This will be a very intersting case to watch... put aside the extremeness of the content.. he is being charged with shipping (obscene) DVD titles along with the viewing of (obscene) video clips via the web. (similar to extreme associates case).

I guess Florida will be looking to describe what they consider to be "obscene".

Its hard for me, as a laymen, to understand that a discretely wrapped package, that was purchased by an adult, delivered to the adult's home can be the subject of "obscenity" when it is a private transaction.

Likewise, viewing of a video clip behind a members area, which is not out in the public, is also subjected to what is obscene.

The laws are designed to protect the public, but the person who received or viewed these materials was not harmed, they wished to see items.

It used to be against the law for homosexuals to have sex in the privacy of their own home in Texas.. you would think that similiar such strikings of the law would preserve the personal privacy space. To me, this is a very republican idea of privacy and less government intervention.


Fight the slippery slope!

going to be hard to prove

This will be a very intersting case to watch... put aside the extremeness of the content.. he is being charged with shipping (obscene) DVD titles along with the viewing of (obscene) video clips via the web. (similar to extreme associates case).

I guess Florida will be looking to describe what they consider to be "obscene".

Its hard for me, as a laymen, to understand that a discretely wrapped package, that was purchased by an adult, delivered to the adult's home can be the subject of "obscenity" when it is a private transaction.

Likewise, viewing of a video clip behind a members area, which is not out in the public, is also subjected to what is obscene.

The laws are designed to protect the public, but the person who received or viewed these materials was not harmed, they wished to see items.

It used to be against the law for homosexuals to have sex in the privacy of their own home in Texas.. you would think that similiar such strikings of the law would preserve the personal privacy space. To me, this is a very republican idea of privacy and less government intervention.


Fight the slippery slope!

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

coming from a guy with as Nick " WISEMAN '....


not to WISE to me ....

LOL -- what? Do those services claim to have some sort of "instant" notification of stuff like that? I always look to them for quality analysis, not some sort of race. :1orglaugh

at least it doesn't look like he will be doing any time.

land of the free to go fuck ourselves :)

Hey B - how you been? Hit me on ICQ sometime.

Generally speaking, the criteria for obcenity is, if the work as a whole lacks any educational, artistic or political value. If his sites aren't on cms, they can get him for each page that gets deemed obcene as a seperate piece of work too. Very hard to convict on this one. I'm sure he and his lawyer have covered every last safeguard in anticipation of this and likely have a solid defense against the charges.

Guess they got to get money for the war somehow, eh?

yea.. I don't think this is going to be good at all.. with the election coming up and everything else going on. I think they are looking for more and more example s to make of people

Which election are you referring to? A FL election?

SOME FACTS ABOUT MAX THAT NEED TO BE NOTED

1. He has never been indicted by the feds...until now

2. He was indicted by L.A County and no he didn't beat them, he settled with a guilty plea.

On the one hand he brings unwanted attention to the industry, most people in the biz do not want to be associated with his version of porn and inevitably thats exactly what happens.

On the other hand if he can beat this charge what chance do the feds have of taking down digital playground or even anabolic....

The good news is this. If Max can beat the obscenity charge, then it's likely to be the last federal obscenity prosecution EVER.

If content like his can pass muster then the rest of us can sleep much better at night in regards to obscenity prosecutions.

I just read the formal charges. Over and over and over it reads "in the middle district of Florida"

Think they're trying to define the scope of the local community?

Not hardly. All you need is one jury to convict anyone. Like I wrote to MS, if they dont get Max on this or Black, I fully expect them to pass an actual law forbidding photographing any genitalia or sexual act.

Right now it is too easy for both sides to win. This isnt about right and wrong or justice. This is about one way of belief against another and sadly, our way of belief is heavily out numbered in modern society.

Theres no way that 12 normal civilians will look at Max's stuff and vomit in their own mouths a little bit. This has conviction written all over it. Same with Black and JM. But to think the USGOV will ever stop is absurd. As long as there is a religious right voting for politicians, they will continue to prosecute.

Anything anyone says, writes, films, photographs, etc... can be obscene...you just have to find a jury to agree with you...This is FL. In Tampa. Not Miami.

Heres one thing that interests me though...how can you charge someone with mailing something obscene when a court has to first declare a product obscene?

Sadly, we would be much better off if we actually had a REAL law that defines what obscenity is so those that are trying to keep from breaking the law can continue to do so.

And this is why we should be voting Ron Paul!

He should hire the lawyer that won Steve Sweets case PKS aka The Iceman is one of the best out there ;-)

better to return the cash.

fraud is against the law in USA also.

ah it aint so bad to live in almost europe... :)

yeah, in Los Angeles. Juries there tend to be quite liberal. I'm surprised the feds didn't pop him with a wire/mail indictment in some very conservative jurisdiction... Best of luck to him.

Exactly! :thumbsup:thumbsup Freedom and free markets, baby!

Be honest, we all like his movies :)

And cases like these are how the line is drawn.

I'm pulling for freedom of expression, myself.

I think the Miller v California standard for Obscenity will be REDEFINED by the 'borderless' Internet. It's definitely going to get real interesting.

For them to pick Tampa as the venue,they must feel his stuff is so overboard they can win. For those who haven't been to Tampa a sex store or a strip club on almost every other corner. Ive been telling people who feel its their god given right to make fisting and pissing videos this was going to happen. The feds move very slow. To have a chance of winning they have to go with the over the top stuff,they need a reaction from a jury.

Maybe he and his buddies would like to come here and repeat their "fuck the FBI" BS for us one more time as they did when he got arrested?

Yeah, for the mailed product I can see them being able to nail the community down to the greater Tampa area, but for the internet stuff it will be interesting to see what the court defines as the "local community"

it was inevitable

what took them so long?

This is what you get when you vote for people like Bush. Anyone here think that if Gore or Kerry were president this would even be happening? Nope. I highly doubt they would be using precious time, money, manpower and other resources going after porn when we are in the middle of a war on terror.

Max needs a motion for Change of venue.

Hardcore.

i find it rather disturbing that it ( the warrant ) was signed by "child exploitation and obscenity" the 2 issues arent related.. then agian neither are "alcohol tobacco and firearms"

To where canada? lol

It sounds serious but I can bet it'll be knocked down so far that all he'll do is have to pay a fine and go on probation or something.

There are too many dangerous precedents to tangle wth here regarding Constitutional rights.

I don't know what he was producing but it must've rubbed someone the wrong way. ( no pun intended ).

He can either fight the charges and get them tossed out or reduced or he can negotiate and get them reduced.

Going after his home is ridiculous. That sounds like predatory presecutorial procedure. Somebody wanted his house, they get it on the down-low confiscation and sell it to the highest bidder.

No. This is going to go the distance. I don't know him, I vaguely know his material don't know what he sold to whom but the confiscation of his home and business is a bit extreme. Considering every day thousands of illegal immigrants enter the country, we have terrorists worldwide, bizarre diseases, and other global problems, using those resources to go after a guy with a sex site is curious indeed.

However, if he's been deliberately futzing with the law and being a general pain in the ass I can see the justification.

Two sides to every story so that's why we have courts.

That's why I use toons. No problems with em'.

Okay, why does the indictment have two attorneys that are with child protection? Was there something in the content warranting the actions of a child protection division? Were the DVDs sent to minors?

Something doesn't make sense here.

Possibly. Pornographers have no friends in politics. Stop kidding yourself.

Oh stop they arent a friend but its not a priority. If Clinton hadnt been president during the internet boom,most of the big fish here would be working day jobs.

You have no idea what might have happened so it's ridiculous to speculate. I'm simply saying the possibilty for an obscenity prosecution is always there no matter who's in office.

The People vs. max hardcore coming in a theater near you on summer 2009