KAT SUNLOVE REPORTS ON TRIP TO OZ
       From Sydney to Queensland, from Canberra to Melbourne, your intrepid Legislative Affairs Director and my faithful associate (and hubby) Layne Winklebleck were feted, fed and favored by the elite of the Australian adult entertainment industry on our recent two week stay in that beautiful country. It was a fabulous trip! Not only did we enjoy the company of some of the biggest players in the adult world Down Under, we also had lengthy discussions with members of state and federal Parliaments on the Australian federal classification system for x-rated products contrasted with the different issues we face in the US with our reliance on First Amendment protections. As we learned, there are pros and cons to both approaches. Look for more details in the next Free Speaker.
       We want to express our most heartfelt appreciation to all the members of Eros Association, Australia’s adult industry trade group, for their wonderful welcome. It was great meeting all of you! But most especially, we are deeply grateful to Fiona Patten, Eros spokesperson and lobbyist, Graeme Dunne, executive officer of the Adult Industry Copyright Organization, and Robbie Swan, Eros Media Director, our hosts, for their extraordinary kindness and hospitality during our stay. Good on you, mates!!
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FSC CHALLENGES UTAH LAW
       SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- Free Speech Coalition has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Utah’s anti-spam “child protection registry” law, which went into effect in July after being passed by the legislature in February and signed by Republican Governor Jon Huntsman in March.
       Many observers have noted that the Utah law is constitutionally flawed. (See X-press report in February, “Legislature Passes Flawed Internet Law” ( http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/newsletter3-11-05.htm). However, no group has challenged the law, which means it is in effect, flawed or not. FSC has deemed it necessary, therefore, to file a challenge on behalf of its members and has done so as sole plaintiff.
       FSC is represented by Utah attorney Jerome Mooney, lead attorneys Ira P. Rothken and Gregory A. Piccionelli, with assistance from FSC attorneys Jeffrey J. Douglas and Reed Lee. See FSC’s website for details on the challenge.
From an FSC press release, 11/17/05
www.freespeechcoalition.com
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RESEARCH ON OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN
       GREENSBORO, NC -- Once again, U.S. District Judge N. Carlton Tilley has ruled a state Alcoholic Beverage Control law regulating exotic dancing unconstitutional. The battle between the state and exotic dance club Christie’s Cabaret goes back to 2001 when Judge Tilley first ruled against the law. Subsequently, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision, stating that the state’s restrictions, which banned simulated sex acts or the fondling of private parts, including the posterior, could prohibit the performance of ballet or flamenco dance or such productions as “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “The Full Monty”.
       In 2003 the state General Assembly re-wrote the law but the lawmakers unaccountably left in the provisions banning simulations and fondling. In 2004 Christie’s Cabaret again took the matter to the federal courts. In the trial that formed the basis for Judge Tilley’s current opinion, University of Maryland anthropologist and dance expert Dr. Judith Hanna provided testimony which Tilley called “credible and uncontradicted,” including the novel idea that the rhythm of Irish set dancing - which involves a group of people dancing together with rigid upper bodies and pounding legs - would be banned under the law because it replicated the rhythm of sex, even though it is considered a sexless form of dance. Hanna’s testimony was picked up by the Belfast Telegraph under the headline “Irish Dirty Dancing.”
       Attorney J. Michael Murray called Judge Tiley’s opinion a “resounding victory for freedom of expression."
       The state plans to appeal Tilley's rulings, said Fred Gregory, the slow-learning state ABC commission's chief counsel.
From Associated Press, 11.11.05
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Speech/adultent/news.aspx?id=16053
And from The Belfast Telegraph, 11/24/05
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=670491
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SETTLEMENT IN CAN-SPAM CASE
       KANSAS CITY, MO -- A settlement has been reached in the first-ever action brought by the Federal Trade Commission under the Adult Labeling Rule of the federal Can-Spam Act. The following groups and individuals were accused, among other things, of sending e-mails containing adult materials without the required SEXUALLY EXPLICIT warning in the subject line: Global Net Solutions, Open Space Enterprises, Southlake Group and Reflected Networks of Las Vegas as well as Global Net Ventures Ltd. of London and Wedlake Ltd. of Riga, Latvia, and individuals Dustin Hamilton, Tobin Banks, Gregory Hamilton and Philip Doroff, (See “Adult Labeling Rule of Can-Spam Act Shows Teeth.” http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/newsletter1-14-05.htm)
        Without admitting wrong-doing, the six companies and four individuals agreed to pay $621,000 in the settlement.
From Paul Wenske, Kansas City Star , 11/23/05
http://myac.yellowbrix.com/pages/myac/Story.nsp?story_id=
85810240&ID=myac&scategory=Internet&
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COUNCILMAN SEEKS TO REPEAL DANCE LAW
       NASHVILLE, TN -- Councilman Adam Dread, who has made no secret of his objections to the enforcement of the Nashville and Metropolitan Davidson Country (Metro) government’s long dormant adult business ordinance, has filed a bill to repeal the law. Among other provisions, the law requires exotic dancers to stay 3 feet from patrons (See X-Press report: “Eight Year Old Ordinance Takes Effect” http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/newsletter10-14-05.htm)
       Lampooned as an irascible maverick in The Tennessean, Dread’s arguments make perfect sense to us. “Somebody has to stand up for them," he says, referring to the dancers whose livelihoods are threatened by the law, "I think it's a very important issue. I think a lot of people are politically terrified to go near this. But we have to. It's part of our job. It's a public safety thing for the girls, and it's an economic argument."
       The dance clubs “pay taxes to the city and help draw in tourists and conventions,” explains Dread.
From The Tennessean, 11/13/05
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=
/20051113/COLUMNIST0101/511130385/1092/NEWS
Thanks to Woodhull Foundation for the news alert
www.woodhullfoundation.org
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FULTON COUNTY FULL OF IT AGAIN
       FULTON COUNTY, GA -- Fulton County is well known in First Amendment circles as the scene of an important victory in the U.S. Eleventh Circuit, in which Fulton County’s own studies failed to show the secondary effects which had formed the basis of their law. (See Flanigan's Enterprises, Inc. of Georgia v. Fulton County, Georgia in FCS’s Case Library, http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/case_library.htm#case22)
       Now Fulton County is back on stage in a similar case, this time in the Georgia Supreme Court. In May, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin S. Arrington Sr. struck down -- as unconstitutional prior restraints on free speech -- the county's ordinances regulating nude-dancing establishments that serve alcohol. This time the law is being challenged by Maxim Cabaret. Somewhat amazingly, Assistant County Attorney Steven E. Rosenberg cites the same 2001 study that went down in flames at the Eleventh Circuit. but this time with a different focus. In Flanigan’s it was noted that the study showed no increase in crime at adult entertainment establishments that served alcoholic beverages over non-adult entertainment establishments that served alcoholic beverages. In fact, it was the opposite. There were greater instances of calls for service and reported crime at the non-adult bars.
       In the present case (Fulton County v. Maxim Cabaret, No. S05A1893) the county compares crime statistics near the county's five alcohol-serving exotic dance clubs with Maxim Cabaret's predecessor, The Coronet Club, which did not serve alcohol. Rosenberg argues that alcohol-serving adult entertainment clubs are more prone to crime than similar clubs that do not serve alcohol: "The Coronet had about 4 percent of the total criminal activity," while the other five clubs "accounted for nearly 96 percent," says Rosenberg.
       Judging from comments by the three-judge panel as quoted in a Law.com report, Fulton County may have no better luck defending their ordinance than they did the first time around.
From Law.com, 11/14/05
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1131714655407
Thanks to Woodhull Foundation for the news alert.
www.woodhullfoundation.org
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CHILD PROTECTION CONFERENCE HELD
       BELFAST, IRELAND -- Joan Irvine, Executive Director of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASCAP), along with representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, Microsoft, Visa International, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and over 200 law enforcement and other organizations from around the world, attended a recent meeting here of the EU and Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) Conference on Protecting Children Online. Irvine said the conference provided a beneficial platform for showing the adult industry’s support in the battle against child pornography. She said that attendees knew who was primarily to blame for child pornography.
       “It was good to hear that they know that most of the commercial child porn sites are run by organized crime, especially out of the former Soviet Bloc,” Irvine said.
       Critics managed to find grounds to decry the conference. Northern Ireland Assemblyman Esmond Birnie took a British parliamentarian to task for attending. Paul Goggins MP, UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Chairman of the Home Secretary’s Taskforce on Child Protection should not have attended, said Birnie, because the meeting took place at a Belfast hotel that offers pay-per-view adult entertainment.
       In a similar vein, Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the UK National Center for Missing & Exploited Children challenged the participation of VISA. “The fact that child pornography can be purchased using a credit card . . . is causing an exploding global problem and an immeasurable impact on the sexual exploitation of children,” said Allen.
From Jayson Romaine, Xbiz.com, 11/21/05
http://www.xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=11364
And from Terry Vanderheyden, LifeSiteNews.com, 11/16/05
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/nov/05111609.html
Thanks to Woodhull Foundation for the news alert.
www.woodhullfoundation.org
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UpComing Events

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

JAN 24-25, – Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days, Sacramento, CA, layne@inreach.com