Protecting Children or Legislating Morality?

There is something insidious going on in America. A vocal minority of people are banging their drums more loudly than the majority, and they seem to be convincing people that they speak for everyone. It began innocently enough with something called the "Patriot Act". Designed to give the federal government sweeping rights in protecting citizens from terrorists. Never mind that it strips away decades of civil rights. If you aren't for that, than you aren't a patriot, and you obviously want the terrorists to win. Huh?

Quietly, along crept another wolf in sheep's clothing. The "No Child Left Behind Act". A very laudable title for something that essentially lets parents pull their children from public schools and place them in private religious charter schools and make the American taxpayer foot the bill.

Let's face it, when you have something called the "Clean Air and Water Act" that actually increases the emissions from American Factories, there is something terribly terribly wrong.

This year, the Justice Department made sweeping changes in USC 2257 Title 18, which regulates the type of documents that must be maintained by the producers of Adult Content to ensure that underage people aren't taken advantage of. These laws have been in place for ages and while they are probably overdue for an update to take into account the world of the Internet, the new changes seem to be a little suspect.

Let's start with the documentation requirements. On the surface, they seem pretty reasonable. In order for anyone to perform in an adult production, they need to present valid government identification. College ID cards are no longer allowed. Great, we are totally behind you on that.

What's the next part? The records office that maintains these records must be open at least 20 hours a week and it's physical address must be placed online where anyone can access it. Considering that many producers of adult content work from home, this is a little tricky. How about I hire a record keeping company? That should be good right? The current administration is always talking about creating new industries. The SEC allows companies to do that. Apparently the Justice Department doesn't though.

Everyone who licenses or displays content that you produced must ALSO have copies of the identification records as well. All right, that's getting a little creepy. You mean if I'm in a porn, everyone who ever distributes or sells it has my real name and address?

If you have adult content on the internet, you must have every URL listed in a database that contains all of your performers, their information, and is searchable. Wait, EVERY URL? That seems a bit excessive.

DVD or CD copies of adult content must be labeled using the following font and size...

OK, you get the point. The issue is, it really seems like the Justice Department is creating so many hoops to jump through and so many clauses that many companies and individuals are simply shutting down rather than try to conform to the new laws. One can only imagine the thunder of DOJ agents when they find perceived violators of these new revisions. Afterall, it took them one month after criminalizing medical marijuana in states where it was legal to descend upon these "criminals" and lock them up. You have to shake your head when the administration talks about giving states the right to choose, but what they really mean is that they want states to have the right to choose to follow the federal administration's agenda.

There is something truly disturbing about the direction things are going. I could go even deeper into these issues, but this is an editorial column, and lets face it, I've already prattled on too much. That and I have an envelope from the Dutch Consulate that I really need to open and read. I wouldn't worry, but there has been a windowless white van parked on my street for about a week.

For a more eye opening view of these new laws, I encourage you to check out the Free Speech Coalition's website. Seriously, if you aren't well versed with the changes, you should be. When we are gone, there will be no one left to speak up for you.

Remember, the "Moral Majority" is neither.

-dhg-

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