New 2257 regs published (link here)

Five commenters commented that the proposed rule would hurt U.S. businesses and remove money from the U.S. economy by driving the pornography industry to other countries. In addition, these commenters claimed, most sexually
explicit web sites are, in any event, already located in other countries and the rule would be ineffective in regulating them.

(f) Internet means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which constitute the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.

§ 75.2 Maintenance of records.

(a) Any producer of any book,
magazine, periodical, film, videotape,
digitally- or computer-manipulated
image, digital image, picture, or other
matter that contains a depiction of an
actual human being engaged in actual
sexually explicit conduct that is
produced in whole or in part with
materials that have been mailed or
shipped in interstate or foreign
commerce, or is shipped or transported
or is intended for shipment or
transportation in interstate or foreign
commerce and that contains one or
more visual depictions of an actual
human being engaged in actual sexually
explicit conduct made after July 3, 1995
shall, for each performer portrayed in
such visual depiction, create and
maintain records containing the
following:
(1) The legal name and date of birth
of each performer, obtained by the
producer?s examination of a picture
identification card. For any performer
portrayed in such a depiction made after
July 3, 1995, the records shall also
include a legible copy of the
identification document examined and,
if that document does not contain a
recent and recognizable picture of the
performer, a legible copy of a picture
identification card. For any performer
portrayed in such a depiction after June
23, 2005, the records shall include
(i) A copy of the depiction, and
(ii) Where the depiction is published
on an Internet computer site or service,
a copy of any URL associated with the
depiction or, if no URL is associated
with the depiction, another uniquely
identifying reference associated with the
location of the depiction on the Internet.
(2) Any name, other than each
performer?s legal name, ever used by the
performer, including the performer?s
maiden name, alias, nickname, stage
name, or professional name. For any
performer portrayed in such a depiction
made after July 3, 1995, such names
shall be indexed by the title or
identifying number of the book,
magazine, film, videotape, digitally- or
computer-manipulated image, digital
image, picture, URL, or other matter.
Producers may rely in good faith on
representations by performers regarding
accuracy of the names, other than legal
names, used by performers.
(3) Records required to be created and
maintained under this part shall be
organized alphabetically, or numerically
where appropriate, by the legal name of
the performer (by last or family name,
then first or given name), and shall be
indexed or cross-referenced to each alias
or other name used and to each title or
identifying number of the book,
magazine, film, videotape, digitally- or
computer-manipulated image, digital
image, picture, URL, or other matter.
(b) A producer who is a secondary
producer as defined in § 75.1(c) may
satisfy the requirements of this part to
create and maintain records by
accepting from the primary producer, as
defined in § 75.1(c), copies of the
records described in paragraph (a) of
this section. Such a secondary producer
shall also keep records of the name and
address of the primary producer from
whom he received copies of the records.
(c) The information contained in the
records required to be created and
maintained by this part need be current
only as of the time the primary producer
actually films, videotapes, or
and at such places as specified in § 75.4.
For the purpose of this part, ??normal
business hours?? are from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., local time, Monday through
Friday, or any other time during which
the producer is actually conducting
business relating to producing depiction
of actual sexually explicit conduct. To
the extent that the producer does not
maintain at least 20 normal business
hours per week, producers must provide
notice to the inspecting agency of the
hours during which records will be
available for inspection, which in no
case may be less than twenty (20) hours
per week.
(2) Upon commencing an inspection,
the investigator shall:
(i) Present his or her credentials to the
owner, operator, or agent in charge of
the establishment;
(ii) Explain the nature and purpose of
the inspection, including the limited
nature of the records inspection, and the
records required to be kept by the Act
and this part; and
(iii) Indicate the scope of the specific
inspection and the records that he or
she wishes to inspect.
(3) The inspections shall be
conducted so as not to unreasonably
disrupt the operations of the producer?s
establishment.
(4) At the conclusion of an inspection,
the investigator may informally advise
the producer of any apparent violations
disclosed by the inspection. The
producer may bring to the attention of
the investigator any pertinent
information regarding the records
inspected or any other relevant matter.
(d) Frequency of inspections. A
producer may be inspected once during
any four-month period, unless there is
a reasonable suspicion to believe that a
violation of this part has occurred, in
which case an additional inspection or
inspections may be conducted before
the four-month period has expired.
(e) Copies of records. An investigator
may copy, at no expense to the
producer, during the inspection, any
record that is subject to inspection.
(f) Other law enforcement authority.
These regulations do not restrict the
otherwise lawful investigative
prerogatives of an investigator while
conducting an inspection.
(g) Seizure of evidence.
Notwithstanding any provision of this
part or any other regulation, a law
enforcement officer may seize any
evidence of the commission of any
felony while conducting an inspection.


§ 75.6 Statement describing location of books and records.

(a) Any producer of any book,
magazine, periodical, film, videotape,
(d) A computer site or service or Web
address containing a digitally- or
computer-manipulated image, digital
image, or picture, shall contain the
required statement on its homepage, any
known major entry points, or principal
URL (including the principal URL of a
subdomain), or in a separate window
that opens upon the viewer?s clicking a
hypertext link that states, ??18 U.S.C.
2257 Record-Keeping Requirements
Compliance Statement.??
(e) For all other categories not
otherwise mentioned in this section, the
statement is to be prominently
displayed consistent with the manner of
display required for the aforementioned
categories.

§ 75.4 Location of records.

Any producer required by this part to
maintain records shall make such
records available at the producer?s place
of business. Each record shall be
maintained for seven years from the
date of creation or last amendment or
addition. If the producer ceases to carry
on the business, the records shall be
maintained for five years thereafter. If
the producer produces the book,
magazine, periodical, film, videotape,
digitally- or computer-manipulated
image, digital image, or picture, or other
matter (including but not limited to
Internet computer site or services) as
part of his control of or through his
employment with an organization,
records shall be made available at the
organization?s place of business. If the
organization is dissolved, the individual
who was responsible for maintaining
the records on behalf of the
organization, as described in § 75.6(b),
shall continue to maintain the records
for a period of five years after
dissolution.

One commenter who supported the proposed rule stated that he
created a system to help webmasters comply with the rules and protect
the identity of individuals depicted in the images while allowing
verification by law enforcement.

The commenter stated that no webmasters took advantage of his system because, he said, they believe that there is an extremely remote possibility of being prosecuted for non-compliance and that the Sundance ruling protects them. The comment tends to demonstrate that the claim by industry groups that the rule is unconstitutionally burdensome is exaggerated. Nonetheless, the Department does not endorse this commenter's particular system as it has no means to determine whether the system actually works.