GayGeek

Does Bel Ami Online deliver what it promises on the outside?

When I was given this review assignment, I was tremendously excited. I've been a fan of Bel Ami products since they first came out, and instantly fell in lust with the likes of Johan Paulik and Lucas Ridgeston, purchasing all Bel Ami videos, and then later DVDs and books of photography, as they came out. They were one of the first porn companies to tap into the virgin resources of Eastern Europe boys, doing so with astonishingly good videography and high-end photography. Since then a few companies have done as well--GayTeenStudio.com and Teen-Boys-World to name two, but none really combine the components of competent photographic composition, clear brilliant videography, hunky 18-25 year old talent with wonderful bodies, and on-target marketing.

Thus I was unpleasantly astonished and flabbergasted when I entered the site and found what I did.

What's good about Bel Ami Online? What needs improvement?

All of the great videography and photography of the amazing hotties are within the Bel Ami site, but unlike every other pay-to-view porn site on the web, this one doesn't let you download. That's right, try as I might, with IE, FireFox and Netscape, I couldn't save a single photo to my hard drive. Furthermore, once the videos available are downloaded, you must enter your user ID and password every time to view the video... and I suspect (although a reviewer's membership doesn't last long enough for me to confirm this) that once your membership is done, so would your access to the videos.

Worse, they have only a smattering of videos available for your regular entry fee... to see the bulk of the videos, you need to buy credits and spend them like you would pump quarters into a jukebox.

What a complete tease and rip off. Sure, you can view all the photo galleries of the hot guys, one image at a time, but what's the point? I know that most of us get subscriptions to porn so we can download it all, and then review it at our lesiure even after our memberships are expired. The vast majority of us honor the company's copyright and don't re-distribute photos and videos... so this Draconian security system they have in place seems to me to be completely unwarranted.

How is Bel Ami Online unique?

The Draconian nature of security and the inability to download makes what could be one of the top three gay porn sites on the web not even worth visiting. You're better off to buy the Bel Ami books and DVDs since you have control over the product then. It's the only site I've ever seen or reviewed where the product is A+ but the access to it is F.

What do paying users recieve for their money?

You get to look at a lot of hot guys' photos, but can't download them. You can see a few videos, can download them, but chances are once your membership is over, they will be locked; and to see all the video content you have to pay and pay and pay each time to view.

It's not worth it. Even though there's a ton of content, I'm rating it low because of the unduly restrictive access.

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