Although experts estimate 80 percent of porn is filmed in California, the industry has a presence in the Phoenix area, although it is unclear how large. One of Rosenberg's sites mentioned certain sex acts and said last week "now filming in Glendale, Laveen, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe." In fact, Tempe was the site for a March gathering of porn industry insiders that took place at the Tempe Mission Palms hotel. The convention was for Web masters and related service providers.
The event, now in its eighth year, included seminars on legal, billing and other issues, and offered a happy hour at a Hooters restaurant, a golf tournament at the Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State University and several parties.
The forum was sponsored in part by a low-key but major Tempe-based payment processing company called CCBill. The company claims in its ads to process millions of Internet payments a year. CCBill officials declined to comment.
Trouble at the mansion
From the street, Rosenberg's graceful, Tudor-style Chandler mansion appears inconsistent with the porn industry.
The secluded home is tucked back off Kyrene Road, just north of Ray Road, and sits amid 10 acres dotted with numerous pine trees, gardens and a private lake. The home has eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and looks like it could fit into the English countryside.
But inside there are Gothic touches, including a hand-painted mural that Rosenberg commissioned showing Archangel Michael and the devil.
Prior to revelations about his porn business surfacing, Rosenberg allowed a reporter and photographer to tour the house with a Realtor, showing off extensive hand-carved wood adornments and furniture, chandeliers, an ornate TV theater room and part of his collection of about 20 vehicles.