the replication facilities). So you have your choice: Either you’re praising sony for lying in their “no holds barred” content statement, or you’re trusting the porn merchants over sony itself.

    So? Which is it? Are you praising liars or trusting pornographers?

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