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. 13, February 13, 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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DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER TO VOTE!
Deadline is Tuesday, February 17th
This year is the “Make or Break Election," says the headline
for the Mark Kernes cover story in this month’s Adult Video
News. The stakes could hardly be higher for the adult entertainment
industry, which Mark documents in no uncertain terms. Remember,
If you don’t vote you don’t have a voice.
REGISTER AND VOTE!!
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SUPER FUSS OVER SUPER BOWL SHOW
EVERYWHERE, USA -- The dominant censorship news of the day
is the huge clamor over the Super Bowl half-time show. The
controversy is based on a legitimate gripe, as noted by Free
Speech Coalition Executive Director Kat Sunlove in last weeks
X-Press -- along with many other commentators -- which is
that the Super Bowl broadcast is supposed to be G-rated family
fare. Parents who wish to protect their children from MTV-style
imagery were caught unawares.
That said, it is nonetheless alarming how the hounds of
censorship have been set loose over the issue. In two
different hearings on Capitol Hill, lawmakers
excoriated Mel Karmazin, president of Viacom Inc., which owns CBS.
Members of the House Telecommunications Committee spent
more than two hours grilling Karmazin, who again apologized
for the show.
"You knew what you were doing," said Rep. Heather Wilson,
(R-NM) her voice cracking. “You knew that shock and indecency
creates a buzz that moves
market share and
lines your pockets."
Karmazin insisted that CBS and MTV did not know about plans
to rip off Jackson’s top, nor the crotch-grabbing dance
steps that were also included
in the halftime
show.
In the meantime, network censors are editing TV shows in
a clear departure from their practice of the last few
years, when all the networks took
halting steps to match cable networks in pushing edgier, more-explicit
programming.
CBS has deleted a brief scene showing a fleeing man’s naked
backside from “Without a Trace." The network also has
forced a trim from a
coming episode
of the missing-persons
drama, this time a depiction of a couple having sex standing up.
Edits also are affecting CBS' “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
The head producer of ER is angry with NBC for cutting a
shot of an 80-year-old woman’s breast from the latest
episode.
"While the unexpected exposure of [Janet] Jackson’s breast
during the Super Bowl halftime show was inappropriate
and deplorable
on a broadcast
intended
for
viewers of all ages," said ER executive producer John Wells,
“ER’s incidental exposure of an elderly woman’s breast
in the context
of a medical trauma
is not comparable."
NBC affiliates, however, had complained to the network,
saying they believed the Federal Communications Commission
would fine
them if
they aired the
split-second shot, in which the woman’s shirt is ripped off
so doctors can treat her.
At ABC, executives said they had preliminary discussions
about trimming a 15-second sex scene from “NYPD Blue" from
telecasts
in the Central
and Mountain
Time zones,
where the series airs one hour earlier than on the coasts
and presumably is seen by younger viewers.
Joe Roth, producer and director of the upcoming Oscar telecast
said the ABC network’s 5-second censor delay will be used
to shield viewers
from
any unlikely
profanity or nudity but will not interfere with any political
statements winners may make.
"I spoke with the nominees and
just said that, when they come up, they’re all under this
microscope,
unfortunately,
because
of these
events a
couple weeks
ago," said Roth.
From Lisa De Moraes, The Washington Post, 2/6/04
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/7886717.htm
And from Anthony Breznican, The Associated Press, 2/10/04
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040210-1443-
ca-oscartelecast.html
And from Scott Collins and Maria Elena Fernandez, L.A.
Times, 2/11/04
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-censors11feb11
,1,517682.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
And from Kathleen O’Brien, The New Jersey Star Ledger,
2/12/04
http://www.nj.com/living/ledger/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/107657020595191.xml
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BILL TARGETS FRAUDULENT DOMAIN NAMES
WASHINGTON, DC -- Representatives Lamar Smith (R-TX) and
Howard Berman (D-CA) have introduced a bill known as the
Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act, targeting those
who lie when submitting data to domain-registration databases
and then go on to break federal laws. The sponsors hope the
law will help copyright holders track down those who sell
counterfeit merchandise on the Web, set up “phisher" sites
to con unsuspecting Internet users into turning over credit
card and PIN numbers, or illegally offer copyright works
for download.
They also hope the bill will curb malicious spammers and
prevent the registration of domain names that are knockoffs
or misspellings of legitimate companies.
Mark Bohannon, general counsel for the Software & Information
Industry Association, who testified on behalf of industry
groups including the Recording
Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America,
said the bill was “narrowly tailored to target bad actors."
However, some online activists say the law is draconian
-- it proposes seven more years in prison for committing
a felony if a website with fake contact
information is involved. More importantly, activists say, the bill threatens
one of the core principles of the Internet: anonymous speech.
"[You don’t] have to give your name and address before
you are allowed to be out on the street corner or over
at a public bulletin board," said Wendy
Seltzer,
a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “But here we are
saying you have to give all your information, including home address and
phone number,
before you register an Internet domain."
From Wired.com, 2/7/04
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,62198,00.html?tw=wn_bizhead_1
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FREE SPEECH ALIVE AND WELL AT HARVARD
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Former FSC President Scott Tucker gave us
the heads-up on this story, along with a comment that it
seems he went to college too early. Harvard University’s 16-member
Committee on College Life has approved H Bomb, a new student-run
magazine that will showcase sexual content and nude photos
of students.
The Harvard Crimson, the university’s 121-year-old student
paper, called the new publication a “porn magazine."
But sophomore Katherina Baldegg and junior
Camilla Hrdy insist their project is simply “a magazine that deals with sex
and the issues surrounding sex for men and women of all sexual orientations."
"While the committee was aware that the proposed content
could be found offensive to some, it was equally aware
that to deny recognition would deny free speech," said
Associate Dean Judith Kidd. Miss Hrdy, on the other hand, said that the
committee
had simply “got past their fear of porn."
Harvard is not alone in its tolerance of sexual expression
within the halls of higher education. H Bomb actually
is modeled after Squirm, a student-run
erotic magazine at Vassar College.
From Jennifer Harper, The Washington Times, 2/12/04
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040212-121057-9246r.htm
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NC-17 RATING WORKS FOR “THE DREAMERS"
LOS ANGELES, CA and NEW YORK, NY -- Italian director Bernardo
Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers" recently debuted on just five
screens in Los Angeles and New York, and it did quite nicely
in the
first week (about $150,000, or $30,016 per theater, the best
for any movie so far this year).
This fact goes against the conventional wisdom of movie marketing,
because “The Dreamers" is rated NC-17, meaning no one
under 18 years of age may view
the film. Over the past decade, the rating has been employed only a few times.
A few films in recent years that depicted extraordinarily graphic sex or violence
were released without a rating at all -- but that is an option available only
to small, independent studios that are not members of the Motion Picture Association
of America (MPAA).
The problem has been that many movie house and newspaper
chains had banned showing or advertising X films, and that
prohibition carried over to NC-17.
The rating became known as the kiss of death.
However, Steve Gilula, president of distribution at Fox Searchlight,
who decided to try releasing “The Dreamers" with an N-17
rating, has been pleasantly surprised.
Theaters were prepared to welcome “The Dreamers" with open arms. It will screen
not only at traditional "art house" cinemas but also at malls. “This film
is not ghettoized," Gilula said.
His other surprise came with the newspapers. Initially, four
major papers had prohibitions against advertising NC-17
films in Cincinnati, Oklahoma City,
Seattle and Salt Lake City. But after being shown the advertisements for “The
Dreamers," they all agreed to run them.
"Has America grown up?" asked Philip Kaufman, who directed
1990’s “Henry & June," the
first film to receive an NC-17, and then struggled mightily to get it into
theaters.
From William Booth, The Washington Post, 2/9/02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27310-2004Feb9.html
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NERVOUS COMMISSIONERS ASK COURTS FOR HELP
YELLOWSTONE COUNTY, MT -- County commissioners
here have voted unanimously to appeal a recent ruling by
District
Judge Russell Fagg. The case involves a “friendly" lawsuit
which
the county filed against Dallas Erickson, the head of a
statewide organization called Help Our Moral Environment.
The lawsuit
was filed to help the commissioners determine whether the
county has the authority to enact certain ordinances before
proceeding.
One ordinance in question would restrict the distribution
of obscene materials within Yellowstone County. The other
would regulate sexually oriented businesses
such as bars that allow nude dancing. The idea for the ordinances started
when Planet Lockwood opened a gentleman’s club here in
December, 2001, featuring
topless and nude dancing.
Judge Fagg said Yellowstone County voters should have an
opportunity to decide on the two proposed ordinances,
leaving the questions of legality
for later.
"Let the voters decide. If passed, let the jury decide,"
Fagg concluded in the 21-page order.
Having failed to pass the buck to the district court, the commissioners
now have decided to ask the State Supreme Court to decide.
"We need to get this answered," Commissioner Bill Kennedy
said. “If we put these ordinances on the ballot, somebody
could file a lawsuit
and
we would
end up
fighting in court for the next five or six years."
Kennedy said commissioners want to limit taxpayer expense
if the case is litigated. Taxpayers in Ravalli County
paid thousands of
dollars
to defend
three obscenity
ordinances that were nullified in court, Kennedy said.
From Tom Howard, The Billlings Gazette, 2/10/04
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=rednews/2004/02/10/
build/local/25-nudityrules.inc
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UpComing Events
MAR 3-7, 2004-- Lifestyles, Miami Radisson Hotel http://lifestyles.org/
MAR 24-27, 2004 -- Nightclub and Bar Owners's Expo
Las Vegas http://www.nightclub.com
APR 26-27, 2004 Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days,
Sacramento, CA, 866-FSC-9373
JUN 18-20 - Erotica L.A.,
Los Angeles, CA http://www.erotica-la.com/
JUL 24, 2004 - Night of the Stars
Sheraton Universal Hotel, Los Angeles, CA - 866-FSC-9373
Subscriptions to Free Speech X-Press are FREE to FSC members.
Contact us at Sunlove@direcway.com or 800-476-7813.
