Wetlook World Forum

However...these days, when you have some 300 to 400+ wam video producers now making all kinds of wet & messy videos, then fraud is more common, cos a person can easily rip off one producer and then not care about getting their jollies from that person's stuff again...cos there are dozens of other new wam video companies they can just waltz along to try their next scam on.

As you know...Rob Blaine set up the Producers E-groups mailing list several years ago...but that fell into dis-use and was not really that effective as a tool for circulating "watch list" names for bad apples to look out for...cos who can remember so many names anyways. Each producer can only remember the worst offenders who ripped them off in the past due to bad checks or stolen credit cards (I have my "top 40" list of people who scammed me..I am sure every producer has their own lists too).

Having a guild could not only address basic standards...such as copyright observation, fair compensation to models, legal issues to be aware of (e.g. bbfc, model release requirements, differing age laws in differing countries)...but could also be set up as a private members only forum (guild members only) online database for us to input data on scams and watch list names...i.e. a searchable database, so that if a customer contacts you and you don't feel things look right...you could check to see if their name was in the database of known scam artists who have already perpetrated frauds on other producers.

A guild would also be a better way to make general announcements to all producers...on how to deal with the ever changing legal climate or rule changes that affect how we operate. A good example of that being...the new rules now banning paypal from being used for ordering adult products....almost every wam producer now has this problem to deal with...and rather than individual postings from folks like Brian and Tim and others who have tried to offer suggestions...it would be easier if things like this all came down from a central source. Cos right now....about half of the wam producer have no clue about this new change in paypal rules...and the other half that DO know about it...have no clue about how to effectively deal with it...cos there does not appear to be ANY worthwhile alternatives to paypal at this point. So...we would ALL like to know if there are affordable credit card service options to paypal that WILL accept adult businesses as merchants..at a REASONABLE rate. From all the research I have been trying to do on my own..I cannot find anything that compares to what Paypal was offering (in terms of fees). All the major credit card service companies define adult video business as "high risk"...which is a fancy euphamism for saying..."I am gonna charge you the earth for credit card services...i.e. they want 11 to 13% of your monthly sales income...forget it.

Other services that are similar to paypal...are not "global" as paypal is/was. The Nochex service is great ....but only if you are based in the uk and dealing with uk customers. The Moneybookers service Brian refers to sounds interesting...but their web sure is convoluted and appears to be totaly "euro" oriented and not really geared for North American use.

It sure would be nice to have a guild website and for somebody to post a notice warning about paypal usage, and offering producers a list of viable alternatives (i.e. a credit card service that does not want the entire shirt off your back).

Having a guild crest on your website would also give the consumer some assurance that they will receive the best service...e.g. I have shipping guarantee policies in place....i.e. if any shipment gets lost in the mail or seized by customs...I will replace that order free of charge if it does not arrive after 4 weeks have elapsed. And if any tape or dvd they receive is defective or damaged in the mail..I replace that free of charge too. Most producers have similar policies too....and so if there was a guild...the guild should require each wam producer to offer such protections to the consumer too...in order to earn their seal on their website.

Therefore, I am not quite sure if FAWT is really the right motto...cos copyright issues are merely one facet to deal with...a guild should also address such things as models rights, and consumers rights too.....so I would keep it shorter and a more general and a blander acronym...like AWP (the Association of Wam Producers).

The irony is....the only website that currently tries to define what are the "quality" wam producers & websites...is Chainsaw John's WAM Awards website...which is just a bit of fun, and has about as much credibility as the Nickelodeon tv awards have in comparison to the Oscars.....but at least his site is fairly accurate from a consumer standpoint...cos the sites he lists are those that appear to be popular with the consumers...so a really bad website who treated it's customers poorly (like the spate of German wam sites we had in the last 2-3 years that collected money from people and never delivered what they had advertised)would not get lots of votes on his site.

MK