State and federal records show that Rosenberg, who recently moved to Paradise
Valley, has operated at least two adult Internet porn sites and been involved
in that business for approximately nine years. Although he does have auto and
finance businesses, Arizona Corporation Commission records do not show him
connected with them until after he purchased the mansion in 2002.
Experts who track Internet pornography say the business is more competitive
today and harder to make money at. But Rosenberg apparently got in early
enough, in the late 1990s, and was able to buy the Chandler house in 2002 for
$6.75 million, when he was 29.
Rosenberg and his attorney did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment
about his Internet businesses. Messages left at his home and relayed through
his Realtor were not responded to.
What the records show
Internet pornography is generally legal and protected by freedom of speech,
providing it is not shown to children or filmed with people under 18.
But the Internet has caused it to be seen by people who don't want it, mainly
through e-mail spam.
In 2000, Web host Geocities, accused Rosenberg of diverting people who
mis-typed "geociities" with an extra "i" into their Web browser to one of his
porn sites, www.blacksonblondes.com.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization's Arbitration and
Mediation Center, the site kept generating new popup windows for pornography
and wouldn't let users back out. Rosenberg never responded and the arbitration
panel ordered the Geociities domain name trademark be transferred to Geocities.
Arizona Corporation Commission records show that Rosenberg owns a company
called Dogfart Productions Inc. That company is connected to Dogfart.com and
six related porn sites. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says Rosenberg, at
the address of the Chandler mansion, owns the federal trademarks for both
"Dogfart" and "Blacksonblondes."
Both are described in patent records as being in the business of
"entertainment, namely, production of motion picture films, videotapes,
CD-Roms, DVDs and cassettes featuring adult entertainment; and providing
information in the field of adult entertainment via a global computer network."
An attempt to reach a Tempe man who claims in his Internet site,
Ishootporn.com, to be a photographer for Dogfart or some of its sites also was
unsuccessful. His blogs often refer to taking pictures at "Dogfart's Secret
Mansion" and suggests it is in California. A man who answered the phone at a
tiny office on Mill Avenue that is listed as the technical contact for the site
hung up.
March gathering in Tempe
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.
He also offered a tour of a secret basement room with an entrance hidden behind
a bookshelf and originally built as a bomb shelter. Rosenberg said he nicknamed
it "the dungeon."
According to police reports, it was in this hidden room where Chandler police
found Rosenberg hiding last June when they searched his house after responding
to a complaint he had assaulted his longtime girlfriend and mother of his two
young sons.
According to police records, she said Rosenberg got mad after she asked if he
had been to a strip club, then picked her up and pushed her against the kitchen
counter.
Because of the home's size, the first officers to respond had to ask for backup
for help searching the mansion's eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, and
1,000-square-foot guesthouse.
It took four officers to sweep the house looking for Rosenberg, and they had to
kick in at least three locked doors. When they did, according to police
reports, they found two other men and two women in various rooms.
One woman lying on a couch appeared to be intoxicated, police said, and claimed
to work as a dancer in a strip club. The other woman admitted using cocaine the
day before, police said.
After police had searched every room, Rosenberg's girlfriend told them about
the hidden "dungeon" accessed from behind a bookcase. That's where police found
him.
Rosenberg has been charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct in
the incident.
He's due in court Wednesday.
The Arizona Republic
