The Bondage Web is one of the oldest BDSM-related sites on the World Wide Web, and also one of the most famous (or infamous). The site launched on April 26, 1996. At the time, I had only taken bondage photographs for my private enjoyment, and there weren't many adult websites (let alone bondage- and BDSM-oriented sites) on the Internet. The World Wide Web was less than two years old. I signed up for a Netcom account and with my free "website space", I decided I'd try to provide a service for kinky folks everywhere.

Bondage Web & Fetish Central (I have no idea where "Fetish Central" came from other than that it sounded cool, but the phrase has popped up on many sites since then) was created to provide information resources for BDSM-curious surfers. I would write some "how-to" essays, share a few other essays from other sources, and provide a comprehensive links list. (Back then, I had no idea that a "comprehensive" list would eventually mean tens of thousands of links!)

The first "guest contributor" was the one and only Lorelei (known back then as Kristine Imboch). She was then working for Harmony Concepts and when I offered her a forum to write columns on any topics she chose, she jumped at the chance. Lorelei settled on bondage safety issues, and the feature "Kristine Ungagged" brought the Bondage Web some quick recognition. (Many of the original "Ungagged" columns are now part of Lorelei's Bondage University site.)

What made the Bondage Web famous, however (and indirectly started my photographic career), was an e-mail war waged over the images of Sean Harper. This pioneering bondage photographer of the early 1980's had created some of the most memorable images of bound beauty in history, and in 1997 Sean began to scan some of his original negatives and post them on the Usenet newsgroups.

My interest in bondage techniques had begun in 1981, when I saw a bondage magazine cover that Sean had created. He had been my first, and strongest, influence as a bondager; so I wrote him a letter telling him about my website, that I was a tremendous fan of his work, and since he was posting his images to the Internet anyway, may I post some of his scans on the Bondage Web? Sean's response was an enthusiastic "Yes" and, quite overjoyed to be paying tribute to my bondage hero, I started posting a selection of his images on the website for free. I was feeling pretty good about my little cyber-shrine, because I had obtained written permission from the owner of the images.

(Or so I thought. But we'll get to that ...)

Word quickly spread throughout cyberspace that the Sean Harper photos were parked on my free website, and more and more people came to the Bondage Web. It didn't take long at all for Netcom to shut down my site due to the bandwidth usage. The Bondage Web was off the Internet; what was I to do? Fortunately, a gentleman offered free space and bandwidth on his server. His website wasn't using all the resources it had been allotted, so several of us jumped at his generous offer: myself, Jim Weathers, Julie Connelly, LadyRope, Sir D'arcy, and many others. It didn't take long for my site to become the second-busiest website he hosted, and as more and more Harper pics went up, more and more people visited the Bondage Web.

One of the visitors was Robert Q. Harmon, the owner of Harmony Concepts. Harmon sent me a blistering note, accusing me of copyright piracy and demanding that I take down the Harper photos immediately. I was devastated. Hadn't I already gotten the copyright owner's permission? Harmon insisted that because he had paid Sean for those images, the rights belonged to Harmony. I went to Sean, who said in so many words: "I think I may have misled you by giving you my permission, but I can't take your side on this."

I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. Not only had my bondage hero turned his back on me, but the man responsible for producing so many of our bondage fantasies (and for whom I had dreamed of working some day) had just suggested that I was a criminal bent on hurting his company. At that moment, I thought I'd be figure-skating in Hell before I ever shot a bondage image for Harmony. I wrote Harmon back and told him that I would do as he asked ... but that I owed it to my visitors to explain exactly what happened. And that's exactly what I did. Harmon's e-mails to me, and my responses to him, were posted to the Bondage Web.

Among the many people who read our correspondence was Cory Thompson, better known back then as "Mr. T". At the time, Cory's Shortfuse Productions didn't exist and he wasn't a bondage photographer; he was a "pirate", scanning photos from old magazines and posting them on his free website. Cory's site was remarkably successful, as thousands of visitors surfed by every week to see Mr. T's latest scans and read his latest "rant". Cory and I had known each other for a while, and when he told me he wanted to write a page about Harmony's actions, I did nothing to discourage him. Cory's rant that Saturday was very powerful and quite vicious, and included Harmony's e-mail address. Thousands of people read Cory's words, and harsh e-mails by the hundreds poured into Harmony's mailbox.

The next day, Robert Harmon wrote to me, offering to compromise if I would "call off" the e-mail assault. We had won! ("Won what?", you may ask, but at the time it seemed like a tremendous victory. Thanks to Cory's help, I felt as if I had been vindicated!) Harmon and I moved our exchange to the telephone ... where our tone with each other changed drastically. Once we were speaking, "RQ" and I got along very well. RQ agreed to let me post the entire Sean Harper set (more than 1200 photos) for a few months, after which I would take the images down for good. As we ended our conversation, RQ mentioned that he recalled some personal bondage photos I had sent him in the past, and that he liked my bondage technique, so he said those immortal words:

"Next time you're in L.A., give me a call and we'll set up a photo shoot for you."

I was thunderstruck. Only minutes before, I had been convinced that pigs would fly before I'd ever create anything for Harmony ... and now my dream was going to come true after all! I immediately started clearing my calendar for a trip to Los Angeles.

Thanks to Sean, RQ and Cory, the Bondage Web was now one of the best-known bondage websites on the Internet. Well, fame carries a price, and it didn't take long for the fallout to begin. Lorelei pulled her columns off the Bondage Web, concerned that her contributions to any website that even might have stolen her then-employer's pictures could lead to problems. Moreover, the site's traffic kept climbing, and my web host was going broke paying for the bandwidth. Something had to give.

When the Sean Harper photos at last came down, the time had come. I flew to L.A. and met the man himself, Robert Q. Harmon -- my former adversary, who (although neither of us knew it at the time) was about to launch my new career. RQ, in turn, put me in touch with Jon Woods, who told me I would be working with a couple of brand-new bondage models. There was no way to know that one of them -- Andrea Neal -- would quickly become one of the most popular bound beauties in history, or that Andrea and I would work together many more times and that we'd be mentioned in the same breath for years to come. (Make no mistake, Harmony gave me my chance ... but whatever fame I have achieved as a bondage photographer, I owe to the beauty and talent of Andrea Neal.)

With my new career as a professional bondage photographer launched, I faced another problem. I had worked very hard for many years on the Bondage Web, but I had also promised that it would never become a pay website. The need to make money (to pay for a new hosting service, bondage models, and photo equipment) required me to start a separate website, PhilCarson.com, which was one of the first bondage sites to use a pay-per-view concept. (PhilCarson.com has evolved into SensualDistress.com, a recurring-subscription bondage paysite.)

I now earn my living from my paysite, so unfortunately the Bondage Web has been little more than a place to see my early Harmony photos for the past couple of years. New features, such as the Bondage Media Hall of Fame, have simply been too time-consuming for me to maintain (not to mention obsolete, as there are now other "hall of fame" polls and too many hundreds of working bondage models to track). Until now, the Bondage Web has mostly been neglected.

... Yes, I said "UNTIL NOW".

The Bondage Web has been re-born! You'll now find three separate sections:

1. Phil Carson bondage images (previously seen on PhilCarson.com and SensualDistress.com), available in hundreds of pay-per-view token galleries.

2. BDSM essays and resources, available (as always) for free. This "free site" will remain the core of the Bondage Web.

3. Soon, you will be able to view my post-Harmony video productions using your web browser! I'll certainly have more information for you when the system is in place.

The Bondage Web lives on! Enjoy the ride!