YNOT – Adult entertainment industry trade association Free Speech Coalition has launched a fundraising website as part of its effort to continue the U.S. court battle against 18 U.S.C. § 2257.
2257Donate.com provides information about the law and the lawsuit challenging it, in addition to accepting contributions via PayPal.
U.S.C. § 2257 — commonly called 2257, the recordkeeping and labeling law, or simply “that damn law” by much of the adult industry — is part of Title 18 of the United States Code. The federal legislation and accompanying regulations govern what age-verification and identification records adult content producers must keep, how the records must be kept and when they are to be made available to official inspectors.
FSC challenged 2257 on behalf of industry stakeholders, contending the regulations represent an unconstitutional invasion of performers’ privacy. The organization also calls the regulations “impossible to comply with” and objects to the stiff penalties for non-compliance: potentially lengthy prison terms and steep fines for even slight procedural errors.
The current legal challenge has been “fast-tracked” in the federal court system, meaning the lawsuit may be heard as early as June.
“A successful outcome to this litigation will save millions [of dollars] for adult companies who do business online,” said FSC Executive Director Diane Duke. “Additionally, it will eliminate the threat of jail time for even the slightest of 2257 violations, from incorrect font size on your website to misfiling of a document. This is our last opportunity to overturn this oppressive and misguided regulation.
“But FSC can’t afford to do this alone,” she added. “We need to raise $300,000 in the next few months to fund this effort. We need your help. Please give, and please give generously.”
Kink.com founder and FSC board member Peter Acworth said his company has donated $20,000 to the 2257 legal fund.
“I am deeply concerned about 2257,” Acworth said. “Just one issue is that 2257 requires a primary producer to share a performer’s personal information and IDs with secondary producers [essentially, anyone with a website on which the producer’s material appears]. This is a clear violation of models’ privacy rights. Moreover, 2257 is impossible to comply with for a live-cams product and overly burdensome even for the primary producer. Please, let’s stay active during the lull in 2257 inspections and defeat 2257 while there is still a chance.”
Jonathan Crutchley, co-founder of Manhunt.net parent company Online Buddies Inc., also voiced concern about potential harm that may result if 2257 is allowed to stand.
“Adult industry businesses should unite to beat this regulatory scheme,” Crutchley said. “Though there have not been recent prosecutions, if 2257 is not struck down, the door will always be open for legal action against producers and the threat of privacy violations against performers.”
For more information about 2257 and the adult industry’s ongoing effort to enjoin the law, phone Duke at 818-348-9373 or [email=diane@freespeechcoalition.com]email her[/email].
