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Pornography is one of the world's most profitable industries.
In the UK alone it is estimated to be worth £1bn, says the Adult Industry Trade Association. It even has its own trade show which attracts more visitors than the Ideal Home Exhibition, according to its organisers.
It used to conjure up images of backstreet sex shops and dirty, old men, but the rise of new technology has meant anyone can set up a website and - should they so desire - become a porn star. So is pornography becoming an acceptable career option?
Francesca, 59, lives in rural Oxfordshire and is one of the UK's most popular internet porn stars. She has her own website and is known as a BBW - a big, beautiful woman. She charges £15 a month for access to erotic photos and film footage of herself having sex with subscribers.
Freedom
Married for 33 years, she got into the industry when her husband and son died in quick succession seven years ago. While it was a painful period for her, being a widow gave her a new-found freedom.
"For the last 15 years of my marriage I wasn't happy. No one thought I was sexy or attractive or even worth bothering about," she says.
"A boyfriend suggested I get into pornography. He loved me the way I was and showed me other men did to. I didn't believe anyone else would find me attractive. We took six glamour shots, put them on an internet site and the next day I had 250 e-mails offering me work and from admirers."
A month later she made her first porn movie and started her website 18 months after that.
The growth in the porn industry is criticised by campaigners, some of whom maintain that porn can lead to a rise in sexual offences. Others say it is degrading to its participants, while some believe that the easy availability of the internet can lead to children seeing pornographic images, whatever safeguards are put in place.
Francesca has no moral dilemma about her new career, arguing that porn has been around since time immemorial and always will be. She is just seizing an opportunity.
"I'm not hurting anyone, I'm having fun and am perfectly safe, so therefore what harm am I doing?" she says.
Changes in how porn is produced also means the consumer is no longer restricted to being a passive recipient.
Jo, who is in her 30s, meets subscribers for sex and puts the pictures on her site. She travels round the country, having group sessions with up to 20 men a week. Her partner Phil take the pictures.
'Exhibitionist'
The former marketing rep from the North East gave up her job recently to concentrate on her site fulltime. She says her new career is just an extension of a lifestyle she and her partner have chosen, which includes swinging with other couples and group sex.
"I'm used to selling, I like it. Now I'm just selling myself," she says. "If people don't like what I do they don't have to log on. I don't judge them, so they shouldn't judge me."
She says she is in control of her life and her business.
PORN FACTS
- Global porn industry worth £30bn - Forbes
- 50%of UK population watch porn with their partner - Durex Global Sex Survey 2004
- 70% of internet porn traffic occurs during work hours - University Pennsylvania
"You hear horror stories of girls getting into porn films and being pressurised into hard core stuff," she says. "I have full say over what I do, I make all the decisions. It is just me and Phil, no one else is involved."
Even though people pay a subscription to view the site, she does not consider herself a prostitute.
"It's just fun between consenting adults," she says.
Francesca's site is part of a network of amateur porn sites started about four years ago, which has about 80 women to chose from.
Site manager Adrian Smith says the pornography industry was one of the first to embrace the internet and see its potential.
"A lot of magazines are dying out now," he says. "Why have the embarrassment of going to a shop to get a mag when you can get everything you want more discreetly and privately on the internet.
"All you need to be a porn star these days is a camera and internet connection. It also helps to be an exhibitionist."
BBC News
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