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Big Sister was a voyeuristic pay site, located in Prague, Czech Republic. Operating from 2005 to 2010, it described itself as the only brothel where customers could 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 were available on the website for a fee. 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.
Contents
Legal questions
Prostitution in the Czech Republic is allowed for persons over 18 years of age; pimping and brothels are illegal (Sec. 204 of the Criminal Code). It is disputed whether or not Big Sister was a brothel.
Creation, ownership, location
Big Sister, located in the Smíchov district of Prague, Nádražní 46, opened as a regular brothel in May 2004, and the Internet operation began in April 2005. It was created for about €5 million by two Austrian businessmen, one being Heribert Greinix. They have been active in the Prague night life for seven years and also own other Prague establishments, including the Prague sex club K5.
Big Sister is now closed. Another company tried to open a traditional brothel without cameras in the same location, but was unsuccessful. The new brothel stayed open for about one year, and then closed.
Operation and equipment
Male customers pay an entrance fee of 500 Czech korunas (about $ 23); females and couples have free entrance. Reservations ahead of time are recommended. All customers are required to present identification papers 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. 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.
As of late 2005, approximately 12 sex workers were employed nightly, earning a set salary alongside extra income for each recorded sexual act and online performance for website subscribers. On average, they received compensation of about 3,000 euros per month. The use of condoms is mandated for oral and vaginal intercourse, with most of the women declining to engage in cunnilingus or mouth-to-mouth kissing. The majority of these workers hail from the Czech Republic or the Slovak Republic, with a few originating from Brazil and Ghana.
The club is equipped with about 58 cameras, including some in the living quarters of the prostitutes. Three employees direct the cameras and select the audio/video streams to be broadcast and archived. The name of the club is a 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 broadcast 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.
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. One angle of the company's advertising is to allow women inside views into a brothel.
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.
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.
In October 2006, scenes for Eli Roth's horror movie Hostel: Part II were shot in Big Sister, as was described on his blog and the Big Sister site. On the date of the US premiere of the movie, 8 June 2007, an exclusive interview with Eli Roth was released at the Big Sister website.
In June 2007, the company introduced private couples evenings on Sundays and all Inclusive swingers nights on Saturdays. On these days, no prostitutes are allowed to work there.
In her 2010 book Big Sister, photographer Hana Jakrlova presents pictures she made in the club between 2006 and 2007.