For today's edition of Wired News, I interview Larry Flynt. As Hustler magazine nears its 30-year anniversary, the adult entertainment magnate reflects on how technology has changed his business, the Justice Department's new "porn czar," the first major federal obscenity prosecution in over a decade, how the Patriot Act relates to porn, and why online anonymity matters. I also asked him about some recent allegations regarding George W. Bush that were attributed to Flynt, and published by New York Daily News. His response: a new book he's releasing on July 4 will document a year-long investigation into those claims. Snip:
Larry Flynt: [Technology has] had a dramatic effect. In the 1980s, publishing was 80 percent of my business. Now it's about 20 percent, and the rest is Internet or video. I don't think many people anticipated how the Internet was going to revolutionize the way we disseminate information. Now everybody does — but some did in time, and some didn't. That's one of the reasons Penthouse filed for bankruptcy. They were relying totally on publishing. We knew in the early 1990s that we needed to diversify and branched out into a lot of different areas. Technology still has many surprises for us down the road, particularly in the wireless area. It's going to be absolutely phenomenal. In the next two to five years, you'll see the computer and your home television set merging. You'll have one remote control, and they'll effectively be one device.
WN: Do you ever get tired of having to answer for the actions of some of your more extreme colleagues in the industry?
Flynt: No. I let them do their thing and I do mine. I try to set an example for them. But I've been to prison, and I don't think some of them have. Let them try it, maybe it will change their attitude.
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