Big Sister (brothel)

Big Sister is a brothel and associated voyeuristic paysite, located in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the first and only brothel where customers can use the women's services for free, subsidized by paying Internet viewers; live video and audio streams and archived videos of the activity in the brothel are available on the website for a fee."You are watching Big Sister", "Penthouse" Australia, February 2006] These subscription fees, as well as sales of DVDs of the recorded action, represent the company's main source of income. The produced video content contains coverage of the guests with the women, as well as amateur couples that come into the house, and coverage of the shooting of adult productions that take place in the house.

Legal questions

Prostitution in the Czech Republic is allowed for persons over 18 years of age; pimping is illegal (Sec. 204 of the Criminal Code); brothels operate in a legal grey area. Since customers of Big Sister do not pay for the women's services, from a legal point of view the project is not regarded as prostitution.

Creation, ownership, location

Big Sister opened as a regular brothel in May 2004, and the Internet operation began in April 2005"Red Light Online", Escort Swingmag, No. 1, 2005] . It was created for about 5 million € by two Austrian businessmen, one being Heribert Greinix"Big Brothel", "Maxim" UK, September 2005. [http://www.bigsister.net/pressroom/0017/1.jpgpg 1] , [http://www.bigsister.net/pressroom/0017/2.jpgpg 2] , [http://www.bigsister.net/pressroom/0017/3.jpgpg 3] .] . They have been active in the Prague night life for seven years and also own other Prague establishments, including the Prague sex club "K5".

The brothel is located in the Smíchov district of Prague, Nadrazni 46, coord|50|03|45|N|14|24|35|E|type:landmark|display=inline,title.

Operation and equipment

Male customers pay an entrance fee of 500 crowns (about US$ 23); females and couples have free entrance. Reservations ahead of time are recommended. All customers are required to present identification papers [http://www.nightclublive.net/pressroom/pressvid.php?file=mms://vd6.bigsister.net/press-pro7-1/1.wmv "Big Sister"] , Focus TV, Pro 7, 13 November 2005. (German TV.)] and sign a multi page contract: they purchase the production of a DVD recording their actions in the club (which they can take home afterwards) and at the same time sell the rights to distribute the material online and on DVD for the same amount. The length of each visit to a room with a prostitute is limited to one hour. [ [http://nightclublive.net/forum/faq.php?faq=new_faq_item#faq_guests_notice Big Sister FAQ] , accessed 3 September 2006] Visiting couples who have their sex acts recorded receive a compensation of about 30 €. Subscription to the website is 30 € per month; this includes access to the live streams, the video archive and a chat room; live video chat with the working women has to be paid extra.

The prostitutes (about 12 every night as of late 2005) receive a fixed salary and additional money per recorded sex act and per online show for the website subscribers, for an average compensation of about 3,000 € per month [http://www.nightclublive.net/pressroom/pressvid.php?file=mms://vd6.bigsister.net/press-rtl-1 RTL Magazin Extra] , RTL, 25 June 2005. (German TV.)] . Fellatio and vaginal sex is almost always performed with condoms, and most women do not allow cunnilingus. Almost all women come from the Czech Republic or the Slovak Republic; some are from Brazil.

The club is equipped with about 58 cameras, including some in the living quarters of the prostitutes [ [http://www.nightclublive.net/docs/equipement.pdf Video Production Equipment] , bigsister.net. Accessed 30 September 2006] . Three employees direct the cameras and select the audio/video streams to be broadcast and archived. The name of the club is an obvious reference to the television series Big Brother, in which a number of contestants live in a house with cameras in every room, recording their every action.

In June 2007, a brand new block of program was introduced, officially launching the first ever online broadcasted swingers nights, where only couples and females are allowed. Couples can claim their own DVD as well as have everything (buffet and beverage) on the house [http://www.xbiz.com/news/83326 X biz magazine] ]

Promotion and media campaigns

The start of the internet operations in 2005 was followed by a heavy publicity campaign in Europe, leading to some 40 media reports in German, English, French, Czech, Italian and Russian, including reports by the largest TV stations in Germany and the largest newspapers in Germany and Switzerland. [Press Room of Big Sister, http://www.bigsisterlive.com/bs/press.php , accessed 12 August 2006. Contains copies of press coverage and TV reports.] One angle of the company's advertising is to allow women inside views into a brothel. [http://www.nightclublive.net/pressroom/pressvid.php?file=mms://vd6.bigsister.net/press-sat1-1 Akte 05] , Sat.1, 9 June 2005. (German TV.)]

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany in the summer of 2006, the company undertook a unique marketing campaign together with Heat TV. They visited Munich, Leipzig, Hamburg and Cologne with their "love truck", a brothel on wheels with six prostitutes that offered customers free sex in exchange for publication rights of the recorded video. [ [http://www.nightclublive.net/pressroom/pressvid.php?file=mms://vd6.bigsister.net/pressroom/VOX.wmv Spiegel TV Extra] , Vox, 4 May 2006. (German TV.)] [ [http://www.nightclublive.net/pressroom/pressvid.php?file=mms://vd6.bigsister.net/pressroom/MDR.wmv Nachspiel im Rotlicht] , MDR, 27 June 2006. (German TV.)]

Former European lightweight box champion René Weller attempted to boost his fledgling singing career by introducing his new music CD in Big Sister on May 10, 2006. [http://www.nightclublive.net/pressroom/pressvid.php?file=mms://vd6.bigsister.net/press-ard-1/1.wmv Brisant] , ARD, May 11, 2006. (German TV.)]

In October 2006, scenes for Eli Roth's horror movie "" were shot in Big Sister, as was described on his blog [ [http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=18674796 Eli Roth's MySpace blog] , October 29, 2006] and the Big Sister site [ [http://www.nightclublive.net/news/?p=57 Big Sister Blog, 15 October 2006] ; [http://www.nightclublive.net/news/?p=58 Big Sister blog, 17 October 2006] ] At the date of the US premiere of the movie, 8th June 2007, an exclusive interview with Eli Roth was released at the Big Sister website. [ [http://www.bigsisterlive.com/bs/press.php Big Sister Pressroom] , June 8, 2007]

References

External links

* [http://www.bigsisterlive.com Official home page]