Tristan Taormino's Rough Sex from Vivid Entertainment was recognized with the Adult Industry Showcase Award at the seventh annual CineKink Film Festival held last month in New York City.

I was honored to be included in this showcase with such other terrific filmmakers and now I'm thrilled to get this award as it was determined by audience ballot. It's the type of recognition that directors dream about, said Taormino.

Rough Sex was also nominated for a 2010 AVN award and named as one of XCritic.com's 10 Top Adult DVDs of 2009.

CineKink NYC presented a specially curated program of films and videos that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality. Billing itself as the kinky film festival, the event ran from Feb. 16-21. It was presented by CineKink, an organization dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of sex positive and kink friendly depictions in film and television.

The adult-entertainment industry is in a tailspin, shattering the notion that it is one of the few recession-proof industries.

The slump is especially stinging because technology — which helped adult-entertainment enterprises reap riches through innovations such as video streaming, webcameras and online payments — is contributing to the misery.

DVDs and online pay sites, which make up the majority of porn-related sales, are in a free fall largely because of the rise of so-called tube sites. Knockoffs of video-sharing site YouTube, the sites serve up snippets of free porn that is often pirated.

Some 1,000 tube sites — double those of a year ago — have put a sizable dent in the estimated $13 billion porn industry, prompting a flurry of copyright-infringement lawsuits. Most tube sites run ads to make money.

We're dealing with the perfect storm: declining DVD sales, rampant piracy, free content and a weak economy, says Steven Hirsch, founder of porn heavyweight Vivid Entertainment. He says its DVD sales plunged 20% last year. This is the worst I've seen in this industry in 25 years.

A recent report by market researcher XBIZ. It says initial orders of DVD titles by distributors have sunk, on average, to 1,500 to 2,000 now, vs. 5,000 to 6,000 in 2005.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., refused to dismiss a case against pornography producers who were charged with trafficking hard-core porn films across state lines and displaying illicit movie trailers online.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected their claim that federal obscenity laws are unconstitutional.

John Stagliano and Evil Angel Productions Inc. claimed that federal laws criminalizing the interstate trafficking of obscenity were unconstitutional. They argued that the law barring a Web site from displaying obscene materials was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, because made online material subject to the community standards of the most conservative jurisdictions in the country.

But Judge Leon said the law was confined to a very narrow legal definition of obscenity. He said he is certain that online material will be judged as a whole and not individually according to obscenity laws, quashing filmmakers concerns that the trailer would be taken out of context.

Federal obscenity statutes require items to be judged in context of surrounding work. The government will have to show that the trailer is obscene in the context of the Web page, Leon said.

He also rejected their claim of a right to sexual privacy, saying such a right does not cover the distribution of obscene materials. He said the producers' case pales in comparison and does not even remotely approach the sexual privacy cases concerning homosexual rights and rights to obtain birth control. However you look at it, obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment, Leon concluded.

EXXXotica Miami Beach 2010
Friday, May 14 to Sunday, May 16
Miami Beach Convention Center

The EXXXotica Expo, presented by Hot Movies.Com, has become an annual staple to the South Florida area. Averaging nearly 20,000 attendees annually, the event celebrates its fifth anniversary this year.

Highlights of the show will once again include Genesis magazine's Fantasy Island attraction, where fans can meet their favorite stars from adult films. Some of the names already confirmed for EXXXotica's Fantasy Island include Digital Playground's Jesse Jane; Adam & Eve contract stars Teagan Presley, Bree Olson and Alexis Ford; adult stars Jenna Haze, Sunny Leone, Gina Lynn and Alexis Texas; AVN Best New Starlet winner Kagney Linn Karter; and Jersey Shore XXX star Taryn Thomas. In all, at least 20 major performers will be featured.

This year's show will also feature the South Beach debut of the Legends of EXXXotica—an adult movie hall of fame come to life, say organizers. Some of the personalities already scheduled to appear include Lisa Ann, Seka, Raylene, Taylor Wane, Sean Michaels and Mr. Marcus.

Exxxotica gives fans the opportunity not only to meet hundreds of stars but also to browse the latest products and services from more than 150 exhibitors, including HotMovies.com, Clips4Sale.com, MyFreeCams.com, men's magazines Genesis and Club, and the World Erotic Art Museum. The fan-friendly event also offers attendees the chance to celebrate sexy with dozens of interactive shows and events.

Detroit City Council have approved further repression of the city's 31 topless clubs. They have banned VIP rooms and lap dancing, but still allow the clubs to serve booze.

The council also voted unanimously to pass new zoning regulations limiting where new clubs could open.

The action comes one day after more than 500 people attended a 3.5 hour public hearing on the issue. The majority backed tougher regulations, which included the alcohol prohibition and opaque pasties that the council has abandoned. The watering-down of the rules infuriated religious nutters.

The Reverend Nutter Marvin Winans, pastor of Perfecting Church who led the fight for tougher rules, promised to continue the battle: Detroit deserves better, said Winans, who added he had no specific plans for a next step. The people are going to have the last word.

Strip club owners and employees said the crackdown would cripple their business, but after the vote, Larry Kaplan of the Association of Club Executives said they would do our best to live within the restrictions.

During the debate, Assistant Police Chief Ralph Godbee warned an alcohol ban at topless clubs could drive the behavior underground, creating more blind pigs. He added it would be harder for police to make sure underage girls aren't dancing at the blind pigs. Licensed clubs could lose their liquor license for certain violations.

The new rules would ban VIP rooms, require most employees get licenses from the city and limit dancers to 18-inch tall stages, which essentially bans lap dancing. The rules also ban touching, even when dancers are clothed.

Other changes include:

• All employees would have to get licenses and pass background checks except bathroom attendants, valets and repair and delivery workers. The city has yet to determine the cost of the licenses.
• Employees couldn't get licenses if they have certain criminal convictions, including sexual or drug related crimes.
• New clubs have to be at least 1,000 feet from another club, house, park, school or church.

Adult industry legend Jamie Gillis succumbed Friday to a battle with cancer in his hometown of New York City. He was 66.

A longtime New York acquaintance of Gillis' tells AVN the strain of cancer afflicting him was melanoma. The disease was diagnosed a mere four to five months ago, the source said.

Gillis will be cremated at a private ceremony. He requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the NYC Police Athletic League, an organization that assisted him as a boy and continues to aid New York City children.

Vetern adult director Cass Paley (aka Wesley Emerson) said the following in an email to AVN Friday evening regarding Gillis' death: It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Jamie Gillis. A wonderful and charismatic man and most treasured friend, he will be greatly missed by his partner Zarela, his family, his many friends, and countless fans around the world.

Jenny Joyce, a familiar face to fans of mature women videos, died on Feb. 9 at the age of 63 in Las Vegas of polycystic kidney disease after a long illness.

The actress, who appeared in about 35 movies between 1993 and 2007, worked mostly for specialty producers Totally Tasteless Video and Filmco Releasing, as well as amateur company Mike Hott Video. She appeared in several volumes of the Aged to Perfection series, and even starred in two volumes of Shooting Star Productions' Secret Life of Jenny Joyce.

She was well-known in her private life as an advocate for the disabled and those with Down syndrome, even going so far as to direct a play featuring only disabled actors.

The Texas Supreme Court has decided to review the legality of charging a $5-per-person pole tax to patrons of strip clubs and other adult entertainment venues, a case that has hinged on whether the government can tax content protected by the First Amendment.

The law, passed in the 2007 legislative session, originally directed revenues collected from the fee toward sexual abuse and violence treatment and prevention programs, but it has been mired in legal wrangling almost since it took effect in 2008.

I'm extremely happy that they agreed to hear the case, said State Rep. Ellen Cohen, who sponsored the legislation and filed an amicus brief urging the court to review the matter. If you're going to do this, you need to raise a substantial enough amount of money to make a dramatic effect on issues surrounding sexual violence. The way we fashioned it was absolutely the correct way and the most reasoned way.

The law was struck down in March 2008, by a Travis County District Court judge, a ruling that was upheld in June by the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. The state has collected more than $12 million in fees that have been held in escrow pending the final outcome of the case.

David A. Furlow, a former Harris County prosecutor who has represented businesses in numerous cases involving First Amendment protections, said the central issue is whether the government can levy a tax on speech, such as a newspaper or TV show or dancing in a strip club, that has the effect of singling it out.

When you say certain types of messages and certain types of entertainment can be taxed, you begin down a slippery slope that can allow the government to destroy a form of business by taxing it out of existence, he said. You start down a pathway that could lead to censorship-based government like that which exists in Iran.

To defend the law, the government has been forced to argue that strip clubs lead to greater violence against women, a claim for which there is no evidence, Furlow said. Under such logic, he added, R-rated movies could be taxed because of the violence sometimes depicted in them.

An Albuquerque judge has fined a group responsible for organizing an adult film festival.

The Guild Theatre near Central and Carlisle has hosted the Pornotopia film festival— an event that has attracted both porn lovers and controversy.

After three years, the judge decided the theatre that has hosted the Pornotopia film festival is not zoned for adult entertainment, but organizers say the show will go on. The festival will likely be held somewhere else though.

Matie Fricker, the co-owner of Self Serve, a sex store in Nob Hill, is trying to figure out where she can host Pornotopia later this year. She has organized the festival since it started in 2007.

A Metro Court judge fined the Guild Theatre $500 for a building code violation stemming from one of the previous festivals, saying the theatre is not zoned for adult entertainment.

City officials admit there have been no formal complaints from the public about the event, but now their legal department is checking to see if the Guild can be fined for the other two festivals.

Some of the biggest names in the adult industry strutted their stuff and sizzled on the red carpet at the 8th annual XBIZ Awards, held at the Avalon Hollywood.

Honors were handed out to the most influential companies and performers who play a vital role in the growth and popularity of adult entertainment.

• Affiliate Program of the Year Pimproll
• Emerging Affiliate Program of the Year Cash Dorado
• VOD Company of the Year Hot Movies.Com
• Content Licensor of the Year Platinum Feeds
• Live Video Chat of the Year LiveJasmin
• Web Host of the Year Cavecreek
• Design Studio of the Year Blue Design Studios
• Dating Program of the Year Adult Friend Finder
• Web Retailer of the Year Fleshlight
• Billing Company of the Year – IPSP GTBill
• Billing Company of the Year – Merchant Services Netbilling
• Billing Company of the Year – Alternative Webbilling
• Software Company of the Year 2Much.net
• GLBT Web Company of the Year Buddy Profits
• Web Babe of the Year Jelena Jensen
• Pornstar Website of the Year Eva Angelina
• Traffic Service Company of the Year EroAdvertising
• Mobile Company of the Year TopBucks Mobile
• Innovative Web Company of the Year RedLightCenter.com

A US comic book collector has been sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to importing and possessing Japanese manga books supposedly depicting illustrations of child sex and bestiality [presumably referring to the usual many tentacled monsters].

Christopher Handley was sentenced in Iowa almost a year after pleading guilty to charges of possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children. Without a plea deal with federal authorities, he faced a maximum 15-year sentence.

The man was charged under the 2003 Protect Act, which outlaws cartoons, drawings, sculptures or paintings depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and which lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Handley was the nation’s first to be convicted under that law for possessing cartoon art, without any evidence that he also collected or viewed genuine child pornography.

Comic fans were outraged, saying jailing someone over manga does not protect children from sexual abuse. I’d say the anime community’s reaction to this, since day one, has been almost exclusively one of support for Handley and disgust with the U.S. courts and legal system, Christopher MacDonald, editor of Anime News Network, said in an e-mail.

Congress passed the Protect Act after the Supreme Court struck down a broader law prohibiting any visual depictions of minors engaged in sexual activity, including computer-generated imagery and other fakes. The high court ruled that the ban was too broad, and could cover legitimate speech, including Hollywood productions.

In response, the Protect Act narrows the prohibition to cover only depictions that the defendant’s community would consider obscene.

One of the issues we've talked about repeatedly over the years is the question of what is the internet jurisdiction.

If you think that just because it appears on the internet, anyone's laws apply, then you reach an untenable situation where all online content is controlled by the strictest, most draconian rules out there. That makes little sense.

And yet some courts still think this is the appropriate interpretation of the law.

In the US it's already troubling enough that the issue of indecency is measured on an amorphous community standards basis, but when it comes to the internet, what community applies?

A recent ruling in the 11th Circuit Court of appeals on a pornography case, the court seems to have made a ruling that effectively says all online content should be held to the standards of the strictest communities. Thus, an erotica website targeting a NY subculture should be held to the standards of a southern bible belt rural community? That seems ridiculous, but it's what the court said.

In this case, a guy who produced porn content in California was tried in Tampa, Florida, because investigators downloaded his content there:

The Atlanta-based court rejected arguments by Paul Little (Max Hardcore)'s attorneys that applying a local community standard to the Internet violates the First Amendment because doing so means material can be judged according to the standards of the strictest communities.

Other courts, including one in California, have found differently on similar questions, so it seems likely that, at some point, this issue will finally go back to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, it seems likely that the Supreme Court will focus on what counts as community standards rather than whether or not laws against obscenity even make legal sense under the First Amendment.

Five coffee shop workers in Everett, north of Seattle, US, are facing prostitution charges for putting on sex shows for customers in return of cash.

The five baristas work in bikini coffee shops where the staff is required to wear swimsuits, but they are said to have gone further by wearing thongs and nipple tassels.

According to the police, the five indulged in lewd behaviour bordering on the obscene, and have been accused of charging up to 80 dollars to let customers fondle or photograph them as they put on erotic shows. They face court dates on prostitution charges later this month.

Dozens of bikini coffee shops, with names like Brewlesque, Twin Perks and Java Juggs, have sprung up in the Seattle area as competition for customers mounted.

Bill Wheeler, who runs four Grab-N-Go bikini espresso stands in the Everett area, said the prostitution charges has damaged business: You have a bunch of church groups that got together and decided they just don't like women in bikinis.

But at Java Juggs business is booming, with workers picking up close to 150 dollars in tips during a six-hour shift: We just wear lingerie, or bras and panties instead of pasties (nipple tassels) and thongs. We have a lot of regulars. They don't really care too much, barista Jade Layng added.

Update: Grinding out a Repressive Deal

7th March 2010. Based on article from google.com

Prosecutors in Washington state have dropped prostitution charges against a bikini barista accused of selling more than coffee at an espresso stand.

The Daily Herald reports that Everett Municipal Court Judge Timothy O'Dell approved a deal between Everett prosecutors and the 21-year-old Kirkland woman that would drop the charges if she promised to stay out of trouble for two years.

If she fails, she could face prosecution in municipal court for violating the adult entertainment ordinance.

The woman also agreed to testify against four other Grab-n-Go baristas charged last year with prostitution and violating city ordinances. They were accused of charging customers for touching certain body parts and for stripping down while fixing drinks.

New Orleans police are using a state law written in 1805 for child molesters to charge hundreds of sex workers as sex offenders.

The law, which dates back to 1805, declares it a crime against nature to engage in unnatural copulation -- a term New Orleans cops and the district attorney's office have interpreted to mean anal or oral sex.

Sex workers convicted of breaking this law are charged with felonies, issued longer jail sentences and forced to register as sex offenders.

Of the 861 sex offenders currently registered in New Orleans, 483 were convicted of a crime against nature, according to Doug Cain, a spokesperson with the Louisiana State Police. And of those convicted of a crime against nature, 78% are Black and almost all are women.

The law impacts sex workers in both small and large ways. One sex worker, Tabitha, explains that she has to register an address in the sex offender database. Her driver's license has the label sex offender printed on it. She also has to purchase and mail postcards with her picture to everyone in the neighborhood informing them of her conviction. If she needs to evacuate to a shelter during a hurricane, she must evacuate to a special shelter for sex offenders, and this shelter has no separate safe spaces for women. She is even prohibited from ordinary activities in New Orleans like wearing a costume at Mardi Gras.

The Missouri Senate has endorsed repressively strict regulations for sexually oriented businesses.

The legislation would ban strip clubs and adult video stores within 1,000 feet of homes, schools, churches, libraries, parks and day cares. It also would ban nudity, require semi-nude employees to stay 6 feet from customers and force adult businesses to close by midnight.

Senators gave initial approval to the bill by voice vote after a short debate with scant opposition. A final vote, which would send the bill to the House, is expected early next week.

The legislation is sponsored by the long time nutter senator Matt Bartle.

Bartle recently testified before a federal grand jury in Kansas City that is looking into how his 2005 version died in the House. Bartle has said he believes there is a link between a $35,000 contribution from the adult entertainment industry to a political committee and then-House Speaker Rod Jetton's decision to send the bill to a committee whose chairman opposed it. Jetton has denied wrongdoing and said there's no connection between the money and the legislation's demise.

Bartle and Senate Majority Leader Kevin Engler both said it was mere coincidence that the Senate took up Bartle's latest anti-pornography legislation the same week as the grand jury investigation. But they acknowledged the publicity could help propel the bill to passage this year.

The bill's restrictions on the location of sexually oriented businesses would apply only to those opening after its Aug. 28 effective date. But existing businesses may have to remodel. They would have 180 days to comply with provisions requiring semi-nude dancers to remain on a stage at least 18 inches high that is at least 6 feet from customers in a room with at least 600 square feet.

Businesses or individuals that don't comply with the legislation could face misdemeanor charges punishable by a fine of up to $500 and 90 days in jail for each day a violation exists.