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DYANA BAGBY
Friday, June 24, 2005
Editors' note: Click here for the Latest update on this story
Gay men who cruise online with nude photographs may be required to provide signature
proof of their age and identities with the Web sites where they post their pictures
under federal regulations set to take effect this week.
A handful of sites, including Gay.com, BigMuscle.com and m4m-usa.com, are already
reacting to the regulations by alerting members and evaluating their policies.
The federal law impacting such content, 18 U.S.C. §2257, is the federal
records keeping and labeling act that outlines penalties for failure to document
the ages of models and actors who appear in sexually explicit imagery.
The revised regulations, which specify how documentation for the federal regulation
must be kept, who must keep it, and how it may be inspected, were published
in the Federal Register on May 24 and were slated to take effect June 23, according
to the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade association based in California.
BigMuscleBears.com and BigMuscle.com, Web sites for gay men, recently issued
a statement to members asking them to not post images depicting sexual fluids
or any kind of anal penetration due to the revisions in the federal regulations.
Nudity was still allowed, according to the statement, but both sites recommended
only solo images be posted as part of a self “policing” process.
Bigmuscle.com and BigMuscleBears.com, operated by two men identified as Andy
and Bill on the sites, declined comment for this story.
“Thank you for the offer, but we are holding our opinion of 2257 till
the injunction is ruled on,” the company said in an e-mail response.
m4m-usa.com to defy new regs
Steven Alexander, Web site director for gay male site m4m-usa.com — also
known as m4m4sex.com — recently issued a statement to its members regarding
the new regulations and blamed the Republican administration of President George
Bush for infringing on First Amendment rights.
“Starting June 23, in the name of save-our-children-from-becoming-porno-slaves,
new regulations take effect that require model releases on all photos displayed
on all Web sites if the photo is sexually explicit,” Alexander wrote.
“We strongly support all laws that prevent the sexual exploitation of
minors, but typical of hastily drafted moralizing legislation, it makes no distinctions
or exceptions, such as photographing oneself [versus] photographing others and
doing so for money [versus] to meet other men.
“So if you want to exercise your free speech in an autobiographical non-commercial
personal ad by posting a nude photo of yourself where you proudly show off your
equipment loaded, ready to go into battle, you may not do so anonymously under
a self-chosen username,” according to the statement.
Alexander said in the statement to members that m4m.com would not remove nude
photos or require signed release forms from members posting them, although it
is possible they could be prosecuted.
“Sometimes things are just plain wrong and someone has to stand up and
say no. This is too broad and restrictive of our rights and it’s overkill
regarding protecting minors. Our rules regarding photos remains the same —
we want all photos that honestly depict our members,” he said in the statement.
M4m-usa.com did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.
Donna Gibbs, a spokesperson for PlanetOut Inc., which owns Gay.com, said the
company is a member of the Free Speech Coalition and supports its lawsuit against
the new regulation.
“Beyond the impact on Web sites, we feel this is a privacy concern,”
she said.
Requiring Gay.com to maintain records on each individual who posts photos to
the site is “beyond onerous,” she added.
But Gay.com is developing “contingency plans” for the posting of
sexual images to meet the requirements of the federal regulations, though Gibbs
declined to provide further details.
On June 16, the Free Speech Coalition filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado.
This week, the Free Speech Coalition filed a complaint and motion in the U.S.
District Court of Colorado seeking a temporary restraining order against enforcement
of the recently re-issued requirements. A hearing was set for June 23 in Denver,
after press deadline for this publication.
Primary and “secondary producers” of sexually explicit images are
included in the new regulations and are mandated to keep detailed information
on all the people depicted on Web sites engaged in any kind of sexually explicit
acts.
Secondary producers include owners of Web sites including gay.com that allow
paying members to post their own photos, according to Tom Hymes, a spokesperson
for the Free Speech Coalition.
Nudity itself is not considered sexually explicit, but images of masturbation
are included in the law’s definition and are subject to the new regulations.
Posting the shots could be deemed criminal activity, Hymes said.
For instance, a man posting a picture on a Web site fondling himself might
have to prove to site owners that he is 18 or older, and documentation must
be on file with the Web site that includes government-issued identification
cards, Social Security number, name and address.
“And one man’s nudity might be another person’s masturbation,”
Hymes said. “This is poorly crafted law made as a desperate attempt to
bypass the Constitution.”
Lawrence Walters, an adult industry attorney, said the revised federal regulations
impact all Web sites that allow sexually explicit images such as penetration,
masturbation and S&M — including gay male cruising sites.
Cruising for a sex partner and posting a nude image doesn’t necessarily
fall under the federal regulations, but the images can be posted on commercial
Web sites that sell ads and are in the public domain, he said.
The additional requirements are likely to force some Web sites to ban photos
depicting any kind of sexual act, he added.
“The sites would need to comply or face federal prosecution,” Walters
said.
Federal authorities state the reason for the revised regulations is to protect
minors, but Hymes said the law does nothing to safeguard children.
“Child pornography is not part of this [adult entertainment] industry.
We work with the FBI to take down child pornographers,” he said.
Morgan Sommer, co-founder of Cybersocket, the parent company of various gay
Internet, print and communication services, said the adult entertainment industry
already has an infrastructure in place to keep out child pornography.
On May 17, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales signed the final rule implementing
provisions for the new regulations.
“Minors are incapable of consenting to perform in sexually explicit depictions
and are often forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct … The record-keeping
requirements … are crucial to preventing children from being exploited
by the production of pornography,” according to statement from the Justice
Department.
Violations of the requirements are criminal offenses punishable by imprisonment
for up to five years for a first offense and up to 10 years for subsequent offenses,
according to the DOJ.
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