World's First Drone Porn?

LOS ANGELES—It's being called the world's first drone porn, which the people at Cult of Mac are treating as yet another example of porn as an early adopter, driving tech to ... (ahem) previously unknown heights. "Shot on location in San Francisco, this film shows the more human side of drone technology: taking to the skies and filming beautiful people having sex," writes Rob LeFebvre for the site. (Porn fans, no doubt, have already seen drones make cameo appearances—for example, in several titles directed by Jules Jordan.) Of course, you have to kind of take his word for the attractiveness of the people shot from the drone, who appear at times to look like stick figures copulating for the aerial camera. Some shots get a little closer, but there's no way to actually see anyone's face or genitalia in any of the shots. But that did not stop LeFebvre from waxing, "When there’s a new technology on offer, the adult entertainment business is the first to adopt and exploit it. Drones are no different: what better way to engage our inner voyeur than with footage of the sexual act." That's a tad over the top, but the results are truly breathtaking in the video not-so-tastefully titled DroneBoning. As LeFebvre notes, "The unfortunate naming of the video aside, it’s a beautiful bit of motion photography, with soaring vistas near the coast and over wine country." The video is also a decidedly mainstream venture by a Brooklyn, New York-based film, music, video and commercial production company called Ghost + Cow Films, which shot DroneBoning on location in the San Francisco region, using as the soundtrack a song called “The Kink” by Taggart and Rosewood from their upcoming album, The Killingest. As an example of the type of quality that can be produced using good HD cameras and drones, DroneBoning more than fills the bill; as porn, however, it doesn't quite put the mustard on the hotdog, though it's unlikely the filmmakers had real sexual titillation in mind. That said, this is probably not the last sort of mainstream porn production that will be produced and released, which raises another, more problematic issue. In shooting real people copulating, the producers of DroneBoning have failed to realize that they must abide by 18 USC 2257, which requires them to keep specific records of the performers, label the video or website carrying the video with information where the records can be found, and also name a custodian of records. Failing to do any of that is a violation of federal law that could lead to a possible five years in prison. Even though the government is not currently conducting 2257 inspections, the law is still on the books, and records are required to be kept for five years. The reason we mention this is because we are well aware, as is the government, that few people outside the adult entertainment industry are aware that 2257 even exists, which of course does not mean that they are not still subject to its provisions. As more mainstream producers play with the sort of crossover creativity exemplified in this video, we worry about a future chill on this sort of content should 2257 inspections be reinstated. DroneBoning and other Ghost + Cow films can be found on their Vimeo page.