News
        June 2005

      Adult Stores May Be Forced To Close
        Revisions To Federal Law May Take Away Your Access To
        Sex Education & Sexually Entertaining Products From Pictures,
        Videos To Sex Toys

Why This Is Serious...

Let me review what products we are speaking about... this includes better sex videos, adult entertainment videos, nude pictures, sex toys that have nude models on the covers, and so much more! Much of this is going to be illegal to display on a web site or possibly to sell after June 23, 2005... the Department of Justice has crossed the line of trying to protect citizens and is now well on it's way to violating their rights.

Now, some people may say I am exaggerating and that this is not that desperate a situation... but after what I learned this week by making some phone calls... I can assure you that this nightmare is one that none of us in the U.S. will be able to wake up from unless we overturn these revisions.

If you did not read my earlier article, let me recap... the Department of Justice is requiring that those who sell anything with as little as "lustful" nudity or picture of the genitals has to have the model release forms to any model/actor who appears nude. This may sound easy... but here are a few catches that will make this impossible.

1) Retailers Are Supposed To Get Hundreds To Thousands Of Model Release Forms?

If they sell adult materials they must comply... so many web sites that provide such pictures, videos , etc. that are not their own are in deep trouble.

You may ask yourself just how the hell mainstream companies are expected to comply... can you imagine 7-11 stores who sell Playboy and many other adult magazines having to get all the model releases for every model who poses on every page for every issue not to mention any advertisements that have nude models?

What about Borders books and Barnes & Nobel who sell books on sexuality with nude photos inside for demonstration of sexual positions, etc.?

I will tell you how these big corporations are exempt from this... they are exempt because originally when this new change in law was proposed they had a section # 5 that was mysteriously committed when the actual law passed in May 2005. What Number Five of 2257 said was-

"A producer includes any subsidiary or parent organization, and any subsidiary of any parent organization, notwithstanding any limitations on liability that would otherwise be applicable."

They took this part out because it would probably upset their big corporate friends such as Wal-Mart who wanted to sell a rated "R" movie with a nude scene. Thus, they took big corporations with big legal teams and big pockets out of the picture so they could go after the smaller adult retailers.

Is Jenna Jameson or Ron Jeremy going to really have their model release forms be made public to show their home address and photocopy of their drivers license?

How is any retailer (now considered "Secondary Producer" under the law) supposed to get thousands of model release forms for every single nude model/actor that appears in a video, book or even on a sex toy cover that they stream video, display, etc.? I will tell you how... they won't be able to. Read the following to see why...

2) Primary Producers Aren't Providing Their Model's Release Forms!

The answer is that even if a retailers won't be able to get the model release forms... because the big companies like Vivid Video, Playboy, etc. have told me that they are not going to release them. That's right, even if we tried to get all the thousands of release forms on all of the models and actors... we can't.

Companies like Vivid Video, Playboy and others have indicated that their legal teams feel that this is a terrible breach of confidentiality. They feel it is a violation of their agreement with the model/actors to provide their home address, legal names and photo ID's and I agree. This is a terrible breach of confidentiality and may pose a dangerous risk to models who may have fans or critics who mean them harm and now have public access to their home address!

So what does that mean if the makers of the magazines, videos, toys, etc. won't share the model releases with the retailers who display and sell their products? The retailers (like us) are going to have to pull the pictures and maybe even the products or be at risk of being arrested, and put in jail for 5-10 years per incident! Smaller adult stores selling anything from better sex videos, books, etc. even if just for education may go out of business. Larger companies that sell some adult products may be hit hard financially and companies like Vivid and Playboy are going to lose their ability to sell as much wholesale if retailers can't even display nude covers, etc. this could cost them.

So, the Department of Justice, is not protecting minors, but now making it near impossible for retailers to sell consumers anything unless they themselves produced it.

The Department of Justice are going to create more "underground" activity that they will not be able to collect taxes on or protect victims when things go wrong. If anything they are beginning a "prohibition" on nudity and sexuality.

What Is Even More Alarming-

No one seems to know what is going on. When I call major corporations to small retailers it seems that everyone seems to either not know about these revisions (which were quietly released), they think that this can't be true or they are trusting that the Free Speech Coalition's law suit will make this all go away. Also, there are multiple interpretations of this so no one is really sure what is going on and if it is just about showing the pictures of the products or selling them, etc.

To see how I drew my own conclusions and what I am still questioning... CLICK HERE.

Being that I am "in the fight" and have become one of the activist writers for the Free Speech Coalition I can tell you that they cannot make any promises and are recommending that retailers comply to make sure that they are safe. Problem is many are not sure how to comply!

The real motivation of the New Title 18 U.S.C. § 2257 Revisions is clear... they are not to protect minors, they are to bring down the adult industry and do it in a way that is sneaky and underhanded so that most people won't see it coming. Just wait until you want to go to your favorite adult site and they are gone or have little to sell!

Again, this is clearly not about protecting minors. If the Department of Justice really wanted to protect minors they would simply have producers of pictures and video, etc. provide documentation directly to them in a federal database proving the models in film or photographs are adults. You can also bet that getting access to any kind of sexual content will be increasingly difficult as the the DOJ continues to take away the freedoms of Americans.

Is This Really Happening?

Yes! To what degree is still unclear, and with only a few days to comply it is leaving retailers like us crazy trying to get straight answers.

I know, I myself am in the middle of this and keep asking that... I am not only trying to protect my business but help others and help the Free Speech Coalition in their efforts. I have been on one radio show after another this week trying to get the word out because most people have no idea this is happening.

Selective Enforcement-

Some say that the Department of Justice won't go after Amazon.com, or Wal-Mart for selling things with nudity, but going after adult retailers would be selective enforcement of the law and therefore even more unconstitutional.

Can you imagine if only certain people were arrested for committing the same crime? Oh, that's right... it happens all the time. How many white collar corporate people do you see in jail for stealing millions of dollars compared to minority, blue collar workers who steal a few hundred. Fair or not selective enforcement happens all the time and I see it happening it here against those who have companies that are "adult" in nature.

What Can You Do?

Join the Free Speech Coalition and find out more about what is going on and what you can do through their web site! In the meantime, stay tuned to our site for updates and know that we intend to stand up for your sexual health and education rights.

Join NASAE.org to band together and stay informed!

Read This Article For More Information

General Article On Changes To Title 18

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