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Free Speech X-Press
Delivering Weekly Censorship Updates to the Adult Industry

Vol. VI, No. 16, March 5, 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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SIGN UP NOW FOR LOBBYING DAYS
It’s time to sign up for Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days 2004, to be held on Monday and Tuesday, April 26-27, in Sacramento. If you have previously taken the training, you are invited to join us on Monday morning for a brief review and update on legislation, as well as for Tuesday’s lobbying activities.

Monday evening we will host our popular Legislative Reception and this notice is an official invitation to our adult entertainment stars to join us at the reception, even if you’ve never attended CFSLD before. There you’ll meet other lobbyists, state legislators and their staff and have a chance to demonstrate to them just how bright and articulate so many of our performers really are.

Please don’t delay in responding to this invitation, as we must finalize plans soon. Call Kat Sunlove toll-free at 1-866-FSC-9373 or e-mail Sunlove@inreach.com.

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CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT DEBATED
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Supreme Court has heard oral arguments (in Ashcroft v ACLU) on the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), a 1998 law that makes it illegal for commercial Web sites to make available to children (16 and under) material that is not necessarily obscene but could be considered “harmful to minors."

The Supremes already reviewed COPA in 2002. At that time the justices issued a splintered opinion in which a majority of the court endorsed the idea that the use of community standards to decide what is harmful to minors was not, in itself, enough to invalidate COPA. The case was sent back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for consideration of other First Amendment implications. In March, 2003, the Third Circuit again ruled the law unconstitutional.

Boston Globe reporter Lyle Denniston said it appeared that the anti-porn campaign for COPA may be gaining sympathy within the court. Denniston cited the fact that few justices spoke critically of the law and Justice Breyer emerged as a vigorous champion of the measure’s goal.

Said Breyer to ACLU attorney Ann E. Beeson: “What Congress is interested in are professional pornographers." The solution chosen by lawmakers, he added, was a type of “zoning on the Internet," requiring adults who want to see sexually explicit items to "identify themselves as not a child."

“If that is not a good solution," asked Breyer, “what is?"

However, as noted by New York Times writer John Schwartz, neither side got a free ride from the justices. Just minutes into his argument, Solicitor General Theodore Olson was interrupted by Justice O’Connor, who asked why the government was fighting for new laws when it was not enforcing the old ones.

“There are very few prosecutions, and there’s all kinds of stuff out there," O’Connor said.

Justice Ginsburg asked whether people who were entitled to view the Web sites would be reluctant to do so because of the government’s requirement that the sites verify age by getting credit cards or other identification.

“The whole world can know about it if I put in my credit card number," Ginsburg said.
From Lyle Denniston, The Boston Globe, 3/3/04
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/03/supreme_court
_revisits_arguments_in_online_pornography_case/
And from John Schwartz, The New York Times, 3/3/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/03/politics/03SCOT.html

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FORBIDDEN WORDS COULD BRING HUGE FINES
WASHINGTON, DC -- The House Energy and Commerce Committee has voted to increase the fines that could be imposed on broadcasters for airing indecent material from $27,500 to $500,000. On a vote of 49-1, the committee doubled the amount recommended by a subcommittee, which had approved a tenfold increase to $275,000.

"Just last week at our hearing, two out of three networks testifying -- NBC and ABC -- said that our bill to raise the fines for indecency tenfold would not be a deterrent to clean up the airwaves," said Representative Fred Upton (R-MI). “We heard them loud and clear and now we raise the penalty to $500,000."

The measure comes at a time when broadcasters are responding to pressure from federal regulators and lawmakers who say too much of radio and TV programming has become unsuitable for children.

Under FCC rules and federal law, radio stations and over-the-air television channels cannot air material that refers to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels and satellite radio. [However, see story below]
From Siobhan McDonough, Associated Press, 3/4/04
http://www.newsobserver.com/24hour/politics/story/1180099p-8131352c.html

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INDECENCY RULES FOR CABLE PROPOSED
NEW YORK, NY -- Noting that shock jocks Opie and Anthony -- fired after a stunt involving sex in famous places -- were now on satellite radio, Federal Communications Commissioner Kevin Martin said U.S. regulators should consider whether radio and television services carried by cable and satellite should also adhere to indecency standards.

"I think you are hearing from the radio side the complaint that ‘We’ll live by whatever rules, but we think the rules have to be fair to everyone who is in this medium,' and you’re hearing from the broadcast television side as well," Esaid Martin, speaking to the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecommunications Summit.

"I think that’s a legitimate issue, which is why I think we need to try to take a look on a wider survey," Martin said.

Satellite radio and television providers are licensed by the FCC, which could potentially hold them accountable, he said. But he conceded that companies like Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. could argue that since consumers pay for their products, they would not have to comply.

Martin renewed his call for the FCC to affirm local television stations right to offer alternative programming if they object to a show and for cable companies to allow customers to block channels they find offensive and not have to pay for them.

"Cable companies need some way to empower parents and families to have more choice," Martin said. “I think that it has the potential to be a problem when they are receiving things they object to and have to pay for that."
From Jeremy Pelofsky, Reuters, 2/25/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=4439539
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FANS PROTEST LOSS OF HOWARD STERN SHOW
SOUTH FLORIDA AIRWAVES -- Last week we reported on the Clear Channel Radio decision to suspend broadcasts of the Howard Stern Show (see “Howard Stern’s Job On The Line" -- 2/27/04 X-Press). At one of the Clear Channel stations where the show was yanked, Fort Lauderdale’s Big-106 WBBM-FM, angry Howard Stern fans reacted, tying up Big-106's phones most of the morning. At the same time, local advertisers who pay several hundred dollars for spots on Stern’s show found their commercials airing on a program with half the listeners.

"It means I’m not getting what I paid for,’’ said a testy executive at one local advertising agency. “It means I’m having the day from hell"

In place of Stern, Big 106 simulcast the morning show of Paul and Young Ron from 94.9 Zeta WZTA-FM, a Miami station owned by Clear Channel.

"At first, I thought I hit the wrong button on my car radio," Esaid Lauderhill bookkeeper Georgette Tarantino, one of the outraged fans who called Big 106 to complain.

"Suddenly I realize Paul and Ron are on both stations, and I think, `Oh, noooo.’… I don’t understand this. With Howard, you know what you’re going to get. If you don’t like it, you don’t listen."

Stern even won support from conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh.

"I’ve never heard Howard Stern," Limbaugh said. “But when the federal government gets involved in this, I get a little frightened. What happens if a whole bunch of John Kerrys or Terry McAuliffes start running this country and decide conservative views are leading to violence?"
From Glenn Garvin, The Miami Herald, 2/27/04
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/television/8054078.htm

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DANCE CLUB LAW BUCKS COURTS AND ECONOMY
LOUISVILLE, KY -- Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson has signed into law a tough new adult-entertainment ordinance some say could force Louisville’s exotic dance clubs to close. However, the Abramson administration said enforcement will not begin yet, since it wants to give the businesses time to comply with the law, especially since some changes might require construction.

The administration also said it is trying to determine whether parts of the new law are similar to provisions that U.S. District Judge John Heyburn struck down in a law two years ago. There are concerns as well about a recent ruling by Jefferson Circuit Judge Stephen Ryan blocking the metro government from shutting down adult businesses at 1 AM.

The ordinance includes a full menu of restrictions, including closing between 1 AM and 9 AM, pasties and G-strings, dancers to remain at least 6 feet from customers while dancing, no touching, no direct tipping, no alchohol, licenses for owners and employees and no closed booths.

The Metro Council approved the ordinance recently after a year of lobbying by a citizens' group that opposes adult entertainment.

However, not all local sentiment favors the move. Louisville Courier-Journal columnist David Hawpe draws a stark contrast between the ordinance and a trend in Arizona, “where they understand the convention and visitors economy."

"Here in Louisville," says Hawpe, “we’re going to tell the conventioneers, as well as the locals who frequent these strip clubs, that we don’t want their money. And that’s saying a lot. Deja Vu alone has an average payroll of 30 to 35 people, making $559,000 in wages per year. At last report, payments to the club’s 27 vendors raised its annual economic impact on Louisville to $742,000. Spokesmen for all the local strip clubs say they account for a total of 1,200 jobs and have a $50 million impact on the economy, assuming a reasonable multiplier effect. PT’s alone had 100,000 patrons come through its doors last year, and during the farm machinery show, the club’s business triples."

Attorney Frank Mascagni, who represents P.T.’s Showclub and Deja Vu, said his clients may file suit soon challenging the ordinance.
From The Louisville-Courier Journal, 3/2/04
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/03/02ky/B1-adult03020-5790.html
And from David Hawpe, The Louisville-Courier Journal, 2/29/04
http://www.courier-journal.com/cjextra/editorials/2004/02/29/for-2-hawp0229-7323.html

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UpComing Events

MAR 3-7, 2004-- Lifestyles,
Miami Radisson Hotel http://lifestyles.org/

MAR 11, 2004 Gay AVN Awards -- RAGE Nightclub
West Hollywood, CA -- http://www.gayvnawards.com/

MAR 24-27, 2004 -- Nightclub and Bar Owners' 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

JUN 9-12 Cybernet Expo,
San Diego, CA www.cybernetexpo.com

Subscriptions to Free Speech X-Press are FREE to FSC members. Contact us at Sunlove@direcway.com or 800-476-7813.