ACTION SOON ON 2257 LAW
CHATSWORTH, CA -- Within a week, Free Speech Coalition will file lawsuits and will ask for temporary restraining orders on behalf of its members and other named plaintiffs against enforcement of the revised recordkeeping and labeling regulations under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2257. The revised regulations are due to take effect on June 23. Paul Cambria and H. Louis Sirkin are drafting the lawsuits, with the help of a number of other prominent First Amendment Attorneys.
        Morality in Media President Robert Peters, for example, said he fears that the use of .xxx will legitimize the adult Web and provide adult sites with de facto protection from obscenity prosecutions.
        Family Research Council legal advisor Patrick Trueman feared that adult webmasters would keep their dot.com addresses and at the same time populate the .xxx domain, thus perhaps doubling the number of adult entertainment sites on the Internet.
        In the meantime, many in the Adult Internet are concerned that government legislation could force adult sites into an online ghetto. CNet News commentator Declan McCullagh predicts, for example, that after .xxx domains become available and popular, politicians will suggest that adult Webmasters should be forced to permanently relocate from dot.com.
         “You’re definitely going to find some pressure on sex sites to move there,” agrees David Greene, director of the First Amendment Project in Oakland, California.
        In any case, the .xxx domain is not a done deal. The Bush Administration still has to go along with it, because the Commerce Department “has reserved final policy control over the authoritative root server,” according to a government report.
        “That would constitute an endorsement of a red-light district on the Internet,” points out Karl Auerbach, a former ICANN board member.
http://www.xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=9058
And from Declan McCullagh, CNet News.com, 6/6/05
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5734012.html
__________________________________________________________

DOT XXX WORRIES INDUSTRY AND CENSORS ALIKE
       CYBERSPACE -- As reported last week, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved a top-level .xxx domain devoted entirely to adult entertainment. Reactions to the news have been mixed. Surprisingly, many right-wing groups have come out against the scheme.
       Morality in Media President Robert Peters, for example, said he fears that the use of .xxx will legitimize the adult Web and provide adult sites with de facto protection from obscenity prosecutions.
       The DOJ press release on the action mentioned the Motion Picture Association of American as providing valuable assistance to the investigation.
From a DOJ Press release, 5/25/05 http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2005/May/05_crm_291.htm
__________________________________________________________

DANCE CLUB LOSES ZONING LAW CASE
POMONA, CA -- Presiding Justice Roger Boren of California’s Division Two Court of Appeal has reversed a Los Angeles Superior Court decision (Kozub v. City of Pomona, B174501) and has ruled that the City of Pomona can now shut down Baby Dolls Theater, an exotic dance club, under the city’s zoning ordinance.
       The ordinance in question bans adult businesses within 300 feet of a residential zone or 1,000 feet from sensitive uses such as churches, schools and parks. In order to pass muster constitutionally, there must be sites where an adult business can be located. A referee appointed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Andrea Richey researched available sites and determined that none were actually available, for a variety of reasons. On that basis Judge Richey enjoined enforcement of the ordinance.
       In reversing Richey’s decision, Justice Boren said that the referee had used inappropriate litmus tests for determining if there were sites that conformed to the ordinance. For example, the referee noted that many of the sites were unavailable because they were not for rent. Irrelevant under the law, said Boren. The referee also noted that many of the sites were economically unfeasible because they were too large, or too small or poorly shaped. Irrelevant, said Boren.
       Boren quoted a Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion saying that physical aspect of potential sites may exclude them from consideration only if they are “under the ocean, airstrips of international airports, sports stadiums or areas not readily accessible to the public…” etc.
From Metropolitan News Enterprise, 6/6/05
http://www.metnews.com/articles/2005/kozu060605.htm
__________________________________________________________

CITY CAN BAN DOORS ON PANORAM BOOTHS
       HONOLULU, CA -- The Hawaii Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that the city can ban doors on panoram booths, AKA “peep-show booths.”
       The purpose of the 1997 ordinance banning the doors was purportedly to curtail drug dealing and prostitution. However, Earle Partington, the attorney for Suzie’s Adult Superstore in its challenge of the ordinance, said Honolulu police or other city agencies had not received complaints about Suzie’s or its panoram booths in its 20-plus years in Waikiki. Partington said the ordinance was an example of the mentality of the religious right, which has been successful in enforcing its values on the rest of the population.
       Suzie’s had argued that losing the doors and curtains would have an economic impact on the city and state, because the enclosures provide privacy and without them adult stores would lose virtually all paroram clientele. The Hawaii economy gets a lot of money from tourists who frequent panoram booths, Partington said.
       The city argued that the economic impact of the ordinance is not relevant to whether it is constitutional.
From Debra Barayuga, Honolulu Star Bulletin, 6/7/05
http://starbulletin.com/2005/06/07/news/story10.html
__________________________________________________________

CHINA REQUIRES REGISTRATION FOR BLOGGERS
       BEIJING, CHINA -- The Chinese government has instructed all bloggers to register their sites and list the individuals responsible for each site within the next few weeks. The government says it plans to monitor blogs, using registration numbers. Sites not registered will face steep fines. The regulations are needed, says the government,because of sex, violence, superstitions and “other harmful information” available online.
       Some bloggers may move their sites to servers based outside the country. However, they then can become inaccessible inside China because of the Chinese Internet filtering system, which is, according to a recent study by the OpenNet Initiative, “the most sophisticated effort of its kind in the world… pervasive, sophisticated, and effective.”
From Patrick Goodenough, Crosswalk.com, 6/6/05
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1334349.html
__________________________________________________________

WEBMASTERS GUNNED DOWN
       MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES -- Dutch brothers Willen and Hendrikus Von Engelburg, webmasters who broadcasted feeds to U.S. subscribers, have been shot dead by police during a raid on their offices here.
       Renaldo Jaylo, head of the investigation leading to the raid, said police were forced into a gun fight when the brothers drew.45-caliber pistols and opened fire on them. Jaylo said the Dutch men kept their models as sex slaves and forced them at gun point to perform, and that the raid was an effort to rescue the women from sex slavery.
       Accounts of the shootings in the Asian Sex Gazette, however, suggest that the police action may have more to do with the “all out war” against the adult Internet declared by Filipino President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Philippines’ national journalists’ union has accused the government of “extra-judicial killings” to eliminate its enemies.
       Records reportedly showed that the women had been paid roughly $1,000 per month. Because there are no laws in the Philippines specifically forbidding the operation of adult sites, authorities often claim that site operators have forced models to perform and prosecute them for illegal sex trafficking, says the Gazette.
From Matt O’Conner, Asian Sex Gazette, 6/5/05
http://www.asiansexgazette.com/asg/southeast_asia/southeast05news43.htm
__________________________________________________________

Save the Date
June 17, 2005

The censorship group Morality in Media is predictably up in arms over a sexy new Carl’s Jr. ad featuring Paris Hilton.
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_8351.shtml

As expected, Utah’s new adult Internet law requiring ISP’s to block sites deemed “harmful to minors,” is about to face a legal challenge.
http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=
View_Article&Content_ID=228579

5^th Annual Bob Tremont Memorial Golf Tournament
8:00 AM Shotgun
Angeles National Golf Club
9401 Foothill Blvd.
Sunland, CA 91040
www.angelesnational.com
“One of the 30 Best New Courses of 2004” says Brian McCallen in the January-February 2005 issue of Travel & Leisure Golf.

18^th Annual Night of the Stars
7:30 pm–10:00pm
The Hollywood Highlands
6801 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood CA 90028
www.thehighlandsla.com
 
This year’s modern theme and streamlined program is a return to casual Hollywood chic at the Kodak Theatre complex in Hollywood. Vert, a brasserie by Wolfgang Puck, will provide a delightful menu, while you meet and greet the stars and freedom fighters of the industry.

1st Annual Night of the Stars After-Party
10:00 PM
The Hollywood Highlands
For the first time, FSC throws a star-studded after-party! Party like a porn star and make America safe for adult entertainment!

__________________________________________________________

FSC ACTION CENTER AT EROTICA L.A.
       Be sure to drop by the Free Speech Coalition Action Center (Booth #118) during Erotica LA, June 10-12, at the LA Convention Center. Once again, FSC will be conducting a political action program in the Action Center which will allow fans and industry members to contact their representatives in Congress and urge them to pass the SAFE Act, which would restore some of the privacy rights lost under the PATRIOT Act. It only takes a moment to enter your zip code and send a free fax to your representatives.
       And if you’re not already a member of FSC, be sure to drop in on the regular FSC booth (Booth #116) to sign up or to update your membership. While you’re there, you can get all the latest information on FSC’s upcoming challenge to the new Section 2257 regulations.
       So stop in and see us during the show!

UpComing Events

May 28 -- Sin City Experience Expo, Las Vegas, NV, www.sincitychamberofcommerce.com

JUNE 6-10 -- Lifestyles 2005, Las Vegas, NV, www.lifestyles-conventions.com

JUNE 10-12 -- Erotica L.A., www.adultconx.com

JUNE 12-15 -- Cybernet Expo, Shelter Point Hotel, San Diego, CA, www.cybernetexpo.com

JULY 11-13 – ANME, Mandalay Bay, Vas Vegas, NV

JULY 18-20 – AVN Adult Novelty Expo, Pasadena, CA. www.adultnoveltyexpo.com

JULY 26-28, -- VSDA's Home Entertainment 2005, Bellagio Resort, Las Vegas, NV, http://show.vsdahomeentertainment.com

AUG 5-6 – Internext, Hollywood, FL., www.Internext-expo.com

AUG 23-25, – Annual Gentlemen’s Club Expo, Madalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, NV http://www.exoticdancer.com/expo.php