FIRST AMENDMENT FOCUS
The Cybernet Expo seminar, “Review of the Virtual Child Pornography Case” was run entirely by attorney Jeffrey J. Douglas. It was an excellent overview of what direction the Child Pornography Protection Act (CPPA) is heading in, and it’s impact on adult webmasters as well as the entertainment industry in general.
CPPA aimed to make illegal virtual child porn – meaning suggested sex involving computer-generated minors, without actual sex taking place or actual ‘victims’ being involved.FIRST AMENDMENT FOCUS
The Cybernet Expo seminar, “Review of the Virtual Child Pornography Case” was run entirely by attorney Jeffrey J. Douglas. It was an excellent overview of what direction the Child Pornography Protection Act (CPPA) is heading in, and it’s impact on adult webmasters as well as the entertainment industry in general.
CPPA aimed to make illegal virtual child porn – meaning suggested sex involving computer-generated minors, without actual sex taking place or actual ‘victims’ being involved. It was struck down in a 6-3 Supreme Court vote in mid May. Had it passed, essentially it would have been the beginning of the end for the adult Internet and had serious implications on the mainstream entertainment industry as well. Actual thoughts and victimless images would have been made illegal, and therefore, even films like Traffic, and Fast Times At Ridgemont High could have been prosecuted for depiction of what CPPA would have outlined as “child porn” because of various ‘suggested’ scenes involving “minors” within.
A graduate of UCLA Law School, and also the chairman of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), Douglas is the attorney responsible for helping to push the case all the way up to the Supreme Court, ending in a victory for free speech. “I was very pleased with the report. Members of the adult industry were not referred to as ‘pornographers’ but rather as those working in adult entertainment,” he stated. Douglas then went on to give a detailed overview of what he called “Ashcroft vs. Free Speech.”
“In 1996, a law was enacted redefining child pornography. A bill was pending saying that if something ‘appeared’ to be child porn – that is, even if it isn’t porn, and no children (under 18) are involved, producers could still face a mandatory five years in prison as a sex offender.” This would include producers of Hollywood movies glamorizing teen sex such as Porky’s, and ultimately would have had a devastating effect on Hollywood. “Hollywood buried its head in the sand when it came down to this,” added Douglas.
He continued, “Litigation is a loser’s game. The Supreme Court is very hostile towards pornography and pornographic speech, and the Free Speech Coalition thought we had a horrifying and losing battle ahead of us. This proposed law would have undermined so much.” He also went on the record as saying that adult webmasters did very little to help out, and the FSC was the last group standing to take the case.
When the conversation moved onto obscenity and the discussion of COPA (Child Online Protection Act, which aims to “protect” minors from “harmful online material”) Douglas stated, “There has never been a study if hard core material is harmful to minors – only presumed. You can’t ethically test it.” Apparently, if COPA passes, allowing community standard to dictate what is ‘obscene’ and what isn’t, and a website is determined to have even less than 1% of its total content deemed as “obscene,” then the whole site will be considered obscene, and the webmaster faces an obscenity prosecution.
The government went after mail-order companies in 1987, and production companies in 1990. Now, with bigger fish to fry, they are going after adult webmasters. Douglas claimed, “The adult Internet is a huge group of sitting ducks. There are tens of thousands of people to prosecute now, and obscenity prosecutions are very expensive.” He also added that as well as a major financial drain, an obscenity prosecution is also an emotional one. “You are converted into a criminal. People are not emotionally or financially prepared for prosecution. 100% of 100 websites would plea – then they (prosecutors) would go after the big players.”
He continued, “We are in a very, very dangerous time. You need to talk to lawyers with First Amendment experience… Greed = Stupidity. Set up realistic goals and get an exit strategy. Regardless of location, if the government can trace your cash flow, then they can prosecute you.”
In closing, Douglas painted a pretty gloomy picture of our government, and especially of Ashcroft, who he labeled as a hardcore right-winger with a huge political payoff. Regardless of how much money our industry has, if we choose to sit on our free speech rights, we will inevitably lose them, Douglas pleaded. At this point he suggested that the adult industry both online and off needs to hang together. “The FSC has matured and is an effective lobbying presence. Internally they have cleaned house and improved life for people who make adult movies.” For $25 per month to the FSC, Douglas purports that our industry would be much more prepared against the government, and prosecutions and risks would be greatly reduced.
Jay “LAJ” Kopita is the Executive Editor for YNOTNews and the Communications Director for YNOTMasters and can be reached at editor@ynotnews.com and jay@ynotmasters.com.
