In the US the 2006 Adam Walsh Act, created a recordkeeping regime for producers of simulated sexually explicit content and of content displaying lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area, known by its criminal code name as 2257A.
But that was nearly six years ago, and apparently because of a requirement by the Obama administration's Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Department of Justice has now tasked itself with finding out whether the burdens of creating and keeping
2257A records exceed those allowed under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and has asked for public comment regarding those 2257A regulations.
America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography. A wealth of research is now available demonstrating that pornography causes profound brain changes in both children and adults, resulting in widespread negative consequences.
Addiction to pornography is now common for adults and even for some children. The average age of first exposure to hard-core, Internet pornography is now 11. Pornography is toxic to marriages and relationships. It contributes to misogyny and violence
against women. It is a contributing factor to prostitution and sex trafficking.
Every family must now be concerned about the harm from pornography. As a parent, I am concerned about the widespread distribution of illegal obscene pornography and its profound effects on our culture.
For many decades, the American public has actively petitioned the United States Congress for laws prohibiting distribution of hard-core adult pornography.
Congress has responded. Current federal obscenity laws prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common
carrier. Rick Santorum believes that federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced. If elected President, I will appoint an Attorney General who will do so.
The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws. While the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers
over children and families, that will change under a Santorum Administration.
I proudly support the efforts of the War on Illegal Pornography Coalition that has tirelessly fought to get federal obscenity laws enforced. That coalition is composed of 120 national, state, and local groups, including Morality in
Media, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, Cornerstone Family Council of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania Family Institute, Concerned Women for America, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern
Baptist Convention, and a host of other groups. Together we will prevail.
Update: Nutters harangue Mitt Romney to follow Rick Santorum's anti-porn promises
Greetings and best wishes. We are writing to seek a meeting with you in the near future to discuss the necessity of enforcing federal obscenity laws should you be elected president. Those laws prohibit distribution of obscene (hardcore) pornography on
the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops, through the mail, and by common carrier.
The U.S. Department of Justice has stopped all enforcement of these laws at a time when our nation is suffering an untreated pandemic of harm from pornography.
Illegal adult obscenity contributes to addiction, divorce and break up of families, harm to children who have easy access to the material, violence against women and misogyny, as well as to sexual trafficking. Children are targeted by the pornography
industry, and they often engage in sexually exploitive behaviors as a result of their exposure to pornography. Many suffer life-long consequences.
Consumption of adult pornography leads many to consume harder and more deviant material over time and even leads many to consume child pornography, contributing to the widespread and increasing problem of child pornography distribution in America.
We believe that the next president needs to understand that a wealth of research now exists that provides overwhelmingly evidence of the great harms caused by pornography. We deserve to have the nation's obscenity laws enforced. There is widespread
public support for enforcement of these laws, which were passed overwhelmingly by the United States Congress.
We look forward to meeting with you and thank you for your consideration
Alan E Sears: President, CEO, & General Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund
Tony Perkins: President, Family Research Council
Phil Burres: President, Citizens for Community Values
Bishop Harry Jackson: Washington, DC
Mathew d Staver: Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel
Tim Wildmon: President, American Family Association
Donna Rice Hughes: President, Enough is Enough
Laura Lederer: President Global Centurion
Ted Baehr: Chairman, Christian Film & Television Commission
Josh McDowell: Josh McDowell Ministry
Austin Ruse: President, Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
Patrick A Trueman: President & CEO, Morality in Media
Dr Richard Land: President, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Comment: Rick, If You're Against Porn, Don't Watch It
In 2008, Florida's 8th Congressional District elected what would turn out to be one of Congress's most liberal members, Alan Grayson.
But having been voted out of his congressional seat in 2010 hasn't stopped the feisty former New Yorker from commenting on a wide variety of social issues ... including porn.
He has excellently responded to Rick Santorum's nutter pandering call to prosecute makers and sellers of hardcore porn. He wrote:
In a TV interview on Sunday, Rick Santorum said that if he is elected President, he will file criminal charges against the distribution of pornography. Santorum specifically referred to exposure on the Internet, so presumably he would censor the
Internet.
The Internet Police. What a concept.
...
I have a dramatically simpler idea.
Rick, if you're against pornography, then don't watch it.
You see how that works? Let me give you some more examples.
If you're against contraception, don't use it.
If you're against abortion, don't have one.
If you're against Moslems, don't become one.
If you're against gay marriage, don't have one.
If you're against unions, don't join one.
If you're against universal health care, just keep your distance from doctors and hospitals.
If you're against homosexuality, then feel free to limit your sexual interest to the 3 billion human beings of the opposite gender.
What I'm basically trying to say to Rick Santorum, and everyone like Rick Santorum, is this: mind your own business.
Former Senator Rick Santorum surprised few today with his decision to pull up stakes and suspend his campaign for the Republican nomination for president.
This also means that, unless he is tapped for the ticket, Santorum's so-called war on porn is officially a dead issue. Romney may share the same belief about prosecuting porn, but he is so uncomfortable with any subject that is even remotely messy that
it is inconceivable he will ever mention the p word without having been forced to do so, and even then he'll probably just walk away from the issue altogether.
Most men in the porn industry are not misogynists, like Deen they are decent guys who just enjoy the company of women. Anna Arrowsmith introduces WeConsent.org for proud sex workers and their allies
A mistrial has been declared in the federal obscenity trial of Los Angeles fetish film producer and distributor Ira Isaacs after jurors deadlocked on charges that he produced, sold and transported obscene material.
The panel deliberated for about a day after watching four films created or distributed by Isaacs, whose Internet-based business specialized in a niche of the pornography industry that included scatology and bestiality. The films, two of which Isaacs
directed and appeared in, made up the bulk of the three-day trial last week.
Jurors were deadlocked 10-2 in favor of finding him guilty, Isaacs said. Both of the jurors who voted against conviction were women.
Two of the jurors held out, Isaacs said, after having talked to one of the jurors after Judge King had dismissed them. And not only two; it was two of the women. We were allowed to talk to them outside the courtroom after it was all over, and
one talked to us. She basically said that her and another juror thought that this was art, serious art, and had artistic value, and should not be found obscene.
One of the two holdouts first thought I was guilty, he added. When they first went in there, they probably take like a straw poll: 'Who thinks he's guilty?' They start that way, and it was 11 to 1 with this one woman still holding out. But
after a while, I think the other woman then changed her mind and said, 'You know, I do think it has artistic value and there's reasonable doubt that they proved their case.' So it was two women who saved my butt, at least temporarily.
It is unclear where the case will go from here.
So the judge says to the prosecution, 'What are you going to do?' I mean, it's up to them, Isaacs reported. They said, 'Well, we're probably going to proceed with another prosecution. I can't tell you 100 percent because I've got to talk to my
people, but more than likely, we're going to proceed, and we'd like to set a trial date right now.'
At that point, Judge King set April 24 as the date for Isaacs' third trial.
Comment: An Open Letter from Ira Isaacs Awaiting the Jury Decision in his Obscenity Trial...
Like Larry Flint of old. I'm putting my ass on the line for your free speech rights. If I lose my case, it will just embolden the government to go after more mainstream adult producers.
The Los Angeles ordinance requiring condom use in porn film production has gone into effect. The ordinance allows spot checks on any set once a film permit is issued.
Officials from LAPD, Cal/OSHA and the city attorney's office are continuing making recommendations on how to implement the new ordinance.
And predictably the nutters that campaigned for this as an attack on the adult industry in general are now collecting signatures for a countywide initiative.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has collected over 120,000 signatures, more than half the 232,153 needed by June 5 to qualify a similar countywide measure for the November election.
A new survey conducted by adult online magazine XCritic.com and Vivid Entertainment has found that more than half of online buyers still pay to watch porn.
A Kentucky adult store has reached the end of a long legal battle to remain open after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear its case against the city of Richmond.
LA neighbouring county, Simi Valley, is placing the entire burden of inspecting porn sets for mandatory condom use and then reporting the results of the inspection, as well as all costs involved... on porn producers.
The ordinance would require porn makers, as a condition of receiving a filming permit from the city, to have a health care professional on their sets to observe whether the actors wear condoms, reported the Ventura County Star.
The producer would have to submit to the city a notarized affidavit by the health care professional stating that the actors complied.
Mayor Bob Huber, who is inconveniently seeking re-election in 2012, is the main instigator of the city's mandatory-condom ordinance. The bill will be up for approval at an upcoming meeting, after which it will become law 31 days later. Failure to comply
would constitute a misdemeanor offense punishable by fines and possible jail terms.
Adult performer Kimberly Kupps and her husband both agreed to a plea deal after falling victim to obscenity charges.
A Florida circuit court accepted the negotiated no contest plea, adjudicating the pair guilty of a single misdemeanor offense and imposing a fine of $325. All remaining misdemeanor counts, along with the felony charge, were dismissed, pursuant to
the plea agreement.
Cameras, video recorders and financial documents seized by the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's Office during the arrest are to be returned to the couple. Kupps was charged in July with 13 felonies for violating the distribution and sale of obscene
material and one for the wholesale promotion of obscene material for content on her website, KimberlyKupps.com.
Adult industry attorney Lawrence Walters, who defended the pair, told XBIZ:
While I believe that these charges were unwarranted and ill-conceived, I respect Theresa's decision to resolve the case in this manner, and move on with her life, Walters said. The entire prosecution was a waste of tax dollars and will have no impact on
the availability of erotic materials on the Internet.
Polk County officials are fighting a losing battle with these obscenity cases, and hopefully they will realize that sooner or later.
After Kupps was arrested, the nutter Polk County sheriff Grady Judd declared war on the production and distribution of porn in his county:
We want a wholesome community here, we don't want smut peddlers. And if they try to peddle their smut from Polk County or into Polk County we'll be on them like a cheap suit.
A Tennessee lawmaker has proposed a 25% on adult businesses and products that he claims could increase state revenue by $55 million.
According to local News Channel 5, Joe Carr believes the sin tax could help Tennesseans by tapping the state's $222 million annual porn business. He said:
If we can't outlaw it, and the Supreme Court says we cannot, then what we'll do is put a 25% tax on adult material, hard core pornography.
The lawmaker said it's not just about the money, but more about the harm porn is doing to local marriages.
But some Constitutional experts think the proposed bill probably violates the First Amendment. States have a legal right to tax so-called vices like liquor and tobacco but they're commercial products and don't have any First Amendment aspects attached to
them as porn does.
The future of porn? Men and women huddled around smartphones and tablets watching free tube sites, according to a survey of executives and performers in the adult entertainment industry.
The survey, released on Wednesday by Xbiz, an adult industry trade magazine, also found more than half of those surveyed do not plan to buy or use a .XXX domain for their content.
The only proof necessary to realize that the intention of Missouri's new strip club law is to drive all clubs out of the state is the fact that it was drafted with the help of the Missouri/Kansas faction of the American Family Association.
A perfect illustration of the insidious and anti-American influence of this and other like-minded groups is the success they have had getting supposedly lethal laws like the strip club ordinances either passed or in motion in states like Missouri, Ohio
and Kansas, as well as in counties and cities throughout the nation. These ordinances are generally similar, imposing restrictions on hours of operation, dress codes, and the amount of physical contact allowed between dancers and customers, if any,
especially if alcohol is served.
But the Kansas City Star has reported that one club in the state, Bazooka's, is testing the limitations of the law in a very creative way, and thus far is not only getting away with it, but is creating very happy customers as a result.
Bazooka's, an adult entertainment venue in downtown Kansas City, now offers videos of its nude and seminude dancers on large, flat-screen televisions adjacent to the stage, the paper reported. While a dancer performs live with her intimate areas covered,
as the law requires, a video of the same dancer---with those areas exposed---appears on the screens.
According to the club's owner, Dick Snow, the idea behind the videos is to meet the language of the law while still allowing the club to stay open after midnight, while also giving his clientele what they came for.
A spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department said the department had received no complaints about Bazooka's videos and said it did not appear that the establishment was violating any local or state laws, reported the Star.
Kandi Barbour, the stunningly beautiful star of such notable adult films as Screwples , The Budding of Brie and Neon Nights reportedly died in late January in San Francisco at age 55. She was reportedly homeless at the time.
When contacted by AVN, a representative from the San Francisco coroner's office stated that nobody by the name Linda Jean Smith (Barbour's real name) had been found dead within the last week; however, he also indicated that attempts were being made by
investigators to reach next of kin for an unnamed individual whom AVN believes could be Barbour, since at least one golden-age director had received a call from that office seeking information on Barbour's relatives. The spokesperson said that out of
respect for the family, investigators must exhaust all possibilities for reaching next of kin before releasing any information about the individual.
Born in 1956 and originally from Kansas, Barbour was a popular actress during porn's golden age, appearing in 42 adult movies, several softcore releases and at least 20 hardcore compilations. The majority of her work appeared between 1978 and 1981,
though she gave her final XXX performance in 1987 in X-Effect , directed by Ron Jeremy. She was perhaps best known as the poster girl for Cecil Howard's landmark 1981 film, Neon Nights , which was named by AVN as one of the 101 greatest
adult videos of all time.
Barbour's other notable credits include Chuck Vincent's Bon Appetit , Richard Mahler's Pink Ladies and Warren Evans Pandora's Mirror . In 2009, Barbour was inducted into the Pioneers branch of the X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO)
Hall of Fame.
Zalman King, the producer, director and screenwriter of numerous erotic films, died this morning after a six-year battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.
King's credits include 9 1/2 Weeks, Wild Orchid and the well-known Red Shoe Diaries for Showtime, which spawned many sequels and became a staple of erotic late-night cable TV.
King is perhaps best known for his collaboration with director Adrian Lyne on the film 9 1/2 Weeks , which featured an incendiary sex scene between Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. The scene has long been considered the hottest sex scene in a
mainstream Hollywood film.
King was praised for his work by the Los Angeles Times, which said, Zalman King is the reigning auteur of erotic fantasy. Premiere Magazine called him the high priest of erotic filmmaking.
Adult Video News (AVN) is one of the major US industry trade groups. Their awards are arguably the most prestigious in the business.
The most honours went to
The Rocki Whore Picture Show: A Hardcore Parody which won 9 awards: Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best DVD Extras, Best Editing, Best Makeup, Best Non-Sex Performance, Best Overall Marketing Campaign (Individual Project), Best Screenplay
(Parody), and Best Parody (Comedy).
Asa Akira Is Insatiable 2 (Elegant Angel), won 7 awards: Best Director (Non Feature); Best Double-Penetration Scene; Best Group Sex Scene; Best Tease Performance; Best Three-Way Sex Scene, Boy/Boy/Girl; Best Anal Sex Scene; and Best All-Sex Release
There are way too many to list all so here is a selection of the major movie winners:
Best Amateur Release:
Dare Dorm 4 , RK Netmedia/Jules Jordan
Best BDSM Release:
Disciplined , Anastasia Pierce/Pulse
It's more of a nuisance than anything else, says Steve Hirsch, founder and co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment, arguably the most high-profile producers of adult movies in the world. Because the law's reach is limited to the city of Los Angeles
itself, the San Fernando Valley, where a significant majority of adult movies are made already, and beyond remain fair game.
Currently, Vivid movie shoots are condom optional, Hirsch says, adding, we believe in letting the performers make the choice. Performers are required to be tested for HIV every 30 days and present proof of a negative result to sets where
they will be working.
Ultimately, if the law is extended to make shooting porn in Los Angeles too difficult, Hirsch says, We'll look for other areas that are more welcoming. And we'll take the thousands of jobs we create along with us. If we leave the state, those dollars
and the tax dollars will go along with us.
Simi Valley mayor Bob Huber is not the only public servant from the Los Angeles suburb who wants porn producers to stay away from his beloved town. The city council indicated its support for a planned ordinance that would make condoms mandatory for porn
shoots in the Ventura County city that is a stone's throw from Chatsworth and Canoga Park, where many adult studios are currently located. The ordinance is expected to be introduced at the council's Feb. 13 meeting.
Huber jumped on the mandatory condom bandwagon immediately following the recent vote by the Los Angeles city council passing an ordinance that ties the issuance of filming permits in the city to the use of condoms on adult sets. Mayor Villaraigosa signed
the ordinance into law in late January. Voicing his concern to the media that porn producers would make the easy move into Simi Valley, Mayor Huber said at the time the industry wasn't wanted in the family friendly city, and added his intention to
see an ordinance introduced that would also make Simi Valley a condom-only municipality.
The Simi Valley City Council has approved an ordinance, first introduced in late January, requiring as a stipulation of being granted filming permits that adult productions shot within its borders outfit performers with condoms during sex acts.
The new law, proposed by Simi's mayor, Bob Huber, following the January 17 passage of a virtually identical measure by the Los Angeles City Council, goes into effect in 31 days, according to the Ventura County Star.
Simi does not currently host many porn shoots but the overriding purpose of the measure is preventative. The council fears that L.A.'s mandatory condom law would send adult producers scurrying to neighboring Simi to escape the repressive law.
Los Angeles City Council has tentatively approved a measure that would require porn performers to wear condoms on production sets.
In a preliminary 11-1 vote, council members voted to approve the measure, which would require porn producers to provide and require the use of condoms on set in order to receive film permits in Los Angeles.
The ordinance still requires a second vote next week for final approval.
The council also agreed to create a group of law enforcement officials and state occupational safety regulators to determine how the measure would be enforced.
Councilman Paul Koretz said before the vote:
We can spend literally millions of dollars on an unnecessary election or we can do the right thing for free. For better or worse, the city of Los Angeles is nationally known as the capital of the adult film industry. We should be nationally known, also,
as the home of a safe adult film industry.
The Los Angeles City Council, 9-1, approved a new ordinance Tuesday requiring that all adult film actors wear condoms when filming within city limits. The ordinance, when it goes into effect, will allow the LAPD to perform spot checks on any set once a
film permit is issued.
The measure next goes to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his signature.
The Free Speech Coalition said that the adult industry trade group is in discussions with industry leaders and considering options for next steps.
Actors in adult movies filmed in Los Angeles will be required to use condoms under an ordinance signed into law by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and porn industry leaders say the regulation could lead them to abandon the nation's porn capital.
The law, signed Monday, will take effect 41 days after it is posted by the city clerk, something that could happen as early as this week.
Nutters with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which lobbied for years for such a law, expressed jubilation Tuesday and said they would now turn their attention to getting a similar condom requirement adopted elsewhere.
Leading Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have each pledged to enforce federal obscenity laws against major commercial distributors of hardcore adult pornography.
The pledges, compiled and published by Morality in Media, are part of the organization's The War on Illegal Pornography mission, which invites Internet users to message the front runners anti-porn sentiments.
None of the other Republican candidates nor President Obama has responded to efforts initiated by MIM to learn their views, the organization said.
Columbia's first licensed sex shop might be shut down by the end of January as the local council rushes in a new law that bans the shop.
The City Council adopted a new law that sets jumped up restrictions on such businesses, including a 700-foot buffer between any establishment that sells sex items and the nearest protected structure.
That buffer was designed to force Taboo Adult Superstore from operating at its location in a commercial area bounded by neighborhoods and businesses, some of which have complained the shop will hurt their incomes.
Taboo got its current license under the city's zoning laws that set general rules for commercial establishments.
A nutter outcry 'forced' the council to dream up a way to close Taboo, which seeks to sell sex toys, lubricants and sexual material that critics have characterized as a porn shop
Opponents of a sex shop on Devine Street were taken aback to learn that Taboo Adult Superstore got permission from the city to stay open for up to two years.
I'm just speechless and disgusted with our city (leaders) in general, said Hampton Hills Homeowners Association president Janet Jordan, one of the shop's most vocal critics. I'm furious with the city. The highest and best use of that location
is not a porn store.
Taboo, which sells videos and sex toys, was granted an extension to its business license under Columbia's new, tougher law that governs sexually oriented businesses.
In the US the 2006 Adam Walsh Act, created a recordkeeping regime for producers of simulated sexually explicit content and of content displaying lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area, known by its criminal code name as 2257A.
Rick Santorum writes on his website:
Dear Governor:
A mistrial has been declared in the federal obscenity trial of Los Angeles fetish film producer and distributor Ira Isaacs after jurors deadlocked on charges that he produced, sold and transported obscene material.
A Tennessee lawmaker has proposed a 25% on adult businesses and products that he claims could increase state revenue by $55 million.
The future of porn? Men and women huddled around smartphones and tablets watching free tube sites, according to a survey of executives and performers in the adult entertainment industry.
It's more of a nuisance than anything else, says Steve Hirsch, founder and co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment, arguably the most high-profile producers of adult movies in the world. Because the law's reach is limited to the city of Los Angeles
itself, the San Fernando Valley, where a significant majority of adult movies are made already, and beyond remain fair game.
Los Angeles City Council has tentatively approved a measure that would require porn performers to wear condoms on production sets.
Leading Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have each pledged to enforce federal obscenity laws against major commercial distributors of hardcore adult pornography.
Columbia's first licensed sex shop might be shut down by the end of January as the local council rushes in a new law that bans the shop.
