YNOT – Adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition has announced the candidates for the organization’s 2011 board of directors.
“It’s very important that all active FSC members vote in the Board election,” Membership Director Joanne Cachapero said. “This is your chance to choose who will represent the business and legal interests of the adult industry for the coming year, and represent you on important issues like 2257, dot-xxx, workplace safety and internet piracy.”
Alphabetically, the candidates are:
Peter Acworth: Founder and chief executive officer of Kink.com, an online network of BDSM websites since 1998. On the issue of obscenity, Acworth said: “The industry needs clarification on what the obscenity laws actually are and how they are used. Currently, they are too vague, and [they are] applied randomly.”
Axel Braun: Son of legendary porn pioneer Lasse Braun and grandson of a diplomat, a member of MENSA, a film-school graduate and the bearer of a doctoral degree in psychology. Among the issues that Braun would like to address is the need for the industry to come together and extend help and outreach for performers by creating an infrastructure to provide counseling and guidance to those in need.
Jeffrey Douglas: A Santa Monica, Calif.-based criminal defense lawyer representing all segments of the adult entertainment industry since 1982. He is the current chairman of the FSC board of directors and chairman emeritus of the First Amendment Lawyers Association.
Mara Epstein: Sales director at Lelo Inc. and a present FSC board member. “As a member of both boards of the Adult Video Association and then the Free Speech Coalition for over a decade, I bring to the table an experienced knowledge of the adult industry and the problems facing it,” she said. “With nearly a quarter century of immersion in this business, I have, and always will, work to improve its impact on society.”
Sid Grief: Founder of AAA News, current interim FSC president and a member of the Video Software Dealers Association Hall of Fame. “I think the FSC’s major challenges will be monetizing new technologies for our existing members, eliminating online piracy, affecting restrictive legislation originating in the state congresses and securing the recognition of our right to privacy,” he said.
Alec Helmy: Founder and president of XBIZ. “Whether it’s content piracy, government regulation, obscenity prosecution or zoning laws, it’s never been more critical for the FSC to formulate and execute strategies that will reverse or minimize the impact of these threats to adult businesses,” he said.
Joel Kaminsky: Owner of Good Vibrations and a current FSC board member. Joel was instrumental in turning Good Vibrations’ near-bankrupt condition into one of solid general business health. This led to his decision to end his career at distributor GVA-TWN and devote full-time attention to Good Vibrations at the beginning of 2010 as the CEO.
Mark Kernes: Legal columnist for AVN and current FSC board secretary. “Certainly, one of the most important subjects the [FSC] board can deal with over the next few years is making the public understand how fucked up the government and many social institutions are about sex and sexually-related subjects,” he said. “Obviously, the issue of same-sex marriage and gays serving in the military are subjects of major public discussion right now, but many don’t realize that there are still some areas [in the U.S.] where you can’t buy a vibrator, and that there are only three jurisdictions in the entire [U.S.] where people can legally shoot adult content.”
Reed Lee: Attorney and current FSC board member. He is national chairperson emeritus of the First Amendment Lawyers Association and has served three terms on the FSC board. His political experience ranges from grassroots organizing to lobbying in Congress, always for the less popular or less powerful against the more. He has long felt the need to help speak truth to power and to help defend those against whom the intolerant have unleashed a culture war.
Steven Scarborough: Founder of Hot House Entertainment, member of the GAYVN and Grabby halls of fame and current FSC board member. After launching the fledgling Hot House brand (initially called Bullwhip Video), Scarborough sensed a growing demand for gay fisting and fetish videos and conceived the Plain Wrapped and Club Inferno brands to address those niches. Both brands quickly became sensations.
Lynn Swanson: Sales manager for Topco sales and current FSC board member. With a resume spanning practically every facet of the industry, Swanson offers more than 30 years of experience including retail (Goalie Entertainment), distribution (general manager of M&M Sales) and manufacturing (Topco Sales). As a current board member, she said she offers a broad understanding of the entire industry.
More information about all of the candidates may be found here.
Electronic ballots will be sent to active FSC members Dec. 9 via Zoomerang.com. Members will have until Dec. 22 to cast their votes. Any active members who do not receive their electronic ballots should call the FSC office at 818-348-9373 or email Cachapero.
