Porn 
is an industry where retirement can come without warning.
Big-name performers sometimes choose to quit at the height of their fame, while others find the demand for their services has dwindled, as fickle fans move on to the next sensation. Many careers last less than three months, and those who stay in for more than five or six years are considered veterans.
When 
Jenna Jameson retired from porn six years ago, she went out with a bang.
On stage at the 2008 AVN Awards—porn’s equivalent of the Oscars—she announced her exit at the peak of her career, saying, “I will never, ever, ever spread my legs again in this industry. Ever!”
There’s 
a saying in the technology world: If you want to know the next big thing, keep your eye on the porn industry.
Though retailers have begun to warm to bitcoin, however, adult entertainment companies have resisted accepting the virtual currency—even as revenues at many studios have plunged in recent years.
Porn, 
goes the legend, is a technological bellwether. It was a chief reason the consumer world adopted VHS tapes instead of Beta, and it embraced putting content online long before the movie or music industries.
But when it comes to monetizing that digital content, the adult industry has fallen behind. While Apple, Netflix and other services were able to persuade customers to pay for songs and programming that were once regularly stolen, porn companies have seen their industry spiral, devastated by piracy.
2013 
couldn’t have gone much worse for the porn industry.
The DVD business, once the lifeblood of adult film producers, dwindled even further. Legal challenges over mandatory condom laws continued to dog the industry. And porn companies were forced to shut down production three times after four performers tested positive for HIV.
With 
a third Los Angeles-area porn performer confirmed as HIV positive, and reports of a fourth having the virus, the very trade group that is supposed to speak for the industry has increasingly found itself under fire from within adult entertainment.
The Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment industry organization, has been the primary source of information to the rest of the world about the infections—and has set, lifted and reset moratoriums on film shooting. But the FSC’s handling of the health care crisis has widened a schism that was already forming within the industry about its effectiveness and the level of support it provides.
The 
revelation that a second porn star has contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, will likely have little to no impact on the bottom line of major porn studios but could act as a rallying point for supporters of mandatory condom laws.
The performer, who calls himself Rod Daily, confirmed his diagnosis Tuesday via Twitter, saying “With the tests I have done the doctors have figured out that I was infected within the last month.”
As 
U.K. Internet surfers prepare for major changes to the availability of online porn, U.S. adult entertainment companies are scrambling to determine the potential consequences on their bottom lines.
British Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday that the U.K.’s four biggest Internet service providers will automatically block access to porn sites for both new and existing connections, unless users specifically request that the filters be disabled. The new measures are expected to be in place before the end of the year.
There’s 
a scene in Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic movie about the porn industry, “Boogie Nights,” when Jack Horner—the film director character famously played by Burt Reynolds—sees for the first time a porn movie made straight for video cassette. He knows his world will never be the same.
The adult entertainment industry is experiencing another big moment, and again, content format is critical to the changes taking place.
Is 
the sex toy business all grown up?
In a highly watched case for the adult-entertainment crowd, a U.S. trade panel has ruled that several sex toy makers are violating a patent held by a Canadian company for a two-armed vibrator. The U.S. International Trade Commission ordered those competitors to stop making and selling products to Standard Innovation Corp.’s We-Vibe toy.
Chris Morris: Journalist 