Violet Blue (author)
Encyclopedia
Violet Blue is an American writer and sex educator.
Blue wrote a weekly sex column
for the San Francisco Chronicle
. In her podcast
, Open Source Sex, she reads erotica
and discusses topics such as fetishes and oral sex. She also has a video blog. Blue wrote a feature about porn for women which was published in the July 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
. She lectures at San Francisco Sex Information
on the topics of oral sex and fetish. Blue is the author of several books on sex and has edited several volumes of erotica anthologies. Her first book, an erotic anthology she edited, was titled Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples. It was published in December 2001 by Cleis Press.
(USPTO) has registered "Violet Blue" as a trademark of Violet Blue. The request was filed on March 2, 2007 and registered as a "TRADEMARK
. SERVICE MARK
" on March 4, 2008. On Violet Blue's website, http://tinynibbles.com/, her name is listed as, "violet blue ®".
account was suspended without notice for failing "to comply with the Google+ “real name” policy". On August 22, 2011, Google removed the suspension on her account, "I am happy to report that we have reviewed your profile and confirmed that Violet Blue is your common name and you may continue using it in Google+. In addition, we will be adding the verified name badge to your profile."
She was a crew member of industrial machine performance art
group Survival Research Labs from 1996 to May 2007.
In October 2007, Violet Blue launched the DRM
-free publishing venture Digita Publications, releasing audiobooks and ebooks in several open formats on a variety of sex-related subjects.
, and her recently-trademarked (in 2007) name, "Violet Blue." She said she had been using the name in writings since 1999. The lawsuit alleged trademark violation and dilution
, as well as unfair business practices
. Pursuant to a preliminary injunction and court order granted in 2007 to cease using "names, trademarks and Internet domains confusingly similar to, or identical to, Plaintiff's trademark VIOLET BLUE," Johnson changed her stage name to Noname Jane. The lawsuit was settled in
October 2008.
In July 2008, Blue sought restraining orders against online critics David Burch (aka Ben Burch) and Nina Alter to prohibit them from e-mailing her, editing her Wikipedia page, or writing unkindly about her online. Both motions were denied.
after Violet Blue posted on her blog claiming that the blog Boing Boing
had removed all posts referring to the author (estimated by a Los Angeles Times blogger to number at least 70) from the site. A heated debate ensued after a brief statement on the Boing Boing site regarding this action stated: "Violet behaved in a way that made us reconsider whether we wanted to lend her any credibility or associate with her. It's our blog and so we made an editorial decision, like we do every single day". Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin
said that she hoped she would not have to make the reasons public.
service with the domain name
top-level domain
, and the main page showed Violet Blue holding a bottle of beer. In October 2010, the site was shut down following a letter to Violet Blue from Libya Telecom & Technology
, saying that the site was contrary to the principles of Sharia
law and stating: "The issue of offensive imagery is quite subjective, as what I may deem as offensive you might not, but I think you'll agree that a picture of a scantily clad lady with some bottle in her hand isn't exactly what most would consider decent or family friendly at the least." Ben Metcalfe responded by stating, "We're very clear that the site did not have pornographic or adult content hosted on it; but even if we did, my bigger concern is that the domain registry is trying to regulate against the content of a website. A domain and a website are two extricably decoupled and separate entities."
Blue wrote a weekly sex column
Sex columnist
A sex columnist is a writer of a newspaper or magazine column about sex.Sex advice columns may take the form of essays or, more frequently, answers to questions posed by readers. Sex advice columns can usually be found in alt weekly newspapers, women's magazines, health or fitness magazines, and...
for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. In her podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
, Open Source Sex, she reads erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
and discusses topics such as fetishes and oral sex. She also has a video blog. Blue wrote a feature about porn for women which was published in the July 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
O, The Oprah Magazine
O: The Oprah Magazine, sometimes simply abbreviated to O, is a monthly magazine founded by Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Corporation.-Overview:...
. She lectures at San Francisco Sex Information
San Francisco Sex Information
San Francisco Sex Information is an all-volunteer, 501 non-profit organization that provides free sex information via the World Wide Web, e-mail, telephone, and online social networking...
on the topics of oral sex and fetish. Blue is the author of several books on sex and has edited several volumes of erotica anthologies. Her first book, an erotic anthology she edited, was titled Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples. It was published in December 2001 by Cleis Press.
Name
Although her name is sometimes mistaken for a pseudonym, especially considering her writings on sexuality, Violet Blue is her real name. In an online article, she has stated:"My name really is Violet Blue. Despite any rubbish you’ve seen by my harassers and detractors, Violet Blue is the name on my passport, social security card, all my ID, and it is who I am. I have never pretended to be anyone else (though some people have tried to pretend to be me) nor have I ever used a pseudonym."
Trademark
The United States Patent and Trademark OfficeUnited States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
(USPTO) has registered "Violet Blue" as a trademark of Violet Blue. The request was filed on March 2, 2007 and registered as a "TRADEMARK
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
. SERVICE MARK
Service mark
A service mark or servicemark is a trademark used in some countries, notably the United States, to identify a service rather than a product. When a service mark is federally registered, the standard registration symbol ® or "Reg U.S. Pat & TM Off" may be used...
" on March 4, 2008. On Violet Blue's website, http://tinynibbles.com/, her name is listed as, "violet blue ®".
Google+ “real name” policy
On August 19, 2011, Blue's Google+Google+
Google+ is a social networking and identity service, operated by Google Inc.The service was launched on June 28, 2011, in an invite-only "field testing" phase. The following day, existing users were allowed to invite friends who were over 18 years of age to the service to create their own accounts....
account was suspended without notice for failing "to comply with the Google+ “real name” policy". On August 22, 2011, Google removed the suspension on her account, "I am happy to report that we have reviewed your profile and confirmed that Violet Blue is your common name and you may continue using it in Google+. In addition, we will be adding the verified name badge to your profile."
Other activities
Blue's web presence is not limited strictly to sex writing:- She writes news and technology blog Techyum.
- She is a contributor to Metroblogging San Francisco.
- In addition to her own video blog, she is a correspondent for Geek Entertainment Television.
- In January 2007, ForbesForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
named her one of The Web Celeb 25. - Writes tech articles for zdnet.com in Tech Broiler.. She now has her own ZDNet blog Pulp Tech
She was a crew member of industrial machine performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
group Survival Research Labs from 1996 to May 2007.
In October 2007, Violet Blue launched the DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
-free publishing venture Digita Publications, releasing audiobooks and ebooks in several open formats on a variety of sex-related subjects.
Litigation
In October 2007, Blue filed a lawsuit against adult actress Ada Mae Johnson, who had performed under the name since 2000, alleging that Johnson had adopted Blue's personaPersona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
, and her recently-trademarked (in 2007) name, "Violet Blue." She said she had been using the name in writings since 1999. The lawsuit alleged trademark violation and dilution
Trademark dilution
Trademark dilution is a trademark law concept giving the owner of a famous trademark standing to forbid others from using that mark in a way that would lessen its uniqueness. In most cases, trademark dilution involves an unauthorized use of another's trademark on products that do not compete with,...
, as well as unfair business practices
Unfair business practices
Unfair business practices encompass fraud, misrepresentation, and oppressive or unconscionable acts or practices by business, often against consumers and are prohibited by law in many countries. For instance, in the European Union, each member state must regulate unfair business practices in...
. Pursuant to a preliminary injunction and court order granted in 2007 to cease using "names, trademarks and Internet domains confusingly similar to, or identical to, Plaintiff's trademark VIOLET BLUE," Johnson changed her stage name to Noname Jane. The lawsuit was settled in
October 2008.
In July 2008, Blue sought restraining orders against online critics David Burch (aka Ben Burch) and Nina Alter to prohibit them from e-mailing her, editing her Wikipedia page, or writing unkindly about her online. Both motions were denied.
Controversies
Around June 2008, there was controversy in the blogosphereBlogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
after Violet Blue posted on her blog claiming that the blog Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
had removed all posts referring to the author (estimated by a Los Angeles Times blogger to number at least 70) from the site. A heated debate ensued after a brief statement on the Boing Boing site regarding this action stated: "Violet behaved in a way that made us reconsider whether we wanted to lend her any credibility or associate with her. It's our blog and so we made an editorial decision, like we do every single day". Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin
Xeni Jardin
Xeni Jardin is an American weblogger, digital media commentator, and tech culture journalist. She is known for her position as co-editor of the collaborative weblog Boing Boing, as a contributor to Wired magazine and Wired News, and as a correspondent for the National Public Radio show Day to Day...
said that she hoped she would not have to make the reasons public.
vb.ly URL shortener
In August 2009, Violet Blue and Ben Metcalfe launched a URL shorteningURL shortening
URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator may be made substantially shorter in length and still direct to the required page. This is achieved by using an HTTP Redirect on a domain name that is short, which links to the web page that has a long URL...
service with the domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
vb.ly, which was described as "the Internet's first and only sex-positive URL shortener." The site was hosted on the .ly.ly
.ly is the Internet country code top-level domain for Libya.-Registration:A .ly registration is the process of registering top-level country-code domain name for Libya. The registration is sponsored by the General Post and Telecommunication Company. The .ly domain extension, introduced in 1988, is...
top-level domain
Top-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
, and the main page showed Violet Blue holding a bottle of beer. In October 2010, the site was shut down following a letter to Violet Blue from Libya Telecom & Technology
Libya Telecom & Technology
Libya Telecom & Technology was established in 1997 as a private company. LTT was Libya's main and biggest Internet service provider offering both dial-up and broadband Internet to customers Libya wide. LTT was bought out by the General Posts and Telecommunications Company in 2004...
, saying that the site was contrary to the principles of Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law and stating: "The issue of offensive imagery is quite subjective, as what I may deem as offensive you might not, but I think you'll agree that a picture of a scantily clad lady with some bottle in her hand isn't exactly what most would consider decent or family friendly at the least." Ben Metcalfe responded by stating, "We're very clear that the site did not have pornographic or adult content hosted on it; but even if we did, my bigger concern is that the domain registry is trying to regulate against the content of a website. A domain and a website are two extricably decoupled and separate entities."
Authored
- The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Strap-On Sex, Cleis Press, 2007, ISBN 157344278X
- The Smart Girl's Guide to the G-Spot, Cleis Press, 2007, ISBN 1573442739
- Fetish Sex: An Erotic Guide for Couples, Daedalus Publishing Company, 2006, ISBN 1881943232 - with Thomas Roche
- The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Sex Toys, Cleis Press, 2006, ISBN 1573442542
- The Smart Girl's Guide to Porn, Cleis Press, 2006, ISBN 157344247X (IPPY Bronze award winner for erotica)
- The Ultimate Guide to Sexual Fantasy: How to Turn Your Fantasies into Reality, Cleis Press, 2004, ISBN 1573441902
- The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos: How to Watch Adult Videos and Make Your Sex Life Sizzle, Cleis Press, 2003, ISBN 1573441724
- The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus: How to Go Down on a Woman and Give Her Exquisite Pleasure, Cleis Press, 2002 ISBN 1573441449
- The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio: How to Go Down on a Man and Give Him Mind-Blowing Pleasure, Cleis Press, 2002, ISBN 1573441511
- The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus: How to Go Down on a Woman and Give Her Exquisite Pleasure, 2nd Edition, Cleis Press, 2010, ISBN 1573443875
- The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio: How to Go Down on a Man and Give Him Mind-Blowing Pleasure, 2nd Edition, Cleis Press, 2010, ISBN 1573443980
Edited
- Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples, Cleis Press, 2001, ISBN 9781573441339
- Sweet Life 2: Erotic Fantasies for Couples, Cleis Press, 2003, ISBN 9781573441674
- Taboo: Forbidden Fantasies for Couples, Cleis Press, 2004, ISBN 9781573441865
- Best Sex Writing 2005, Cleis Press, 2005, ISBN 9781573442176
- Best Women's Erotica 2006, Cleis Press, 2005, ISBN 9781573442237 (IPPY winner for Erotica)
- Best Women's Erotica 2007, Cleis Press, 2006, ISBN 9781573442589 (IPPY winner for Erotica)
- Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women, Cleis Press, 2007, ISBN 9781573442800
- Lips Like Sugar: Women's Erotic Fantasies, Cleis Press, 2007, ISBN 9781573442329
- Best Women's Erotica 2008, Cleis Press, 2007, ISBN 9781573442992
- Best Women's Erotica 2009, Cleis Press, 2008, ISBN 9781573443388
- Girls on Top: Explicit Erotica for Women, Cleis Press, 2009, ISBN 9781573443401
- Best Women's Erotica 2010, Cleis Press, 2009, ISBN 9781573443739
- Best Women's Erotica 2011, Cleis Press, 2010, ISBN 9781573444231
Digital releases
- Sweet Heat (erotica), Digita Publications, 2008, (audiobook), ISBN 978-0-9799019-6-6
- Erotic Role Play: A Guide For Couples, Digita Publications, 2007, (audiobook, ebook), ISBN 978-0-9799019-5-9
- How To Kiss, Digita Publications, 2007, (audiobook, ebook, and Amazon Kindle versions), ISBN 978-0-9799019-2-8
- The Modern Safer Sex Guide, Digita Publications, 2007, (ebook and Amazon Kindle versions), ISBN 978-0-9799019-4-2
- Creatures of the Night (erotica), Digita Publications, 2007, (audiobook and ebook and Amazon Kindle versions), ISBN 978-0-9799019-3-5
- Pleasure Zone Basics, Digita Publications, 2007, (audiobook), ISBN 978-0-9799019-1-1