Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. With the new year upon us, two things become painfully apparent in concluding 2012 sans post-apocalyptic bedlam: 1) the Mayans seem to have preferred tequila breaks over finishing their calendaring duties, and 2) there are…
Tagged with: ACTA • Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement • censor • censorship • CISPA • Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act • international regulation • International Telecommunications Union • international treaty • internet • Internet regulations • ITU • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • PIPA • Protect IP Act • Sex and the Law • SOPA • Stop Online Piracy Act • United Nations • WCIT • World Conference on International Telecommunications
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Baby Steps: In Brooke S.B. v. Elizabeth C.C. New York Highest Court Expands The Meaning of “Parenthood”; (but insists on a maximum of two)
By Thomas E. Joaquin, Esq. Being a parent used to be easy. Not the job, of course — I doubt that’s ever been easy — I mean being a legal parent of a child, with all the responsibilities and rights…
Tagged with: family • Family Matters Project • Law and Policy • New York • parentsBack to the Future – Hatch Calls for More Obscenity Prosecutions Just in Time for the Presidential Bids
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Gas up the DeLorean, because Orrin Hatch is taking us back to 1984. “As the toxic waste of obscenity continues to spread and harm everyone it touches, it appears the Obama administration is giving up…
Tagged with: Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the LawByte-Sexual: Recognizing the Evolving Relationships with Our Electronic Devices
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Does the virtual assistant on your smartphone just “get you”? For many smart phone users, interacting with a natural speech-recognizing, intelligent, digital assistant – ever-present on their devices – has become a way of life.…
Tagged with: law of sex • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the Law • virtual relationships • webcamCaged Pussy Riot: Protecting the Peace or Putin’s Political Revenge?
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Between YouTube videos sparking Middle Eastern riots, and the Westboro Baptist Church continuing its ministry one hateful protest at a time, recent headlines have illustrated the unique place that Free Speech rights occupy in American…
Tagged with: censorship • civil rights • First Amendment • free speech • gender • Human Rights • international sexuality • internet • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Moscow • obscenity • Orthodox Church • personal is political • Pussy Riot • Russia • Sex and the Law • sexual freedom • sexual politics • sexual repression • sexual rightsCanada’s Copyright Modernization Act: A Law With Global Impacts
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Canada is home to many adult website operators, and a large consumer market. While developments in U.S. copyright law have been at the forefront of late, recent dramatic changes in Canadian copyright law are also…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • censorship • copyright • DMCA • intellectual property • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the Law • SOPACensored by Google: What’s Next?
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Google, a name most associated with the popular, gargantuan search engine, has been making its way into the headlines for a different and much more egregious reason: censorship across its platform of products. The company…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • avn • censorship • First Amendment • google • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the Law • xbizCensorship by Money: Snuffing Out Adult Entertainment by Denial of Banking Services
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Adult film stars are reportedly having their bank accounts systematically closed by JP Morgan Chase bank, for no other reason than their connection with porn. According to industry publications and more directly, tweets from adult…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • censorship • civil rights • First Amendment • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the LawClose Up the Internet and Repeal the First Amendment – Election Season is Here
Blog post by Lawrence G. Walters You know elections are upon us when politicians start talking about wanting to “close up” the Internet, or censor Twitter and Facebook. Throw in a couple terrorist attacks and you have the perfect storm…
Tagged with: censorship • First Amendment • internet • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the LawCriminalizing Online Innovation: State Attorneys General Seek to Amend Section 230
by Guest Blogger: Kimberly A. Harchuck Deceptively invoking the ‘save the children’ mantra yet again, State AG’s are reigniting the battle against online escort advertising websites, this time calling on Congress to amend one of the Internet’s few statutory guardians: Section…
Tagged with: Attorney General • backpage • censorship • craigslist • escort • escort ads • escort advertising • escorts.com • First Amendment • harmful to minors • human trafficking • internet • Internet regulations • online escort • online service providers • Section 230 • sex • sex and technology • sex trafficking • sexual censorship • sexual freedom • war on sexDangerous Intersections
by Guest Blogger: Kimberly A. Harchuck Could a webcam model also be a paid escort and an active member of a “hookup” dating site? Naturally, the answer is “yes,” but at what costs? Blurring the lines between these adult-themed user categories…
Tagged with: 2257 • adult • adult dating • adult dating website • adult entertainment • advertisers • classified • communications • dating • dating website • DMCA • escort • hook-up • hookup • internet • internet dating • Internet regulations • Law • online • online dating • online service providers • prostitution • Section 2257 • Section 230 • service providers • sex • sex work • sex work industry • Sex Workers • social networking • social networks • solicitation • technology • user generated content • user-generated • webcam • webcam model • webcam performer • website operation • website operatorsDMCA Evolution: Forum Solicits Input on Possible Changes to Notice and Takedown Procedures
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) “notice and takedown” procedure and the attendant “safe harbor” protections afforded to service providers often spark controversy and debate. Originally designed as a way to balance the interests of…
Read more DMCA Evolution: Forum Solicits Input on Possible Changes to Notice and Takedown Procedures
Tagged with: copyright • DMCA • infringement • intellectual property • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • notice and takedown • Sex and the LawFeminism or Fascism: Iceland’s Stunning Ban on Pornography May Be Spreading
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Iceland recently made headlines with the latest project on its allegedly progressive agenda: a nation-wide ban on pornography. No stranger to proscribing activities related to commercializing sex, Iceland has already passed laws banning printed pornography,…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • censor • censorship • civil rights • contraband • EU • european union • fascism • Feminism • Feminism Prostitution • First Amendment • gender • harmful to minors • iceland • internet • Internet regulations • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • parliament • porn • pornography • pornography ban • Privacy • prostitution • sex • Sex and the Law • sex and the media • sexual censorship • sexual freedom • sexual politics • sexual repression • sexual rights • war on sexFlorida Sheriff Continues ‘War on Porn’ and Sets Sights on Backpage
by Guest Blogger: Kimberly A. Harchuck Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is well known for his faith-based campaign against erotic entertainment. His morality police strike again, this time with a promise to go after the world’s second largest classified ad website,…
Tagged with: accomplice liability • adult entertainment • aiding and abetting • backpage • censorship • civil rights • craigslist • criminal investigation • Dutch • entrapment • erotic entertainment • erotic services • erotics • escort • escort ads • escort advertising • escorts.com • First Amendment • Florida • Florida State Attorney • Grady Judd • human trafficking • internet • Liz McDougall • Netherlands • obscenity • online escort • Polk County • Polk County Sheriff • porn • pornography • prostitution • Section 230 • sex • sex and religion • sex and technology • sexual censorship • sexual culture • sexual freedom • sexual politics • sexual repression • sexual rights • sexuality • Sheriff Judd • smut • smut peddlers • solicitation • State Attorney's Office • sting operation • undercoveroperation • war on porn • war on sexFree Speech, the First Amendment and Woodhull
by Guest Blogger: Kimberly A. Harchuck Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance is one of the few organizations wholly devoted to preserving sexual freedom as one of society’s foremost fundamental human rights. With controversial topics like sexual equality and autonomy comprising the core…
Isaacs Obscenity Case & Life Without Miller
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. In a not-so-surprising, albeit disappointing, decision affecting the adult entertainment industry, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the obscenity conviction of fetish producer, Ira Isaacs. Isaacs was originally charged with violating federal obscenity…
Tagged with: adult industry • ira isaacs • isaacs • law of sex • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • obscenity • obscenity convictions • Sex and the LawKeeping Your Records Clean: Segregating 2257 Records under Federal Law
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Performer ID’s? Check. 2257 form? Check. Model release? Check. Throw them all into a file or load them into a database and your legal tail is covered, right? Unfortunately, XXX law is never that simple,…
Tagged with: 2257 • adult entertainment • First Amendment • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • records-keeping • Section 2257 • Sex and the LawKilling the Messenger: The Campaign Against Online Escort Advertising Sites
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Part I – Setting the Stage The recent guilty plea by Escorts.com has ignited interest in the legal issues surrounding the operation of an online escort site. In this two-part blog post, the author will…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • censorship • First Amendment • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the LawKilling the Messenger: The Campaign Against Online Escort Advertising Sites Part II – Operational Policies & Legal Issues
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. In Part I of the Killing the Messenger blog post, we addressed the latest headlines highlighting the plight of online escort directories, specifically including the story of Craigslist.org, Backpage.com, and Escorts.com. We now turn to…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • censorship • First Amendment • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the LawMommy Porn & Social Media: Erotic and Mainstream Meet in the Middle
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Christian Grey. If you haven’t heard that name uttered dozens times over the last year, it’s safe to say that you may have been living under a rock. While certainly not a literary prose masterpiece,…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • bdsm • erotica • gender • Gender Politics • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • pornography • relationships • Sex and the Law • sex and the media • sexual culture • sexual freedom • sexual repression • sexuality • social mediaPolitics of Porn – 2012
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. By the close of 2011, the Republican presidential hopefuls had their work cut out for them. It was starting to look like the people had gotten their fill of Michele Bachmann’s eccentricities. Such a sentiment…
Tagged with: adult entertainment • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • obscenity • personal is political • pornography • Sex and the LawPrivate Censorship – Fighting Suppression of Speech by Non-Governmental Actors
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Government censorship in the Internet age has been a consistent focal point for free speech advocates. Recent examples of censorship by the American government can be egregious, including the curtailment of First Amendment rights through…
Tagged with: adult advertisements • adult entertainment • adult industry • censorship • civil rights • Facebook • First Amendment • free speech • freedom of expression • google • instagram • internet • Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • payment processors • private censorship • Sex and the Law • sexual speech and expression • social media • social networking • social networks • twitterReading the Tea Leaves? Discerning the Ultimate Fate of Section 2257
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Adult content producers and webmasters have become increasingly resigned to the fact that Section 2257 compliance is here to stay. Renowned industry attorney Greg Piccionelli, Esq., has recently written a detailed set of articles reminding…
Tagged with: Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the LawSex, Lies, & Sex Tapes
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Sex, drugs & rock ‘n roll. That used to be the unofficial motto of Hollywood. And it worked. For years, the so-called scandals of celebrities in public were enough to keep tabloid headlines fresh, interesting…
Tagged with: Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the LawShe Was How Old? – The Current Dangers of Accidental Involvement of Minors in Erotic Imagery
Author Lawrence G. Walters, Esq. Protecting minors from involvement in adult entertainment is a common theme in politics and law. Each year we see numerous new bills introduced at the state and federal levels, creating stricter punishments for any form…
Tagged with: Lawrence G. Walters Esq. • Sex and the Law