This newsletter is
sent free of charge to FSC members and supporters. For
personal contact, call 1-800-476-7813.
Free Speech X-Press
Delivering Weekly Censorship Updates to the Adult Industry
Vol. VI, No. 10, January 23, 2004 -- A Member Service of
the Free Speech Coalition
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Free Speech X-press is researched and edited by Kat Sunlove
and Layne Winklebleck.
Copyright 2004 Free Speech Coalition. Permission to reprint
granted to FSC members; please give credit.
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR FSC MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
http://www.freespeechcoalition.com
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GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING TONIGHT
Don’t miss the General Membership Meeting tonight, Friday evening, January
23, at the Warner Center Marriott, 21850 Oxnard, in Woodland Hills (818-887-4800).
Cocktails will be available at 5:30 and the meeting will begin at 6:30. This
first meeting of the year will provide an opportunity to meet your newly
elected directors and officers of the FSC Board. The topics for discussion
will include the recently passed Burns-Wyden “Can-Spam Act" as well as patent
and intellectual property issues. Our speakers will include attorneys Ira
Rothken of the Ira P. Rothken law firm, and Jon Leader of Leader, Kozmor,
Macias law firm, and Sid Grief of AAA News in Texas, a retailer and new board
member who is facing a patent infringement lawsuit.
Hors d’oeuvres will be served and a modest donation is
requested to offset expenses. We look forward to seeing
you there!
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SEARCH WARRANT TOO BROAD, SAYS JUDGE
McHENRY COUNTY, IL -- County Judge Sharon Prather has ruled
that police lacked the constitutional authority to raid the
home and business of Michael A. Jones, owner of L&M Enterprises,
which once produced images for sale to magazines and adult
Web sites. At the time of the raid in October 2000, police
seized eight computers and thousands of digital images, uncovering
five images that allegedly qualified as child pornography
and nine others that were allegedly obscene.
Prather agreed that police had probable cause to conduct
the search, however the search warrant allowing the raid
was too broad because it failed to specify
exactly what police were looking for and what they could remove.
"The scope of the search was constitutionally improper
in that it served as prior restraint of material that
is otherwise protected," she said.
"The First Amendment is still alive and breathing in McHenry
County," said Jones' attorney, J.D. Obenberger. “This
is a victory for everybody who
believes in freedom of
expression."
Assistant McHenry County State’s Attorney Daniel Regna
said his office will review the ruling before deciding
whether to appeal. If prosecutors
appeal,
the charges against Jones will remain pending until a higher court
decision.
The cost of the three-year legal fight forced Jones to
close his business and financially devastated his family,
Obenberger said.
From Charles Keeshan, The Chicago Daily Herald, 1/17/04
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intid=38003141
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TRADEMARK CASE COULD SET PRECEDENT
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Playboy Enterprises
can proceed with its trademark infringement lawsuit against
Netscape Communications. Netscape had included the words
“playboy" and “playmate" in a list of about 400 words used
by online search engines to link to advertisements for adult-themed
rivals. People who typed in those words would receive banner
ads for numerous adult-themed sites that were not associated
with Playboy. Playboy argues that the links tarnished and
diluted its brand name by associating its trademarks with
inferior products.
The case, originally filed in 1999, could determine the
legal limits of “keying," an online advertising practice
that allows advertisers to target individuals who
are most likely interested in specific types of products.
Playboy is suing Netscape for financial damages “well into
the seven figures" and hopes the case will set a precedent
”that one cannot use trademarks in a
confusing way on the Internet," said attorney Barry G. Felder, who represents
Playboy.
From The Associated Press, 1/15/04
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/15/playboy.netscape.lawsuit.ap/index.html
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CITY PROPOSES TOUGH ADULT ORDINANCE
LOUISVILLE, KY -- A comprehensive adult entertainment ordinance
has been introduced here by Metro Council members. Last year,
the adult-business opponents hired a Christian-activist lawyer
based in Arizona who specializes in helping cities approve
adult-entertainment laws. This ordinance is the result.
Among the provisions in the proposed law are prohibitions
on nude dancing, alcohol, tipping, the size of outdoor
signs, 500-foot zoning from [just about
anything], a six foot distance requirement between dancers and customers
as well as business licensing and employee licensing,
both of which can be revoked
for a variety of reasons.
One provision states that “the Kentucky Center, Actors
Theater and other venues that occasionally offer entertainment
that includes nudity would not
be affected
by the regulations. Frank Mascagni, an attorney representing P.T.’s Show
Club and Deja Vu, said he was particularly offended by that language.
"They appear to be saying, `As long as you’re a rich East
Ender going to the opera, it’s fine, but the sleazy (people)
who go to (strip) bars, that’s
not
OK.’”
Mascagni also questioned the timing of the ordinance just
a week before the candidates file for re-election and
said the ordinance is an attempt
to preserve
members' council seats.
Madonna Flood (D-24th District) said she is convinced that
the ordinance will pass constitutional challenges and
believes it will stop the flow
of adult
businesses into the city. She said the council also will ask the
Planning Commission to change zoning regulations to require
such businesses
to locate in areas
zoned for manufacturing. The businesses now can operate in areas
zoned for commercial use.
"We will challenge this," said Mascagni. "There is nothing
else we can do."
From Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal, 1/22/04
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/01/22ky/
met-front-council0122-5467.html
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VIDEO CHAIN BOYCOTT GETS PERSONAL
DOTHAN, AL -- From the Christian Right comes word of an organized
boycott of Movie Gallery video stores, which the American
Family Association calls the “nation’s largest distributor
of retail porn videos." During a National Peanut Festival
parade that reportedly drew nearly 100,000 people, protestors
distributed 5,000 sealed envelopes to parade goers. Along
with boycott cards and brochures, the envelopes included
the names of Movie Gallery officers who live locally. .At
the same time, an airplane flew overhead with a banner reading,
www.StopMovieGalleryPorn.com. Later that day, some in the
group visited neighborhoods, handing out boycott information
to those who live next to Movie Gallery’s officers, and also
handed out literature at the fairgrounds.
"We’re here to send a message that some of our local citizens
are deeply involved with the porno industry," said Jawana
Stewart. “Movie Gallery decision-makers
live among us and we are going to let parents know who they are."
The American Family Association claims to be also organizing
groups in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Virginia,
and Kentucky against Movie Gallery stores.
From Randy Sharp, The American Family Association, 1/12/04
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/122004c.asp
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PICKET SIGNS THREATEN TRUCKERS
ABILENE, KS -- More from the Christian Right: The Lion’s
Den, an adult toy and video store which opened here last
fall,
has become the focus of a sustained program of aggressive
picketing. Phillip Cosby of Abilene formed an new organization
called Citizens For Strengthening Community Virtues (CFSCV)
for the purpose, a group which has now reportedly swelled
to over 140 local men and women committed to one-and two-hour
shifts near the store location. They hold large signs proclaiming
to motorists, “Think Again or We Will Report." The signs
warn truckers and corporate travelers that their companies
and
bosses will be contacted about employee stopping at the store.
According to Cosby, this strategy has impacted the financial
success of the store.
"About 30% of the people who would otherwise go into the Lion’s Den either
drive on by or turn around in the parking lot and then drive away," claims
Cosby,
who also says about 75% of truckers have turned away after seeing the protesters.
From Randy Sharp, American Family Association, 1/21/04.
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/212004f.asp
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CITY CLOSES DOWN TOPLESS CLUBS
DALLAS, TX -- The Fare topless dance club, after two decades
in business here, will close down soon as a result of a settlement
last May with the city. Other clubs which agreed to halt
adult entertainment under the same settlement include PT’s,
which converted to a sports bar this month with no topless
dancers, and the Million Dollar Saloon, which does not have
to halt adult entertainment until 2009.
The agreement between the city and the clubs ends “long,
drawn-out litigation" that entailed lawsuits on all
sides, said Assistant City Attorney Doreen McGookey.
McGookey said the battle with the clubs started after the
city changed the ordinances restricting adult entertainment
businesses and their locations,
forbidding sexually oriented businesses within 1,000 feet of a residential
area, school, church, park or another adult entertainment establishment.
Mary Poss, a former City Council member for the district
that includes the Fare, said opposition to the club was
intense.
“I heard from countless people who lived in adjacent neighborhoods, apartments
and the business community," she said
From John Kirkpatrick, The Dallas Morning News, 1/16/04
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/business/
stories/011704dnbusfare.72e79.html
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FIRE CHIEFS FIGHT FOR FREE SPEECH
KEYES (STANISLAUS COUNTY), CA -- This tiny town -- one taco
stand and no traffic lights -- has managed to make the news
with a scandal about a firefighter with an adult website.
The firefighter is Alexas Jones, who uses the name Chantel
Lace on her website, which includes erotic wrestling and
topless boxing videos. She made the news after as many as
22 volunteer firefighters walked off the job to protest both
her website career and the firing of a 19-year-old cadet
accused of taking a peek at two other pornographic sites
while on duty.
According to Captain Herb Collier, the leader of the firefighters
who walked off the job, the real reason the cadet was fired
was because, while surfing
the Internet from home, he took a peek at the Alexas Jones site without paying
for it.
Why should anyone care about that? Well, it so happens Alexas
Jones is married to Roger Jones, the assistant fire chief,
who in turn is the son of Eddie Jones,
the fire chief.
Collier said many of his colleagues are upset with their
chief, Eddie Jones, because he will not discipline his
son.
In the most recent development, all of the volunteer firefighters
have returned to duty after the department’s board of directors
said they would consider
investigating the cadet’s ouster while placing the fire chief and his assistant
on leave during
the inquiry.
"I hate that the fire department is getting dragged through
this,’’ Alexas Jones said. “But I like the publicity for
my website. So I have mixed feelings."
Said her husband Roger: “It’s called freedom of expression
and speech. It’s not illegal."
From Demian Bulwa, The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/17/04
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/17/BAGQ04CA1V1.DTL
And from Fox News, 1/17/04
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108784,00.html
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UpComing Events
APR 26-27, 2004 Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days,
Sacramento, CA, 800-476-7813
MAR 24-27, 2004 -- Nightclub and Bar Owners' Expo Las
Vegas http://www.nightclub.com
MAR 3-7, 2004-- Lifestyles, Miami Radisson Hotel http://lifestyles.org/
Subscriptions to Free Speech X-Press are FREE to FSC members.
Contact us at Sunlove@direcway.com or 800-476-7813.
