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See also: 2257 • Girls Gone Wild • Jessica Drake • Joe Francis • Legal • Max Hardcore • Webmaster Help • Wicked Pictures
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If you hadn’t noticed there is a whole hell of a lot going on in the porn world right now and it all has to do with legalities and several of your peers are on trial right now for a little thing called “obscenity”.
Most people have probably heard about the Max Hardcore trial but he’s not the only one. In fact right at this very moment there are no less than 10 obscenity trials going on and at least two that i know of have already ended this year with guilty verdicts. And you know what? It does matter to you because for every conviction they get on somebody else, the easier it gets to nail you.
That is why it is important that you start cleaning up your act right now. First and foremost look at where your web servers are located. Max Hardcore had no idea he had some of his web hosting done in Florida. That’s how they were able to prosecute him in a state which is known for this big time porn restrictions. Despite the fact that he himself had never once mailed anything to anyone in Florida they were able to nail him on TEN COUNTS OF OBSCENITY because he hosted some of his websites there and he never even knew it.
Where are your websites hosted? Are they sitting on a server somewhere in some state that is known for obscenity convictions like Florida or anywhere down south, particularly Oklahoma? If so, CHANGE WEB HOSTING COMPANIES NOW. Find one that hosts your websites in a more liberal state like California.
Next, look at the content on your website. Are you confident that every single girl on your website is over 18 and are you able to prove it?
If YOU host the image you need the records. Your records are your responsibility. It does not matter if you did not produce the content, if you are hosting it on your website you are going to be able to prove she is over 18 with the required proper documentation. That is typically a model release and two forms of identification such as a driver’s license and passport and to take it a step further in light of the Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild fiasco, a video of her signing your model release, then holding her IDs and stating to the camera, I CONFIRM I AM OVER 18 AND THAT I AM NOT LYING, THIS IS MY REAL ID AND I SIGN THIS DOCUMENT OF MY OWN FREE WILL AND AM OF THE LEGAL AGE TO DO SO. Then take an additional photo of her holding her two valid forms of ID and keep a printed copy of that photo with all your other documents including that video.
Next keep an eye out on the webmaster boards and gossip websites. If you hear of rumors that some girl may be using a fake ID, ACT ON IT. For example one of the biggest porn stars in our business at one time was in fact found to be using a fake ID. You can read part of the story at Mike South.com.
As the story goes, Wicked contract star Jessica Drake went on a photo shoot and presented the photographer two forms of ID. The names weren’t the same exactly so it made him question the validity of her id. This photographer called up a few friends of his who also happened to have worked with Jessica Drake in the past and they compared IDs that she had given each of them and they all were different! As each of them had different names and birthdays they knew they had a problem and since she was under contract with Wicket pictures, a well known and reputable movie company they had no choice but to go digging for the truth with them. Wicked Pictures for some reason refused to work with them on fixing the situation and instead sent the photographers a nasty letter from their lawyer.
The problem isn’t that she might have been underage, but that the records they had of her were invalid and even if she was clearly over 18 at the time, it doesn’t matter. The law is the law and if you know someone’s 2257 records are invalid you can’t use the photos. She screwed those people who paid her to take those photos because without valid ID from her they can’t use those photos without risk of going to jail.
So back to my point, you have to keep up with the people you are posting on your website. As far as I know (AND I AM NOT A LAWYER) if you are just linking to free hosted galleries then you don’t need to keep up with 2257 records. The main point I’m trying to make is PLAY IT SAFE. Your mother has no doubt said it a million times when you were growing up and holds true as an adult as well …
