Delivering Weekly Censorship Updates to the Adult Entertainment Industry
Vol. X, No. 22, June 8, 2007 - A Member Service of the Free Speech Coalition Stories without byline submitted by FSC contract writer, Scott Ross
Contributing writers: Matt Gray and Dave Grimaldi
X-Press Editor-in-Chief: Scott L. Lowther
Special thanks to Cubik Corp. for formatting and Val Vizmanos for distribution
Copyright 2007 Free Speech Coalition. Permission to reprint granted to FSC members; please give credit.
Max Hardcore Indicted on Federal Obscenity Charges
CHATSWORTH, CA - The Department of Justice indicted adult producer/director Max Hardcore on federal obscenity charges filed last week in Tampa, Florida. According to AVN, the ten-count indictment charges Hardcore with "transporting obscene matter via mail and computer."
The indictment states that Hardcore "knowingly used an interactive computer service [...] in and affecting interstate commerce for the purpose of selling and distributing obscene matter," citing the transmission of five online video clips.
Hardcore is also charged with mailing DVD copies of Max Hardcore Extreme Vol. 20, Pure Max 19 Euro Edition, Fists of Fury 4 - Euro Edition, Planet Max 16 - Euro Edition to a post office box in Tampa "on or about January 18, 2006."
If convicted of the charges, Hardcore is subject to forfeiture of merchandise, profits and property associated with the "obscene" matter, including his home in Altadena, Calif. The government is also seeking forfeiture of the director's websites maxhardcore.com, pissedonpornstars.com and catalinaxxx.com.
A DOJ press release describes Max (aka Paul Little) as a "nationally-known director, producer, and star of films featuring acts such as anal penetration, urination, insertion of an entire hand into a vagina or anus, vomiting, and severe violence" involving female performers.
Hardcore is scheduled for arraignment on the charges on July 12th. The director turned himself in to California authorities on May 30.
A statement issued by Hardcore's attorney, Jeffrey J. Douglas, called the director "the most recent target of the Justice Department's effort to suppress freedom of speech."
"These are five movies depicting consensual acts between adults, exclusively for consenting adults. There is nothing criminal about these movies," said Douglas.
Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, questioned the wisdom of the Justice Department's decision to allocate resources to prosecuting adult entertainment. "We are talking about adults viewing material produced by adults utilizing adult actors. Gonzales is already under the spotlight for pushing his personal agenda. This is just more of the same."
http://avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=289624
FBI Inspects JT Video Records
HOLLYWOOD, CA - AVN reports that FBI agents met with adult producer JT on the last day of May to inspect 2257 records for two gay titles produced by his company JT Video in 1997.
"They were outside my apartment when I got home from work," JT wrote in an e-mail to AVN. "They were only interested in two titles: Employee of the Month and Four Rooms. They purchased the two movies from amvc.com. They had printouts of the disclaimers I recorded at the head of the tapes and the DVD box covers."
While 2257 regulations state that movies more than seven years old are exempt from inspection, the material fell within the statute of limitations because another company reissued the titles with a 2003 copyright on the box cover. A similar situation reportedly led to the recent FBI records inspection of Mark Stone's now-defunct company Moonlight.
"The inspection lasted about one hour," JT told AVN. "It would have been less but they were having problems with their printing equipment. I showed them the documents I had. They also wanted to see a spreadsheet. They were satisfied with IDs, [model] releases and the spreadsheet. Unfortunately, they found two minor violations. I wasn't expecting them to ask for a spreadsheet [with performer names], and fortunately, I prepared that years ago and had it on my computer. If I didn't have that, it would have been another violation!"
According to JT, the first violation stemmed from his use of a post office box as a mail drop address for location of records.
The second violation involved JT's business hours. In order to allow the FBI agents to inspect company records, 2257 law requires adult businesses to maintain at least 20 business hours per week. JT failed to meet this requirement because adult entertainment is only a sideline, not his primary occupation.
Agents reportedly told JT that he would most likely not be prosecuted for the minor violations and that "the worst would be a fine."
http://avn.com/index_cache.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=289645
Missouri Store Owner's Obscenity Conviction Overturned
ANDERSON, MO - The conviction of an adult store owner charged with three misdemeanor counts of promoting obscenity was overturned last week by a state court of appeals.
The appeals court overturned the conviction of Midnite Video South owner Robert Crump Jr. because of a procedural error on the part of the trial court. The case has been remanded for a new trial
Crump was arrested after clerks at Midnite Video South sold three adult videos to undercover law enforcement operatives in separate instances that took place between April 2004 and January 2005.
In its opinion, the appellate court concurred with Crump's argument that Judge John LePage erred in overruling a defense motion to dismiss the charges based on the fact that an affidavit of probable cause failed to describe the content of the allegedly obscene videos.
http://xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=23367
Thai Prosecutors Drop Porn Charges Against John T. Bone
PATTAYA, Thailand - Thai prosecutors have dropped charges against John Gilbert Bowen, aka John T. Bone, according to XBIZ.
Bowen wrote on his blog that Thai prosecutors have dropped the various pornography offenses he was charged with in April. Bowen told XBIZ he is leaving the country and will be in the U.S. in a few days.
Bowen, best known for directing Annabel Chong in "The World's Biggest Gang Bang," was arrested with two associates in April for filming and selling pornography in Thailand, where both the production and sale of adult material is illegal.
Police seized all of his equipment, including cameras, computers and a customer list.
Bowen said that the prosecutor decided there was no case to answer, and that he was free to leave the country.
"Believe me, it will take no time at all to pick up my laundry and head for the airport," Bowen said.
http://xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=23383
Police Raid Adult Website Performer's Home
FORT MITCHELL, KY - A couple that operate an adult website out of their apartment are being investigated by local police for violating the municipality's sexually oriented business law.
Jennifer Lunsford, aka Jen Madison, and her husband Michael Lunsford run JenMadison.com, an amateur site promoted as "The Naughty Wife Next Door," and featuring the 33-year-old Lunsford playing the part of the horny housewife. The site contains pictures, videos and three live-cams running 24/7.
Armed with a search warrant, investigators raided the Lunsford's home on May 25, seizing two computers, a digital camera, a video camera and other computer equipment as evidence.
Fort Mitchell police began its investigation of the pair in February after it received an anonymous tip that adult movies were being produced in the Lunsfords residence.
No charges have been filed. If convicted, the Lunsfords face only a $250 fine. The couple moved back to New York, where they are originally from, shortly after the raid, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070603/NEWS01/706030333
Federal Court Finds Blurted Obscenities Don't Breach Decency
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal appeals panel has struck down the government policy that authorizes fines for stations and networks if they broadcast shows containing obscene language.
Monday's 2-1 decision by the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals could inhibit the ability of the Federal Communications Commission to regulate any speech on television or radio. The suit was in response to the F.C.C crackdown on broadcast language that began in 2003 when the commission reversed decades of policy and began a strict interpretation of their undefined policy.
The ruling was the result of a lawsuit brought by Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC that was concerned primarily with blurted obscenities, referred to in the legal proceedings as "fleeting expletives."
The decision vacates an indecency ruling against the Fox TV network for separate incidents in 2002 when singer Cher said, "Fuck 'em," and in 2003 when celebrity Nicole Richie said, "It's not so fucking simple," live on television at the Billboard Music Awards.
The case has been sent back to the commission to rewrite its indecency policy, but the court indicated that they believed that the policy could not be revised in a way that would be able to "adequately respond to the constitutional and statutory challenges raised by the networks."
In a majority opinion written by Judge Rosemary Pooler, the appeals court said, "With that backdrop in mind, we question whether the FCC's indecency test can survive First Amendment scrutiny. For instance, we are sympathetic to the Networks' contention that the FCC's indecency test is undefined, indiscernible, inconsistent, and consequently, unconstitutionally vague."
"It appears that under the FCC's current indecency regime, any and all uses of an expletive is presumptively indecent and profane with the broadcaster then having to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the commission, under an unidentified burden of proof, that the expletives were 'integral' to the work.
"In the licensing context, the Supreme Court has cautioned against speech regulations that give too much discretion to government officials," the court said. The F.C.C. is now considering whether to seek an appeal en banc or to take the matter directly to the Supreme Court.
CAPITOL HILL INTRODUCES TWO NEW PIECES OF LEGISLATION TO MANDATE SITE LABELING
WASHINGTON, D.C. - One of the ongoing debates on Capitol Hill, housed under the rubric of "protecting youth online," is the requirement that sexually explicit websites be mandated by law to include a labeling regime. While many organizations, including the Free Speech Coalition, support tools that allow effective filtering of sexual contact (including some labeling regimes), having the federal government mandate that labeling is both ineffective and potentially unconstitutional is a problem.
The mandatory labeling legislation in the current Congressional session has been brought to you by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). S. 49, the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, was introduced by Sen. Stevens on January 4, 2007, the first day of this Congress. It includes a provision requiring the operator of a website to label every page which includes sexually explicit materials with marks or notices determined by Federal Trade Commission. Penalties for failing to comply with the provisions include fines and/or up to 5 years in prison. There are currently no co-sponsors and the legislation was referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
A similar provision is included in H.R. 837, the Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth Act (SAFETY) of 2007, introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TC). The bill was sent to the House Judiciary Committee and currently has nine co-sponsors, all Republicans (see the Mar. 1 edition of XPRESS for more on H.R. 837).
Having the federal government "mandate" the labeling of adult materials has raised a number of concerns in terms of effectiveness and constitutionality. Since U.S. law can only affect websites in this country, the hundreds of thousands of overseas adult sites would not be covered, making the provision ineffectual. The broad language defining "sexually explicit" material would sweep in content that is clearly outside the realm of "adult entertainment". In addition, these provisions raise serious constitutional concerns by stigmatizing material that, while disfavored by some, is completely legal.
Finally, much of the adult entertainment industry understands the value of notifying internet users when they are entering adult space. The "Restricted to Adults" tag developed by the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is already in use on many sites, and has the potential to be much more effective, and universal, than anything the federal government could impose.
While no action is currently planned for these bills, FSC will continue to track these legislative proposals and educate policy makers about the flaws of the legislation in the hopes of seeing them defeated.
-- FSC's Federal Lobbying Team
Email Xpress@freespeechcoalition.com for more information.
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JUNE 7-10 - Cybernet Expo, Tampa Bay, Florida
JUNE 22-24 - Erotica L.A., Los Angeles Convention Center
JULY 11-13 - XBiz Summer '07 Forum, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
JULY 16-18 - ANE - Adult Novelty Expo, Universal City, CA
AUGUST 3-5 - Internext, Hollywood, FL
AUGUST 27-30 - Annual Gentlemen's Club Owners Expo, Las Vegas, NV
AUGUST 27-30 - STOREROTICA Convention and Tradeshow, Las Vegas, NV
SEPT 21-23 - ADULTCON, Los Angeles Convention Center
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