2257 DEFENSE FUNDRAISER DRIVE UNDER WAY
       CANOGA PARK, CA -- FSC has announced a second round of fundraising to compensate the First Amendment attorneys representing the adult industry in FSC's challenge to the 2257 federal record-keeping law: Louis Sirkin, Paul Cambria, Arthur Schwartz, Jennifer Kinsley, Roger Wilcox, Michael Gross, Gregory Piccionelli and David Fisher.
       The group, which is working for discounted rates, has already accomplished much on behalf of virtually the entire adult industry, says FSC Board Chair Jeffrey Douglas, bringing the United States Government to its knees.
       But much more lies ahead in the fight against the unfair and punitive 2257 law. The case itself has barely reached the halfway mark, and there is still a full trial to prepare for.
       The initial 2257 fundraising effort, which began before FSC filed its original complaint in Denver federal court in June, succeeded in reaching the target goal of $200,000, all of which went exclusively to the legal team. The new goal is to raise $250,000 by the end of January, every penny of which will again be earmarked for the 2257 Legal Defense Fund.
       FSC recently recognized companies that have organized fundraising events, including Internet groups that sponsored a Porn Poker Tournament at the Internext Convention in Hollywood, Florida. The winner of the tournament, who wishes to remain anonymous, donated all winnings to the 2257 Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the sponsors. Another fundraiser in Phoenix, Arizona, featured a Buck A Duckcarnival game where visitors could donate a dollar and select a plastic duck floating in a tub, all proceeds donated to FSC. These and other efforts are truly inspiring because they reflect the remarkable extent to which the entire adult industry has been united by the menace of the 2257 law.
       FSC will be holding fundraising events over the coming months and will announce them at the appropriate times, but those who want to contribute now to either the 2257 Legal Defense Fund or to the organization generally can do so through the FSC website, www.freespeechcoalition.com, or by phone or mail
       If by mail, and the money is to be used only for 2257, please note Only for 2257 Legal Defense Fund on the check and mail it to: Free Speech Coalition, P.O. Box 10480, Canoga Park, Ca., 91309.
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EXTREME ASSOCIATES APPEAL FOCUSES ON MORALITY
       PITTSBURG, PA -- The government has presented its arguments here to a panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an effort to reinstate obscenity charges against Extreme Associates and the companys owners Rob Black and Lizzie Borden. U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster dismissed the 10-count indictment against the defendants in January. The government later appealed the decision in what has become a highly controversial national test case.
       The nation's obscenity laws cannot stand in light of Lawrence, Lancaster wrote, referring to Lawrence vs. Texas (2003), the case in which the Supreme Court struck down a Texas anti-sodomy law. The Lawrence decision, Lancaster said, can be reasonably interpreted as holding that public morality is not a legitimate state interest sufficient to justify infringing on adult, private, consensual, sexual conduct even if that conduct is deemed offensive to the general public's sense of morality.
       U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanans view is the polar opposite of Lancaster's. "Morality is at the basis of all our laws," she told the three-judge appeals panel. The government will continue to pursue regulating obscenity and its proliferation in order to protect children, unwitting adults, morality, public safety and societal order, she said.
       Buchanan conceded that individuals have the right to possess obscene materials at home, but told the panel that there is no right to receive or distribute obscenity. She outlined First Amendment decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court dealing with the concept that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
       Extreme Associates attorney Louis Sirkin responded that the case was not a First Amendment liberty interest challenge. In Lawrence, he said, the Supreme Court had protected the privacy of individuals from unwarranted intrusions into their bedrooms. All of the First Amendment obscenity cases cited by Buchanan, he explained, had referred in some way to public display of the material, whereas the case at hand involved material that was seen only by the sender and the receiver, both of whom knew exactly what they were getting.
       The issues in this case are starkly drawn. Sirkin's arguments are based on privacy grounds. In the Extreme Associates case the defendants had established a sufficiently reliable method to prevent exposure to children and unwilling adults by means of credit card subscription. After Lawrence -- absent exposure to children or unwilling adults -- there is no legitimate government interest in protecting public morality.
       Mark Kernes, in a first-hand report, says statements during the 50-minute hearing were compelling. He says the high drama left even observers fatigued. In a follow-up Adult Video News report, Kernes provides extended quotes from First Amendment attorneys present at the hearing.
From Mark Kernes, AVN.com, 10/20/05
http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=
View_Article&Content_ID=244129
And another Mark Kernes report:
http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=
View_Article&Content_ID=244184
And from Associated Press, 10/19/05
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/12942550.htm

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RESOLUTION AGAINST U.N. INTERNET TAKEOVER
       WASHINGTON, DC -- Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) has introduced a nonbinding resolution which would provide support for keeping the status quo in which the United States has control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Coleman is concerned about a threatened takeover of ICANN by the United Nations at the World Summit on the Information Society. The Summit is slated to conclude in November after two years of meetings and negotiations. Ministers from dozens of countries have demanded more influence over the Internet. Suggestions have been made for new mandates for "consumer protection," the power to levy taxes on domain names to pay for "universal access," and folding ICANN into the International Telecommunications Union, a U.N. agency.
       And, last month, advocates for the open, lightly governed Internet were shocked when the European Union aligned itself with countries like Iran, China and Brazil in calling for world governments to assert control over the Internet's core technical management functions.
       Coleman's resolution would help provide political backing to the Bush administration to hold firm during the summit against a takeover. If governance functions were handed to bureaucrats from oppressive nations, Coleman warned, the Internet would become "an instrument of censorship and political suppression."
       The Internet's success as a platform for speech and political organization can be largely accredited to the fact that the technological underpinning of the global network has not been politicized, said the Center For Democracy and Technology (CDT).
       For all the criticism of the United States, said the CDT in a policy post, it must be noted that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees ICANN, has never vetoed a decision made by the body, which includes representatives from every region of the world.
From Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com, 10/18/05
http://news.com.com/Senator+Keep+U.N.+away+from+the+Internet/2100-1028_3-5900690.html?tag=newsmap
And from a Center For Democracy and Technology Policy Post, 10/19/05
www.cdt.org
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EXPLICIT PROGRAMMING ON STUDENT TV
       SAN DIEGO, CA -- Despite threats from the University of California San Diego administration, the student-run Koala TV program plans to air amateur adult programming during evening hours beginning immediately. The program is set run on Student Run Television (SRTV), which is supported by the UCSD Associated Students organization.
        In March, Koala TV was abruptly removed from SRTV -- mid-broadcast -- because of explicit programming. However, newly appointed members of the Associated Students group recently ended the sanctions which had been imposed on Koala-TV and, controversially, refused to accept proposed guidelines limiting sexual material on SRTV. This has opened the door for Koala TV, an opportunity clearly relished by Koala producer Steve York.
        "I'm satisfied that Koala TV is in the right legally and we're obligated to providing students of UCSD an awesome program of satire and comedy with no holds barred or subjects left untouched" said York. "This time we have precise knowledge of the rules involved and are satisfied with the Associated Student's decision not to ban sexual content. UCSD students want this type of programming and you sure as hell bet we're going to deliver like only Koala TV can."
        York and his programming have inspired local and national debates over the free speech rights of university students in areas of sexual expression.
From the UCSD Guardian, 10/6/05
http://www.ucsdguardian.org/cgi-bin/news?art=2005_10_06_02
And from a Koala TV press release, 10/20/05
www.thekoala.org
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EMINENT DOMAIN CASE THREATENS BOOK STORE
       ST. PAUL, MN -- Attorney Randall Tique, on behalf of Jill Rasmuson, owner of R&R Books, has asked U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery to either halt a condemnation process or invalidate an adult business ordinance that, together, threaten Rasmuson's business.
       "The city of St. Paul has put my client in an absolutely impossible position," said Tigue. Last month, the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority voted to condemn the building that houses R&R Books and a liquor store, in order to make way for commercial development. However, according to Tigue, the bookstore, which has been around since the 1970s, would not be able to relocate within city limits should the building be razed. Zoning laws that went into effect after the store opened prevent it from operating as both an adult bookstore and an adult video arcade.
       "St. Paul can either have its condemnation or it can have its zoning ordinance, but it can't have both," Tigue said.
From Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/19/05
http://myac.yellowbrix.com/pages/myac/Story.nsp?story_id=84302574&ID
=myac&scategory=Entertainment&
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ART CENSORSHIP? IN SIN CITY?
       LAS VEGAS, NV -- Sixty-foot-high billboards of babes in the near buff all over town notwithstanding, City Hall officials here recently saw fit to remove two award-winning pastel drawings of the female form on display in the City Hall building after an employee made an anonymous complaint that the artwork was offensive. The offensive art basically consisted of figure studies, one of a seated woman's back, the other of a woman from the front view, her legs folded underneath her, with no nipples or genitalia showing.
       City Manager Doug Selby said the pictures were taken down because of fears that the city could be sued for violating Title VII, the federal law that protects employees from working in a hostile work environment.
       The artists whose work was removed were baffled by the decision, as were art groups and the ACLU.
       "The fact that the city caved in so readily shows both a total misunderstanding of Title VII, as well as a total lack of commitment to the ideals of free expression," said ACLU general counsel Allen Lichtenstein.
       Later, rumors surfaced that the anonymous complainant was angry that he could not put up pictures of "pinups" in his cubicle.
From David McGrath Schwartz, Review Journal, 10/19/05
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Oct-19-Wed-2005/news/3897511.html
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UpComing Events

OCT 21-23, – The Everything to do With Sex Show, Automotive Building, Toronto, Canada -- http://www.everythingtodowithsex.com/

OCT 22, – Exotic Erotic Ball, Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA http://www.exoticeroticball.com/

NOV 2-3 , – Adultcon Las Vegas 2005, Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, http://www.adultcon.com/

JAN 5-7, – Internext, The Venetian, Las Vegas, NV http://www.internext-expo.com/index.shtml

JAN 5-8, – AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV, http://show.adultentertainmentexpo.com/adult-expo/v42/index.cvn

JAN 7, – 23rd Annual AVN Awards Celebration, Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV, http://show.adultentertainmentexpo.com/adult-expo/v42/index.cvn