Top Stories of 2018 Presented by Webcam Startup

2018 has wrapped up, and we’re looking back on some of the most important topics we covered on Webcam Startup.

Here are the top stories of 2018:

SESTA / FOSTA (April, 2018)
SESTA / FOSTA definitely has to be one of the largest impacts on our industry. Truth is; since courts still have to rule on any cases on SESTA / FOSTA, we still don’t have any precedence set and still don’t know exactly how the law is going to impact everyone. Even Backpage, which was one of the reasons SESTA got passed, didn’t get tried under the new laws.

Full Post: https://webcamstartup.com/sesta-fosta/

Choice Bank / FirstChoice Pay / YouKandy (April 2018) Choice Bank going under compromised FirstChoice Pay, a very popular e-wallet for the adult industry, and one of the few that was still supporting USA models, studios and affiliates.

Full Post: https://webcamstartup.com/firstchoicepay-alternatives/

UK Digital Economy Act (Age Verification)
Although it was technically 2017 news, the UK Digital Economy Act, which made all adult sites implement some form of age verification or face fees and blocking within the UK, didn’t get implemented until 2018.

OnlyFans – Our Beef + MyFreeCams Buyout
OnlyFans has had a pretty rowdy 2018, and we definitely didn’t help that. In an email to us, OnlyFans coached us on how to coach adult accounts to be sneaky. We initially emailed them inquiring about adult accounts getting banned. OF was also acquired by MyFreeCams.

Bella French / ManyVids Live Interview (June 2018)
Bella French announcing herself as ManyVids founder and CEO was big enough news. We also got a live Bella French interview on our podcast to address a lot of concerns and answer questions about ManyVids.

Full Post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU2DCS260R0

Social Media Bans: Tumblr, Facebook and Instagram
2018 has been a year of social media crackdowns. A lot of this (one can speculate) is due to SESTA.

ManyVids Launches MV Live – Chaturbate Bans (July 2018)
In 2018 ManyVids launched MV Live, the camming functionality found on their site. ManyVids had an insanely rocky launch. This was mainly due to them trying to be fair with all MV Stars and allowing everyone on the platform instead of a closed beta.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/manyvids-camming/

Camming Site iFriends Closes Down (October 2018)
Camming site iFriends shut down right at their 20th anniversary. We discuss the patent laws / trolls that put iFriends out of business on one of our live podcasts.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/ifriends-shuts-down/

Paxum Suspends All USA Personal Accounts (January 2018)
In 2018, Paxum suspended all USA personal accounts. This was cringe-worthy, as Paxum was one of two adult-friendly e-wallets.

Full Post: https://webcamstartup.com/paxum-suspends-usa-accounts/

Hentai Camgirl Abby Oddly On Chaturbate (March 2018)
Talk about a cartoon turning an entire site’s community upside down. Abby Oddly / HentaiLive did just that when she made her Chaturbate debut.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/hentailive-cartoon-chaturbate-camgirl/

Evil Angel / Jenny Blighe / Ginger Banks
Jenny Blighe alleged mistreatment on the set of Evil Angel’s Camgirl series.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/jenny-blighe-mistreatment-evil-angel-camgirl/

The Webcam Startup Camboy AMA
Questions were collected by both models (male and female), people interested in becoming a camboy and anyone else who was curious about anything.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/webcam-startup-camboy-ama/

1st Annual Pornhub Awards (September 2018)
In 2018, Pornhub hosted their 1st awards / award show. If you ask anyone who’s not in the industry, you might think that it was actually Kanye West who hosted the awards, as that’s what the mainstream media made it sound like.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/2018-pornhub-award-winners/

1st Annual YNOT Cam Awards (October 2018)
In 2018, YNOT also threw the 1st annual YNOT Cam Awards, which took place in Hollywood, California. For being a pilot series, there were relatively few issues.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/2018-ynot-cam-awards/

Pornhub Launches Modelhub (April 2018)
In 2018, Pornhub launched Modelhub, their very own clip site. Pornhub has continued to approve on Modelhub throughout the year.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/pornhub-marketing-additional-income/

iWantEmpire “Acquires” KinkBomb and Clips4Sale (February 2018)
On the stranger side of the newsworthy things that happened, iWantEmpire managed to rock the boat when they released a press release stating iWantEmpire’s intent to acquire KinkBomb and Clips4Sale.

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/iwantempire-acquiring-kinkbomb/

CamModelDirectory Acquired By IndieBill (January 2018)
In 2018, IndieBill acquired Skype network CamModelDirectory

Learn More: https://webcamstartup.com/cammodeldirectory-acquired-indiebill/