Unfortunately for Paris Hilton, life was simpler before the advent of the Internet.

Despite threats of legal action by her parents, links to bootleg copies of the vixen’s steamy sex tape sprouted like fungus all over the fertile ground of the World Wide Web Tuesday.

In less technologically advanced times, the hotel heiress’ family fortune might have been enough to buy her an innocent reputation.

But nowadays, just about any interested onlooker can do a quick search and stumble upon the X-rated romp between Hilton and ex-boyfriend Rick Solomon, who’s also the on-again, off-again husband of Shannen Doherty.

The tape, reportedly shot three years ago, when Hilton was a barely-legal 19 and Solomon was 30, is a grainy, night-vision glimpse into a session of mattress frolicking between the two.

When rumors of the tape first surfaced, Hilton denied its existence, calling Solomon “a complete liar and scumbag” in New York magazine, but she was later forced to backpedal after it become obvious that the video was all too real.

The Hilton publicity machine kicked into high-gear last week in a frantic attempt to de-tarnish Paris’ already besmirched rep and to strike guilt into the hearts of those who would circulate the tawdry footage.

“The Hilton family is greatly saddened at how low human beings will stoop to exploit their daughter, Paris, who is sweet-natured, for their own self-promotion as well as profit motives,” read a statement released by the family.

Unfortunately, self-promoters with profit motives aren’t likely to take the reported sweet natures of amateur porn subjects under consideration–just asks Pamela Anderson.

It’s a whole new kind of reality TV for Hilton, who’s the star of Fox’s upcoming rags-to-riches reality series The Simple Life.

As for Solomon, who recently launched a clothing and video venture titled Beverly Hills Pimps & Hos, which is described as an A-list version of Girls Gone Wild, one would think the leaked sex tape would serve as marketing gold–particularly since he bragged about the tape’s existence earlier in the year.

However, lawyers for Solomon say that he has nothing to do with the video’s release, and that he is even threatening to sue the Hiltons for defamation for claiming that he took advantage of a definitely-not-camera-shy Paris.

Both the Hiltons and Solomon are reportedly trying to stop the Seattle Internet porn company Marvad from hawking the video on its Sexbrat.com site–however, it’s unclear how this will impact the circulation of the highly visible ribald romp, since it’s already up for grabs for free.

In the meantime, merchandisers and pranksters have decided to use the media frenzy over the tape to make hay while the sun shines.

“Paris Hilton Sex Tape” t-shirts are available in online boutiques, while a search for “Paris Hilton Sex Tape” on the file-sharing site KaZaa leads to clips of everything from large naked women doing provocative dances to a monkey drinking his own urine.