CHATSWORTH, CA – Tuesday’s inspection of Robert Hill Releasing brings the number of adult companies that have been “audited” for compliance with federal record keeping regulations to three, with more inspections expected in the near future.In an interview with AVN.com, the owner of Robert Hill Releasing, identified by AVN simply as “Lynton,” said that the team of FBI agents that conducted the investigation brought their own equipment and were polite and professional throughout.
Lynton also said that the agents did not have any manner of search warrant; rather, the agents presented their badges, stated their purpose, and then went about conducting the inspection.
Last week, the FBI conducted searches of Diabolic Video in Chatsworth, CA, and the home-office of Sebastian Sloane Productions, located in Bethlehem, PA.
As with the inspection of Robert Hill Productions, the agents that inspected Diabolic’s records did not present a search warrant and the search involved records and documents subject to 2257 inspections, only.
In the case of Sebastian Sloane Productions, however, agents also presented a search warrant and searched the home of business owner J.J. Ruch, according to messages posted by Ruch to the GayWebmasters.com webmaster forum.
According to Ruch, he was originally told the search would be conducted on Tuesday, August 1st, but agents arrived at his home-office last Friday, July 28th. Ruch stated in messages posted to GayWebmasters.com that, in addition to inspecting his 2257 records, agents “pulled off all the images” on his digital camera and conducted a search of his home for “anything that could be related to internet pornography.”
As with both Diabolic and Robert Hill, Ruch was told he had passed the inspection.
“Sebastian Sloane Productions has been cleared,” Ruch posted on GayWebmasters.com.
Representatives from each of the three companies inspected thus far have been quoted as saying that the FBI agents at the scene told them more inspections are in the works.
Lynton told AVN that although he didn’t engage agents in much conversation, the agents did indicate that the inspection of Robert Hill was part of an ongoing effort. Comments from Diabolic owner Greg Allan indicate his company was the first of 10 companies to be inspected, but that claim has been variously disputed and contradicted by various other sources.
The agents conducting the inspection of Sebastian Sloane apparently indicated a much larger scale effort on the FBI’s part. According to his posts on GayWebmasters.com, Ruch was told that there are 16 teams of 4 agents each working in “each region of the US”.
The inspections of Diabolic, Sebastian Sloane and Robert Hill have sparked a new round of discussions on various industry message boards which reveal a continued general confusion on the part of many within the industry with respect to 2257 regulations and related statutes, record keeping obligations, and the status of the Free Speech Coalition’s legal challenge to the federal record keeping requirements.
The FSC has published a “2257 FAQ” with the group’s response to a number of important questions pertaining to 2257 regulations, 2257 inspections, and the effect of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 on the FSC’s ongoing lawsuit, FSC v Gonzales.
The FSC’s 2257 FAQ is located here: http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/FSCView.asp?coid=655
The FSC has also provided a statement for use by FSC members who are considered strictly “secondary producers,” should authorities come to inspect the records of such FSC members. The full text of the suggested statement is below:
STATEMENT TO 2257 INSPECTORS:
All businesses operating at this address are “secondary producers” within the meaning of the term in the preliminary injunction in the matter entitled Free Speech Coalition, et al. vs Alberto Gonzales, Case No. 05cv1126 WDM (U.S.D.C., D., Colo).
As members of the Free Speech Coalition, the businesses located here are not subject to inspection by the any agent of the Department of Justice pursuant to the preliminary injunction issued in that above matter.
If there are any questions, please call… NAME OF YOUR LAWYER, PHONE NUMBER.
END STATEMENT
