Attorney A.J. Comparetto has been reviewing adult Web sites for legal risks for the past two years, and during that time he has noticed a few trends about how adult Webmasters tend to approach legal requirements. In this article he talks about some of the most common issues that arise when he’s hired to review adult sites, and offers a new way for Webmasters to look at the necessity of complying with the laws that apply to them.Attorney A.J. Comparetto has been reviewing adult Web sites for legal risks for the past two years, and during that time he has noticed a few trends about how adult Webmasters tend to approach legal requirements. In this article he talks about some of the most common issues that arise when he’s hired to review adult sites, and offers a new way for Webmasters to look at the necessity of complying with the laws that apply to them.
I have been doing legal Web site reviews for both my clients and members of www.adultsitelaw.com for about two years now. In those two years of reviewing adult Web sites, I have found some pretty interesting trends I’d like to share. Let me first lay some groundwork so you can understand how I, as an attorney, look at an adult Web site for problems.
So after I point out that there is a violation of a law or laws, I will check the site a couple of weeks later to see if the Webmaster made any changes. Here the percentages are better: around 40% of Webmasters will make changes. That’s correct, less than 50% of the Webmasters will make the changes they just paid me money to advise them on. Now the interesting part is that most of the time when I advise changes, they are not major changes to the Web site in question. I have never told a Webmaster to change his or her whole site design, or to change his complete way of doing business. Normally my suggestions are easy, subtle and would require little or no work. So here is the trend I have found developing: most Webmasters either don’t really care about their legal risks or they underestimate the risk involved in this business.
DON’T BE A SLACKER!
Now, I’m not a “sky is falling” type of Internet attorney. I don’t try and scare my clients in their Web site reviews. I advise them of the risks and advise them of the changes that could lower those risks. So here is another trend I have found through my Web site reviews: most Webmasters are honestly planning to “get around to it” eventually. That’s right, they tell me they will absolutely make those changes as soon as possible. In this respect they are like \’0 percent of all Americans. We are always procrastinating in things we do. We mentally set priorities, and then when others try to get us to alter those priorities we rebel. These Webmasters completely and truthfully believe that they will eventually get to those legal changes on their Web sites. Of course for various reasons (I need more traffic, I need to open this new AVS site, I need to shoot some new content, I have a Webmaster party to go to) they put off handling the mundane and tedious portions of their lives. So I explain it to them in ways that I believe prod them into altering their priorities. No, I don’t say you can go to jail for these violations. Webmasters have heard that so much that they just don’t care, or they believe they will never be arrested for putting up pictures of such sweet looking women. No, I always give them this example:
A TYPICAL CONVERSATION
Attorney: You pay and file your tax returns each year, don’t you?
Webmaster: Of course I do.
Attorney: Why?
Webmaster: What do you mean?
Attorney: Well, why do you file your tax returns and pay your taxes?
Webmaster: Well, I have to. I don’t want to deal with the I.R.S.
Attorney: Yeah, the I.R.S. can be pretty unpleasant.
Webmaster: Yeah, they’re a bunch of (add in any nasty dirty word to describe the I.R.S. here).
Attorney: So you file your tax returns so you don’t have to deal with those bunch of *&^%$), right? So let’s make sure you get your other paperwork done correctly.
Webmaster: What do you mean?
Attorney: Well you need to think about the legal requirements, disclosures and other changes I have advised you on, just like filing your tax returns.
Now, this is a very simplistic way of looking at legal compliance, but that is how it should be thought of. You should have your attorney give you simple, easy to follow checklists, and you should use them every day. So, I hope that my experiences over the past two years reviewing Web sites help you become a better, more prepared businessperson. If you have not had your adult site reviewed, this is a great time to get it done. There are some fine adult Internet attorneys out there, and normally the cost for getting your sites reviewed is very reasonable.
A.J. Comparetto is a guest writer for The ADULTWEBMASTER Magazine. He has been an attorney practicing Internet and entertainment law for over 12 years. For more information or to ask questions, email him at ajc111@attorney.com, call him at 727.328.7\’00, or visit him on the Web at www.adultsitelaw.com
