Bible Thumpers Bust Out DTI

[gonzo]

TRIBUTES on the Web site of Richard J. Gordon‘s company strike all of the uplifting chords one would expect of a digital maverick. He is described as a “trailblazing businessman” who is “operating in the front ranks of those transforming the Internet into the global marketplace of the future.”

There is an echo of truth in all of this. Though most Internet buffs have probably never heard of him , Mr. Gordon, 62, played a significant role in the birth of electronic commerce. While Amazon.com and eBay were still fledgling enterprises, the companies that Mr. Gordon founded in the early 1990s were already laying the groundwork for electronic transactions conducted with credit cards — a development that opened the doors to the first generation of e-commerce start-ups.

And if the Internet is for porn, as the hit Broadway show “Avenue Q” asserts, perhaps it was only natural that many of Mr. Gordon’s early clients were purveyors of X-rated entertainment.

While riches were being minted and squandered in the dot-com ’90s, Mr. Gordon made a fortune by taking a commission for processing sales on a range of sites from small, mainstream retailers to others like ClubLove, which published the Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tape. Today, his payment processing company continues to have roots in the world of sexual entertainment. One of the several companies he owns or operates, Processing Solutions, facilitates credit card transactions for the Web sites of DTI, or Dial Talk International, according to current and former employees familiar with the arrangements.

DTI is based on the Caribbean island of Curaçao and runs, from Los Angeles, a vast and profitable network of explicit Web sites for the Japanese market.

As the Web has evolved since the early days of e-commerce, so has Mr. Gordon. Although he fashioned his early career around credit card transactions and helping Internet pornographers, he has more recently adopted an ecumenical approach to business as the shepherd for an altogether different endeavor: a Christian charity.

Until last week, Bold New World, his Los Angeles-based Web design firm, had a lucrative contract to design sites for the American Bible Society — the 192-year-old philanthropy based in Manhattan whose mission is to make a Bible available to every person in the world.

Bold New World has also created the Web site for a charity called SPCA International, which fights animal abuse; it helps members of the armed forces bring dogs home from Iraq. That charity has been stirring controversy in the animal-rights world because it owns no animal shelter and is unaffiliated with older and more established societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Although Mr. Gordon has yoked together disparate endeavors that support pornography, the Bible, and prevention of animal abuse — all by marrying the universal purchasing power of credit cards to the respectability conveyed by slick Web sites — those familiar with his operations say his relationship with DTI remains the nexus of his enterprise.

There are no official numbers on the pornography industry. But those who have studied its operations view DTI as a pivotal player in the world of pornography. “DTI appears to rank in the top 1 percent of adult entertainment companies in the world,” said M. J. McMahon, publisher of AVN Online, an Internet news site covering the industry.

Mr. Gordon’s lawyer, Miles Woodlief, said that “neither Mr. Gordon nor his companies have involvement in” the pornography business. For his part, Mr. Gordon, in a brief e-mail message, describes his career in more elevated terms.

“I have been an inventor, creative genius and pioneer,” he asserted in a statement sent by a spokesman. “I have worked with thousands of people around the world in the last 30 years, countless of whom, including legislators, governors, United States presidents, C.E.O.’s and self-made billionaires, all of whom I personally made aware of earlier mistakes, and would be happy to sing my praises.”

MORE than a dozen current and former employees and business partners of Mr. Gordon say that whatever operations his business now encompasses, processing transactions for pornography sites has long been a central component. Some of them requested anonymity, worried that Mr. Gordon might sue them for speaking publicly about his operations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/te...=1&oref=slogin

[DannyCox]

Originally Posted by gonzo

“DTI appears to rank in the top 1 percent of adult entertainment companies in the world,” said M. J. McMahon, publisher of AVN Online, an Internet news site covering the industry.

Hell, most of us here rank in the Top 1% of Adult companies in the world!

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

Hell, most of us here rank in the Top 1% of Adult companies in the world!

I thought that article was pretty funny. Did you read the entire thing?

[DannyCox]

Yep, but this is the type of thing I expect. Supposedly, he was the main financial backer for the IBill start-up (very hush-hush). I met him in Orlando at the IA2000 show in 1997 when he was there with Garrett Bender from iBill when they just started.

We were iBill's 13th client! (very unlucky number)