The porn industry doesn't fall under the watchful eye of any government agency; it is self-regulating and has created certain rules that performers are required to follow. The Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, known as AIM (aim-med.org), is a nonprofit organization that does all the STD testing for the porn industry. It was founded in 1997 as the centralized place for HIV testing, and today it provides full STD testing and treatment as well as other medical services.
The industry now requires that all performers arrive on a set with an AIM test no older than 30 days with negative results for HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. While AIM tests for other STDs, performers are not required to disclose those results; Belladonna's post broke the silence about herpes and other risks.
So why doesn't everyone use condoms to protect themselves? The gay-male-porn industry adopted a widespread policy of mandatory condom use, but the straight-porn world has not followed suit. At the height of an HIV outbreak in 2004, which infected four performers, there was a quarantine period, followed by announcements from some companies that they'd be condom-only. By 2006, the policies were abandoned, and nearly all straight porn shot today is condom-free.
The rationale is that consumers don't want to see condoms in what's supposed to be a fantasy. Some producers claim that movies with condoms sell drastically fewer copies than movies without them. Performers themselves have mixed opinions.
Many would love to use them for every scene, but don't out of fear of losing work. Others, including women, say that it makes sex less comfortable or more difficult. Some male performers find that condoms hamper their ability to maintain an erection—thus the scenes take longer to shoot.
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