jayeff

Like another post in which I asked similar questions as AsianDivaGirlsWebDude, this is not intended to suggest I'm opposed to FSC. And as I have stated in other posts, I believe 2257 is one issue that we could more effectively and more efficiently deal with collectively: not only actions to try to stop/stall/clarify these changes, but also to have them interpreted professionally into plain language and have a step-by-step guide produced as to how to deal with them properly. I'm fed up with the constant suggestions this topic has produced to "go talk to a lawyer", because the idea of us all independently paying to ask the exact same questions is ludicrous.

But I have been in this business for 9 years and to me, one of its least attractive aspects is the "cult of personality". By which I mean that we are constantly putting people up on pedestals just because they are the flavor of the month with some board hero or other. We don't ask if these people deserve that elevation and often end up burying them later. I don't know if FSC fall into this category, but I have never seen FSC participating directly in any of the online porn forums and until this last week, never more than an occasional reference to them by anyone else.

So I went to their site to check them out. First, FSC has been around since 1990, which suggests whatever they are doing now, they started out representing an offline part of the porn industry. I looked around for answers as to what exactly their present actions against 2257 are designed to achieve and what - since a membership subscription does not go wholly towards fighting 2257 - their general direction was. There was almost nothing to give me so much as a clue.

They describe themselves as a trade association (actually "the" trade association of our industry) and invite people to join as members. Every other trade/professional association to which I have belonged have constitutions which describe how they operate and what members rights and responsibilities are. I couldn't find any such information about FSC, only reference to a "Board of Directors".

Up to a point the "an enemy of my enemy is my friend" may work. But wouldn't it be foolish if all the online porn webmasters who have contributed to FSC were to discover they are only pursuing the interests of video producers? I'm not saying that is the case, only that we don't actually know much at all about FSC and since 2257 is a serious issue, surely we should know more about the only people (I am aware of so far) in whom we are putting our faith.