60 Minutes summary, Porn producers busted. (serious)
 

First off, this story is a bit old. But I'll recap for the newbies.

Porn is huge, porn is corporate, and some of the top Fortune 500 companies are quietly profiting from it. It went on, Jenna Jameson, Paul Fishbein, AVN, everyone loves porn, blah, blah, blah. Fast forward to 2nd segment...

The Justice Department is finally prosecuting some of the extreme content providers, actually, I should clarify; The Justice Department is targeting producers/distributors,. ie. "Extreme Associates" and others. This is the first Federal pornography case in over a decade. Extreme was radied last April and indicted a couple months ago. This was part of a joint investigation by the DOJ, U.S. Postal Service, and The L.A.P.D.'s Orginaized Crime Divison (formerly Administrative Vice)

This case is all about the "Miller Test". Miller vs. California is a 1973 Supreme Court decision that says what is deemed pornographic should be left to "community standards". At the time it was generally interpreted to mean that certain types of pornography would be allowed in certain states and not in others. Standards have changed, the Internet has come of age, and it's time for this issue to be clarified again.

Miller is a three pronged test. The U.S. Supreme Court decided that materials are obscene if they (1) appeal to the prurient (degrading) interest in sex, (2) are patently offensive, and (3) lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value in the view of an average, reasonable person applying contemporary community standards.

It is being argued that it should not apply to the Internet since it is as a whole a community and nobody has jurisdiction over it. This argument can also be read to say, it is now up to the Feds to deem what is pornographic.

Rob Black of Extreme Associates was interviewed on the show. He has produced movies that depict rape, murder, degradation, and urination.

When the Adult Industry caught wind of this Federal investigation that started over a year ago, many producers and publishers backed off their cutting edge niches. I even noticed that Hustler softened up a bit. As many of you know, aside from CP, on the Internet the definition of what is legal and not is fuzzy.

Anti porn groups argue that this proliferation of hardcore pron has led to sexual addiction and anti-social behavior. (one look no farther that GFY to prove this.) LOL

I saw Steve from 60 Minutes at Internext in Vegas back in January. He was at the C2K party. I now know why he was there, it was for this segment. When I saw him he looked at me with a hint of recognition and I about jumped out of my pants. He did a story on an associate of mine (hacker) and I was involved. Anyway...

The Justice Department claims they are targeting the worst and the largest violators. (Typical, they always go for the deep pockets.) It was said there are some 50 investigations under way.

Niche conent is obviously very profitable. Extreme employs 15 people and has annual sales of $20 million to $49.9 million, according to the U.S. Business Directory.

p.s. (Better buy "Forced Entry" before it's banned) LOL