There has been no trade agreements between the US and the rest of the world on record keepings such as 2257.
In Quebec, all physical videos can and must be sold only after they obtain a government classification and have a sticker apposed ...
Are you telling me that Mallcom vidstores comply to this ??/ That when he ships DVD's in Quebec he puts a Quebec sticker on it... Are you telling me that he can go to jail, that we have a law that applies to foreigners ??? Are you telling me that the US producers will cut him off because he doesn't comply ...

Start thinking " out of the box " ....

In the case of child pornography, copyright violation, international agreements have been signed and are enforced by Interpol and local police ...




TO : eroswebmaster Stop be blinded by your misplaced patriotism .... I ansered a post were someone said that the US could do like in China. I tried to show how welll that would go around the world. If the USA does that, the whole world will be laughing :2 cents:

If the sponsor is in compliance there will not be jail time but there will be the hassle of hour upon hour of the DOJ being on premise. Do you think a sponsor wants that? That would be a serious interuption to business. Lets say they want to take the computers with them so they can do further inspections. May happen, may not. When it comes down to it I cannot see a US sponsor not wanting all its affilates to be in compliance with 2257. The hassle of even one not being so is not worth it.

From the DOJ:

"In order to sell in the U.S. market, foreign producers must comply with U.S. laws. This rule applies equally to any sexually explicit material introduced into the stream of commerce in the United States no matter where it was produced. Foreign producers have the option of not complying with the rule, but then their access to the U.S. market is justly and lawfully prohibited."

Guys this is really simple. The sponsor model will be thrown out the window. One way or another this WILL affect you.

I'm not even going to bother responding to that.... :helpme

I see you point, the hassle is too great to even allow any chances for it, it is understandable.
The question is: How can you verify that foreign affiliate is actually in compliance like you wish him to be, even if he says so and has a link reference from his site to your 2257 compliance info? The US Feds cannot verify that without going through the hassle as well. The maximum policy any US sponsor can enforce on a foreign webmasters is to ask such affiliate to have a link from their pages referencing 2257 info on a sponsor's site or not to deal with foreign business at all.

Could be the case.

But then, some webmasters will also say that about staying in the business ...

Why jeopardize your future and assets if you already succeeded to collect a good nest ....

So how many will just quit ( I mean big ones ... ) ?

yes now re-read these parts people

Foreign producers have the option of not complying with the rule, but then their access to the U.S. market is justly and lawfully prohibited.

Ok so if you don't comply you are PROHIBITED from selling porn to Americans if you do so you are in violation of trade laws. You CAN be arrested for that in your country. Why in the fuck can't some of you see what is CLEARLY in the rules.

My business is situated in Canada.

Please tell me the wording of the Canadian law that I would be breaking that would lead to my arrest.

Keep in mind that 90% of online gaming is illegal to cater to Americans as well.

Trade law. If you don't comply and you still try to sell to American you are violating trade law just as you would be if you failed to lable a food product that you were trying to sell in the US. So fine go ahead don't comply just don't make you site accessable to Americans and you're OK.

The rule is no different from other forms of labeling requirements
imposed on foreign producers of, e.g., alcohol, tobacco, or food items
that are imported into the United States.

If you broke a rule regarding one of those items you can get busted so you can with this. Which part of NO DIFFERENT doesn't quite ring with you yet?

Yes and people have been busted for that too.

I asked for the actual wording of the Canadian law.

However don't waste your time googling it or asking your attorney. There is no 'trade law' that I am breaking in Canada by not being 2257 compliant and selling to US surfers.

Fine. But you always comeback with " trade laws " ... Is this part of NAFTA, WTO agreements, WTA, GATT ????

The only thing they could do to a foreigner is have an arrest warrant issued and if he ever shows up in the states then maybe he could be on trial or sent to Gantanamo as a porn terrorist ....

And you didn't answer my example of Mallcom ????

I love how US webmasters are screaming about how not complying is 'unethical' but had no problems with Visa/CCBill changing their processing rules to require US business entities for foreign websites.

There is more ways of punishing than prison. I assume you have assets and bank accounts.

If you are running your own sites fine do whatever you want if you are using American sposnro WHY are you being a hard ass and fucking it up for the rest of us? If you do not wish to comply do not use American sponors. Simple as that. Hell I hate these rules. That's why I will not use content. I don't now anyways. But if I was going to use content I would damned well follow these rules. Oh WTF does it matter anyways, if a sponsor isn't going to make you comply I guess you shouldn't. I guess well have to see what they say.

Visa doesn't threaten to send you to club fed for 10 years.

I'm still waiting on the wording of that law...

And how am I 'fucking it up for the rest of us'?

A sponsor can't get prosecuted because a foreign affiliate like myself is not 2257 compliant. There are no laws on the books to do this.

And for people that strip referrer's the sponsors have no control of what websites are pushing them because they can't even view the affiliate websites, let alone police them.

Big difference ... And VISA rules, tough difficult, were not out of reach for serious webmasters.

Here is a part of a new article on Xbiz:

Very interesting points on the shooting of foreign talent in the US and abroad.

Which ever one deals with LABELING laws as I have pointed out a few times now. You know you think I'm wrong( and maybe I am ) then go call the DOJ and talk to Gonzales yourself.

The only way they could seize assets would be a RICO obscenity charge. And I'm pretty sure RICO only allows seizure of foreign assets belonging to US citizens.

:error

So I'm 'in violation of trade laws' but you have no clue as to which laws i'm violating?

I can't imagine why I stayed away from GFY for so many years.. this shit is hilarious!

Yes, that is true. They can lock up your bank accounts -- even if they can't gey you criminaly.

Look it's this simple. Say you're a farmer in Canada that wants to sell produce in America. Now there are certian labeling laws you have to abide by in order to do that. Now maybe Canada doesn't require these labels when you sell your goods at home. Does that mean you can say "Fuck those laws it's not required where I live so I won't abide by them."? No you can't. Not if you want to sell to Americans. SAME EXACT THING.

Once again

The rule is no different from other forms of labeling requirements imposed on foreign producers of, e.g., alcohol, tobacco, or food items that are imported into the United States.

If you want to sell to American you HAVE to abide by American laws. Once again if you do not wish to abide by the rules then you are not allowed to sell to Americans.

Foreign producers have the option of not complying with the rule, but then their access to the U.S. market is justly and lawfully prohibited.


So you better just get some code on your sites that redirects American traffic elsewhere.

I give up ... no intention of cracking my head on a brick wall ...

GatorB, your examples of products are physical ones for the SOLE distribution in the USA ... Look at airwaves ( TV - Radio )... The FCC has rules. If you re-broadcast from within the USA, you have to follow them.

But Joe Millionnaire, with his big dish and a FTA receiver can view programs from Italy wich shows Janet Jackson's nipple ...

Early Morning here ... Sun is rising ... and I am going to bed after fixing a shitload of PHP to french language .... The fucking US company didn't conform to our laws that require predominance of french... Hummmm, GFY is illegal here .... LOL and in Germany also ... ( ID required ) ...


Bottom Line:

This is the most stupid law made on false pretenses ( kid protection ).

Did you not read the LARGE worded parts? Those are DIRECT QUOTES from the AG.

Here they are again for the mentally challenged.

The rule is no different from other forms of labeling requirements imposed on foreign producers of, e.g., alcohol, tobacco, or food items that are imported into the United States.

Foreign producers have the option of not complying with the rule, but then their access to the U.S. market is justly and lawfully prohibited.

What risk do I face if I don't comply and instead of the Geo-IP code I put up a fake Custodian of Records address?

Chicks dig my bad-boy lawlessness in regards to 2257 compliance. :pimp

What all of this comes down to is that you can't police the internet in the same fashion that you can stop the sale of tangible goods being exported to the US.

What if a beef farmer in Enlgand tried to sell unlabled beef in America? What would happen to him?

Tell that the the US AG. It's HE that is saying it's the same thing. Yet I get ripped by people who want to believe in their own versions of the law. I'm just giving you info straight from the horses mouth. Don't kill the messenger people.

Your point is taken but I think what others are trying to say is that we are marketing a product on the Internet which is accessed by anyone in the world (anyone in a free country) and that we are not specifically targeting an American market like your ag exporter example. Now if I had the US flag as a background image on all my sites and named them "Calfornia Babes" then I'm obviously targeting Americans and should be required to include the appropriate labels.

I am currently, and have been for months now, placing on the front page of each site a 2257 compliance statement as well as stating where the Custodian of Records is located. As a Canadian webmaster I think that's fair. If sponsors want to give me the documents for all their models that's cool too. I have no problem producing the documentation if requested to. As for keeping a catalog of all URLs that point to 'actual sexual' content then that's just too bad. Proving a model is over 18 is one thing but what the DOJ is asking is fucked up.

This law has absolutely nothing to do with protecting children and I don't think anyone here would argue any different. Clinton's Communications Decency Act was an obvious attempt to censor the Internet in the US and control thought. These new regs however are a little different - they legislate a witch hunt.

Are you on crack?

Our law enforcement does NOT enforce U.S. laws. Seriously, you Americans are delusionary. WE ARE NOT SUBJECT TO YOUR LAWS! GEDDIT? :1orglaugh

solution for foreign webmasters = put your address on a 2257 page, and don't bother keeping any records? It's not like they can come and check.

So an UK farmer that tries to sell unlabled beef to the US can't be arrested for violating US trade laws? Hmmmmmm. WTF is the point in having them then?

probably would target the American who imported the beef

You are confusing 2 things.... letter of the law and practical application

Every single webmaster promoting pornography in the United States by the letter of the law is violating obscenity charges.

Are they prosecuted? No, as the law is too vague to get a conviction.

I'm just stating the POSSIBILITIES. Hell there has NEVER even been a SINGLE 2257 inspection EVER and it has been law for over a decade. And the odds that little ole me would ever get inspected considering all the big fish the government rather get and sheer # websites out there to begin with. BUT it would be foolish of me to think like it will NEVER happen to me.

The uber1337 navy seals team led by steven segal would swim over to england and capture him to be taken to the holy court of america...

Jebus

dude, shush.. steven segal and arnie will come knocking on your door... dont forget silvester stalone either, youve seen what those guys can do!!! :1orglaugh

Why are you leaving out Chuck Norris ? :)

Oh shit! :helpme :(