Attorney Larry Walters addresses this in an FAQ-style article that has been published on YNOT, and which he has done as a power point presentation at several adult shows.
You can read the full article here and here's an excerpt relevant to the employee question:
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11. Only the owners or day-to-day managers of a website operation can be charged with obscenity.
False.
First, any individual or company up the chain, from production, through distribution, to retail sale, can be charged with obscenity violations. Only the end user, in the privacy of his or her own home, is safe from obscenity threats, due to the right of privacy. In addition, the government often seeks to indict as many individual participants in any particular case, as they can legitimately get away with. This usually includes webmasters, designers, assistants, spouses, bookkeepers, managers, owners, operators, consultants, and any other individual with virtually any degree of decision making authority. The idea is to compel underlings to provide favorable testimony against more important figures to the operation. Often this becomes a race to the prosecutor?s office, with many co-defendants seeking to be the first to obtain an immunity deal and turn ?State?s evidence.? Sometimes, criminal charges are only threatened, and never pursued, in exchange for an agreement to provide favorable testimony. What will the people in your organization do?
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Everyone interested in the 'obscenity' issue should take the time to read Larry's piece. It's not that long, and addresses the major points very clearly and concisely.
- Q.