San Diego, CA – Moderated by Jay from YNOT, the Hot Topics and Issues in Adult seminar was attended by a sizeable audience on the second day of Cybernet Expo.No doubt spurred by the recent changes to 2257 and the dot XXX issues now confronting the industry, the seminar room was filled to standing room only, as attendees listened to the information provided by the panelists. Sitting in the hot seats on the stage were Scott from Eroticy, Connor Young from YNOT, Tom Hymes of FSC, Joan Irvine from ASACP, Gonzo from Oprano.com, and attorney Eric Bernstein from embalaw.com.
The two main topics on everyone’s minds were 2257 and dot XXX.
Throughout the specuation and banter, Bernstein offered this piece of advice, “It would be a mistake to stick your head in the sand and do nothing if the injunction is granted.”
Despite the pending legal outcome of the injunction, Bernstein’s message is clear. The issue of 2257 is a reality that must and will be dealt with in due time. The injunction, even if granted, would not negate the issue entirely.
Concering dot XXX, Young was adamant in his position. “Dot XXX does nothing to protect children, it simply won’t do what they say it will, and it causes so many potential problems for the industry, it’s ridiculous to even comtemplate such an idea. This will cause things like domain-name lawsuits, and loss of traffic once ISPs have a way to turn off dot XXX traffic. Colleges and universities will turn off dot XXX traffic, we’ll lose traffic from people at work who have dot XXX traffic blocked from their offices.” Young went on to speculate that dot XXX was a means to an end for a few greedy individuals in the industry.
Regarding the issue of dot XXX becoming mandatory, Hymes added it would mean that everyone would have to “abide by their policies.”
Bernstein advised the industry to “band together to fight” against dot XXX, adding that “at times we’re our own worst enemies.”
The talks got more heated when Steve Lightspeed adressed Joan Irvine on the panel with questions regarding ASACP’s involvement with dot XXX. Irvine responded with the same statement published by ASACP last week, stating their position as neutral concerning dot XXX.
Young confronted Irvine with a letter written to the ICM from ASACP, stating their support of dot XXX, which Irvine rebutted with the claim that the letter had been available and public for over a year, and maintained that ASACP holds neutral position concerning dot XXX.
When Scott of SleazyDream.com confronted Irvine with a question concering ASACP’s intent to collect grant money from the profits resulting from dot XXX, Irvine replied that the board of directors had not yet decided on that issue, and that she would be responsible for doing what the board instructed.
Moderator Jay attempted to veer the topic to other issues, but the audience was clearly looking for answers from ASACP and the FSC regarding their positions on the two hottest topics, 2257 and dot XXX.
