This newsletter is sent free of charge to FSC
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Free Speech X-Press
Delivering Weekly Censorship Updates to the Adult Industry
Vol. VI, No. 27, May28, 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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SAVE THE DATE! NIGHT OF THE STARS - JULY 24
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NEW SPAM RULES TAKE EFFECT
WASHINGTON, DC The Federal Trade Commission requirement
that sexually explicit Internet spam must include the words
“SEXUALLY EXPLICIT" in the subject line is now officially
in effect. The new FTC rules also bar graphic images from
appearing
in the opening body of the message. Instead, the recipient
must take some action in order to see the explicit material,
either by scrolling down in the e-mail or by clicking on
a provided link. Spammers who violate the rules face possible
imprisonment and criminal fines of up to $250,000 for individuals
and $500,000 for an organization.
Many are critical of the rules, which are part of the federal
“can spam" legislation that went into effect in January.
"This is a back door effort to violate people’s first amendment rights,
whether well intentioned or not," said Maryland First Amendment attorney
Jonathan
Katz.
From the Associated Press, 5/20/04
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2580857
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E-MAIL MARKETERS HELP FIGHT AGAINST SPAM
WASHINGTON, DC -- Bulk e-mailer Ronald Scelson, who first
testified before Congress a year ago, has testified again
at a Senate committee here, describing how he had been forced
to move his operations from his house in a New Orleans suburb
to an old, unused nuclear fallout bunker that he leased from
the federal government. The reason? Harassment and threats
from anti-spam vigilantes after his testimony a year ago.
Scelson, who calls himself a former spammer who is now
"100 percent legal," says he sends out out between 20
million and 30 million commercial e-mails every
day that comply with the CAN-SPAM law enacted late last year to curb unwanted
messages. However, he complained that Internet providers such as AOL are
blocking his mail even though he is complying with the
new law. Most Internet providers
impose their own service restrictions that go beyond the law.
Other legitimate e-mail marketers are assisting in law
enforcement efforts against spammers. Monroe Jana D.
Monroe, assistant director of the FBI’s
cyber crime division, also testified before the same Senate panel. He said
the agency
is relying on expertise from the Direct Marketing Association -- which
represents bulk marketing firms whose messages often
are drowned out by illegal spam
or trapped by spam filters -- to help develop cases against roughly 50
targeted spammers. No charges have yet been filed.
From Jonathan Krim, The Washington Post, 5/21/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43622-2004May20.html
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DANCE CLUB DAMAGES CASE GOES TO JURY
SAN BERNARDINO, CA The trial portion of a lawsuit brought
here by exotic dance club owner Randy Welty has concluded
and the case is now being deliberated by the jury. Welty
seeks $2.6 million in damages he suffered when his cabaret
was forced to close for four years from 1995 to 1999 prior
to the city ordinance being ruled too restrictive.
Attorneys for the city have said that because Welty allowed
his dancers to perform illegal sex acts along with their
legal entertainment at the “Flesh
Club," the club owner is not entitled to any financial damages.
Welty’s attorney Roger Diamond argued to jurors: “There
has never been one trial for prostitution at this location,
no convictions, no guilty pleas,
zero. A
clean record." However, several former Flesh Club dancers, plus two women
who were paid by the city to get jobs at the Flesh Club and report back
on any
illegal activity, testified that dancers commonly performed sex acts on
customers inside the club and that Welty knew about it.
Diamond conceded to jurors that some of the club dancers
might have “crossed the line" with their customers,
but he said those women are a minority,
not the majority, of the dancers.
From Tim Grenda The San Bernardino Press-Enterprise, 5/21/04
http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_bflesh21.a0ebc.html
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A LA CARTE CABLE STUDY REQUESTED
WASHINGTON, DC The Chair and other members of the House
Commerce Committee have asked the Federal Communications
Commission for a detailed study on the feasibility of requiring
cable and satellite companies to offer a la carte pricing
for subscribers. This would allow subscribers to pick and
choose the channels they want, an idea that has been gaining
momentum as a result of concerns over televised indecency.
The cable industry opposes the idea, saying it would ultimately
raise subscriber costs and harm diversity on the airwaves.
Currently, popular channels subsidize less-popular ones,
which the cable industry says provides more options for viewers.
On the other side of the issue, Consumers Union, the advocacy
group which publishes Consumer Reports magazine, has
pushed for a la carte pricing and is working
on legislation, requested by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), that may require
a la carte pricing in addition to channel packages.
From Frank Ahrens, The Washington Post, 5/20/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40996-2004May19.html
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DISNEY FAVORS BROADCAST INDECENCY LAW
LOS ANGELES, CA Disney is supporting cable indecency legislation
while opposing proposals that would require cable operators
to sell cable networks a la carte. The media conglomerate
owns ABC Television Network and 10 TV stations, as well as
cable networks ESPN, Disney Channel and ABC Family. It also
has a stake in Lifetime Television. Some speculate that Disney
is supporting indecency legislation in an effort to drain
momentum from a la carte pricing [see report above], which
might deal a devastating blow to ESPN’s business model.
From Ted Hearn, Multichannel News, 5/19/04
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA420345?display=3DTop+Stories
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FIRED JUDGE GOES ON SPEAKER CIRCUIT
ANCHORAGE BAPTIST TEMPLE, AK -- Roy Moore, who lost his job
as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court when he installed
a 5,300-pound granite sculpture honoring the Ten Commandments
in the lobby of his courthouse -- then refused to remove
it when a federal judge ordered him to -- has become a folk
hero to fundamentalist Christians. Moore, who had been in
elected office as a judge just seven months when he installed
the monument, is now getting standing ovations on the speaking
tour and is being touted as a prospect for political office
for governor, or even president.
Moore’s position is that the First Amendment prohibition
against government establishment of religion has been
wrongly interpreted by the courts for the
past 40 years. The people who wrote the Bill of Rights meant only that Congress
could not establish an official state religion, such as European countries
had at the time, he has said.
From the Anchorage Daily News, 5/20/04
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/5107774p-5034668c.htm
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UpComing Events
JUN 9-12 Cybernet Expo, San Diego, CA www.cybernetexpo.com
JUN 16 - Fit For A King, Hollywood, CA (818) 501-6139
JUN 17 -- FOXE 1/3 (Fans of X-Rated Entertainment
Awards) Inglewood, CA (818) 501-6139
JUN 18-20 Erotica L.A., Los Angeles, CA
http://www.erotica-la.com/
JUL 7 -11 -- Lifestyles West, Stardust
Hotel, Las Vegas, http://lifestyles-convention.com/
JUL 24 Night of the Stars Sheraton Universal
Hotel Los Angeles, CA - 866-FSC-9373
JUL 25 FSC’s Bob Tremont Memorial Golf Tournament,
Sylmar, CA, 818-348-9373
JUL 26-28 ANME, Sheraton Universal Hotel,
Los Angeles, CA - 818-772-0100
AUG 13-15, 2004 Internext -- Westin Diplomat,
Hollywood, Florida www.Internext-expo.com
AUG 29-SEPT 4, 2004 -- Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo
and Exotic Dancer Fan Fair, Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas,
NV - www.ExoticDancer.com.
Subscriptions to Free Speech X-Press are FREE to FSC members.
Contact us at Sunlove@direcway.com or 800-476-7813.
