Extreme Associate’s Rob Black, who has been targeted by the federal government in the first significant round of federal obscenity prosecutions since the last Bush administration, appeared as a guest on the YNOTBob Humpday Lunch Show to talk with YNOTBob and LAJ about the government’s crackdown on obscenity.Extreme Associate’s Rob Black, who has been targeted by the federal government in the first significant round of federal obscenity prosecutions since the last Bush administration, appeared as a guest on the YNOTBob Humpday Lunch Show to talk with YNOTBob and LAJ about the government’s crackdown on obscenity. Over the course of a forty-five minute interview, Black talked about the status of his case, the reaction of the adult industry to his brand of content, the stance taken by the Free Speech coalition in regard to his case, and what he hopes to accomplish by challenging the government on the obscenity charges that were filed against him.
Black explained that his case is currently being held up by another case, ACLU vs. Ashcroft, which deals with the Child Online Protection Act, and which has the potential to halt the government’s current line of attack against online obscenity.
“There are issues in the ACLU argument that we’re waiting for, and if it’s in favor of the ACLU it’s a big shove up the government’s ass on the Internet charges,” Black explained. “And then what’s going to happen is the government’s going to have to re-file the charges against us, so they would dismiss the Internet and they then would just focus on the tapes and the DVDs, and either way we’re not looking at a court case until after the election.”
Since federal obscenity prosecutions are usually highly political in nature, Black feels a change in guard at the White House could mean the end of the Justice Department’s anti-pornography crusade.
“This all might be moot if Kerry can pull it out and we can get Bush and Ashcroft the hell out of there,” said Black, prompting a chorus of “Hell yeah!” from listeners in the Humpday show’s live chat room.
Yet if a trial does happen, Black likes his chances; the government would lose its case if just one juror out of twelve sided with Black’s position.
“I feel unbelievable confident, and Lou feels unbelievable confident, that if worse came to worse and we were in a trial, we could beat this. All you need is one person,” said Black. Louis Sirkin is Black’s attorney, famous for defending Hustler’s Larry Flynt on numerous occasions, and the primary inspiration for the character played by Edward Norton in the movie The People Vs. Larry Flynt.
Asked whether the rest of the adult industry has been supportive, Black stated frankly that other pornographers have not been supportive, and added that while he wasn’t complaining, he believes his content is often held to a different standard than similarly extreme content from other companies.
“People that think my content is just so out there, they are so sheltered in our community of pornography,” said Black. “There’s so much shit out there from mainstream studios that are on the edge, and again I’m not one to site here and go well, ‘Look, he’s doing this and he’s doing that,’ and you know what, it’s not for me to say that … there’s mainstream studios that I’ve seen doing sex acts where guys are inserting like objects in the girls’ asses. You know, like tools and stuff like that.”
Black admitted that he has also found little support from the Free Speech Coalition, an industry trade group that champions Free Speech issues.
“Free Speech Coalition, they have a blanket statement that they don’t get involved in helping people and their court cases,” said Black. “They’re not real supportive because they feel I’m outside the norm. Jeffrey Douglas feels I’m outside the norm, that most of the people in the business are just plain vanilla sex operators, and I’m outside the norm.”
Despite the fact that Black is facing a possible 40 years in federal prison, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor. If a movie is made about his life, he already knows who should play the lead role.
“Definitely Tom Cruise to play me in the movie,” joked Black. “I think Tom Cruise would do a phenomenal job.”
Extreme Associates can be found on the Web at ExtremeAssociates.com.
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