When you think 3D TV, the possibilities are limitless. That game-winning touchdown pass spiraling out of your flat screen, alien invaders flying ships through the screen ... and yes, even naked women strutting their stuff in your living room.

It's this latter and controversial content that is fueling the 3D business in Japan right now, where a pair of porn stars are leading the charge in developing three-dimensional entertainment that is compatible with Sony (SNE) and Panasonic (PC) televisions.

A day before it was set to go under the gavel, the sale of Sex.com stalled. The domain name was set to be auction, but an involuntary Chapter 11 filing by three of the company's creditors has put the brakes on the bidding. Escom LLC, which owns Sex.com, his on the hook, it seems, for an eight-figure tab.

The creditors' petition, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court shortly after noon yesterday by Washington Technology Associates, iEntertainment, Inc. and AccountingMatters.com LLC, claims that Sex.com owes them $10,092,118.68, according to a report by adult entertainment industry trade publication AVN (NSFW).

I have to admit, I completely missed this move. I usually keep tabs on Playboy (NYSE: PLA)'s stock action. Not very close tabs, truthfully, but I do check in somewhat regularly. I was shocked when I saw how low the stock had recently dropped. Back in the first week of May, when I reported on the adult-entertainment entity's earnings, the stock was trading around $7.25. As of Thursday's close, the stock was priced at $5.85 per share. The 52-week low now stands at $5.52. TheStreet.com recently cursed the stock to sell status.

That's a steep move in such a short period of time, and now I have to ask myself: Is the stock a trade? I mean, a thought that immediately came to my mind upon seeing the current share price was that the Wall Street movers and shakers may have overshot on the selling here.

But then, other thoughts came to mind such as how badly the company has been doing. Also, as Zac Bissonnette recently pointed out, pornography isn't really recession-proof at all in this age of the Internet. Seekers of adult entertainment have seen their wallets benefit from the proliferation of the clip culture as expressed by sites like YouTube and its more porn-friendly counterparts.

It appears that the world of porn is getting more attention from private equity and venture capital investors. And, no, it isn't that private equity executives and deal makers are spending more time looking at porn than they are negotiating deals. (Well, maybe.) More importantly, a big investor in the space has won an award and may be opening a floodgate of capital

AdultVest is a private equity venture that we covered on its launch earlier this year. The company concentrates exclusively on adult industry investments, mergers and acquisitions. So far, its initial numbers are pretty stellar.

It claims to have some $7.9 billion in "available capital" to invest in adult themed businesses, and $286 million of that was raised "within the last 7 days." It also claims to have 3,809 registered investors, with 53 of those signing up in the last week. (This data is from the group's homepage.)

The big news is that AdultVest was just selected by Alternative Investment News as one of four funds nominated for the "Hedge Fund Launch of the Year" award. And last month, the company announced it was acquiring iPorn.com.

Reading through the earnings release that Rick's Cabaret International Inc. (NASDAQ: RICK) produced earlier today, you might be tempted to conclude that adult entertainment is immune to a slowing economy. On the other hand, the incredibly poor recent performance by Playboy Enterprises inc. (NYSE: PLA) might make you conclude that the gathering slowdown could hurt this sector.

There are a number of reasons that the investment community is trying to get into and make money from porn. The most obvious one is that you are reading about it right here right now.

Investment conferences are usually pretty dull stuff. A dozen or so execs from small firms get 20 minutes each to stand up at the podium, run through a PowerPoint presentation and try to convince investors to throw some cash their way. Many investment banks hold them, often specializing in a particular sector.

Now the porn industry is getting what may be its first investment conference. Investment firm AdultVest has announced that it will schedule a series of ongoing meetings to bring potential investors together with business opportunities in the adult entertainment sector. This represents what may be the first go-to gathering for investors interested in adult-oriented businesses. If you're interested, here's your opportunity to be a porn mogul.

These two-day events will no doubt be a little spicier than the usual investment conference fare -- and in a sign of how popular AdultVest expects them to be, the firm will hold them every month. The press release also promises that, as the popularity of these meetings grows, they will be held in new venues like, "hotel meeting rooms, private estates, and private members clubs."

Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: PLA) may not be doing so well, but it's still one of my favorite companies -- I'm a guy, so this makes sense. The company reported Q4 and full-year earnings today -- losses have widened, and I'm sure not a few investors out there are questioning the value of the brand.

Total net revenues saw a slight decline for the quarter, coming in at roughly $86 million. The company lost 3 cents per share on these revenues; in the previous year's quarter, Playboy actually booked a much more pulchritudinous 11 cents per share of positive net income. For the year, total net revenues didn't jump like a bunny -- $340 million versus $331 million. Net income, however, was much better, doubling to 15 cents per share. The company's year-end results benefited from a decline in interest expense, income tax obligations, and other costs. Sales of artwork were also cited by CEO Christie Hefner in the release.

The licensing operations are performing, but domestic TV and publishing are very weak. In fact, it is the publishing segment that really needs attention. It's been needing attention for a long time now -- for the year, subscription sales were down, newsstand sales were down, and advertising revenues rose by the smallest bit.

Long-term, I still have hope for Hugh Hefner's Playboy. It is an American icon, and its logo continues to propel licensing; plus, the company does have a nice presence in Vegas at the Palms Casino Resort. As Jonathan Berr reported back in November, you may want to remember that sex does indeed sell, and one has to assume that Playboy will be supplying that demand for years to come.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: PLA), much like its founder Hugh Hefner, continues to show signs of spunk. The adult-entertainment company today reported better-than-expected third quarter profit, helped by strong licensing sales and international TV revenue.

Shares of the Chicago-based company are up about 10% over the past six months. Playboy is gaining new pop culture relevance thanks to "The Girls Next Door" and that will be further helped whenever the big budget movie about Hefner gets made.

Playboy, though, is a small fish in a very big media pond. Net income for the quarter was $2.6 billion, or 8 cents per share, compared with $1.1 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier, beating Wall Street consensus forecasts of 6 cents. The revenue figure of $82.8 million -- only a 1% gain from the year-earlier period -- missed analysts' estimates of $86 million.

Ronco, the company made famous for late-night commercials promoting such useful products such as the pocket fisherman and of course the Veg-o-Matic, has hit hard times, and is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "But wait!" as the commercials used to say. "There's more!"

The bankruptcy court proceedings were recently livened up by a discussion of Jill Kelly, whom CFO.com described with a straight face as an "award-winning porn star." It turns out that former Ronco CEO Richard Allen has asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California to examine what current CFO Ronald C. Stone disclosed about his work with Kelly as finance chief for Jill Kelly Productions, a producer of adult entertainment that's not of the Trivial Pursuit nature.

CFO.com, unfortunately, is light on the juicy details. Still, Allen mentioned in court an interview with Kelly by AVN (Adult VIdeo News) in which she disclosed firing Stone for poor performance (as CFO) and blamed him for allowing the company to fall into insolvency. The Web site adds that most of the assets of Kelly's company were later sold to Penthouse Media Group for $1.8 million.