Feds and Visa working together?
 

A friend of mine told me he consulted with a high powered Internet lawyer on a copyright issue and the lawyer told him that was the least of his worries. He said Those VISA requirements of having a corp. in the U.S. is to actually aid them in a big long awaited round up of obscenity prosecutions...anyone heard of or know about this?:Oh crap

i figured

Yes. You are going to get busted and go to jail and your face will be front page on USA Today as an exposed smut peddler. Have fun! :thumbsup

I am so paranoid I believe that.

At least you're doing the right thing and thinking about moving to another country. Although there is probably some law that says the US government can arrest you for whatever you do wrong according to US law no matter where you live in the world.

then we'll all have to go back to missionary sex and softcore content... everything will be ok! :BangBang:

i'm glad i'm getting out of this shit soon.

Lawyers make money on fear

evious :)

:helpme

Boy, that says it all.

Chill out. Everything's gonna be fine. There is such a thing as the First Amendment ya know. Get to know it. http://www.freedomforum.org/first/

Yeah 1st amendment protects pornography but not obscenity. You could have a somewhat soft-core video but shown to the wrong jury in the wrong community you could be indicted or convicted:321GFY

Someone has to fight the battle.

Are you implying that the government, our elected officials, and large corporations might be working together to fuck the little guy, the very working man who makes their existence possible?

What are you, some sort of communist? :)

I can't say I believe this guy, but it would make sense. Arn't 3rd party processers now required to report to VISA on your website? Now VISA (and the government if you believe this guy) knows who the biggest sites are. The one's worth going after.

This has been the rumor for a LONG time. Go to Avn Online and look up an article by a lawyer named Piccionelli(sp?), i think he's counsel for a lot of medium, big players on the Adult Net.

According to him this is all part of a secret deal VISA made with the government in exchange for new bankruptcy legislation which will good for VISA. VISA basically on behalf of the U.S. government is going to chase Net porn out of the United States and they're going to make it really easy for Ashhahahahaha and the IRS to do their bidness.

When i first heard this, it's over a year ago, i thought he sounded like one of those conspiracy nutbars but it seems very plausible now.

Might be the end of it in US, but not in other countries.


Didn't max hardcore, seymore butts and extreme associates already win 3 suits for obscenity (pissing, fisting, violent sex) ?

1) the courts have already upheld rulings saying that you cant just prosecute a website operator in the most conservative district you can find.

2) quote: Now VISA (and the government if you believe this guy) knows who the biggest sites are. The one's worth going after. endquote... if you REALLY think they havent known for a LONG time then you're foolish... customs and the FBI have been combing over the big 3's webmaster and url lists for years seeking out kp and casino people

3) the sky is falling. run. and leave your rebills with me please.

true. but criminal convictions are only way to do the job.
and remember all those cases were in Los Angeles, take that Max Hardcore case to another state and it wouldn't have been a hung jury.

If they don't have much luck in the courts they can continue to have VISA do their work. American Express did it, i think if the government throws a bone VISA's way they'll be happy to cut off all processing for porn.

Then there's the IRS. Not sure how many US porners have been targeted for audits, maybe this hasn't happened yet. But it is a possibility.

They're doing the same thing with sports betting and casino sites. I think we all know how completely futile it is. Americans will continue to run porn sites, Americans will continue to lead the world in buying porn online.......and gambling........

but there will be innocent victims........we're already seeing it, notice how many people are giving up or trying to sell their small porn businesses? A $750 fee is all it took. I wonder if VISA had
made that registration fee $5,000 or $10,000 how many more would be getting out.

I'm definitely not the first person to say "i wish they had made it $10,000"


basically your right mutt.. if the govt and visa decide to battle us they will probably win in some ways but not in others... but no matter what.. that day isn't *today*.. so *today* i'm going to continue biz as normal... if that day ever comes that they take away visa, we'll deal with it then.

As far as audits go? well.. if you're cheating on taxes you deserve to get in trouble... all you can hope for at that point is that they dont find malice and they let you get away with a gigantic fine and penalties instead of prison.

The US Government doesn't want to stop us - They want to collect their fucking taxes.

It's simple... A company up in Canada can use CCBill, and hundreds of thousands of US dollars get sent up North and there isn't a thing the IRS can do about it..... By using Visa to enforce people living outside the country they will have to pay taxes in the US......

Like that means anything to them... Those amendments are highly over rated in thier eyes.

Am very inclined to believe it also. Am kind of paranoid 2... I'm about 95% sure the IRS did have something to do with it.

better not have any tax issues if you are going to get a passport... the IRS can keep you from getting 1, they got that law passed some years ago.

it would be 1 big corporation (Visa) 1 appointed official (John Asshole) and 1 very large government agency (IRS).

Anybody wanting to sell, let me know.

No matter what year it is or who is in office or what rumors are flying, it is always advisable to save money -- first, in case it all falls apart, and second, to defend yourself from just how it does fall apart.

I seriously doubt that Visa, a company already involved in multiple anti-trust suits, would be involved in something that could truly hurt them in the end. The last thing Visa will ever concede is going thru the discovery process of a court trial. No amount of government handouts, fees and fines taken in, is worth that to them.

I agree, I once heard from a friend who was an IRS auditor that many shading operations were overlooked as long as taxes were paid. There were rumor of known drug mills and brothels and such being allowed to operate, or coveniently having their investigation records misplaced simply because they paid their taxes legitimately.

As long as the public doesn't know, the government could care less about business being done in their country. Provided they get their cut of the cash.

Ask Max Hardcore what he thinks about it ....

So true. Do you guys really think our government cares about morals over money?

if you're paranoid just move to Sealand

And host at Havenco -- only $10,000 a month for a 10mbps server!

I assume you've never been audited? ;)
believe me, even with everything in order, these people have a god complex....they will find any little thing...of course I had it worse because I lvie in vegas (not so much the gambling as these pricks love to take 5-6 days to do an audit, but of course spend a couple hours actually checking anything and the rest of the time enjoying Las Vegas...meanwhile you're not doing much business....) Ask my first business partner who started a fight with the IRS with over 3 million in the bank and 7 years worth of court trials and bullshit later, was nearly broke...and he "won"


for any agents who may be monitoring this board....I love the IRS and think you're all swell people with very large penises ;))))))))

>>The US Government doesn't want to stop us - They want to >>collect their fucking taxes.
>>
>>It's simple... A company up in Canada can use CCBill, and >>hundreds of thousands of US dollars get sent up North and >>there isn't a thing the IRS can do about it..... By using Visa to >>enforce people living outside the country they will have to pay >>taxes in the US......
-----------------------------

Maybe so, but there are ways around that if your a webmaster living ourside the USA. My accountant / Lawyer said something like this would work ok, US company pays large amounts of fees for services redended to foreign company, pays leasing fees and management fees to foreign company, ends up paying 7.5% tax to the Asshole US govt and you take the rest home with you :)

Something like that, it can all be done if you have enough money and enough smart people who know how to get around tax legally.

Too all you US webmasters living in (well the US LOL) Best of luck and I hope you don't all end up in jail. But if you do, sell me your sites ;)

Happy to be offshore & out of reach from the right wing dictators.

Sammy

Hopefully, they just abolish free porn. :)