jayeff

My ambivalence towards FSC is more basic. They are describing themselves as "the trade association of the adult entertainment industry" and they are offering "memberships". Yet taking the information available on the site at face value, I would be paying a fee for their "Board of Directors and professional staff" to spend as they see fit.

I am not implying they are misusing the funds, nor that their work - especially in relation to 2257 - may not be beneficial. But except in the broadest terms, I cannot see any details of their agenda, who is deciding that agenda, nor how - if at all - I can impact upon that agenda. That vagueness is not at all compatible with my concept of a broad-based trade association.

Going further, although they are also collecting donations to help fight 2257, there is no clear indication on their site as to what exactly they are fighting for. Do they want the whole of the new regulations withdrawn or are they fighting to have specific parts of those regulations changed? If the latter, which parts and how? It is possible to infer some of the answers by reading their news items and by comments from yourself and others, but there is no way to be confident as to whether such inferences are correct.

Over the years I have belonged to professional associations as varied as the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Private Hire Drivers Association, and I have served on the national executive of one of the UK's main political parties. Perhaps I have become cynical after being exposed to the adult industry for too long, but to me the FSC site strongly suggests a narrowly based, autocratic organization, that to help its fundraising, attempts to convey a very different impression.

That may not be the case, but then surely it would make sense for the site to be more forthcoming.