Originally Posted by Quentin

Do you feel the same way about hardcore BDSM? Prior to getting into this industry and researching the various niche markets, I would never have thought that some people actually want to have nails driven through their nipples, or would want to be suspended from hooks, or want to have their ass beaten with a paddle until it bleeds.... yet there's no shortage of people who PAY to have such things done to them.

I'm not suggesting the performers who work with Max all enjoy the experience -- merely that it isn't beyond the realm of possibility that they are OK with it, at least within the context of the video/scene being produced.

Any model who has performed with Max and feels that she was forced, induced or otherwise coerced to do something they did not want to do has the option of filing criminal charges against the man, or suing him in civil court. That's not what this case was about; this case was about violations of federal obscenity statutes, arguably the vaguest and worst defined statutes this country has to offer.

Connor from YNOT has a great analogy for how obscenity law works: it's like driving along a county road and seeing a sign that says "Speed Limit" but doesn't have any numbers on it. Then you get pulled over by a cop who says "Are you kidding me? Everybody in this town knows you have to stay under 25 on this road.... 30 tops... maybe 35.... well, it kind of depends I guess, but YOU were going 40 -- and we clearly can't have that."

Personally, I think that the most reasonable approach to obscenity law (other than eliminating it) would be to initially prosecute the material, and not the person(s) or company that produced it. Once a jury has deemed a video obscene, you could then make it a crime to sell that video. At least that way we would know whether or not a crime had been committed sometime before a jury comes back with a verdict....

When someone accused of robbing a bank goes on trial, for example, the only real question is "did they do it?" It just doesn't sit well with me to have a "crime" that is wholly dependent on context, and for which there is no objective criteria.