Where do you live? I live in a small town where adult-oriented businesses aren't allowed within 10 miles of the city limits. Our local police force is fully staffed, there are no liquor stores and a church on almost every street corner. All I do for a living is write text, fairly non-salacious text, and moderate a message board. Do I worry about the law coming to get me? You bet your ass I do.
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"The best things you can do to protect yourself from the long arm of the law are also the easiest and least expensive." |
Webmasters who condemn me for my cautiousness don't walk in my shoes or live in my town. I'm like thousands of other adult webmasters, keeping things on the down low because the communities in which we live do not accept us. It would be awesome to blend in with the teeming masses of some large city.
Do I worry about silly things like WARNING pages, ICRA labels, 2257 documents and other (arguably ineffective) measures to render my sites legally compliant? You bet your ass I do.
Yeah. Yeah. I've heard it a million times before, "It's the World WIDE Web! What can some D.A. in Kansas do about my site when it's hosted on an Australian server?". Or, "I'm just a little guy. The law will never come after me". I get it. For the hundreds of thousands of porn websites, there have been relatively few court cases brought against them. While members of our industry have spent countless hours and dollars arguing the merits of amended TITLE 18/2257 regulations, there's been surprising few cases that concentrate on actual issues specific to Internet porn. It's easy to succumb to the belief that nothing bad will happen. Don't fall prey to a false sense of security.
The best things you can do to protect yourself from the long arm of the law are also the easiest and least expensive:
The fact is, we don't know whether or not the WARNING PAGE shields us from anything. If there's a jury or judge that's ruled on this particular subject, I haven't heard about it. So, why do adult webmasters post these darned disclaimers? We do it because WARNING PAGES are less intimidating than age verification scripts. We do it because we can't go shoving membership signup forms in our surfer's faces on the first click. We do it because we can monetize our WARNING PAGES. We do it because we want proof of our intent to shield our dirty bad porn from innocent eyes.
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Label your sites. It's so not hard and so very free. In context to adult websites, a label is a script that you paste into the header of your site. When surfers with filtering software come across your site, those filters can block you or allow you, depending on the surfer's configuration. ICRA is the Internet Content Ratings System and has been operating for over a decade. RTA Label is the brainchild of ASACP. Both are voluntary website ratings databases and are used by numerous browser filtering programs.
I know. Your sponsor doesn't provide the actual model releases for the content they want you to use to promote their sites. The whole subject of who is and who isn't a "publisher" is up in the air. Just the same, your sponsor does provide their Custodian of Record info and if they don't want you posting that, linked from your WARNING PAGE, then find another sponsor. The same goes for your paid content, always post the Custodian of Record info on your 2257 page. The model releases are for your business files at least for the moment.
Terms of Service. If you're taking money for memberships or asking surfers to sign up for newsletters, you need to post a page that explains charges, reasons for termination of services, Privacy information, etc. You need a fine print page that explains your understanding of your responsibilities as a site owner.
Ultimately, the most important thing you should do is consult a lawyer about your adult-oriented venture. It's not easy to find lawyers that are willing to so business with a smutmonger, much less ones that comprehend the web. You can find some great adult-friendly lawyers at Cozy Frog's Legal Listings page.
Don't panic but don't be a fool. Show the law some love. Give your site the basic extras that might just save your ass someday.