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Abbywinters.com

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Abby Winters
Type of site
Pornographic paysite
OwnerGarion Hall
URLAbbyWinters.com
RegistrationMonthly fee
Launched8 October 2000 (24 years ago) (2000-10-08)
Current statusactive

abbywinters.com (or simply Abby Winters) is a pornographic paysite largely revolving around nude modelling pictorials and lesbian and solo sex acts by female models. It claims all-female shooting crews[1][2] and is part of the "natural", reality-based porn market. The site was launched in the year 2000[3] and has since been split into three "mini-sites" known as 'Solo', 'Girl-Girl', and 'Intimate Moments' (masturbation).

Abby Winters originated as an Australian site with Australian participants and employees. It is now based in Amsterdam and intermixes its extensive Australian material with new material shot since its move. In addition to pictures and videos of erotic modeling and sex acts, the site also features a range of both scripted and unscripted content.

The site is noted for its mix of professional and amateur models, most of whom had never previously worked in erotic modelling.[3][4] Material is typically captured with high-quality high-definition video and photography, together with somewhat atypical "signature" capture angles, and has no models with surgically enhanced breasts.[3][4][5] Models wear very little make-up[3][5] and many have a full patch of pubic hair.[4] In addition, the website claims that its photos are not retouched in any way (other than basic colour balancing).[6]

In January 2008, abbywinters.com had about 30,000 subscribers.[5][7] Despite its history as an Australian website, 65% of Abby Winters subscribers are in the United States.[4]

In 2010, responding to a changing political climate in the Australian government on the question of pornography's acceptability in the country, the company's offices were moved to the Netherlands. Prior to that relocation, the site's web servers had already been based in the Netherlands and the United States for quite some time.[1]

Description of content

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Original logo

The website features female models typically between the ages 18 to 25.[4] With the exception of those who are long-time employees of the organisation, of whom there are only a small number, almost all Abby Winters models are completely new to pornography.[3][4] In photo-based shoots the women are photographed in their own homes and bedrooms and/or in outdoor settings, and usually begin wearing their own clothes and underwear, which they gradually shed. In videos, there may also be candid interviews, but videos on the site involving groups usually have a theme, or at least implied back-story, such as a yoga class beginning fully clothed and gradually shedding garments as the yoga session progresses.[8] According to Adultreviews.com Review of Abby Winters,[9] as of March 2018 there were 1,485 models featured on the site, with more than 500,000 images and 5,459 videos. New content was uploaded twice daily.[4]

Wired.com writer Regina Lynn claimed that the site portrays sex more realistically than most pornography.[3] Customers are able to suggest scenarios on the site's forum which are sometimes filmed.[3] After establishing a rough scenario for each shoot the production team then lets the performers decide how fast the scene progresses, and which sex acts they will perform.[3][4] It is claimed that all scenes are filmed by women, some of whom have previously modelled for the site.[4][10] Models are paid approximately US$500 for a solo masturbation scene, and US$800 for a sex scene with another model.[11]

The existence of Abby Winters as person

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According to Garion Hall, Abby Winters is a woman he met in 1999 who wanted to shoot alternative porn and started a website. Garion was involved in running the commercial side. In 2003, she was no longer interested in the matter and Garion bought her out. The character is considered to be invented and a moniker for Garion Hall.[12]

Company status

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On 1 June 2010, Hall announced that G Media was selling the business to his new Dutch company, and would be moving its operations to Amsterdam, Netherlands because of legal problems in Australia (see below for details).[13] The company had been based in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy[14] before their move. It now operates from an office in central Amsterdam.

In late 2007, the company had also briefly opened a second office in Sydney. In late 2007, the site partnered with Wicked Pictures as the exclusive distributor for Abbywinters.com DVDs.[5][15]

The company claims to have regularly donated $1,000 a week[10] to various organisations including Samba, ASACP, and other open source projects, as well as health aid organisations.[16] Abby Winters was a "Sustaining Contributor" on the Free Software Foundation's Thank GNUs 2007,[17] and on the OpenBSD's donations list.[18] It also made a A$78,000 donation to the Black Saturday bushfires appeal.[16]

On 28 June 2023, site owner Garion Hall announced via a publicly available site forum that Abbywinters stopped producing new scenes. He mentioned a lack of profitability and a lack of suitable models. The site will continue to work otherwise but stressed that the company is now in sunset mode and announced it hasn't recovered financially from the move.

Criticism by former model Liandra Dahl

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In 2007, ex-Abby Winters model Helen Corday (then known with the stage name as Liandra Dahl) wrote on her blog about privacy problems concerning G Media sites, which was picked up by the Herald Sun.[19][20] Dahl was concerned that Abby Winters fails to inform young and inexperienced models that content may be available outside of the confines of the paysite, on file sharing networks, and how their involvement in pornography might revisit them inhibiting their future choices.[21] Dahl later noted that the Herald Sun had "misquoted her" and that she didn't support the new laws against pornography in Australia.[22]

Police raid on G Media

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On 16 June 2009, G Media offices in Melbourne were raided by Victoria Police as part of a wider "Operation Refuge".[7] The Herald Sun article gave two grounds for the raid: that G-Media may have filmed an under-age model, and that G Media's DVD productions may have contravened Victoria's film classification laws.[7] The report stated that CEO Garion Hall was arrested but released later the same day, and claimed that the raid was made in response to information provided by the paper. G Media later released a statement stating that nothing had been seized in the raid, and that the police were polite and amiable throughout.[23][24] In December 2009 CEO Garion Hall was charged by Victoria Police with 54 counts of making objectionable films for gain, and possessing a commercial quantity of objectionable films.[25] According to a post by Hall on the site, the charges against him were eventually dropped and two charges were filed against the company itself. A judge fined the company $6,000 on 28 May 2010. This combination of legal problems, law enforcement encounters, financial penalties, and a less accepting climate for the company's activities, led Hall to move the company out of Australia altogether and relocate it to Amsterdam.[26]

Censorship

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Abby Winters girl plays chess with a fan at AVN 2008

Abbywinters.com was included on a list published on WikiLeaks, on 19 March 2009, which was alleged to be the Australian Communications and Media Authority blacklist of websites which were due to be prohibited in Australia under the proposed Australian Firewall.[27]

Awards

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  • 2006 Australian Adult Industry Awards – 'Best Adult Website'[28]
  • 2007 Australian Adult Industry Awards – 'Best Adult Website'[28]
  • 2008 AVN Award – 'Best Amateur Series' for Intimate Moments[29]
  • 2011 AVN Award – 'Best Membership Site'[30]
  • 2012 XBIZ Award – 'Adult Site of the Year (Solo/All-Girl)'[31]
  • 2013 XBIZ Award – 'All-Girl Release of the Year' for Girls With Girls[32]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About the Site". Abbywinters.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  2. ^ "Abbywinters.com Upgrades to Become ASACPs Newest Title Sponsor". ASACP. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lynn, Regina (2 January 2008). "Real Sex Tantalizes as Processed Porn Gets Boring". Wired. Archived from the original on 7 December 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Australian Girls with Pubic Hair Reclaim Amateur Porn". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d Brown, Joe (11 January 2008). "It's porn, it's business, it's legit". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  6. ^ "What do you do to these images, anyway?". Abbywinters.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2006. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  7. ^ a b c Moor, Keith (16 June 2009). "Director quizzed over production of graphic movies". Herald Sun. www.news.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  8. ^ "Nude Girls: Yoga Girls - Girl-girl Fun | abbywinters.com". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Abby Winters Review - Adult Reviews". Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Preaching to the Perverted". homepagedaily.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  11. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions | Female Photo Fun". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  12. ^ Johnston, Chris (16 November 2012). "Girls on film: Australia's 'reality porn' king". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  13. ^ "big changes at abbywinters.com". abbywinters.com boards. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  14. ^ "Abby Winters Contact Information". Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  15. ^ "Abbywinters.com and Wicked Pictures establish exclusive distribution deal". 18 December 2007. Archived from the original (doc) on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  16. ^ a b "So, you donate to charities?". Abbywinters.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  17. ^ "Thank GNUs 2007". Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  18. ^ "donations". OpenBSD. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  19. ^ Keith Moor (3 December 2007). "Merchants of Porn". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  20. ^ Keith Moor (3 December 2007). "Porn exploiters attacked". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 7 December 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  21. ^ "Liandra Dahl Lets Loose". 16 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  22. ^ "Clearing my name". 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Abby Winters owner Garion Hall issues statement". somebodythinkofthechildren.com. 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  24. ^ Duncan, Edward. "Abby Winters' Hall Issues Statement on Police Raid". AVN. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  25. ^ Keith Moor (29 December 2009). "Alleged child pornography and objectionable films seized from sex site boss Garion Hall". Herald Sun. www.heraldsun.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  26. ^ "Post by Garion Hall". 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  27. ^ "Legal adult websites blacklisted: AbbyWinters and The Hun banned – Somebody Think Of The Children". somebodythinkofthechildren.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  28. ^ a b "Abby Winters press information". Abbywinters.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  29. ^ "Abby Winters won AVN Award 2008". Press Release. Abbywinters.com. 23 May 2008. Archived from the original on 8 September 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  30. ^ "AVN Announces the Winners of the 2011 AVN Awards". AVN. 9 January 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  31. ^ "2012 XBIZ Award Winners Announced". XBIZ. 12 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  32. ^ "2013 XBIZ Award Winners Announced". XBIZ. 11 January 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
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Media related to Abbywinters at Wikimedia Commons

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