Porn Does Digital, At 10 Cents A Minute

The porn industry led the way into such new technologies as VCRs and pay TV. Could online micro-billing be next? Adult movie sites are charging users by the minute, as opposed to the subscriptions often charged by paid online media. Richard Cohen, founder of National A-1 Internet, the Philadelphia-based parent of HotMovies.com, says per-minute billing was a natural extension of his core business, phone sex lines. His typical online customer stays on about half an hour, paying 10 cents per minute. "Less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks (SBSX)," Cohen notes.

But there are reasons why this latest porn innovation may not migrate to mainstream media. Cohen and others can charge for a thin slice of an adult movie because people expect to pay for porn. That's not the case with other media, says David Card, a senior analyst at Jupiter Research: "I think charging by the minute is kind of unnatural for Americans. They don't like to watch the timer."