It’s been quite a couple of weeks in the gay porn industry; at this point, nothing would surprise me.

First is the big news from Colt, which my co-blogger Ronnie so aptly covers. Condolences to John and Tom at this difficult time.

IML banned bareback porn from the leather market for the first time, sort of like shutting the gate after the horse has left the barn (oh wait, they did make an exception for the bestiality video booth, since neither the dogs, horses, nor men in these videos were wearing condoms). Nevertheless the consequences were reflected at the event. For the first time in my memory, the host hotel sent out an email 3 weeks prior to the weekend and redacted the 3-night minimum stay requirement. The hotel was roughly half-full, and the lobby, usually a shoulder-to-broad-shoulder wall, was empty enough to breeze in and out regardless of the day or time. The leather market itself was “dull” and “dead” according to several attendees, and a commenter on Joe.My.God suggested that old-time vendors were awol (aside from bareback porn companies). Of course, the economy still sucks, so it’s no shock that attendance is down. Nevertheless, in the face of discrimination based on politics, officials felt it so important to show their inclusiveness, the winner of the pageant was a transman in a wheelchair (congratulations and no disrespect to Tyler McCormick).

Meanwhile, Raging Stallion announced they had an agreement with one of the two major competitors to their owners, signing with Malefilxxx to stream what is, so far, the pre-AEBN acquisition/older movies (clearly, it’s what Maleflixxx could quickly restore from backup). The move signals that things are not going well for Chris Ward. With sales on the condom side of the industry dropping 25% per year, maybe AEBN said enough is enough and decided to cut their losses. I doubt, however, that it was of Ward’s volition. Since Ward would feel compelled to run around telling everyone he bought his studio back if that were the case, we can discount that possibility. No, this seems like a scramble for strategy amidst the knotted mumus. To whit, in the press release announcing their Grabby wins, he neglected to thank his partner Mo. And, of course, Chris Ward’s PR-stunt offering Ricky Martin $1M to do a hardcore scene with Austin Wilde now makes much more sense. It was either the event that precipitated the split, or was Chris stretching the wings he was compelled to keep tightly held. The interesting and telling question is what movie Malefilxxx puts up next.

Titan Media won their lawsuit against Antelope Media LLC (MonsterCockTube.com), although perhaps a pyrrhic victory since the two main defendants reside outside of the US and claim to be governed by German law. The Court ordered that the domain names not be transferred until the judgement is satisfied; my guess is the defendants have already moved on to use another domain long ago. Nevertheless, the suit revealed that the two defendants own the AlphaMaleCash affiliate program… and despite their otherwise good reputation, their affiliates are abandoning them. Oops.

Finally, on a lighthearted note, anyone remember Tag Eriksson? Gawker outed the realtor, Fredrik Eklund, who sold Daniel Craig a Manhattan loft and appears to be Tag. Interestingly, Eklund/Eriksson’s firm is featured in HGTV’s insane Summer series “Selling New York.” I wonder if he’ll make an appearance?