WATERVILLE — Pornography in Waterville: The business wasn’t new, but the idea came across as novel, to say the least.

Platinum Media had been editing and distributing pornography DVDs since 1999 from a quiet neighborhood off Main Street, but most people in the area didn’t know about it until early this week.

The revelation that such an operation not only could survive, but thrive, in central Maine sparked an online discussion that continued on into Tuesday afternoon. Comments ranged from praise for local entrepreneurship to prayers for the close of the business.

The business, owned by Mandi Michaels, Scott and Margaret Morgan, grosses an estimated $600,000 and distributes sex footage across the country. They have won numerous industry awards, catching the eye of trade magazine XBIZ Video, which last year declared that Platinum Media’s success was making Waterville “The Porn Capital of Maine.”

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