A 25-YEAR-
The old lady's fans knew she was Lacey and didn't know her real name was Miss Lollipop, who put her index finger into a small glass jar.
She picked up a group of powder base makeup and applied it to her forehead and cheeks.
"One of the other models showed me this," she said, looking at herself in a mirror. “It’s for high-def cameras.
You can't see the cake.
She was dressed in a low chest.
She cut a purple cocktail dress and her hair was pulled into a loose bun. “I’m late.
I still have to set up the lights.
She hurried to the corner of the small room to retrieve two cheap lampstands.
Some of Lacey's props hung on the wall next to the lights, including two wooden oars she used to beat her ass.
Most of her other sex toys and accessories are invisible in one bureau and organized in a bin. It was 10 a. m.
In Lacey's home office.
Bedroom rental in New Mexico.
She is about to start work.
Lacey is a cam model.
She performed one.
Women's sex shows are often performed in her house, although she has performed in the car, on hiking trails, and at the airport.
The action was taken by a small and cheap camera clipped to the top of her laptop and provided to anyone visiting a website called MyFreeCams.
Cam business, a digital
Era peep show has been around for a few years, but as technology gets better and cheaper, the concept of camming has proven to be far more than it used to be: it creates a sum of money --
Business opportunities in the porn industry have been eroded by the spread of free pornographic content on the Internet.
Unlike pre-recorded pornographic content, cam shows that happen in real time are hard to pirate.
According to Compete, traffic to the most popular camming Internet sites is high, with a small number of top sites having 30 million visitors per month.
Measurement of Internet traffic.
At any time, hundreds of models are online, some are watched by 1,000 or more people, while others perform privately.
According to industry analysts and executives, the cam site is generating at least hundreds of millions of dollars, most likely more than a billion dollars.
The money is usually not from subscription or payment. per-
View, but from a credit or "prompt", an electronic token provided by the audience that allows them to interact with the model --
Instruct them to use a certain sex toy or use it in a specific way by typing the information.
The website provides the platform and then collects and distributes the prompts to the model.
This payment structure, as well as the fact that the model can work in a safe place, subtly subverts traditional power dynamics in sexual transactions.
No pimps or protectors are required for Cam models.
However, as a decentralized business model of the traditional rough industry, camming has its drawbacks, and some models are driven by economic despair and even slavery.
Some cam models have found that although virtual platforms offer a sense of security, they can still be blackmailed, threatening to disclose information to friends and family, and being forced to act as they do not bargain.
Using the Internet to find a large audience and expose cam models to Anonymous, invisible enemies, Lacey learned this when a customer apparently revealed her real name online.
There was a knock at the door of Lacey's office.
Jim Lewis, a retired Navy officer with a messy hair, is a sea cow, an assistant to Lacey.
"You're late, Lori.
Do you want me to send a note?
He asked, meaning email.
Email the waiting audience“I’m ready.
Lacey's regulars know a lot about her intimate details.
But they may not realize that she is running a serious company.
When she is not in front of the camera, she tracks the metrics and promotes herself on social media to get in touch with the client.
She can't see the men she performs for, but she pays close attention to their habits. After Mr.
Lewis returned to the station in the next room and Lacey picked up his laptop and placed it on a glass table under the lights.
She put her hair down.
It was the last day of the month and she wanted to end her strength.
She said she made $8,000 in a good month and nearly six figures a year.
She clicks on the laptop to start the camera. “Hey guys!
"She started her work by combining old school entertainment with new economic models and serious new risks.
The erosion of the tip-driven commercial porn business has been documented in detail and earlier than the campers.
The culprit is the Internet, which, while making pornographic content more accessible, has also led to widespread piracy.
Camming is the next disruptive impact.
Some of the content is free for users, but in fact, tips and other expenses will bring considerable income.
Given that there are hundreds of sites, most of which are privately held, this is a tough number in the end.
Chief executive Douglas Richter
LiveJasmin is one of the most visited cam sites and a level 1 consultant for the site --
And my competitors.
Camming is estimated to earn more than $1 billion a year in the industry.
It is estimated that the entire porn business is about $5 billion, a sharp drop from a decade ago.
Steven Hirsch, partner company
The chairman of Vivid Entertainment, a famous pornographic film studio, said that although pre-recorded films and clips still have a market --
Available for download and subscription via cable-
Interactive Entertainment, including camming, accounts for half of the industry's sales.
The number of network traffic proves the popularity of camming.
According to Alexa, a website owned by Amazon that measures Internet traffic, Luxembourg-based LiveJasmin is the 80 most popular websites in the United States and the world. Compete.
Com, a department at Kantar Media, reports that LiveJasmin has about 25 million unique visitors from the United States each month. Compete.
Com places MyFreeCams at 4 million unique visitors per month, while Alexa lists MyFreeCams as 34 of the most popular websites in the US.
This traffic is still dwarfed compared to porn sites that offer free pre-recorded content.
Pornhub is 56 in the US, but its pre-recorded clips are free.
One of the ways it makes money is to turn visitors into customers in cam rooms.
"Live cam has become the most prominent part of the industry," said Alec Helmy, publisher of Xbiz.
Trade industry magazines, if they don't have a total income, will surpass the previous popular forms of pornography.
"Camming is driving the growth of the adult industry.
"These websites make money by selling tips.
Users of the website (
Most, but not all men)
Buy tips in the group;
On MyFreeCams, the fee is $19.
200 tokens 99
In a show, these people "tip" models by giving them tokens ". (
They can also buy "private shows" at higher prices ". )
According to Mr.
Richter is from LiveJasmin, and about one of the 300 men visited the site with a female model.
He said gay.
Male audiences tend to buy more. (
There are cam models and websites suitable for different audiences. )
Cam model sites are talent aggregators, middlemen, but only in the sense that Apple is the middleman for the band that sells music on iTunes. (
MyFreeCams registered with a man named Leo Radvinsky, who lives in sick Glenview.
He did not respond to the reporter's request for an interview. )
The Cam model works for itself, listing thumbnails and descriptions on the website.
The website retains a certain percentage of tips, but the number is different.
High earners can get more tips.
Lacey tends to get 50 to 60%.
Business models have become so popular that competitors are racing to catch up.
Witness Kink's efforts, a porn company based in an old armory in San Francisco.
A few years ago, Kink was considered the beginning of a new era of erotic art.
It meets a variety of festivals through shooting and streaming content, and is ideal for Internet consumption.
Nowadays, Kink is turning the Armory room into a cam studio that can be rented effectively by a separate cam model.
"Strategically, this is the future," said John Sander, vice president of marketing at Kink . ".
"The value of pre-recorded content has been eroded throughout the industry.
Todd Blatter has produced pornographic films in Southern California and has several Ferrari films for screening.
Last year, he sold 72,500 porn DVDs he collected over the years, all of which earned $30,000, compared to what he once thought would bring $700,000.
He said: "If you are a middleman in the industry who has been eating for 20 years, this is a big change . "
Blatter, 45, recently sold his last Ferrari.
"Girls don't need anyone.
"Very isolated work" Hello!
Lacey sat on the floor, drinking coffee, and greeted guests when their screen name appeared on her laptop.
"Because Archie bit off the rope," she explained to about 150 away --
The people she can't see, they look from unknown places.
She told them that Archie was one of the two dogs she had.
This virtual relationship is nothing new to Lacey.
When she was 14 years old, she started her first intimate relationship online and returned to New Zealand.
In the middle of nine children, she found contact in a chat room on the online music service Napster.
There, she met a 17-year-
Dawson from Arkansas.
What she refused to disclose was the way he handled it, not his name. (
Since her parents didn't know she was a cam model, Lacey asked not to use her real name.
She told them that she was doing marketing for porn companies. )
Dawson visited Lacey, New Zealand, at the age of 18.
They got married and she moved to Arkansas with him.
There, she found that it might be more difficult to interact with people than on the Internet.
She said: "To be honest, when we fight, I will if I need to talk about something
Send him an email even if we live together.
She works in an animal shelter and earns $65 a day.
With the breakdown of the marriage, she began to build close relationships online.
She read about camping on a porn story website.
When Dawson went to a trade school in another state, she decided to try camping.
"I need to make big money --immediately.
Her first show was in October. 1, 2010. She earned $50.
She made twice the next day.
One night in December, $400.
Then the woman who owned the animal shelter found and fired her on the spot, telling her that only one woman who desperately fed her child should do something like this.
Economic Despair drives some women to camp.
Some people use it as a platform for prostitution.
Former prostitute Catherine Griffin says some women, especially those overseas, are forced to join in, and sex slaves are just working in a new medium --
Industry recovery coach working for the Houston Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Even women who become their own cam models take serious risks associated with sex work. Griffin said.
She said the risks started with low self.
This respect comes from working on the edge of society, using drugs to deal with a job that might feel shameful, from taking part in other activities, whether it's getting undressed at a club or prostitution. The still-
Long Island unsolved murders, women who promote prostitutes on Craigslist also talk about the risks of going alone in the sex industry.
"The longer they do it, the easier it will be for them to get into the next and next stages . "
Griffin talked about Cumming.
That is to say, Sienna Baskin, a colleague
The director of the sex worker program at the City Justice Center said she was not aware of the general problem of domestic cam workers being forced to participate in the event.
"As far as I know, this is not a very common form of human trafficking," she said . ".
Kari Lerum, a sociologist at Bothell University of Washington, said that camming can provide more comfort and autonomy than other sex jobs.
"These women work at home, it's safe and they have more control over working conditions," she said . ".
Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer who is an obscene legal expert, said that as long as the model is over 18 years old, the cam program is not inherently illegal.
There is also a risk.
"People think you can be a model of an invisible webcam," he said . ".
"This is not always the case.
Another cam model's art name, Serena Blair, studied biology at a major university, but came to camming in 2011 and she was frustrated that she could not find a research position higher than the minimum wage.
Now, she says, in a good month, she makes a tip of $8,000.
But the choice to become a cam model puts a burden on her: she worries that if parents find out how she makes money, they will avoid her.
She can't write a camping outfit on her legal resume, not long ago she worked for a night at a strip club, something she thought she would never do (
And swear she won't do it again).
Lacey is facing more pressing problems.
Two years ago, a particularly heavy dump truck began asking her what to wear.
He started threatening.
She was afraid of losing his tip and initially agreed to his request, but then stopped again.
Soon after, her real identity began to appear on the Internet, linked to her cam name and real address.
She went to the police but was told that nothing could be done;
It is not illegal to publish real information on the Internet. (
She did get the site where her information seems to be going to be deleted. )
She then found out that the same person had found several other models or threatened to do so.
"The thing that worries me most is that he will call my parents and tell them.
"If this happens, I will deal with it, but it won't be very beautiful if it happens," Lacey said . "scale porn.
Your image will always exist.
You must be O. K.
Before you enter it.
Some cam models say they are not ready.
"Camming is an incredibly isolated job," wrote one lady, echoing the views of others reached at the cam model web forum, noting that she is confident and happy in front of the camera, she is becoming more and more withdrawn in the real world.
As the person on the webcam, "I spend so many hours a day," she wrote, "I don't feel like I'm really myself anymore for a few days.
"Lacey seems more comfortable than some of those in trade --offs.
Camping is the "best option but not the only one" to make money, she said ".
She spent a year at a university in New Zealand and could have gone back to school or worked in a parent's hotel.
"I have never been trapped.
But she also said camping could be "very dangerous . "
"Back in her chat room, the hint was flowing.
When they arrive, they will make a harsh sound.
Like slot machines.
All online participants can hear it.
These tips are also displayed as lines of text highlighted in yellow on Lacey's screen, typed by the audience.
Their reaction can be seen by others, creating
The club is full of energy and the guys coaxed each other to tip and encourage each other.
The person with the screen name BBB0223 gave 24 tokens. That is $2.
40, about half of them. “Thank you BBB!
Exclaimed Lacey.
Tips are not random.
It has to do with the theme of the day, which Lacey calls a whiteboard game.
This is one of many games she designed to get tips from the audience.
Behind Lacey, a whiteboard covers 50 numbers from 20 to 70.
When someone prompts an amount on the blackboard, Lacey deletes the number.
She promises that when all the numbers are out of the board, she will start the more engaging part of her show.
But behind the scenes, hard.
The core business is already in progress.
A new intimacy outside Lacey's office, on a table next to her brown sofa in her living room, Mr. Lacey
Lewis tracks users in Lacey's chat room and when the big informant arrives, he sends Lacey notes through private channels. Mr.
Lewis is known to be Lolli's assistant, his net name.
Lacey hired him in last October.
She works in front of the camera five or six days a week, often more than once.
She also writes for her two blogs, runs a member website and posts it on Twitter. She met Mr.
Lewis is in a local association of people involved in slavery and abuse.
Lacey provided him with 5% of her income to help her expand her business.
He has set up a database that records the net names of each of the 1,594 people who have tipped Lacey since October and how much they tip.
Another database records Lacey's programs, themes, and how much money each program generates.
This gives Lacey the indicator.
One of her best shows, she refuel in the backyard and brings 48,795 tokens (
About $2,439 for Lacey);
The more typical "maid and room service" show brought in $534. 85. She has Mr.
Lewis looks at what other models are doing, explores new trends, and tries to measure which models work and which ones don't.
She attended the sex industry conference.
She offers promotions and prizes on Twitter and offers business advice to other models on cam forums.
Lacey has a boyfriend who doesn't really mind her being naked in front of other men, but he does say he wants her to stop at timesthe-
"Turn off the brand ".
That morning, sir.
Lewis is monitoring the number of guests in the cam room.
"She is the eighth most popular room," he muttered . ".
What is impressive is that there are nearly 1,400 models online.
A guest named "Whodeybuckeye" threw nearly 10 tips.
"Interesting", Sir. Lewis says.
"I have never seen him before.
"There are a few regulars hanging out, but there are not many of her big informants.
Alex K is among the missing.
Alex, 53, is a warehouse manager in western Massachusetts.
His last serious girlfriend is just graduated from high school.
He described himself as a lonely man, but he was no longer alone since he found Lacey.
He spent less than $20,000 in lottery tickets on Lacey.
"She is a very open person," he said . "
"No Lies. No big walls. ”Dr.
Lerum, from the University of Washington, says men are more open, vulnerable and emotional in cam rooms than in strip clubs.
They can also invest in relationships that only exist on the screen.
"This is mutually objective," she said of camming . "
Alex spends hundreds to thousands of pounds a month in Lacey.
He bought her something.
Scarves, hats, jackets, sex toys
And cleared her Amazon wish list.
He sent her a computer.
They communicate by phone every day, usually by text message.
Finally, last year, he met her in person at a porn conference in New Jersey at breakfast.
Alex, in a telephone interview, said, "It's like meeting someone I 've known for a long time.
Lacey described their relationship somewhat differently.
It is not only business, but also a "complex friendship," she said ".
Models like Lacey consider themselves digital geisha, therapists, consorts, virtual performing artists.
Not like traditional porn or even old
School peeps show that cam media is active with the promise of virtual friendship.
"They are defining a new intimacy," says Viviana zerezer, a Princeton sociologist and author of the purchase of intimacy, who talks about economics and relationships.
It's not a traditional sexual work, it's not a relationship, it's something between the two ".
About 90 minutes after the show began, there were about 1,150 guests in the room.
Then it's over.
Lacey blushed and started chatting with the group, and the observer replied to her with text questions and comments.
They talk about New Zealand and her dog.
"If you like me, miss me," she said in her last sentence, "Look at my forum.
"After signing, she appeared in the living room in her robes. Lacey and Mr.
Lewis looked at the data: this is an O. K.
In the morning, it brought about $350.
A big chunk from the new guy Whodeybuckeye, who seems to have jumped from lingerer to tipper.
Two weeks later, Lacey got the flu and she did a show in the kitchen, dressed neatly and with a runny nose.
Whodeybuckeye is there and is part of the loyalty gang who tip her to hang out and just chat.
With business going well, Lacey and her boyfriend decided to move to New Orleans in June.
There are several reasons: his family is nearby;
Lacey doesn't like the dry air in New Mexico,
New Orleans is the "destination city" where other cam models may go to perform with her;
She may make some extra money to convince the customer to visit her and pay to have dinner with her.
"There is no sexual contact," she said . " Her boyfriend will take part in these outings, she added.
When she pursues the edge of this new business and the decision to move, she sounds like any young man who describes a lifetime of opportunity.
"After 10 years I don't want to wake up and say, damn, I have so many opportunities that I didn't catch.
In this case, however, the opportunity shows how the business is upgraded, bringing potential dangers by further blurring the boundaries between virtual and real.