The operator of an adult-content site is hanging it up as his son enters school, <B>Parry Aftab</b> says.

InformationWeek Staff, Contributor

February 25, 2004

1 Min Read

Since 1997, Dan Parisi, a New Jersey-based adult-Web-site owner, has owned a notorious site. While not directly sexually explicit, it's nonetheless one of the most popular adult sites online. And some people even visit it intentionally. You (and your children) may be among the millions who have visited it by mistake, searching for information about the U.S. president and the place he lives. The real White House site is www.whitehouse.gov. Parisi's site is whitehouse.com. Typing in the .com, instead of the correct .gov, is a common mistake, one that accounts for many of the millions of whitehouse.com site visits.

Now, as his young son prepares to begin school, Parisi has decided to clean up his act. He's selling the popular adult site that he acquired to anyone willing to pay his price as long as it isn't to be used for adult content or services (nor, he says, is he willing to have it transferred to the real White House).

The site has helped make lots of money for Parisi. Why sell it now? Some have suggested it's because of the new misleading-domain-name law (which I will discuss in an upcoming column). But I don't think the law would apply to whitehouse.com. Instead, Parisi says he's unwilling to have his son face the stigma of being a pornographer's son. He also may be unwilling to have him confront adult content when searching for child-appropriate content online.

The sale of all of his domains is expected to take place as early as March, once an auction arrangement has been reached. Following the auction, Parisi says he's leaving the adult-content business.

Return to the story: Unscrupulous Marketing Practices Of Online Porn Purveyors

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