Big Sex Toys . . . Reloaded!
The War On Pornography
We encourage all of you to read the press
release below.
Today the government is waging war on
"bestiality, urination, defecation, as well as sadistic and masochistic
behavior".
Do you think it will stop there? Do you
think the government will satisfied as long as any adult web site or business is
operating?
This is only the first battle. They will
not stop until they have succeeded in imposing their version of "morality" on
everyone in this country.
If you don't like what you read... if you
don't like what is happening... we encourage you to contribute to the NCSF to
support their objective of preserving our sexual freedom.
If you don't like what is happening... we
ask you to remember at election time.
We thank you for your support over the
past eight years. And we ask you to continue support us by shopping at our
stores. If and when the political climate allows, we will open this site again.
Thank you,
~~ Grey and Star
October 21, 2005
Wave of Obscenity Prosecutions Leads to Closure and Self-Censorship of
SM Websites
Contact: Susan Wright, NCSF Spokesperson
(917) 848-6544
October 20, 2005 October 20, 2005 - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has
announced that his office will specifically target "bestiality, urination,
defecation, as well as sadistic and masochistic behavior" in pursuing new
obscenity prosecutions. The Department of Justice began recruiting in late July
for a new anti-obscenity squad to pursue obscenity prosecutions, and the FBI
announced in September that it was forming an anti-obscenity task force to crack
down on pornography.
Any website that has content containing "bestiality, urination, defecation,
as well as sadistic and masochistic behavior" should be forewarned that
prosecution is possible. Additionally, Federal sentencing guidelines state that
any obscenity- related punishment should be "enhanced for sadomasochistic
material."
Forty people and businesses have been convicted of obscenity since 2001, and
20 additional indictments are pending according to Andrew Oosterbaan, chief of
the Justice Department's child exploitation and obscenity section. There were
only four obscenity prosecutions during the eight years of the Clinton
administration.
Though adult content is, in theory, protected by the First Amendment, only a
jury can determine if a work is obscene or not under the subjective set of
standards that vary from one community to the next established in the 1973
Supreme Court ruling, Miller v. California.
Text is not inherently more protected than images when it comes to obscenity
charges. The erotic fiction website Red Rose Stories is facing obscenity charges
after federal agents raided the owner's home on October 3rd, taking computer
equipment and diskettes that contained all of their files and site information.
The Department of Justice is clearly hoping that websites will self-censor
or remove their content entirely. Midori, a fetish model and SM educator who
teaches classes on bondage, has removed her website, BeautyBound.com, citing
fear of obscenity prosecution. The owner of three SM websites, known as GrandPa
DeSade, removed his websites from the Internet. SuicideGirls.com also announced
they are self-censoring their materials over concerns about a possible obscenity
crackdown.
Recent prosecutions of obscenity on websites include: A former police
officer in Lakeland, Florida, was arrested on October 7th on over 300
obscenity-related charges for the sexual content posted on his website. The same
day, webmaster Chris Wilson, owner of amateur website NowThatsFuckedUp.com, was
raided on charges of obscenity by a local Sheriff's office.
"I think it's crucial for us to stand up for consensual sadomasochism and
other alternative sexual practices," says Barbara Nitke, fetish photographer.
"This is a battle worth fighting, and I hope everyone who can will just censor
out the most provocative material from their websites, but keep them up. I also
appeal to the lawyers in our community to help us find ways to keep people's
websites up."
Barbara Nitke and the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) have
proactively challenged federal obscenity laws as applied to the Internet,
arguing that obscenity laws based on "local community standards" are too vague
and their existence burdens protected speech, resulting in self-censorship due
to the fear of prosecution. A district court three-judge panel in New York ruled
that while Nitke and the NCSF members were at risk, more proof was needed that
obscenity laws cause otherwise protected speech to be restrained through acts of
self-censorship. The case is currently on appeal to the United States Supreme
Court.
"The effect of silencing alternative lifestyle speech was exactly why we
brought the lawsuit," says attorney John Wirenius, lead counsel for NCSF. "The
self- censorship we are seeing underscores the importance of supporting our
ongoing obscenity challenge."
###
A project of NCSF and the NCSF Foundation
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is a national organization
committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United
States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of
alternative sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of
consenting adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory communities,
who often face discrimination because of their sexual expression.
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127
Baltimore, MD 21202-3707
410-539-4824
media@ncsfreedom.org
www.ncsfreedom.org
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