They came for my porn...

First of all, before I start my rant let me state for the record that I'm over 21. I could go into a bar, order a beer and IF ASKED for proof of age- could indeed prove that I'm legally allowed to drink beer.
I also have usually felt this means that I'm legally entitled to buy and own porn- as I can prove I'm an adult and I believe that porn is a first amendment free speech right. IMHO- you don't really have a healthy society if you don't have porn. That's how my mind works. I will admit I don't talk about my porn in mixed company, but it's a fact of life... I'm a guy, I have porn. If a man tells you he doesn't have porn in *my* mind he's either lying or whipped.

I recently went to an adult dvd site. Right now I don't have enough money to really buy porn but I was checking to see if they had a dvd I was looking for in stock, so that when I had enough money for porn I could buy it.

On their front page they mentioned that due to new regulations they had to remove ‘certain images’ from their site. Huh? I scratched my head and went looking for the dvd( note: I’m NOT gonna mention what site I was at or what dvd I was looking for. So don’t bother asking). When I went into the section where the dvd SHOULD be if the site had it… I noticed that instead of having the front cover for some of the dvds, so you could make a guess if you wanted the dvd, they had the following graphic:



I then went back to the front page- and the announcement that the web content had been altered. From that link they said:

“Recently, United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has approved changes proposed to U.S.C. 18 section 2257 requiring all companies that display explicit sexual content to obtain age verification documentation from the original producers of the work.

Originally, this documentation was only necessary for those companies that hire, pay, and film the content. This information is incredibly private, and includes personal information pertaining to the performers that could be very dangerous when in the wrong hands. Now, these documents must be disseminated to virtually every adult vendor that wishes to remain in business and out of jail.

Currently, we are diligently working to obtain, organize, and verify this information as quickly as possible as to not interrupt our service to you. Unfortunately, this will mean a temporary disruption to our web site in the following areas:
• Removal of all screen shots from our web site
• Removal of all back box art from our web site
• Removal of all explicit front box art from our web site

I can understand the fact that if Vivid is making a dirty movie, they better check to make sure all the men and women in the video of legal age… However, if I sell Vivid dvds, why do *I* have to get proof that all the men and women in the product are legal age. Isn’t enough that Vivid had to do this? Worse that means if I want to work porn, god forbid, not only would I have to give my social security and w2 information to the video company that I want to work for- BUT by the above logic… I’d also have to give my private information to ALL the websites that I, or the video company I work for, want to carry my movie.
So I think this is bad for both the performer, who’s now required to share this personal information, and the websites who want to sell porn. Because I have to tell you as a customer, I’m not going to buy a porn dvd unless I can see the box and possibly screen shots, so I can make an informed decision. I also wonder if that means if I were to put an adult film on Ebay, if they’d be able to arrest me as I wouldn’t be able to prove that the people in the video were over 18.
Actually this site raises some interesting adult questions about this new revision to the law:

But wait - there's more. Any site affected by 2257 must also publish a physical address that serves as its "place of business." Someone must be available at that address 20 hours a week just in case a law enforcement officer wants to gain access to those 2257 records. This doesn't seem too onerous if you imagine a Penthouse.com or Vivid Video type of operation. But consider all the mom-and-pop adult Web sites run out of private residences, or Webcam girls who don't turn the cam off when they take someone to bed. These rules mean that your local Webcam girl and our friends over at sex blog Fleshbot.com must publish their physical addresses online, thus leaving performers and writers vulnerable to stalking and harassment. But hey, it's a great full-access wank pass for cops who can't afford to pay for really primo porn sites every month.

This bothers and offends me. Especially as I figure that webcam girl- who’s just trying to earn a little extra $ and make a few people happy, has like a gazillion percent better chance of seeing the inside of a jail cell then Tom DeLey or Karl Rove. Heck this law sounds EASIER to prove then the one Rove is accused of breaking.
I felt I needed to share this. I think that what Gonzales is doing is UNAMERICAN. I think there are soooo many other things Gonzales should be worrying about then cracking down on porn providers. I’d rather he crack down on illegal assault weapons sales, especially as it was his boss who allowed the LEGAL sales of assault weapons to resume when W. refused to renew the ban on assault weapon sales.
Then again this is the guy who told W. that we could go back to torturing non Americans because the Geneva Convention didn’t apply to us. Apparently it’s more important that our AG worry about PORN then basic human rights.