CANOGA PARK, CA — The U.S. Department of Justice has issued proposed regulations for 18 U.S.C. §2257A, the new counterpart to the federal age-verification and recordkeeping act applicable to those who produce images of simulated, as opposed to actual, sexual activity.Section 2257A became law in July 2006 as part of the Adam Walsh Act. Each time Congress passes new legislation or revises old legislation, the federal department charged with overseeing compliance must draft regulations for enforcement. The proposed regulations issued by the DOJ this week are the first guidelines the department has released for 2257A enforcement.
“First examination reveals no real surprises in the proposed regulations, although there are some unusual aspects to the procedure used,” said Reed Lee, an attorney who serves as chairman of both the adult industry trade organization Free Speech Coalition and the First Amendment Lawyers Association. “The Justice Department has proposed to amend the existing Section 2257 regulations to include Section 2257A, but it has not yet responded to last summer’s round of comments on proposed changes to the Section 2257 portions.”
Public comment is invited about the regulations, and the FSC encourages members of the adult-entertainment community to participate.
“The comment period for these proposed regulations will end on August 5th,” said FSC Executive Director Diane Duke. “The Free Speech Coalition intends to file comments, and we will advise our membership on ways to file additional comments.”
Lee added, “In the coming weeks, the Free Speech Coalition will study the situation carefully. As we did last summer, we will keep our membership informed and encourage our members to participate in the comment process as necessary.”
In the meantime, the FSC plans to continue with litigation challenging Section 2257.
“We had hoped that new administrative regulations might help to narrow the litigation, but it does not look like we will see any new final regulations until the fall at the earliest,” Lee said.
A copy of the new regulations may be found on the FSC’s website here: http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/webdocs/2257A_Regs.pdf.
