CANOGA PARK, CA – The Free Speech Coalition issued a press release Wednesday urging adult webmasters and other industry professionals to comply with both the existing and new regulations under Title 18 § 2257. The press release also warned the industry that although the organization plans to challenge the regulations in court, and is seeking an injunction against their enforcement during the legal challenge, there are no guarantees about the outcome of these actions.“Free Speech Coalition attorneys are reviewing the newly-released revisions to the Federal Labeling & Recordkeeping Law, 18 U.S.C. Section 2257, in preparation for the legal challenge FSC intends to mount on behalf of our membership,” the press release stated. “However, being a member of the Free Speech Coalition does not mean that compliance is unnecessary. Every producer of actually sexually explicit conduct is covered by the existing regulations and the new regulations.”
The new regulations are scheduled to take effect on June 23rd, but the previous regulations are currently in effect.
FSC stressed the uncertain nature of legal challenges.
“The Free Speech Coalition will initiate litigation to seek an injunction against the law generally, as well as specific parts of the regulatory scheme,” FSC stated. “While we are confident that we should receive injunctive relief of some sort, and are hopeful that such an injunction will be broadly based, there are no guarantees. We do not and cannot promise that an injunction will issue, and if it does, what components of the law and regulations will be covered.”
“If we get the injunctive relief we seek, then we will inform our members what rules are covered by any injunction.”
Confusion has spread through the industry regarding who would be protected by the injunction should one be issued by the courts. According to the FSC, due to the rules governing civil procedure only parties to the litigation would be officially covered by any injunction obtained through the efforts of the Free Speech Coalition. That means only FSC members would be protected.
“Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, only the parties to litigation are covered by an injunction,” FSC warned. “Therefore only the Free Speech Coalition and its members will be covered by an injunction, and only to the extent the injunction restricts the government enforcement.”
Due to the flood of misinformation on industry message boards, the Free Speech Coalition has also joined a growing chorus of industry professionals who have urged webmasters to direct all 2257-related questions exclusively at a qualified attorney.
