Want to know a dirty little secret about a filthy girl we'll just call the porn industry? She gets a good amount of her income from an otherwise upright lady we'll call the BIG HOTEL CHAINS.

That's right, pay-per-view porn brings the San Fernando Valley-based adult video industry big bucks. Think of all those lonely travelers out there willing to pay $9.95 to see Batman XXX. Every night. In many rooms. Think about it. It's almost casino money.

It's a facet of the industry that the chains and the porn biz would rather keep hush.

Except that the L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation keeps making noise about how the industry doesn't use condoms as it's supposed to under the law in California.

This week Marriott announced it will “virtually” stop offering smut in the hotel rooms that are currently under development.

What does this mean? Is it just a publicity stunt?

We don't know. The chain didn't link the move to the bad publicity porn's been getting (you know, the recent HIV-positive story, AHF's constant press conferences).

Here's what Marriott told USA Today, which broke the story:

“It is our practice to keep adult content out of the reach of children and unavailable to any adult who chooses not to view it. We have strong controls in place that allow guests to block these materials. Changing technology and how guests access entertainment has reduced the revenue hotels and their owners derive from in-room movies, including adult content. We are working with in-room entertainment providers and technology vendors to transition to the next generation of in-room entertainment. This new platform of Internet-based video-on-demand will facilitate our exit from the traditional hotel video systems that included adult content in the menu selection, and will also provide guests greater choice and control over what they watch across our system.

As we transition to this new platform, adult content will be off the menu for virtually all of our newly built hotels. Over the next few years, this will be the policy across our system.”

Here's the thing. You'll still be able to order your favorite videos at existing Marriotts. And who says you can't BYO via laptop, where the real, er, growth in porn is these days. It's not like these places won't have wi-fi.

Victory for AHF? Maybe. Bummer if your not traveling with your own live porn show like Charlie Sheen. Definitely.

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