The Man Behind Online Porn's 'Steve Lightspeed'

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "'In the online pornography business, just about everybody has heard of Steve Lightspeed,' who runs a network of sites, reports the Wall Street Journal Online. 'But few in the porn world know much about Steve Jones, the 39-year-old married father of two behind the Lightspeed persona -- and that's the way he wants to keep it.' In WSJ.com's profile of Jones, tension between his job and the rest of his life is evident: 'He said he and his wife mostly socialize with others inside the porn business, in part because it avoids the awkwardness of explaining his line of work. "Most of our friends tend to be in the industry," he said. Relationships with family members can also be tricky. Mr. Jones's mother works for Lightspeed Media, handling customer service duties, but he said some relatives don't know about his work and likely wouldn't approve.'"

Comments

This is news?

[TheLinuxSRC]

I am unsure as to why this is news. Subject X works in the Y industry, an industry not looked upon with great respect by a majority of the public. Because of this X does not want his family to know he works in the Y industry and generally associates with people from the Y industry so as to avoid embarassment due to his profession.

Click here

[Anonymous Coward]

You know you want google to always remember you searched for Tawnee Stone. How old is she now, like, 25?

This being slashdot...

[thepotoo]

...this is something that a lot of us are interested in.

I have no problem with WSJ submitting one or two articles that we might like now and again, but if it happens more than a couple of times, I'll start getting really worried.
Bottom line: The occasional submission; OK, regular submissions; they're using us.

Re:This being slashdot...

[kevin_conaway]

"Carl Bialik" from the WSJ has had dozens of stories accepted. Who cares? His summaries are usually concise and accurate and the linked articles are informative as well.

I have no problem with him or the WSJ submitting articles to Slashdot

Re:Slashdot

[Zone-MR]

Combined with Google, yes.

"But few in the porn world know much about Steve Jones, the 39-year-old married father of two behind the Lightspeed persona -- and that's the way he wants to keep it".

Some relatives don't know about his work and likely wouldn't approve.

Except shortly everyone Googling for his name will know who he is and what industry he works in. Nice responsible journalism. Why not ruin someone's life so you can write an interesting article.

"A few years ago, Mr. Jones relocated his family after some neighbors learned of his profession, and forbade their children from playing with his. "It was kind of heartbreaking," Mr. Jones said. He added: "My kids have no clue what we do."

The media stooped lower than usual this time. The least they could have done was shown some slight respect for the guy and his kids, and obscured the names.

Family values

[mariox19]

Mr. Jones said he has been particularly worried about shielding his children. The Joneses installed software to block illicit content on both of their kids' PCs, and Mr. Jones has password-protected his and his wife's computers.

And it's as simple as that, even if you yourself are in the porn business. If only more parents would take the time to do this, we wouldn't suffer the spectacle of holier-than-thou types demanding that the government step in and place the entire Internet under a giant, child-proof cap.

Re:WTF?

[smooth wombat]

But back to the other guy, it would be nice to be surrounded by nude models all the time...

Yeah, you'd think so but really, after a while they all blend together and the enjoyment ceases.

I'm saying this not as someone who works in the industry but rather from every story I've ever read written about people in the industry (the adult industry as a whole, not just online). To a one they all say the same thing: it's just a job.

Sure, looking at cute/hot girls seems like it would be great. They come in and you get look them up and down without fear of them calling the cops on you. But you're not looking at them and imagining all the lascivious things you could do with them (well, maybe a little) but rather, do they have the look? How do they react in front of the camera? Can they follow directions? Anything about their body that might turn people off (big feet, hairy butt, etc).

When I was getting my photography degree we were required to do sketches of nude models. Both male and female. I can assure you that when the model is on the stand you're not thinking, "Whoa! She's hot. Wonder if I can take her out to dinner or something else, hint, hint, wink, wink". Rather, you're thinking, "Holy shit, how am I supposed to draw her elbow in that position?", "Dammit! Why can't I get that shadow around her hip right?", "It would be nice if I didn't have to see her fingers in profile" Repeat for every session you drew a nude model.

For the record, in case you were wondering about getting a programming job for an adult website, check my journal for a lengthy article about what the reality is like. You may have to go back a bit to find it. It's called, 'Getting a tech job in the adult industry'. It was never accepted which is why it's in my journal. After all, why would the editors accept a story about programming and porn.