YNOT – Adult industry anti-piracy watchdog Porn Guardian has added new layers to its copyright-protection and infringement takedown service. According to co-founder Dominic Ford, the new aspects allow the company not only to “clean up after” pirates, but also to prevent content piracy in the first place.

“Instead of simply playing ‘whack-a-mole’ after a pirate has done his damage, we have technology in place to identify the actual members who are doing the initial pirating,” Ford, himself a content producer, said. “That way, we are able to stop pirates from ever gaining access to the material to begin with.”

In addition, Porn Guardian has branched out beyond the most notorious outlets for pirated content. After discovering unauthorized DVDs at some e-tail outlets and auction sites, the company now keeps an eye on those, as well. According to Porn Guardian partner Peter Phiney, some disreputable online stores offered as many as 2,000 adult titles, which they replicated on DVD to order. The company has disrupted several of those operations in recent months, Phiney said.

In order to manage the increased workload, the company has expanded its staff to 20 people in 17 international time zones. Employees monitor illegal trading in 10 languages.

Porn Guardian’s clients include producers across the adult entertainment spectrum, including Falcon Studios, Lucas Entertainment, Bel Ami, Cocky Boys, Kink.com, Grooby Productions, Staxus Entertainment, XES Entertainment, ManAvenue, Papi Thugz, Men at Play and StraightHell.

The company offers a free “do-it-yourself” version of its anti-piracy platform to small operations and others who want to try out the system before making a commitment.

For more information, visit PornGuardian.com.