TRIPLE-X TOP-LEVEL DOMAIN NAME APPROVED
MARINA DEL REY, CA -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved a top-level .xxx domain devoted entirely to adult entertainment. (ICANN is the non-profit organization that manages the Domain Name System so that all users of the Internet can find all valid addresses.)
        The approved proposal for the triple-x domain is the work of Stuart Lawley, President of ICM Registry, which will handle the technical aspects of running the master database of .xxx adult sites. According to the proposal, ICM Registry will charge $60 a domain name and let resellers add their own markup of perhaps $10 or $15 per domain. Child pornography would be verboten, but pretty much anything else would be permissible.
        A second, nonprofit organization, the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, will be in charge of setting the rules for .xxx. According to the original proposal, the group will have a seven-person board of directors, including a child advocacy advocate, a free-expression representative and at least one person from the adult entertainment industry.
        The approval of the triple-x domain represents a policy reversal for ICANN, which turned down a proposal from ICM Registry in 2000 (before Lawley became involved as president). At that time the group said there was no mechanism in place to require adult content to migrate from its current domain address to an .xxx top-level domain.
        The turnabout could have been related to pressure from groups seeking ways to shield children from adult materials on the Internet. For example, some members of the U.S. Congress were disappointed that ICANN had turned down the idea. Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) said the .xxx domain would “effectively shield children from pornography without encroaching on the rights of adults to have access to protected speech.”
        There is no consensus on the issue within the adult entertainment industry. In August, 2003, Free Speech Coalition held a special meeting to discuss the idea. Strongly stated opinions were heard on both sides.
From Declan McCullagh, CNET News, 6/2/05
http://news.com.com/Porn-friendly+.xxx+domains+approved/2100-1030_3-5728713.html
And from Jim Wagner, Internet News, 6/2/05
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3509511
__________________________________________________________

FEDS ANNOUNCE CRACKDOWN ON P2P NETWORK
       WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Justice has announced search warrants and seizures against individuals allegedly committing copyright infringement on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks using a file-sharing technology known as BitTorrent. Ten search warrants were issued against members of a network called Elite Torrents. Federal agents also took control of the main server that coordinated all file-sharing activity on the Elite Torrents network.
       The DOJ claims that the network attracted more than 133,000 members and, in the last four months, facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 17,800 titles -- including movies and software -- which were downloaded 2.1 million times.
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
__________________________________________________________

PRISON CONDOMS BILL PASSES ASSEMBLY
SACRAMENTO, CA -- The Corrections Condom Distribution bill (AB1677) sponsored by California Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), has passed the Assembly (41-34), and has now been sent to the Senate. The bill requires the Director of Corrections to allow health agencies to distribute sexual barrier devices such as condoms and dental dams to prison inmates, and specifies that the possession of the condoms shall not be used as evidence of illegal activity for purposes of administrative sanctions.
       Republicans said the bill would act as encouragement to inmates for sex behind bars.
       “This is absolute insanity,” said Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, (R-Monrovia). “What you are doing is facilitating lawbreakers.”
       Koretz said the HIV rate in prison is eight times what it is in the general population and the Department of Corrections spends $14 million a year on HIV medication. He cited other countries, states and municipalities that allow condoms to be distributed in their prisons or jails.
       “This is not an untested policy,” said Koretz. “It’s been done successfully all over the world…. It saves lives; it saves money.”
       A side note: Following the HIV outbreak in the adult entertainment community in 2004, Assemblymember Koretz began exploring the possibilities of legislation directed at the adult industry. But when his research showed the very high rate of infection in prisons, compared to the very low rate of infection in the adult industry, he concluded that legislation targeting the prison population made more sense.
From The San Francisco Chronicle, 6/1/05
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=
/n/a/2005/06/01/state/n232221D46.DTL
And from the text of AB1677
www.assembly.ca.gov
__________________________________________________________

COUNTY ORDINANCE CHALLENGED
       NYE COUNTY, NV -- Adult Superstore has filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the county’s new sexually oriented business ordinance, challenging the ordinance on virtually every section of it, and claiming violation of rights guaranteed by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Nevada Constitution.
       Adult Superstore alleges that they have been unfairly targeted. They say Nye County “has openly and publicly avowed to close plaintiff’s establishment under any circumstances.” Some aspects of the ordinance are “designed and calculated to unlawfully eliminate plaintiff’s ability to conduct its business and to censor protected expression,” says the lawsuit.
From Phillip Gomez, Pahrump Valley Times, 5/27/05
http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2005/05/27/news/sobsuit.html
__________________________________________________________

BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
       NASHVILLE, TN -- Pure Life Revolution, a self-described grass-roots public awareness campaign, has organized a protest prayer-vigil here in which the praying protesters will wear blindfolds. They will also cover their mouths with duct tape bearing the word “LIFE” to identify with those who cannot speak for themselves.
       The object of the prayer is the 40-foot Musica sculpture near Nashville’s famed Music Row. The sculpture, which was unveiled in 2003, features nine naked dancers.
       “It’s really a prayer for purity, for righteousness, and we’re really crying out for the city,” said Matthew Stark, director of Pure Life Revolution. “We know that the eyes are a gateway into our soul, our spirits….”
From Amber North, The Tennessean.com, 5/28/05
http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=
/20050528/NEWS01/505280337/1006/MTCN03
__________________________________________________________

COUNTY ORDINANCE CHALLENGED
       KNOXVILLE, KY -- A new city ordinance here creates a six-foot dancer/customer distance requirement and also sets new hours limits­exotic dance clubs that serve alcohol must close at Midnight instead of 3 AM. City Officials claim the clampdown will lower crime rates.
       “We’re working hard to rebuild the values of our homes and have safe, great neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bill Haslam.
       Exotic dancers in the affected clubs feel unfairly targeted by the new law, and particularly resent the six-foot rule. “This is a safe environment. People don’t understand. We are not about having sex on a couch, sex on a table, sex on a chair, no sir, we are about dancing in front of you,” said a dancer named Sherrie at a club called The Katch.
From Lee Merrit, WVLT Channel 8, Knoxville, 5/26/05
http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3394321
__________________________________________________________

Other News of the Week

LONDON, BRITAIN -- The High Court here has upheld a law banning the sale of adult videos and DVDs by mail order. Adult entertainment companies had argued that the law was an “unjustified interference with freedom of expression.” However, the High Court said the law was a legitimate way to keep adult videos from being sold to children.
Reuters, 5/23/05
http://news.com.com/U.K.+court+bans+buying+porn+videos+online/2110-1028_3-5717467.html?tag=nefd.hed
__________________________________________________________

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