title: Blame!

text: As revealed in the prequel "NOiSE", the City began as a much smaller structure on Earth, created by humans with the aid of the robotic "Builders." Humanity controlled the Builders through the Netsphere, a hyper-developed version of the Internet accessible only to those with an identificatory genetic marker known as the Net Terminal Gene. Any humans without the gene who attempted to access the Netsphere were exterminated by a special task force known as the Safeguards. Eventually however, a terrorist cult known as "the Order" released a virus that made all humans lose their Net Terminal Genes, thus cutting off their access to the Netsphere and their control over the Builders. Without specific instructions, the Builders began to build chaotically and indefinitely, while the Safeguards' programming degraded into killing all humans without the Net Terminal Gene whether they wanted to access the Netsphere or not.


title: Blame!

text: By the time of the events of the manga, the City has basically become a series of layered, concentric Dyson spheres filled with haphazard architecture, largely devoid of life. These layers compose the supporting scaffold of the City, known as the Megastructure. The Megastructure is extremely durable, with only a direct blast from a Gravitational Beam Emitter being able to drill through it. In addition, the underside of each Megastructure layer periodically illuminates the overside of the one below to provide a day–night cycle. Traveling between layers is generally challenging due to the City's chaotic layout and the dangerous Safeguard response such endeavor may cause, with the means to do so being either climbing stairs for days or taking elevators that reach relativistic speeds. The buildings on each layer are largely uninhabited, although scattered human tribes, rogue Builders, and hostile Safeguards and Silicon Life can be found throughout the entire City.


title: Blame!

text: Killy, a silent loner possessing an incredibly powerful weapon known as a Gravitational Beam Emitter, wanders a vast technological world known as "The City". He is searching for Net Terminal Genes, a (possibly) extinct genetic marker that allows humans to access the "Netsphere", a sort of computerized control network for The City. The City is an immense volume of artificial structure, separated into massive "floors" by nearly-impenetrable barriers known as "Megastructure". The City is inhabited by scattered human and transhuman tribes as well as hostile cyborgs known as Silicon Life. The Net Terminal Genes appear to be the key to halting the unhindered, chaotic expansion of the Megastructure, as well as a way of stopping the murderous robot horde known as the Safeguard from destroying all of humanity.


title: Blame!

text: Along the way, Killy meets and joins forces with a resourceful engineer named Cibo. Their quest is indirectly supported by the City's Authority, which is unable to stop the Safeguard from opposing them. Together, Killy and Cibo meet a young girl named Sanakan and a tribe of human warriors called the Electro-Fishers. Killy's cybernetic abilities are restored after he is attacked by a high-level Safeguard, which turns out to have been Sanakan in disguise. She transforms into her Safeguard form and attacks the Electro-Fishers' village when discovered. Killy and Cibo defend the Electro-Fishers by bringing them to the cylindrical megastructure of Toha Heavy Industries. Here they meet Mensab, an AI independent from the Administration, and her guardian Seu, a human. The megastructure is ultimately destroyed due to attacks by Silicon Life and Sanakan, but Mensab is able to give Cibo a sample of Seu's DNA.


title: Blame!

text: Killy and Cibo next come to a region of the City ruled by a group of Silicon Life, where they ally with a pair of "provisional Safeguards" named Dhomochevsky and Iko. Seu's DNA is stolen by the Silicon leader, Davine, who uses it to access the Netsphere. Dhomochevsky sacrifices his life to kill Davine, but not before she downloads an extremely powerful Level 9 Safeguard from the Netsphere which manifests in Cibo's body. The Cibo Safeguard destroys the entire region.


title: Blame!

text: 14 years later, Killy's body repairs itself from the attack and he continues his journey. He discovers that Cibo, having lost her memory, was eventually rescued by Sanakan, who is now allied with the Authority against the rest of the Safeguard. Cibo's body is incubating a "sphere" which contains her genetic information. Ultimately, Cibo and Sanakan both die in a final confrontation with the Safeguard, but Killy survives and preserves the sphere. An AI he previously met whose body was destroyed is seen in a virtual reality, recalling his quest an unknown amount of time later. Killy finally reaches the edge of the City, where he is shot in the head and incapacitated, but a flood of water carries him to the surface of the City where stars are visible and the sphere begins to hatch. In the final page, Killy is seen fighting in the corridors of the City again, now accompanied by a small child wearing a hazmat suit.


title: Blame!

text: "Blame!" was written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei. The series ran in Kodansha's "Monthly Afternoon" from 1997 to 2003. Its chapters were collected in ten "tankōbon" volumes (tankōbon) by Kodansha's "Afternoon KC" imprint.


title: Blame!

text: In February 2005, Tokyopop announced that it has licensed "Blame!" for U.S. distribution, with publication beginning in August 2005. After releasing the final volume in 2007, the series has gone out of print with several volumes becoming increasingly hard to find. In February 2016, Vertical announced that it had licensed the series.


title: Blame!

text: is a spin-off series of "Blame!" by Tsutomu Nihei. Set in the same "City" as "Blame!", it is a parody and comedy about various characters in the main "Blame!" story in a traditional Japanese school setting. Various elements in the main "Blame!" story are being parodied, including the relationship between Killy and Cibo, and Dhomochevsky and Iko. It was irregularly published in "Afternoon". A compilation volume, titled "Blame Gakuen! and So On" was published by Kodansha on September 19, 2008.


title: Blame!

text: , subtitled , is a full-color, 16-page one-shot. Like "NSE: Net Sphere Engineer", "Blame!2" is a sequel to the original "Blame!", taking place at a point in the distant future. It was published March 21, 2008 in the second volume of Kodansha's Weekly Morning Special Edition magazine, "Mandala". This one-shot was also compiled in one volume with "Blame! Academy", titled "Blame Gakuen! and So On" in 2008. Set an undefined but long time after the events of Blame!, it follows an incarnation of P-cell. After Killy's success in "Blame!", humanity has begun to dominate The City once more and began wiping out most Silicon Life. After P-cell escapes the extinction as the sole survivor of her kind (which is beset by humanity and the Safeguard), she is saved from death by Killy. She eventually makes it to the edge of the City, where it is implied she travels to another planet and restarts Silicon Life civilization using the stored gene-data of her dead companions.


title: Blame!

text: is a sequel to "Blame!". It was originally published as a one-shot in the "Bessatsu Morning" magazine. This one-shot was compiled in one volume with "Blame! Academy", titled "Blame Gakuen! and So On" in 2008. "NSE: Net Sphere Engineer" follows a "Dismantler", a Net Sphere Engineer in charge of disabling the remaining nexus towers that summon Safeguard interference upon its detection of humans without the net terminal genes. Like "Blame!2", NSE is set in a long but undefined time period after the events of Blame! However, it is implied it is even later than "Blame!2" as Safeguards are now very rare encounters.


title: Blame!

text: A trailer revealing a special "Blame!" short, appearing at the beginning of the 8th episode of "Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine" (the second season of the anime adaptation of "Knights of Sidonia"), was released in November 2014. The episode aired in May 2015. The short is contextualized as a TV program that the people of Sidonia tune in for.


title: Blame!

text: Plans for a full-length CG animated film were announced in 2007. However, this proposed CG film project was not released before Micott and Basara (the studio hired) filed for bankruptcy in 2011. It was announced in November 2015 that the series will get an anime theatrical film adaptation. The film is directed by Hiroyuki Seshita and written by Tsutomu Nihei and Sadayuki Murai, with animation by Polygon Pictures and character designs by Yuki Moriyama. It was released globally as a Netflix original on the 20th of May 2017.


title: Blame!

text: On October 5, 2017, Viz Media announced at their New York Comic Con panel that they licensed the home video rights to the film. They released it on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on March 27, 2018.


title: Blame!

text: Jarred Pine from Mania.com commented "[it] is not an easy task" to talk about the story in the first volume as "it leaves quite a gamut of questions open for the reader, nothing on the surface to give the reader a sense of direction or purpose." Pine said "Blame!" doesn't have a mass appeal and "there will be quite a strong line dividing those who love and hate Nihei’s unique and convoluted cyberpunk journey."


title: Blame!

text: In 2006 the Tokyopop distribution was nominated for a Harvey Award in the category 'Best American Edition of Foreign Material'.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Joseph Dave Gomez (born 23 May 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back for club Liverpool.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez began his career at Charlton Athletic, breaking into the first team at 17 and playing one full senior season before joining Liverpool in June 2015. After establishing himself as a first-team regular, Gomez struggled with injuries, but appeared in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final as Liverpool won the competition. He played in the final of the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup with Liverpool winning the competition for the first time in the club's history. He was part of the team that won the 2019–20 Premier League, Liverpool's first league title in 30 years.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez has represented England at every level and played every minute of every match when England won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. He made his debut for the England senior team in November 2017.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez was born in Catford, Greater London to a Gambian father and an English mother. He joined the academy at nearby Charlton Athletic at the age of 10, making his debut for the club's under-18 team at just 13 years old. Despite strong interest from other clubs, Gomez signed his first professional contract with Charlton in October 2014. His senior debut came under manager Bob Peeters in a 4–0 League Cup victory over Colchester United at The Valley on 12 August 2014, playing the full 90 minutes as the right back. A week later he made his league debut in a 3–2 home win against Derby County in the Championship. Gomez went on to make 24 appearances during his first season.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: On 20 June 2015, Premier League club Liverpool signed Gomez on a five-year contract for a fee of £3.5 million. He made his debut against Stoke City on 9 August, starting as a left back in a 1–0 win, assisting Philippe Coutinho's match-winning goal in the 86th minute.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: On 13 October 2015, Gomez suffered a season ending anterior cruciate ligament injury while playing for England U21. A full year later, Gomez returned to full first-team training on 13 October 2016. On 13 November, Gomez played 45 minutes in a behind closed doors friendly.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: On 8 January 2017, Gomez made his first start in an official first-team match since the injury, in an FA Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: On 23 August 2017, Gomez made his European debut, in a 4–2 win over Hoffenheim in the UEFA Champions League play-off. Due to the injury of Nathaniel Clyne, Gomez was the first choice right back for the first half of the season; even starting in games against rivals Arsenal and Manchester United; against the former he assisted the first goal in an eventual 4–0 win, and his performance against the latter received praise from fans.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: In late March 2018, it was confirmed that Gomez would miss the next few games as a result of suffering an injury during an international friendly game. In May 2018, Gomez underwent surgery to his ankle injury, with Liverpool confirming via their official website that Gomez wouldn't play in Liverpool's last fixtures of the season, including the 2018 UEFA Champions League final. Overall, Gomez made 31 appearances across the season for Liverpool.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: As a result of the lack of fitness of regular first-team defenders Dejan Lovren and Joël Matip, Gomez was able to establish himself as first-choice centre back in Liverpool's first games of the season alongside Virgil van Dijk, receiving praise for his performances and receiving the man of the match for his performance in a 2–1 win over Leicester City on 1 September. He continued to feature in defence for the club during the opening half of the season before suffering a fractured leg in December following a challenge by Burnley defender Ben Mee. In February of the following year, he underwent surgery in an attempt to assist his recovery from the injury. Regaining fitness in April, Gomez made a substitute appearance for Liverpool in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final, which the club won.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez began the next season deputising for the in-form Joël Matip, who had become a mainstay alongside Virgil van Dijk during Gomez's injury layoff the previous season. Gomez found himself recalled to the starting lineup following injury problems for Matip, and earned praise after a slew of clean sheets in the winter months as Liverpool extended a significant lead at the top of the Premier League table. Gomez was singled out for praise for his leadership and composure during a 1–0 victory over rivals Everton in the FA Cup in January; a match in which Gomez was the only senior player in the back-line after James Milner's early departure.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez provided a brilliant assist for Diogo Jota in their Champions League away game against Atalanta, where Liverpool won 5–0.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez suffered a tendon injury to his left knee whilst away on international duty with England and underwent successful surgery on 11 November 2020 to correct the damage. This left Liverpool with an injury crisis at the centre of their defence, following the ACL injury of Gomez' centre-back partner Virgil Van Dijk. FIFA agreed to pay Liverpool £2 million in compensation to cover Gomez's wages whilst he was injured.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: On 9 November 2022, he captained Liverpool in the win against Derby County in the third round of the EFL Cup at Anfield.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez has been capped by England at under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels. In May 2014, he was part of the squad that won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Malta, playing every minute of England's five matches and being named in UEFA's team of the tournament. Through his father he could have been eligible to play for Gambia.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: On 25 August 2015, he received his first call-up to the under-21 squad. On 30 August 2017, Gomez was announced as England U21 captain ahead of the qualifying campaign for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: He received his first call-up to the England senior squad in November 2017. He made his England debut against Germany at Wembley Stadium in a friendly match, coming on as a substitute to replace Phil Jones in a 0–0 draw. Gomez received a man of the match award in the following game for his performance against Brazil, earning praise for a number of crucial interceptions, and for his ability to nullify the threat of Neymar.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez prefers to play as a centre back but can also play as a full back on either side. He has been described as a complete footballer and composed ball-playing centre back with his style of play, being compared to that of Rio Ferdinand whom he idolised growing up. Gomez is also noted for his athleticism, pace and strength; he is able to produce powerful and dangerous runs up-field on the counter-attack and in defence is rarely physically dominated by an opponent.


title: Joe Gomez (footballer)

text: Gomez met his partner, Tamara, in 2014, on a bus on his way to school. They live together in Cheshire. They have a son, Kyrie. Gomez is a cousin of striker Muhammadu Faal, who currently plays for Havant and Waterlooville.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2010; prior to that, these services were marketed primarily under the Comcast name.


title: Xfinity

text: Its CEO is Dave Watson, its chairman is Brian L. Roberts, and its CFO is Catherine Avgiris. Xfinity went from $23.7 billion in revenue in 2007 to $50.04 billion in 2016.


title: Xfinity

text: In February 2010, Comcast began to re-brand its consumer triple play service offerings under the name Xfinity; Comcast Digital Cable was renamed "Xfinity TV", Comcast Digital Voice became "Xfinity Voice", and Comcast High Speed Internet became "Xfinity Internet". The re-branding and an associated promotional campaign were scheduled to coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympics.


title: Xfinity

text: The rebranding was characterized by the media as an effort to sidestep the negativity of the Comcast brand. "Time" considered Xfinity to be among the worst corporate renamings of all time, asking "Will the name change work? Probably not, but at least it'll sound a bit edgier when you're put on hold...with Xfinity."


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast is the largest provider of cable internet access in the United States, servicing 40% of the market in 2011. As of July 26, 2018, Comcast has 26.5 million high-speed internet customers.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast began offering internet services in late 1996, when it helped found the @Home Network, which sold internet service through Comcast's cable lines. The agreement continued after @Home's merger with Excite. When the combined company Excite@Home filed for bankruptcy in 2002, Comcast moved their roughly 950,000 internet customers completely onto their own network.


title: Xfinity

text: Along with the price of internet subscriptions, Comcast charges users an additional $14.00/month to rent a cable modem. This fee has been seen by some as unfair, but is waived for customers who buy their own modems. Comcast charges $20 for internet installation, but the fee is waived for customers who opt to install themselves.


title: Xfinity

text: In 2011, Comcast launched its "Internet Essentials" program, which offers low-cost internet service to families with children who qualify for free or reduced price school lunches. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required this budget service as a condition for allowing Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in January 2011. Of an estimated 2.60 million households eligible for the program, about 220,000 households participate in the program as of June 2013. A similar program is available from other internet providers through the non-profit Connect2compete.org. Comcast has stated that the program will accept new customers for a total of three years. In March 2014, as he met with FCC concerning the Time Warner Cable merger, Comcast vice president David Cohen told reporters that the internet essentials program will be extended indefinitely.


title: Xfinity

text: At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, Comcast unveiled a new software platform for its Arris 1682G and Cisco 3941T/3939 modems, which would offer a redesigned configuration interface, support for remote setup and management via an Xfinity mobile app, and enabling integration of supported smart home devices with other Xfinity platforms such as Xfinity TV. The new platform launched under the brand xFi in May 2017. Comcast also unveiled the xFi Advanced Gateway, a new router designed to facilitate faster Wi-Fi speeds, including support for 802.11ac Wave 2, as well as internal support for Bluetooth Low Energy, Thread, and Zigbee for finer integration with Internet of things devices, and support for an accompanying line of Wi-Fi extenders (manufactured by Plume).


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast operates a network of public Wi-Fi hotspots for Xfinity internet subscribers known as Xfinity WiFi, which consists of a mixture of hotspots installed in public locations and businesses, and those generated by supported Xfinity home gateways on an opt-out basis. Users on the "Performance" tier or higher receive unlimited usage of these hotspots after signing in with their Xfinity Account. By default, all dual-band Xfinity home gateways operate both a private network, and a public network with the SSID "xfinitywifi." To conserve bandwidth, these hotspots are capped at 5 simultaneous users. Customers can opt out of providing Xfinity WiFi through either the Comcast website, or by installing a third-party router.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast has received criticism for this practice, with critics arguing that the company was abusing customer resources (including bandwidth and electricity) to provide services for other customers, as well as concerns regarding security, and liability for actions performed by users while connected to these home hotspots; in 2014, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed in California, citing violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and similar state laws for these reasons. Comcast defended the service by stating that the public Wi-Fi is firewalled from devices connected to the in-home network, was designed to have minimal bandwidth impact to "support robust usage", and that customers would not be liable for the actions of other users, as abusers can be traced by means of the Xfinity account they used to sign into the network. The lawsuit was taken to arbitration.


title: Xfinity

text: In the wake of Hurricane Irma, all Xfinity WiFi hotspots in Florida were opened to non-Comcast subscribers.


title: Xfinity

text: Initially, Comcast had a policy of terminating broadband customers who use "excessive bandwidth", a term the company refused to define in its terms of service, which once said only that a customer's use should not "represent (in the sole judgment of Comcast) an overly large burden on the network". Company responses to press inquiries suggested a limit of several hundred gigabytes per month. In September 2007, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said the company defined "excessive use" as the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast introduced a 250 GB monthly bandwidth cap to its broadband service on October 1, 2008, combining both upload and download towards the monthly limit. If a user exceeded the cap three times within six months, the customer's residential services may have been terminated for one year. A spokesperson stated that this policy had been in place for some time, but was the first time Comcast has announced a specific usage limit.


title: Xfinity

text: As the cap provoked a strongly negative reaction from some, Comcast decided to modify its policy in 2012. Under the new system, the cap was replaced with a data threshold and increased to 300GB in some markets, and consumers who exceed this threshold are charged $10 for every 50 GB above the limit. Customers could purchase a $30 add-on for "unlimited" data. In a leaked memo, Comcast employees were instructed to state that the policy is for "Fairness and providing a more flexible policy to our customers", and not for controlling network congestion.


title: Xfinity

text: On April 27, 2016, Comcast announced that it would raise its data threshold in trial markets to 1 TB by June 2016; the company stated that "more than 99 percent of our customers do not come close to using a terabyte." The decision to raise the cap came following implication of increased scrutiny surrounding them by the FCC: in its approval of Charter Communications' purchase of Time Warner Cable, the Commission stipulated that Charter must not implement caps. As previously, a $10 overage fee is charged for every 50 GB above the limit, and customers can purchase an add-on for "unlimited" data, but its price was increased to $50. In October 2016, Comcast announced that bandwidth thresholds would be implemented in the majority of its markets (outside of New York and the northeast) beginning November 1, 2016. The data usage plan does not currently apply to the Gigabit Pro tier of service, Business Internet customers, customers on Bulk Internet agreements, and customers with Prepaid Internet.


title: Xfinity

text: On November 23, 2020, Comcast announced a new 1.2TB data cap will be implemented for all of the remaining areas in the northeast by March 2021. However, it was postponed due to pressure from the Pennsylvanian attorney general due to concerns on how it would impact customers, especially for those working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Xfinity

text: In September 2007, a rumor emerged among tech blogs that Comcast was throttling or even blocking internet traffic transmitted via the BitTorrent protocol. Comcast vehemently denied the accusations of blocking traffic, stating that "Comcast does not, has not, and will not block any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services", and that "We engage in reasonable network management". After more widespread confirmation that Comcast was throttling BitTorrent traffic, Comcast said it occasionally delayed BitTorrent traffic in order to speed up other kinds of data, but declined to go into specifics. Following the announcement of an official investigation by the FCC, Comcast voluntarily ended the traffic discrimination. The FCC investigation concluded that Comcast's throttling policies were illegal. However, after filing a lawsuit in September 2008, Comcast overturned the illegality of its network management in 2010, as the court ruled that the FCC lacked the authority to enforce net neutrality under the FCC's then current regulatory policy. The court suggested instead of its current framework, the FCC move to a common carrier structure to justify its enforcement. As of February 2014, the FCC has announced a new justification, but avoided the more extensive regulation required by the common carrier framework.


title: Xfinity

text: In 2010, Netflix signed an agreement with Level 3 Communications to carry its data. Shortly after, Level 3 entered a heated dispute concerning whether Level 3 would have to pay Comcast to bridge their respective networks, in an agreement known as peering. The disagreement continued as Netflix's current carrier, Cogent Communications, explicitly placed blame for Netflix bottlenecks on Comcast and several other ISPs. In February 2014, after rumors surfaced that Comcast and Netflix had reached an unspecified agreement, the companies confirmed that Netflix was paying Comcast to connect to its network. The details of the agreement are not public, and speculation disagrees about whether the agreement is a precedent against net neutrality, or a continuation of normal peering agreements.


title: Xfinity

text: Xfinity Voice (formerly Comcast Digital Voice) is a landline telephone service that was launched in 2005 in select markets, and to all of Comcast's markets in 2006. Comcast's older service, Comcast Digital Phone, continued to offer service for a brief period, until Comcast shut it down around late 2007. In 2009, after completing transition from their old service, Comcast had 7.6 million voice customers. As of the end of 2013, Comcast Digital Voice had reached 10.7 million subscribers.


title: Xfinity

text: At the start of 2012, Comcast stood as the United States' third-largest residential telephone provider. At that time the company supplied 9.34 million residential telephone lines.


title: Xfinity

text: Xfinity Voice allows communication over the internet using VoIP, but uses a private network instead of a public IP address, which allows Comcast to prioritize the voice data during heavy traffic. In technical terms, on Comcast's Hybrid Fiber Coaxial network, calls are placed into individual Unsolicited Grant Service flows, based on DOCSIS 1.1 Quality of service standards. For the customer, this has the benefit of preventing network congestion from interfering with call quality. However, this separation of traffic into separate flows, or Smart pipe, has been seen by some as a violation of net neutrality, who call instead for equal treatment of all data, or dumb pipe. Other, non-Comcast VoIP services on Comcast's network must use the lower priority public IP addresses. The practice was questioned by the FCC in 2009. In their response, Comcast stated that services that use telecommunications are not necessarily telecommunications services, and noted the FCC's current designation of Comcast Digital Voice as an information service exempted it from telecommunications service regulations. Comcast also said that because Comcast Voice was a separate service, it was unfair to directly compare the data for Comcast Voice with the data for other VoIP services.


title: Xfinity

text: Because telephone services over VoIP are not automatically tied to a physical address, Xfinity Voice utilizes E911 to help 911 service operators to automatically locate the source of the 911 call. Voice calls are delivered as a digital stream over the Comcast network, signal is converted to analog plain old telephone service lines at the cable modem, which outputs on standard analog RJ-11 jacks.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast's cable television customers peaked in 2007, with about 24.8 million customers. Comcast had lost customers every year since. However, the first quarterly gain in customers since their peak occurred in the fourth quarter of 2013. As of the end of 2013, Comcast had a total of 21.7 million cable customers. The average cost of Comcast's Digital Basic cable subscription had increased 72% from 2003 to 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2015, Comcast got 89,000 new video subscribers. This was their highest gain since 2007.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast also charges a Regulatory Recovery Fee of varying size(s) with their Digital Basic cable subscription in order to "recover additional costs associated with governmental programs." Since January 2014, Comcast has also charged a Broadcast TV Fee to "defray the rising costs of retransmitting broadcast television signals(sic)."


title: Xfinity

text: In May 2012, Comcast softlaunched X1 (codenamed "Xcalibur"), a new hardware and software platform for its television services in Boston. It features wider support for internet content and video streaming apps, and a remote control with voice recognition input. X1 was scheduled for nationwide availability by the end of 2013. Comcast has licensed the X1 platform to other providers, including Cox Cable (under the "Cox Contour" brand), and Canadian providers Shaw (as BlueSky TV) and Rogers (as Rogers Ignite TV).


title: Xfinity

text: Beginning in the mid-2000s, the prices of retransmission fees, requirements for cable companies to retransmit television broadcasters content, has become more expensive. These fees (and the arguments over them between broadcasters and distributors) caused blackouts of certain (influential) television programming. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission then reviewed its rules for broadcasters and distributors to make any possible changes to them in response to the high-profile blackouts. Comcast has had ten year agreements with CBS Disney, and Fox Broadcasting Company for distributing and reproducing content. The financial details of the deals are not known.


title: Xfinity

text: Due to retransmission fees becoming more expensive every year, broadcasters pay more expensive substantial fees for retransmitting broadcast television. Comcast instated Broadcast TV Fee (as a part of the Digital Basic cable subscription) to gain lost profit from paying more expensive fees to retransmit programming content. Comcast's subsidiary, NBCUniversal, was one of several broadcasters party to American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo, Inc., over the question of whether Aereo is a retransmitter (which would require it to pay retransmission fees). The case was decided on June 25, 2014 in favor of the broadcasters in a 6–3 decision.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast has a home security and home automation service known as Xfinity Home in some of its service areas. The service has a burglar and fire alarm, surveillance cameras, and wireless motion sensors put on doorways and windows to detect when said doorway or window was opened, and to detect when someone was in a house when it was vacant, However, Xfinity Home had a vulnerability that when exploited, falsely reported that all was well. The wireless motion sensors Xfinity Home used could also be easily jammed, and thus disabled, by radio frequencies.


title: Xfinity

text: On April 6, 2017, Comcast launched Xfinity Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on the Verizon mobile network.


title: Xfinity

text: Xfinity Mobile provides prepaid (with users able to purchase data in 1 GB bundles) and monthly unlimited plans, with the latter throttled after 20 GB of use. The service is sold exclusively to Comcast internet subscribers. Access to Xfinity WiFi hotspots is also included, which is promoted as a means to help conserve bandwidth caps.


title: Xfinity

text: Analysts perceived Xfinity Mobile as being a response to AT&T's acquisition of DirecTV, which added the national satellite provider alongside its existing wireline and wireless services, and an increased push towards mobile television. In the third quarter of 2018, Xfinity Mobile surpassed 1 million subscribers. On May 18, 2020, Xfinity Mobile announced plans with 5G data.


title: Xfinity

text: In addition to residential consumers, Comcast also serves businesses as customers, targeting small businesses with fewer than 20 employees and mid-sized businesses of 20–500 employees. In 2009, Minneapolis–Saint Paul became the first city in which Comcast Business Class offered 100 Mbit/s Internet service, which includes Microsoft Communication Services. Comcast Business Class Internet service does not have a bandwidth usage cap.


title: Xfinity

text: Comcast Business services used to be sold exclusively through direct sales employees. In March 2011, Comcast created an indirect sales channel called the Solution Provider Program, a comprehensive indirect channel program that enables telecommunications consultants and system integrators to sell Comcast's services such as Business Class Internet, Voice, and high-capacity Ethernet services to small and mid-market businesses. The program offers recurring commissions for sales partners based on monthly revenue, and Comcast will provide, install, manage and bill for these services. For the initial launch of the Solutions Provider Program, Comcast enlisted three national master representatives—Telarus, based in Salt Lake City, Utah; Intelisys, based in Petaluma, California; and Telecom Brokerage Inc (TBI), based in Chicago. Sub-agent sales partners must work with one of these three partners in the early stages of the program.


title: Xfinity

text: Xfinity currently sponsors the NASCAR Xfinity Series and is a NASCAR Cup Series premier sponsor. They sponsored NASCAR Cup Series driver Carl Edwards in 2016 at Richmond Raceway Edwards won the race with a Bump and run on teammate Kyle Busch


title: Xfinity

text: Xfinity and its parent company, Comcast, were sued in August 2016 in King County Superior Court by the State of Washington (AG Ferguson, Washington's Attorney General) for 100 million dollars over claims that Comcast violated the state's Consumer Protection Act 445,000 times over its Service Protection Plan by overly charging for call service fees, knowingly using improper credit screening practices, and over the fact that the state had found cases where customer service representatives would either not tell customers about the Service Protection Plan (happened to 31,000 customers) but charge them for it anyway, or mislead them about the cost of the Service Protection Plan (happened to 18,660 customers) by saying that it was free or at a low cost. The amount that the customers unknowingly paid for the plan from 2011 to 2015 was 71 million dollars. However, when asked for recorded customer service calls discussing the Service Protection Plan, Comcast said that it was "too burdensome". Eventually it gave 4,500 samples of the requested calls, but was accused of deleting many other calls by Washington. In response, Comcast said that it was "not under any obligation to preserve them" and that it deleted customer service calls routinely. It accused Washington of only "listening to 150 calls when we gave 4,500 of them", and said that "customers receive an email confirmation when they sign up for the protection plan". The lawsuit lasted until June 2019, when a King County court judge, Judge Timothy Bradshaw, ruled in favor of Washington State and against Comcast, ordering Comcast to pay 9.1 million dollars in penalities, 12 percent interest on restitution to Washington State customers, and refund all affected customers within 60 days.


title: Xfinity

text: Xfinity and its parent company Comcast were sued through putative class action on June 19, 2018, by Illinois customer Elizabeth O’ Neill, over accusations of opening Xfinity Mobile accounts for customers without their consent, and failing to notify customers when the same accounts were infiltrated without their authorization to buy new cell phones from Comcast's website. They had done this by using information from the customer's already established internet and cable accounts. The case was ruled to be solved in arbitration in accordance with the subscriber agreement she had agreed to.


title: Xfinity

text: Xfinity Internet has a rating of 3.7/5 stars on ConsumerAffairs.com, with consumers praising the speed but noting that the service can be pricey.


title: Manchester United F.C. Reserves and Academy

text: Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effectively Manchester United's second-string side, but is limited to five outfield players and one goalkeeper over the age of 21 per game following the introduction of new regulations from the 2022–23 season, a change from three outfield players over age 23 introduced in 2016–17. The age limit previously was again 21, from 2012–13.


text: They were champions of the former Premier Reserve League five times (in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2012) between its introduction in 1999 and its dissolution in 2012. The team also won the 2012–13 Professional U21 Development League 1 in its inaugural season, and again in 2015 and 2016. The team also participates in the regional Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup. From the 2019–20 edition, they also participate in the nationwide EFL Trophy along with senior teams from levels 3 and 4 of the English football league system, as teams from levels 1 and 2 are restricted to players aged 21 and under.


text: The team's current manager is Mark Dempsey, who took over from Neil Wood in 2022. Wood managed the team from 2019 until 2022. Ricky Sbragia had been manager since 2017 and had also been manager for the reserves between 2002–2005. Sbragia had taken over from Nicky Butt, an academy graduate in the 1990s who played for United until 2004. Butt held the role on an interim basis for the 2016–17 season after Warren Joyce was appointed Wigan Athletic manager on 2 November 2016. Joyce, who took over from Ole Gunnar Solskjær as manager of the reserves in December 2010, was previously the manager of Royal Antwerp, Manchester United's feeder club in Belgium.


text: From November 2008 to August 2013, the team played its home matches at Moss Lane in Altrincham, the home of Altrincham F.C. For the 2013–14 Under-21 Premier League season, the team has played the majority of its home matches at Salford City Stadium in Barton-upon-Irwell. Since 2014–15, the team play its home matches at Leigh Sports Village. Rules set out by the Premier League state that at least three home league games per season must be played at the club's main stadium, Old Trafford. In previous seasons, the team has played at the Victoria Stadium, the home of Northwich Victoria, and Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde United.


text: Manchester United also has an Under-18s team that plays in the Premier League Under-18s Group 2 and the FA Youth Cup. The under-18s play their home games at the club's Trafford Training Centre in Carrington.


text: The Manchester United Academy was established in 1998, following the reorganisation of youth football in England, but has roots stretching all the way back to the 1930s with the establishment of the Manchester United Junior Athletic Club (MUJAC). and has been responsible for producing some of Manchester United's greatest ever players, including the club's top five all-time appearance makers, Ryan Giggs, Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, and the new wave of home-grown talents known as "Fergie's Fledglings". The current academy is based at the club's Aon Training Complex, an site in the Manchester suburb of Carrington.


text: The Manchester United youth team is statistically the most successful in English football, with nine players in the English football Hall of Fame (Duncan Edwards, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Nobby Stiles, Mark Hughes,Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Johnny Giles). Manchester United also have the best FA Youth Cup record, winning on 10 occasions out of 14 final appearances.


text: The academy comprises age-group teams ranging from Under-9s up to the flagship Under-18s, who currently compete in Group C of the Premier Academy League and in the FA Youth Cup. The Under-16s and Under-18s typically play their academy league games at 11am on Saturday mornings at Carrington, while Youth Cup games are generally played at either Altrincham's Moss Lane ground (where the under-23s play their home games) or the club's 76,000-capacity Old Trafford home, in order to cater for the greater number of supporters these fixtures attract.


text: In 2007, Manchester United Under-18s won the Champions Youth Cup, intended to be an analogue to the FIFA Club World Cup for youth sides, beating Juventus 1–0 in the final in Malaysia. It was their first and only title, since the tournament was scrapped after only one edition.


text: The following is a list of players who have played in the Manchester United youth team (U16–U18) and represented a country (not necessarily their country of birth) at full international level. Players who are currently playing at Manchester United, or for another club on loan from Manchester United, are highlighted in bold.


text: Prior to 1990, a single award was presented to the best young player of that season. Between 1982 and 1985 this was the entitled "Young Player of the Year"; the award then became known as the "Denzil Haroun Young Player of the Year" between 1986 and 1989 in honour of Denzil Haroun, a former club director and brother-in-law of former club chairman Louis Edwards.


text: Since 1990, individual awards are made to the best player of the Academy and the Reserves. The "Young Player of the Year" is named in honour of Jimmy Murphy, Sir Matt Busby's long-time assistant manager, who died in 1989, and the best reserve is awarded the "Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year".


title: Strip club

text: A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, and can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style. American-style strip clubs began to appear outside North America after World War II, arriving in Asia in the late 1980s and Europe in 1978, where they competed against the local English and French styles of striptease and erotic performances.


title: Strip club

text: As of 2005, the size of the global strip club industry was estimated to be US$75 billion. In 2019, the size of the U.S. strip club industry was estimated to be US$8 billion, generating 19% of the total gross revenue in legal adult entertainment. SEC filings and state liquor control records available at that time indicated that there were at least 3,862 strip clubs in the United States, and since that time, the number of clubs in the U.S. has grown. Profitability of strip clubs, as with other service-oriented businesses, is largely driven by location and customer spending habits. The better appointed a club is, in terms of its quality of facilities, equipment, furniture, and other elements, the more likely customers are to encounter cover charges and fees for premium features such as VIP rooms. The popularity of a given club is an indicator of its quality, as is the word-of-mouth among customers who have visited a cross section of clubs in different regions.


title: Strip club

text: The strip club as an outlet for salacious entertainment is a recurrent theme in popular culture. In some media, these clubs are portrayed primarily as gathering places of vice and ill repute. Clubs themselves and various aspects of the business are highlighted in these references. "Top Strip Club" lists in some media have demonstrated that U.S.-style striptease is a global phenomenon and that it has also become a culturally accepted form of entertainment, despite its scrutiny in legal circles and popular media. Popular Internet sites for strip club enthusiasts also have lists calculated from the inputs of site visitors. The legal status of strip clubs has evolved over the course of time, with national and local laws becoming progressively more liberal on the issue around the world, although some countries (such as Iceland) have implemented strict limits and bans. Strip clubs are frequent targets of litigation around the world, and the sex industry, which includes strip clubs, is a contentious issue in popular culture and politics. Some clubs have been linked to organized crime.


title: Strip club

text: The term "striptease" was first recorded in 1938, though "stripping", in the sense of women removing clothing to sexually excite men, seems to go back at least 400 years. For example, in Thomas Otway's comedy "The Soldier's Fortune" (1681) a character says: "Be sure they be lewd, drunken, "stripping" whores". Its combination with music seems to be as old. A conclusive description and visualization can be found in the 1720 German translation of the French "La Guerre D'Espagne" (Cologne: Pierre Marteau, 1707), where a galant party of high aristocrats and opera singers has resorted to a small château where they entertain themselves with hunting, play and music in a three-day turn:


title: Strip club

text: Other possible influences on modern stripping were the dances of the Ghawazee "discovered" and seized upon by French colonists in 19th century North Africa and Egypt. The erotic dance of the bee, performed by a woman known as Kuchuk Hanem, was witnessed and described by the French novelist Gustave Flaubert. In this dance the performer disrobes as she searches for an imaginary bee trapped within her garments. It is likely that the women performing these dances did not do so in an indigenous context, but rather, responded to the commercial climate for this type of entertainment.


title: Strip club

text: Middle Eastern belly dance, also known as oriental dancing, was popularized in the United States after its introduction on the Midway at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago by a dancer known as Little Egypt.


title: Strip club

text: In France during the late 19th century, Parisian shows such as the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère were featuring attractive, scantily clad, dancing women and "tableaux vivants". In this environment, an act featuring a woman slowly removing her clothes in a vain search for a flea crawling on her body was seen in 1895 and possibly filmed in 1897 by the first female director, Alice Guy. This routine, "Le coucher d'Yvette", inspired "French acts" in theaters and brothels in other parts of the world, seen in the U.S. city of New York as early as 1878. The first public act of striptease in modern times is credited to Parisian theater in 1894.


title: Strip club

text: In 1905, Dutch dancer Mata Hari, later shot as a spy by the French authorities during World War I, was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musée Guimet. The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments over her arms and head. Another landmark performance was the appearance at the Moulin Rouge in 1907 of an actress called Germaine Aymos who entered dressed only in three very small shells. In the 1930s, the famous Josephine Baker danced semi-nude in the "danse sauvage" at the Folies and other such performances were provided at the Tabarin. These shows were notable for their sophisticated choreography and for often dressing the girls in glitzy sequins and feathers. By the 1960s "fully nude" shows were provided at such places as Le Crazy Horse Saloon.


title: Strip club

text: In Britain in the 1930s, Laura Henderson began presenting nude shows at the Windmill Theatre in London. At that time, British law prohibited naked girls from moving. To avoid the prohibition, the models appeared in stationary "tableaux vivants". The Windmill girls also toured other London and provincial theatres, sometimes using ingenious devices such as rotating ropes to move their bodies round, though strictly speaking, staying within the letter of the law by not moving of their own volition. Another example of ways that the shows stayed within the law was the fan dance, in which a naked dancer's body was concealed by her fans and those of her attendants, until the end of her act in when she posed naked for a brief interval whilst standing still.


title: Strip club

text: In 1942, Phyllis Dixey formed her own company of girls and rented the Whitehall Theatre in London to put on a review called The Whitehall Follies. By the 1950s touring striptease acts were used to attract audiences to the dying music halls. Paul Raymond started his touring shows in 1951 and later leased the Doric Ballroom in Soho, opening his private members club, the Raymond Revuebar in 1958. This was the first of the private striptease members' clubs in Britain.


title: Strip club

text: Changes in the law in the 1960s brought about a boom of strip clubs in Soho with "fully nude" dancing and audience participation. Pubs were also used as venues, most particularly in the East End, with a concentration of such venues in the district of Shoreditch. This pub striptease seems mainly to have evolved from topless go-go dancing. Though often a target of local authority harassment, some of these pubs survive to the present day. A custom in these pubs is that the strippers walk round and collect money from customers in a beer jug before each individual performance. This custom appears to have originated in the late 1970s when topless go-go dancers first started collecting money from the audience as the fee for going "fully nude". Private dances of a more raunchy nature are sometimes available in a separate area of the pub.


title: Strip club

text: In America, striptease started in traveling carnivals and burlesque theatres, and featured famous strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand. The vaudeville trapeze artist Charmion performed a "disrobing" act onstage as early as 1896, which was captured in the 1901 Edison film, "Trapeze Disrobing Act". Another milestone for modern American striptease was the possibly legendary show at Minsky's Burlesque in April 1925: The Night They Raided Minsky's. The Minsky brothers brought burlesque to New York's 42nd Street. However, the burlesque theatres there were prohibited from having striptease performances in a legal ruling of 1937, leading to the later decline of these "grindhouses" (named after the bump 'n grind entertainment on offer) into venues for exploitation cinema. The concept of "strippers" as we know it today with the pole dance has been popularized in the United States in 1972. British Columbia followed the lead around 1978.


title: Strip club

text: Widespread bans on striptease had a direct influence on the creation of the strip clip joint and the exotic dancer as known today. Bans still exist; enforced now mostly at the local municipal level. American-style striptease began to appear outside North America in the post-World War II era and is now practiced widely around the world.


title: Strip club

text: The 1960s saw a revival of striptease in the form of topless go-go dancing. Topless dancing was banned in certain parts of the country, similar to the bans on striptease, but it eventually merged with the older tradition of burlesque dancing. Carol Doda of the Condor Night Club in the North Beach section of San Francisco is credited with being the first topless go-go dancer. The club opened in 1964 and Doda's première topless dance occurred on the evening of June 19 of that year. The large lit sign in front of the club featured a picture of her with red lights on her breasts. The club went "bottomless" on September 3, 1969; launching the trend of explicit "full nudity" in American striptease dancing. It was Doda's brand of dancing which is credited with the move from striptease to stripping.


title: Strip club

text: San Francisco is also the location of the notorious Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. Originally an X-rated movie theater, this striptease club pioneered lap dancing in 1970, and was a major force in popularizing it in strip clubs on a nationwide and eventually worldwide basis. A further development in the American tradition took place with the emergence of upscale "gentlemen's clubs" in the early 1990s in large cities such as New York. Scores New York was the first major gentlemen's club, with "a gorgeous interior, high-end food and drinks, and of course stunningly beautiful women in sexy gowns. Prior to that, live adult entertainment in New York consisted largely of seedy peep show-type places," according to adult industry veteran Joe Diamond. San Francisco's Lusty Lady became known in the 1990s and early 2000s as the first strip club in the world to successfully unionize and the first to become a worker's cooperative.


title: Strip club

text: The Japanese term for strip club, nūdo gekijo, literally means "nude theater". An older term was "sutorippu gekijo". American-style striptease became popular in Japan during the U.S. occupation after the end of World War II (1945–1952). Some girls chose to strip in theaters as an alternative to prostitution.


title: Strip club

text: When entrepreneur Shigeo Ozaki saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform, he started his own striptease revue in Tokyo's Shinjuku neighborhood. Teitoza was the first club to open in Shinjuku, on 15 January 1947. The first act was titled "The Birth of Venus". Each performance lasted for fifteen seconds and was modest by modern standards, incorporating veils, panties and a bra which covered much of what would be shown today. The woman on stage stood in a stationary pose, similar to shows in Britain. The show ran until August 1948. Theaters in Asakusa had fully nude displays, also featuring no motion or stripping. As this style of theater spread, the removal of clothing on stage was integrated into the process.


title: Strip club

text: Over time, as regulations were relaxed, a variety of acts developed with shows presenting a variety of movements such as taking a bath in an outdoor washtub. One of the most famous variants had audience members given magnifying glasses for close up views.


title: Strip club

text: During the 1950s, Japanese "strip shows" became more sexually explicit and less dance-oriented, until they were eventually simply live sex shows. The strip shows in Tokyo during this time remained low key, but Osaka and Kyoto were pushing the art of striptease in Japan into new territory. In 1956, Osaka became the first city in Japan to have pubic hair on display during a strip show. Dotonbori is a well known red light district in Osaka, Japan, that has featured entertainment theaters and prostitution for hundreds of years. The strip clubs of today are the latest incarnation of its temptations.


title: Strip club

text: Peeping clubs, which feature peeping rooms (nozokibeya), are businesses similar to western peep shows. Customers in peeping clubs view a female model through a hole from their own private cubicles, and then pay to watch her strip, pose, and masturbate. Kabukichō, a red light district in Tokyo, had 13 nozoki-beya in the early 1980s. The sex industry became so pervasive in Asia that by the 1990s, Kabukichō was described as a "warren of peep shows, strip clubs, and massage parlors" and Bangkok, Thailand, attained a reputation as the sex capital of the world.


title: Strip club

text: American-style strip clubs are often structured as nightclubs or bars. High-end establishments are commonly referred to as "gentlemen's clubs", complete with luxury features and services. More down-market competitors can be known by various names, such as titty bars, rippers, peelers, skin bars, girly bars, nudie bars, bikini bars or go-go bars.


title: Strip club

text: Regardless of size, name, or location in the world, strip clubs can be full nude, topless or bikini. Where offered:


title: Strip club

text: For any of the three types of clubs there are exceptions based on the individual dancer and management. The use of pasties can alter the legal interpretation as to whether a performance is topless or not and whether a business is sexually oriented.


title: Strip club

text: A club might also hire or broadcast forms of entertainment other than striptease (such as pay-per-view events), for which it earns revenue via premium fees. Some clubs have also moved into providing chat and broadcast services via the internet, including live video feeds. Beyond this more passive entertainment, some clubs' dancers offer additional services, such as lap dances or trips to the champagne room, for a set fee rather than for tips. This fee will typically include a set fee for the room, for a fixed amount of time. Lap dances may also be offered during lingerie modeling sessions. During a lap dance, the dancer rubs against the customer's crotch while he or she remains clothed, in an attempt to arouse or bring the recipient to climax. Touching of strippers is not permitted in many localities, however, some dancers and clubs allow touching of dancers during private dances. In some parts of the U.S., there are laws forbidding the exposure of female nipples, and thus dancers must cover their nipples with pasties to comply with those laws. Such clubs are known as "pastie clubs".


title: Strip club

text: A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sensual manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or exotic dancer. Most strippers are female; less than a third of strippers are male strippers. Striptease and public nudity have been subject to legal and cultural prohibitions and other aesthetic considerations and taboos. Restrictions on venues may be through venue licensing requirements and constraints and a wide variety of national and local laws. These laws vary considerably around the world, and even between different parts of the same country.


title: Strip club

text: Striptease involves a slow, sensuous undressing. The stripper may prolong the undressing by making sure that the sensual build-up has been properly done using techniques such as the wearing of actual clothes or putting clothes or hands in front of just undressed body parts such as the breasts or genitalia in a sensual and playful manner. The emphasis is on the act of undressing along with sexually suggestive movement, rather than the state of being undressed. In the past, the performance often finished as soon as the undressing was finished, though today's strippers usually continue dancing in the nude. The costume the stripper wears before disrobing is part of the act. In some cases, audience interaction can form part of the act, with the audience urging the stripper to remove more clothing, or the stripper approaching the audience to interact with them.


title: Strip club

text: Unlike in burlesque theater, the modern popular form of strip theater can minimize the interaction of customer and dancer, reducing the importance of "tease" in the performance in favor of speed to undress. Most clubs have a dancer rotation where each dancer, in turn, will perform for one or more songs in a fixed sequence that repeats during a shift. Less formal clubs will have dancers take turns when a stage becomes empty or have a free flow of entertainers where the stage has any number of entertainers who wander off and on at will. Featured entertainers are not usually part of the rotation and they generally have set times when they will perform that are advertised throughout the shift. If a DJ is present, he or she will emcee the rotation and typically announce the current dancer(s) on stage and possibly whom to expect in future sets.


title: Strip club

text: In peep shows, done with a customer seated in a private booth separated from a dancer by glass or plastic, there may be no music playing during a performance, in which the woman removes her clothes and displays her body to the customer. In clubs which offer lingerie modeling shows, which are peep shows where a dancer privately dances and strips for a customer, typically without a barrier, performances can also be done with or without a formal stage or music.


title: Strip club

text: Private dances in the main club zones most often take the form of table dances, lap and couch dances, and bed dances among others. An "air dance" is a particular form of private dance where little-to-no contact between the dancer and customer occurs. This class of dance spans the different categories above and some dancers may perform air dances when more contact-heavy forms of dance were expected and paid for. Club management may set standard prices for the various dance services, but individual strippers, where permitted, will negotiate their own prices, which may be higher or lower than the advertised rate. Table dances are distinguished from other forms of dances in that they can be performed where the customer is seated, on the main floor. "Table dance" may also refer to a form of minimal-touch private dance where the performer is physically located on a small table in front of the customer(s). Table dances should not be confused with table stages, where the stripper is at or above eye level on a platform surrounded by chairs and usually enough table surface for customers to place drinks and tip money.


title: Strip club

text: Where offered, lap dances are performed in all manner of locations and seating, ranging from plain stools and kitchen-grade chairs to plush leather armchairs. They can also be performed with the customer standing in these designated areas. A service provided by many clubs is for a customer to be placed on stage with one or more dancers for a public lap dance. Occasions for this type of performance are bachelor parties and birthdays, among others. Bed dance areas require more space because they are designed for the customer to be prone with the entertainer(s) positioned on top of them. Bed dances are the least common of the three, and in many clubs are a more expensive option than a lap dance because of the novelty and increased level of contact between customer and service provider.


title: Strip club

text: Strip clubs are profit-oriented businesses like restaurants and other retail establishments. Performers and staff are the primary customer service representatives in the club environment. Dancers are their primary vehicle to entice customers to spend time and money in the establishment.


title: Strip club

text: Dancers continually interact with the customers in the club. They walk around and solicit drinks and lap dances, usually scanning the club floor to find the most lucrative customer to greet. The dancer qualifies a customer by sizing up their appearance and personal characteristics. Once the dancer identifies a suitable customer, she approaches, and attempts to establish a social relationship. Interaction can also be initiated by customers. Clubs generate revenue by cover charges, selling drinks, and other means. Dancers make most of their income from giving lap dances or VIP dances, where regulations allow. Otherwise, customer tips, at the stage, are a dancer's primary form of income. Dancers are entertaining the customers in exchange for money and employing all of the resources at their disposal to do so. They sell the fantasy of sex, but do not typically follow through with the act.


title: Strip club

text: Dancers, in an attempt to acquire a tip or monetary reward, may be selling more than just attractiveness and fantasy. They portray feelings of intimacy and emotional connectedness for their customers and most of the time these portrayals are overstated or false. The stage persona is different from who they are backstage, even if it does mirror aspects of their true personality. Within the context of the strip club, dancers might sometimes give the impression that they are revealing private (or "backstage") information to customers in order to play a confidence game for increased profit. Dancers use props such as make-up, clothing, costumes, and appealing fragrances to complete their character and maintain their "front" while in the club. Customers rarely, if ever, see the preparation of these props, since they are denied access to the backstage of a dancer's performance space by the layout of the club. A customer often wants a dancer to "drop the act", which makes them feel special and desired. This girlfriend experience can involve increased intimacy up to and including sex acts. Dancers are commonly aware of this customer desire for increased confidence, and may allow the "impression" that a customer is seeing their true selves. In reality, it is often just part of the act with little to no emotional attachment for the dancer.


title: Strip club

text: Rules governing strip clubs and the overall adult entertainment industry vary around the world and formats sometimes are combined under a single roof or complex. In Bangkok, Thailand, the Nana Entertainment Plaza in downtown Bangkok is a large, four-floor compound with over 40 bars. Most of the bars are go-go bars with dancers in various stages of nudity. They are not formal brothels, since customers must negotiate without an intermediary, directly with the dancers, for services up to and including sex. Zürich, Switzerland, has legalized prostitution and its strip clubs throughout the city offer sex among their services. Differing from Zurich brothels, sex services via the strip clubs are typically performed off site. Eastern European strip clubs have a similar model. A .34-square-kilometer "sex zone" in Tokyo, Japan, had approximately 3,500 sex facilities in 1999. These included strip theaters, peep shows, "soaplands", "lover's banks", porno shops, telephone clubs, karaoke bars, clubs and more all offering adult entertainment services. In Dubai, a nation governed by very strict cultural norms and laws, there are several Indian strip clubs offering at least partial nudity.


title: Strip club

text: Dancers may tie their state of undress to the number of songs played. This could correspond to a bikini performance for song one and topless for the second. In a fully nude club, the sequence could be topless-to-nude over two songs, or any one of a number of other variations. In the United States, clubs are classified based on typical performances, zoning regulations, and advertised services. Zoning regulations in the U.S. can prove a challenge, with clubs needing to be a certain distance away from schools and other areas where minor children are known to congregate. These restrictions are meant, ostensibly, to curb exposure to activities that could negatively impact social development of children and to protect nearby real estate properties not tied to the industry from devaluation. These are known as "secondary effects". The validity of secondary effects has been disputed, with the counterargument that clubs have been forced through zoning into "seedy neighborhoods". Elsewhere in North America, the Zona Norte red light district in Tijuana, Mexico, has a number of legal brothels which are modeled on strip clubs and feature U.S.-style striptease performed by its prostitutes.


title: Strip club

text: Most strip clubs are located in buildings that are converted bars, restaurants, or warehouses, or had industrial uses. The original layout of the building will affect the physical layout of a club. The more money that has been invested in a facility, the more it resembles a dedicated club. Regardless of the floorplan, as interactive theater, there are features every strip club will have. They include: performers (strippers), a floor area where the customers will congregate, and some form of staging for the striptease performance.


title: Strip club

text: The floor area is open for general admission. A customer is free to wander around the club, except for employee areas and premium lounges. To access premium lounges (sometimes called VIP, champagne, or other lounges), a customer would normally be charged a fee above the cover charge. In some cases, the employee and premium lounges are dual use. For example, a manager's office might also double as the VIP room.


title: Strip club

text: All clubs are configured differently. A small club can have a single room, with an improvised stage for the striptease show. Many clubs have more than the basic amenities. Larger clubs have clearer designations of areas. The different areas within a club could be separated by a physical step, built-in railing, platforms and levels, doorways, distinct rooms, and entirely separate floors, and they can also be formed by different carpeting, placement of seating, or physical implements such as a rope or other physical marker.


title: Strip club

text: Most entertainment takes place in the main floor area, and this is where performers and staff can interact with patrons. Customers get comfortable in this area and from their observations, they decide which club services they will use. The main stage is visible from the main floor, and the main bar is accessible, if one is present. Patrons can usually select from open seating and some clubs will have staff to assist with seating. If premium seating is provided, club staff will usually manage access to those areas. Depending on the day, time and staffing levels, accessibility of the general admission areas may vary. Larger clubs will rope off or otherwise close sections of the club to customers unless the size of the crowd warrants use of the space. Larger clubs could have multiple floor, bar, seating, and staging areas which are managed in a similar manner.


title: Strip club

text: A main stage is where a featured performer will dance as part of a rotation. In most clubs the main stage is a dominant feature of the layout and the center of activity. A common type of strip club main stage is the thrust stage, also known as a runway stage, but the other major forms are also used regularly. Theatre in the round is also a popular form of strip club staging for the main stage. During each set of one or more songs, the current performer will dance on stage. A dancer collects tips from customers either while on stage or while mingling with the audience after her performance. A customary tip (where customers can do so at the stage) is a dollar bill folded lengthwise and placed in the dancer's garter from the "tip rail". The area of the tip rail is equivalent to the apron in traditional theatre. It is referred to in slang as "ringside", "gynecology row", "pervert row", and other names.


title: Strip club

text: Many stages have actual railing built on or around the stage to function as the tip railing, in addition to indicating where customers should position themselves relative to the performance zone. Customers take turns tipping the dancer. They may also line up to tip popular performers. If physical railing is not present, the tip rail is the edge of stage or defined performance area. Other common tip methods are to insert the dollar into the stripper's cleavage from the hand or mouth, to simply place it or toss it on stage, or to crumple bills into a ball shape and throw them in the entertainer's direction. Each club and dancer has different tolerance levels for customer interaction, including tipping. Some clubs have multiple stages on the premises. Tipping etiquette varies between countries and cultures. In Eastern European and Asian clubs it is customary to agree on payment upfront for a certain amount of time or dances, for stage performances and any private sessions.


title: Strip club

text: Satellite staging includes one or more areas where a stripper can perform other than a main stage and private dances. Larger clubs can have elaborate staging layouts with multiple stage areas distributed around a club and multiple dancers rotating between them per song. Some strip clubs consider ad hoc performances on satellite stages, paid for by a customer on a per song basis, a form of "private dance". Rules at the satellite stages on the main floor tend to be the same as the main stage. In some cases, the layout is significantly different allowing more or less access to the customer. If a satellite stage is located in a premium access zone, access to the dancer could be considerably greater since the higher level of service can include a less restrictive policy than enforced on the main floor. Lap dance, peep show, and lingerie modeling clubs might only have satellite stages with pay to play entertainment options on their premises.


title: Strip club

text: Novelty acts (such as shower shows, fire shows, and oil wrestling) can be presented on dedicated stages, temporary staging on the floor, or on the main stage itself depending on the club. The main stage, if used, must be prepared and possibly covered to prevent damage, as accidents and injuries have been reported during these types of striptease performances. When dangerous materials such as fire are used as props a permit may be required to be compliant with local ordinances. Novelty acts are typically performed by feature dancers or by select house dancers during a featured performance. Shower shows require special equipment, so they are more likely to have a dedicated stage in the club with house dancers performing in the show. Optional staging can be present on the main floor or in dedicated rooms throughout larger clubs.


title: Strip club

text: A full bar is the primary service mechanism for clubs that offer alcoholic beverages. In many clubs the main bar is the second most dominant element on the floor after the main stage, and in some cases the main (or satellite) stage is built into the bar. Clubs can derive large percentages of their income from drink purchases. For both Rick's Cabaret and VCGH, Inc., service revenues were the single largest revenue source, with sales of alcoholic beverages second. VCGH earned 18% more and RICK 27.5% more in service revenue than alcohol sales. The amounts are closer when food "and" merchandise sales are considered, with RICK reporting a smaller gap between the two revenue sources relative to VCGH. Upscale clubs that offer food can have free-standing or built-in bars for buffet service. Otherwise, food orders might be taken at the main bar or by waitstaff.


title: Strip club

text: Consumption of alcohol is often facilitated via direct sales in strip clubs where such sales are legal, appropriately zoned, and licensed. Some clubs that are not licensed to serve alcohol will work around the restriction by implementing a bring your own beverage (BYOB) policy and a juice bar. Juice bars have the appointments of full bars but only serve non-alcoholic beverages such as water, fruit juice, and flavored carbonated beverages. Such a bar could double as a service counter for the storage of BYOB material and offer ice and mixing services to create mixed drinks using the customer-purchased ingredients. Where waitstaff are present, they may serve as an extension of the bar service; providing and refreshing drinks while maintaining the cleanliness of the seating areas.


title: Strip club

text: Many clubs have a lobby area where the cover charge, if any, is collected by a doorman or doorwoman and security personnel can do a quick check of prospective customers as they enter the facility. Games are also a common feature of strip clubs. Arcade and gambling machines are popular features, as are pool tables. Some clubs also have dedicated areas of the main floor dedicated to performing "private dance" services.


title: Strip club

text: Access to certain parts of a strip club can require payment of an additional fee, or can be by invitation. These areas offer features that are not present in the general admission areas. This approach might allow a club to offer different types and standards of services in the various areas, or to comply with local laws. In this setting, VIPs such as high rollers or persons of a wider popular celebrity, may receive complimentary services according to their reputation with the club personnel.


title: Strip club

text: "VIP seating" adjacent to the main floor is often more comfortable. For example, arm chairs or couches may be provided, and may include booths with service tables. The area typically has a clear line of sight to the main stage. Reserve seating gives a customer a sense of importance and demonstrates prestige. In higher-end clubs, VIP seating might include balconies and other overlooks, which might also include smaller stages for a private dance if the customer wishes, at an additional fee. VIP seating can also act as lap dance booths, where a higher lap dance price would apply than in the general area.


title: Strip club

text: "VIP rooms" are partitioned areas in a club that are typically enclosed by fixed walls and can have doors that close completely. For such rooms that do not offer solid doors, there is usually some type of system to screen the room from view with stringed beads, curtains, or other devices. Couch rooms, private dance rooms, and lounges are also forms of VIP zones. VIP rooms have seating that is more plush than the general admission zones and the VIP seating adjacent to the main floor. Often, purchase of access to the room includes customer time with the dancer(s) of their choice. Some rooms are outfitted with props and appliances, such as showers, hot tubs, and various types of bedding.


title: Strip club

text: A "champagne room" (also called a "champagne lounge", or "champagne court") is a specialized VIP Room service offered by gentlemen's clubs where a customer can purchase time (usually in half-hour increments) with an exotic dancer in a private room on the premises. Depending on the quality of the club, these rooms, which are typically away from the hustle and bustle of the main club, are generally well decorated and usually appointed with a private bar. Clubs sell champagne by the glass or by the bottle for both the dancer and the customer. Some clubs also offer food or cigar service. News media outlets have reported incidents of champagne room charges into the tens and hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars for a single visit.


title: Strip club

text: Portions of the club used only for the operation and maintenance typically have access restricted to staff and performers. These include (but are not limited to) management offices, employee booths, performer dressing rooms, and service areas, such as the kitchen and behind the bar. This business practice does not differ significantly from what is seen in other customer service businesses such as retail stores and restaurants. More frequently seen are entry booths, where security staff monitor customers entering and leaving the club and collect the cover charge, and the DJ booth, where the DJ operates. The DJ booth contains sound, lighting, and other equipment which is used to "orchestrate the crowd" by adjusting the club environment, and is equivalent to a control room in a traditional theater.


title: Strip club

text: Dancers use dressing rooms to prepare for performances, rest between performances, and stow any of their belongings not secured by other means. It is customary for disputes between club personnel to be handled off the floor and out of sight of patrons. Dressing rooms are commonly used for performer-only mediation, though this could shift into other areas of discussion if management is involved. Clubs are experimenting with granting greater access to restricted areas via technology. The service includes a live view into part of the backstage dressing room and paid access enables the website user to interact live with dancers at the club. Security of club assets and personnel are a primary driver for limiting access to these zones. If surveillance equipment for the club and grounds is present on site, the monitoring locations for the audio/video feeds will be directed to management. In less frequent cases such feeds could also be accessed from off-site.


title: Strip club

text: Performers are called "strippers", "exotic dancers", just "dancers", or "entertainers". Strippers are the primary draw for any club. Dancers effectively entertaining customers are the key to generating revenue by keeping customers on site and enticing them to be repeat visitors. The image of strippers (as known today) evolved through the late 1960s and 1970s in the U.S. and international cultures that embraced Americanized striptease; introduced into popular culture by the genre-defining performances of Carol Doda. By the 1980s, the pole dancing and highly explicit imagery associated with today's performers was widely accepted and frequently portrayed in film, television, and theater. "House dancers" work for a particular club or franchise. "Feature dancers" tend to have their own celebrity, touring a club circuit and making appearances. Porn stars will often become feature dancers to earn extra income and build their fan base. High-profile adult film performers Jenna Haze and Teagan Presley, among others, have participated in feature shows through the U.S., as did now-retired stars such as Jenna Jameson.


title: Strip club

text: In some localities strippers are required to obtain permits to work in adult entertainment. During a bikini performance, both breasts and genital areas typically remain covered by revealing attire, while dancers provide services and entertainment. Go-go dancers will retain their tops and bottoms for the duration of their performance. A female stripper whose upper body is exposed, but whose genital areas remain obscured during a performance, is said to be topless. Strippers who uncover the genital areas along with other clothing during a performance are said to be dancing fully nude. The fully nude practice is banned in many jurisdictions, but many dancers work around these constraints by selective uncovering of the vulva, anus, or both, for short periods of time, followed by immediate replacement of the clothing. Not all strippers are comfortable dancing topless or fully nude.


title: Strip club

text: Strippers can sometimes be contracted for performances outside the strip club environment. Strippers with ready access to the Internet away from work have also adopted social media and networks as a less intrusive way of maintaining direct connections with customers. Others use the internet to generate revenue by performing via webcam, recording premium content, or running their own subscriber-based web site. Online erotic content is pervasive and generally classified as pornography. Much like activities inside the club, different dancers have different comfort levels for services they provide during private parties. Aside from advertising for striptease services outside the club, an unknown percentage of strippers also work in other aspects of the sex industry. This can include erotic and nude modeling, pornography, escorting, and in some cases prostitution. Outside the U.S., the use of strip clubs to facilitate sex-for-hire is much more common and stripping in those settings is viewed as advertising for sexually oriented business that will be performed in either private areas of the club or off-premises.


title: Strip club

text: Research suggests that exotic dancing can pay well, but often at significant cost to the stripper. One reason for this is the negative stigma associated with exotic dancing. Not all dancers are affected equally. Some dancers manage this stigma by dividing "the social world" and only revealing part of their identity. By revealing only a part of themselves, strippers may avoid being characterized by the stigmatizing attributes associated with exotic dancing. Outside the club, dancers are indistinguishable by appearance from the general population and no more likely to be the targets of acts like violent crime than are other women. Inside the club, personal boundaries are frequently crossed between strippers, customers, and other club staff. Research indicates that at some point every dancer has felt exploited by customers, management, or other dancers. The most common complaint from dancers is being portrayed as an object or instrument, rather than as a person. While dancers feel this exploitation and are affected by it, they also admit that they exploit their customers.


title: Strip club

text: Additional club staff almost always includes a club manager, as dancer-run clubs are rare. One or more managers are responsible for day-to-day operations on behalf of the club owner. Managerial responsibilities include money handling, inventory, and hiring and firing of employee staff and contractors. The manager role can be split between a general manager and one or more floor managers. If a bar is present, one or more dedicated bartenders might be employed to assist customers by preparing their drinks or by storing drinks that customers bring into BYOB clubs. In some localities bartenders are required to have an individual permit to serve alcohol. House moms monitor dancers on behalf of the management. A house mom can be particularly beneficial where staff is otherwise male, given her potential to relate to female dancers in a way that male members of staff may not be able to. Not every club will have a house mom.


title: Strip club

text: Bouncers are security personnel. They are typically relatively large and physically strong males, who enforce club policy and maintain order in and around the premises. In some cases, on-duty law enforcement may be on site if a club is viewed by authorities as a location with a high enough crime risk. More commonly, privately hired security (including off-duty police) are contracted to guard the premises. Bouncers can also double as doormen or disc jockeys (DJs); serving as hosts and maintaining the flow of entertainment and even cuing music for the dance sets. Where a DJ is not present, music may be provided via either a jukebox or sometimes live musicians.


title: Strip club

text: Strip clubs have a variety of configurations and staffing needs. Some clubs employ a host to emcee the show, in addition to a DJ. Hosts are more common in busier clubs or shifts, and during special, such as amateur night and featured acts. If the club charges a fee for entry, specialized personnel may work the door to collect the cover. A common practice is to employ young women, which are known in the industry as door girls, for this function. In certain areas, doormen working outside the strip club will act as "hype men" enticing people to enter and sample the show and services. The Block in Baltimore, Maryland, has aggressive doormen stationed at nearly every entrance, only feet apart in a highly concentrated area of clubs. Broadway in San Francisco, California, has fewer clubs clustered together, but practices similar activities with their doormen.


title: Strip club

text: Waitstaff are also employed to assist with providing drinks, and in some cases meals, to customers on the main floor and others areas of the club. Shooter girls are specialized waitstaff that carry pre-prepared drinks in shot glasses, that customers can conveniently purchase. Depending on the local ordinances, these shots may involve some erotic part of the body of the shooter girl, typically her cleavage, in the delivery. If a club has a policy of setting a drink minimum per visit or per hour, the floor staff also assists in enforcing those rules. Dancers may also be required to generate a certain number of drink purchases per shift and as part of their rounds, the waitstaff may ask customers if they would like to buy a drink for the dancer seated with them. If a kitchen is present and if premium fare is offered, the club may also employ a chef to prepare and cook food items.


title: Strip club

text: Parking lot attendants can include people who simply coordinate where to park and how much to pay or they may also include formal valets, who will park a vehicle and keep track of the driver's keys while he or she is in the club. Some clubs require paid or valet parking to be used if keeping cars on the premises, to generate revenue and help regulate patron behavior. Bathroom attendants monitor the restrooms on behalf of management; primarily watching for policy violations and potential liability concerns. In strip clubs, policy enforcement can range from watching for drug use, sex, fighting, and other activities the club would prefer to see done off the premises. The attendant will also attempt to keep the restroom area clean, assist with the washing of hands, and if available, provide by request an assortment of cologne, mints, and other disposable items.


title: Strip club

text: As a global industry, strip clubs are booming. As of 2009, there were between 3,500 and 4,000 strip clubs in the United States alone. More money is spent in the U.S. in strip clubs than is spent on theater, opera, ballet, jazz and classical music concerts combined. Some clubs have hundreds of entertainers appear on stage within a single year.


title: Strip club

text: The U.S. and international markets for clubs offering Americanized striptease are not well defined and published revenue figures are estimates. In 2002, the size of the U.S. industry was estimated to be US$3.1 billion, spanning 2,500 clubs and generating 19% of the total gross in legal adult entertainment revenue. The U.S. market for strip clubs was estimated to be as large as US$15 billion in 2005. That same year the U.S. state of California alone accounted for US$1 billion in revenue, and the total size of the global strip club industry was estimated to be US$75 billion. Also, in 2005, an estimated 300,000 women worked as strippers in the U.S., across 3,000 clubs. An industry insider in 2008 estimated the U.S. strip club market at close to US$2 billion, basing that estimate on Adult Video News Media Network (AVN) statistics and highlighting both the methodological variances of different studies and the difficulties of providing reliable statistics on the industry. Since then, the number of clubs in the U.S. has grown to approximately 4,000 by 2010.


title: Strip club

text: In Britain the number of strip clubs rose over 1,000 percent between 1997 and 2010. In 2008 alone, a strip club opened there almost every week. One factor in the proliferation of British strip clubs is Britain's 2003 Licensing Act, which introduced the one-size-fits-all premises licence, which meant that strip clubs in Britain no longer had to receive special permission for nudity. In 2005, revenues for the UK strip club industry, one of the fastest growing sectors of its leisure industry, were estimated to be GB£300 million. Revenues for 2006 in Scotland alone accounted for GB£20 million of the UK total.


title: Strip club

text: American-style striptease, closely associated with contemporary clubs around the world, began to appear outside North America in the post-World War II era, emerging in Asian performances during the late 1940s and in European theaters by 1950. A contemporary example, the American Spearmint Rhino chain, has clubs located in the UK, Russia, and Australia, as well as the United States. In 2003, the company's London location reportedly made GB£3 per minute. Strip clubs offering American striptease and other adult entertainment services have been established on six of seven continents (all except Antarctica), and the demand for these types of business is soaring in economically developing nations. Most adult entertainment companies, which include strip clubs, are in privately held ownership.


title: Strip club

text: Two strip club companies are publicly traded in U.S. financial markets and listed on NASDAQ: VCG Holding Corp. (VCGH) and RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. (RICK). In February 2010, the two clubs agreed in principle to merge, with Rick's Cabaret acquiring VCG Holding. The estimated purchase price, according to the statement of intent, was for the acquisition using RICK stock to be at a value of US$2.20 to US$3.80 per share. The US$45 million deal fell through after the statement of intent expired on March 31, 2010, with Rick's Cabaret unable to enter into a definitive merger agreement to acquire all of VCG's outstanding stock. A third publicly traded company, Scores Holding Company, Inc. (SCRH), licenses its brand to strip club operators but does not own or operate any club properties itself. Publicly reported earning statements for U.S. companies operating strip clubs have not provided guidance on how they define their market segment, non-public competitors, or overall industry revenue.


title: Strip club

text: The largest operator of strip clubs internationally is Déjà Vu, which has over 130 locations worldwide.


title: Strip club

text: The rapid expansion of the strip club industry observed in the 2000s occurred primarily in the Western world. Far from its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, Japan's sex industry has been in a protracted slump in the first decade of the 21st century, as the overall economy experienced a recession. Its hostess and strip bars (those which had not closed outright) felt the impact of dwindling corporate spending accounts, leading to increased competition (and reduced boundaries) for remaining patrons. Profitability of strip clubs, as with other service-oriented businesses, is largely driven by location and customer spending habits. Clubs closely proximate to Wall Street in New York, New York are notorious for hosting meetings with financial industry power brokers, among other business heavyweights, which are frequently expensed on company bankrolls. Since clubs located in urban areas or business centers have caused concerns over traffic and social issues, some club owners with common interests in close proximity have shared representation without consolidating their businesses. After numerous incidents during the 1990s with local and state government, Downtown Entertainment Inc. was formed in 2000 to represent the interests of business owners on The Block in Baltimore, Maryland.


title: Strip club

text: Strip clubs which practice Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) typically report negative working capital, where current liabilities exceed current assets. Clubs receive immediate cash payment for sales, while inventories, accrued expenses, and other current liabilities normally carry longer payment terms. The practice is believed to increase net cash provided by operating activities. Service revenues include entertainer payments to perform at clubs, customer admission fees, customer payments for tabs and tip charges, dance dollar payments, and suite rental fees. The economic downturn, which accelerated in 2008, impacted clubs at all levels, and even higher-end gentlemen's clubs in some parts of the U.S. and elsewhere adjusted their business practices to compensate for reduced revenues.


title: Strip club

text: Strip clubs can operate at all hours, depending on regulations and revenue. It is a common business practice to have a reduced door charge or no entry fee at all during daytime. Clubs that are open for more than just the nighttime hours may incorporate a staggered or shift work schedule for their entertainers and staff. External factors, such as location and public perception, have some impact on business, but the essential draw of the strip club is the live entertainment. Because of negative perceptions of the adult entertainment industry, many clubs engage in public displays of charity to generate goodwill. VCGH clubs, in order to be good corporate citizens, actively sponsor and participate in local charitable events and contribute to local charities. Some clubs also register their business entities using benign names, so that they appear to be businesses unrelated to the sex industry on receipts and financial statements, and as a means of discretion. Cameras (including camera phones) and other recording devices are often banned from strip clubs to "protect the identity of the women working there and to spare the blushes of men caught on film attending the club".