Internet sex industry becomes business-like at LV convention

David Strow

Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

Adult conventions follow Las Vegas' big technology conventions as surely as casinos always win out in the end.

It's the case with Comdex and "AdultDEX," the adult convention that runs during Comdex week at the Imperial Palace. And it's true for the Consumer Electronics Show and ia2000 -- a convention devoted to the huge business of selling sex over the Internet.

ia2000, which opened Sunday at the Venetian, has turned into a sizable convention in its own right. AVN, the California adult publishing company that now owns the rights to the convention, estimates that 200 exhibitors are participating in this year's convention -- and says 5,000 are expected to attend this year's event.

The convention has grown so large that it has moved out of its usual home -- a ballroom at the Monte Carlo -- and into 130,000 square feet of convention space at the Venetian. Scantily dressed models and transvestites parade across the convention space, but so do suit-clad business people ready to strike deals.

Unlike AdultDEX, this convention is decidedly business-oriented.

"This convention represents billions of dollars a year in new business," said Marc Gilbert, president of Streamray Inc., a Las Vegas company exhibiting at the event. "Every major player in adult Internet is here."

In the Internet business, the adult business often propels technologies that make their way down to more mainstream business. Gilbert's company, for example, uses streaming audio/video technology to allow patrons to watch and interact with an adult entertainer in real-time. The entertainers are scattered across the globe, with some performing from as far away as the Czech Republic.

Streamray's been using the technology for nearly three years; today, it's a technology moving into a variety of mainstream fields, such as teleconferencing and education.

"Any new technology development for the Internet is beta tested in the adult market, no matter what it is," Gilbert said.

One pioneer of Internet marketing exhibiting at this year's convention is Ron Harris, a New York fashion photographer. In October, Harris launched a website that stunned the world -- "Ronsangels.com," a website devoted to selling the eggs of models to the highest bidders. Starting price: $15,000.

Harris acts as the broker, but the actual sale must be negotiated between the woman and the buyer. In the first month after the site's launch, Harris said it drew nine million "hits."

Two months later, Harris said he has a number of interested buyers, but no closed deals yet. That isn't because of a lack of interest, Harris insists -- one woman participating was offered $300,000 to carry an artificially-inseminated egg to birth. The woman rejected the offer after meeting the man, Harris said.

"I have to leave it up to the girls to decide, because it's their genes," Harris said.

Harris has drawn fire for the site, where priority is given to beauty. But Harris insists he's just blazing the trail of genetic engineering -- and that the attributes of beauty and intelligence give a new child a significant advantage.

"People are looking to give their child every advantage," Harris said. "Beauty is power. It's like dealing with a multimillionaire ... they get what they want.

"It is evolution. This is the way Darwin works. That is what this is about."

Nicole Newman, a 25-year-old college student and actress from Santa Monica, Calif., who is one of the 10 women now on the site, said the amount of money offered by a potential sale was hard to resist. She defends the purpose of the site, saying that those with money should be able to spend more to ensure certain features for their child rather than accepting a random donor.

"If you have money and you want to buy a car, you're not going to go out and buy a Hyundai," Newman said.

Harris is branching out into other Internet ventures as well. Recently, Harris signed a deal to broadcast his collection of "soft-core" erotic films over the Internet. Harris will also offer "Aerobicise," an aerobics video library first launched nearly 20 years ago.

The library, once converted to digital format, will be maintained by Florida-based Cyber Entertainment Network.

Erotic video is nothing new on the Internet, but Harris said he's trying to reverse a trend in the industry he doesn't like.

"I don't like what's happening with pornography," Harris said. "It's extremely violent and angry. There has to be someone on top, so why not me?"