2257 STIPULATED AGREEMENT EXTENDED AGAIN
       DENVER, CO -- The stipulated agreement between the parties for a temporary restraining order in Free Speech Coalition et al v. Alberto Gonzales has been extended for a month. The extension will terminate December 30, or whenever U.S. District Court Judge Walker D. Miller rules on plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction. Under the agreement, the Justice Department is restrained from inspecting or enforcing U.S.C. 18 § 2257 against plaintiffs in the case, which includes all members of the Free Speech Coalition as of June 23, 2005.
From an FSC press release, 11/30/05
www.freespeechcoalition.com __________________________________________________________

RESEARCH STUDY AVAILABLE FOR FSC MEMBERS
       Last week we reported that FSC had requested permission from The Journal of Sex Research (published by the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex) to distribute copies of Queensland University of Technology researcher Alan McKee’s research study on the “objectification of women in adult entertainment” to FSC members who request it. JSR has graciously agreed to our request.
       FSC members who wish to review the research should send an email requesting a copy to layne@inreach.com. A PDF of the paper will be included as an attachment in the reply. Hard copies not available. Members are asked to kindly respect JSR’s copyright. Especially please do not post the research online or in general distribution.
       Alan McKee measured the degree to which women are treated as objects or playthings in mainstream adult entertainment videos in Australia, using the best-selling 50 videos as samples and asking graduate students to code scenes based on 12 measurement criteria. The results show that women are not objectified more than men in the genre (virtually all of which is American product).
See Darklady’s review of the research at YNOT.com
http://www.ynot.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=
News&file=news_article&sid=9984
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SPECTATOR MAGAZINE: 1978–2005, R.I.P
       EMERYVILLE, CA -- Spectator, a Bay Area beacon of sexual freedom since its Sixties incarnation as the adult-ads center-section in the underground free speech paper The Berkeley Barb, has at last turned off the lights, going out of business despite efforts in recent years to save it. See Mark Kernes’ obit on the publication at AVN.com, based on interviews with Spectator’s long-time Chief Photographer Dave Patrick and with current FSC staffers Kat Sunlove and Layne Winklebleck.
       Yours Truly, Kat and Layne, who had the helm at Spectator as Publisher and Editor during the halcyon years of the weekly sex news magazine in the Nineties, left the company in December of 2001 after over twenty years in various capacities -- ending a great run and a major chapter in our life’s work. By then, market factors and new competition had rendered the publication less viable, so that the new owner/managers faced daunting challenges.
From Mark Kernes, AVN.com, 11/28/05
http://www.avn.com/articles/248525.html
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GRAND JURY RETURNS A SINGLE INDICTMENT
       SEDGWICK COUNTY, KS­A grand jury here has returned a single misdemeanor indictment against one adult store owner after investigating seven adult businesses in Wichita. Priscilla’s owner Robert Floyd must answer to a one-count charge that he sold an obscene DVD in what will probably be a jury trial next year. No indictments were handed down against the other six adult-oriented businesses.
        The high profile grand jury investigation was the result of the activism of Operation Southwind, an anti-adult entertainment group from Wichita. The group gathered over 6,000 signatures, relying on a Kansas law which mandates a grand jury investigation if enough names can be gathered on petitions.
        This tactic -- grand jury by petition to fight adult entertainment -- has been tried in Kansas previously. Earlier this year a Salina grand jury was mandated as the result of petitions circulated by a group organized by anti-adult activist Phillip Cosby. The Salina grand jury refused to issue any indictments whatsoever.
        Pete Dominguez, Vice President of Operation Southwind, said he was amazed that the grand jury only returned a single misdemeanor count. Operation Southwind had already been planning to submit petitions early next year for a grand jury investigation into nine other sexually oriented establishments in Wichita.
        “I hope whatever charges have been filed will stick, and something positive will take place for the community,” Dominguez said.
From Lawrence Journal World, 11/30/05
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/nov/30/
grand_jury_returns_obscenity_indictment/?state_regional
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INDECENCY FORUM HELD
       WASHINGTON, DC -- A public forum on “Indecency in the Media,” sponsored by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and broadcast live by C-Span, was held here this week with a full range of participants across the gamut of media groups and guardians of public morality. Champions of freedom of expression were also present, -- although somewhat fewer in numbers -- notably including Jim Dyke of the group TV Watch (www.televisionwatch.org). FSC members may want to consider signing the TV Watch petition calling for freedom from government interference and for the rights of parents to decide what their children should see in the media:
(http://www.televisionwatch.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=
dhLPK0PHLuF&b=1129307&action=4347&template=x.ascx)
       The forum, as moderated by Stevens, gave participants ample time to present their cases fairly, and to respond to each other, making for some fascinating C-Spanning. There was much talk of V-chips, technical solutions and the need for industry self-regulation.
       What made the headlines the next day, however, was FCC Chair Kevin Martin’s call for regulation of the cable TV industry in the form of mandated a la carte pricing. Letting consumers choose their subscription television channels would help shield children from inappropriate content and not necessarily lead to higher prices, said Martin.
       Martin’s comments led to a face-off with Kyle McSlarrow, who heads the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Impose mandates, said McSlarrow -- to paraphrase his comments loosely -- and we will see you in court.
       Many observers think the cable industry would win in a court battle on the issue. In a recent Supreme Court case, United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, the high court said that because cable subscribers can have unwanted channels blocked “on a household-by-household basis,” cable operators could not be forced to block the signals of adult-oriented channels during certain hours.
From Yahoo.com, 11/29/05
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/051129/323/fy3ca.html
And from PJ Bednarski, John M. Higgins and Mike Grebb­Broadcasting & Cable, 11/29/2005
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6287567.html?
display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP&nid=2228
And from Reuters, 11/29/05
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/29/AR2005112900748.html
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VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY FACES REGULATION
       WASHINGTON, DC -- The video game industry is also coming under fire from solons threatening regulation. Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Leiberman are sponsoring a “Family Entertainment Protection Act,” to deal with problems they see in the industry.
       Parents should be able to make “sure their kids can’t walk into a store and buy a video game that has graphic, violent and pornographic content,” Clinton said this week.
       A day earlier, the National Institute on Media and the Family released a report highly critical of the video game industry, citing increases in sex and violence in games and a content ratings system “beyond repair.”
       Much in the style of the broadcast industry defense (see story above) the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) decries the idea of government regulation and defends industry efforts to educate parents and keep inappropriate games out of minors’ hands.
       “We are making significant and tangible progress and have successfully implemented policies and procedures in each and every member company store across the country in just two year’s time,” said IEMA President Hal Halpin.
       In timely support of the besieged video game industry, Sony this week announced that it will place parental controls in the forthcoming PlayStation 3. Earlier, Nintendo announced similar plans for its next-generation Revolution. The Microsoft Xbox 360, which hit the stores recently, lets users restrict access to video games (as well as DVDs) that carry ratings of “T” for “teen” or “M” for “mature.”
       This technology puts the video game groups in much the same position as cable broadcast groups. If technology exists that easily allows parental control, what is the justification for government regulation?
From May Wong, Associated Press, 11/28/05
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051128/ap_on_hi_te/
video_games_parental_control;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA­
And from Gamespot.com, 11/29/05
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/news/story.php?sid=6140617
And from Declan McCullagh, CNET News, 11/29/05
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-5975913.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed
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FLORIDA PROSECUTORS: CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER
       BARTOW, FL -- In a case already notably bizarre in the way charges were filed and the way defendant Chris Wilson’s website gained notoriety through the publication of dead Iraqis submitted by overseas military personnel (see X-Press report 10/14/05 http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/newsletter10-14-05.htm) prosecutors have added another highly questionable element. They are asking Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Durrance to revoke Wilson’s bail because Wilson’s amateur website, nowthatsfuckedup.com, is still online. A condition of bail, say the prosecutors, is that Wilson “refrain from criminal activity” while out on bail. Wilson’s website contains obscene materials, says prosecutor Brad Copley, so by continuing to operate the website, Wilson is breaking the law.
       Wilson’s attorney Lawrence Walters says the government’s request is unprecedented.
       “This kind of post-arrest punishment, before there’s even a finding of obscenity on the initial charges, is unheard of in legal circles,” Walters said. “Adult materials are presumed to be protected by the First Amendment until a jury determines that they’re obscene.”
From Dana Willhoit, The Lakeland Ledger, 11/30/05
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20051130/NEWS/511300341/1006/NEWS06
And from Q. Boyer, YNOT.com, 11/30/05
http://www.ynot.com/modules.php?op=modload&
name=News&file=news_article&sid=9987
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RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY BANS THE INTERNET
       LAKEWOOD, NJ -- Orthodox rabbis here have come up with a solution to the problem of children having access to adult materials on the Internet. They have simply banned the Internet. The religious leaders have announced that Internet access is no longer permissible in homes with school-age children. The children of families who do not comply will be expelled from school.
       Exceptions, it appears, may be possible in rare instances. However, even if the Internet is a necessary tool for conducting a person’s business, that person must first consult with his or her rabbi to receive special permission, and then file a record of that exception with his or her children’s school, before using the Internet. Members of the community who disagree with this ban, of course, have the option of leaving the Orthodox community.
      Such a simple and elegant solution! The rabbis must be wondering why they didn’t think of it before.
From The Daily Targum, 12/1/05
http://www.dailytargum.com/media/paper168/news/2005/12/01/Opinions/
Banning.The.Internet-1117366.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailytargum.com
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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