Adult Freedom Foundation

7/12/07
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
28 CFR Part 75
[Docket No. CRM 104; AG Order No. 2888-
2007]
RIN 1105-AB18
Revised Regulations for Records Relating to Visual Depictions of Sexually Explicit Conduct
AGENCY: Department of Justice. ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: This rule proposes to amend
the record-keeping, labeling, and
inspection requirements to account for
changes in the underlying statute made
by Congress in enacting the Adam
Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
of 2006.
DATES: Written comments must be
received by September 10, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be
submitted to: Andrew Oosterbaan,
Chief, Child Exploitation and Obscenity
Section, Criminal Division, United
States Department of Justice,
Washington, DC 20530; Attn: ¡¥¡¥Docket

7/6/07
LOS ANGELES, CA. “It just another blatant attempt at censorship and a total waste of taxpayers’ money,” said Atty. Paul Cambria.
Cambria, AFF general counsel, was responding to a right wing group’s call for a federal investigation into adult pay-per-view movies available in hotels across America.

7/3/07
Junk science and abandoned pseudo-psychoanalytic gooblededgook.” Is that any way to describe the works of a Yale psychiatrist who has testified before congress about so called “porn addiction”?
It gets worse. “Most psychiatrists would hesitate at sending their dogs to Satinover for toilet training.”

1/31/07
IN YET ANOTHER FIRST FOR THE ADULT FREEDOM FOUNDATION, PAUL CAMBRIA, AFF GENERAL COUNSEL, HAS BEEN INVITED TO ATTEND THE FEB. 13, LAUNCH OF “THE FAMILY ONLINE SAFETY INSTITUTE,” IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
“I’M HONORED TO REPRESENT THE ADULT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AT THIS GROUND BREAKING EVENT,” CAMBRIA SAID.
“ ‘PROTECTING CHILDREN AND FREE SPEECH IN A POST CONVERGENCE WORLD’ IS THE THEME OF THE LAUNCH,” HE EXPLAINED.

10/15/06
WASHINGTON, D.C. In another breakthrough for dealing with federal officials, Atty. Paul Cambria Thursday met with FBI representatives to “open a better dialogue between authorities and the adult entertainment industry.”
“We met with a number of FBI agents in charge of the 2257 inspection process. They explained the inspection process to us and attempted to have a dialogue which would result in an easier inspection process,” said Cambria, AFF general counsel.

10/10/06
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. “It’s just another politically motivated witch hunt,” said Paul Cambria, AFF general counsel, of Sen. Sam Brownback’s call for a crack down on “those who are distributing porn throughout America.”
Sen.Brownback said Tuesday prosecutions “are not keeping up with the growth of pornography,” and called for a new “investigation commission” to attack the problem.

3/17/06
A proposal to create an .XXX web “porn domain” name is back on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ agenda after the internet’s key oversight agency rejected the idea last May.
ICANN officials said they initially rejected the proposal because of concerns that the agency might be put in a difficult position of having to enforce all of the world’s laws governing pornography. They noted that various nations’ speech related laws sometimes conflict with one another.
Now, ICANN is reconsidering the .XXX domain saying it would remain voluntary, but any porn sites that choose to use it instead of the more popular “.com” would be subject to stronger provision to prohibit child pornography and require labeling of web sites with sexually explicit materials.
The new proposal does not directly address any potential conflicts in laws, but it calls for the company backing it, ICM Registry Inc., of Jupiter, Fla., to hire independent organizations to monitor porn sites’ compliance with the new rules.
AFF says the new proposal is still a BAD IDEA for the following reasons:

1. Creation of a .xxx domain will not significantly assist parents because even if all American adult web companies joined the domain, that would leave hundreds of thousands (or millions?) of off-shore websites free to continue their business outside of .xxx.

2. Creation of a .xxx domain will force American website operators to consider taking their business off-shore so they have the same advantages this bill creates for foreign businesses. Consequently, this bill could increase unregulated foreign adult content.

3/10/06
U.S. SENATE REQUESTS ADDITIONAL AFF TESTIMONY
WASHINGTON, D.C. At the request of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Paul Cambria,
AFF general counsel, today is providing supplemental testimony to
his live appearance.
Atty. Cambria was the first and only representative of the Adult Entertainment Industry to testify at the Jan.19, 2006, Committee hearing on “Protecting Children on the Internet.”

3/2/06
AFF GEN. COUNSEL HEADS TELETHON TO AID KIDS' HOSPITAL
EDITOR'S NOTE: A preliminary estimate indicates the 12 hour telethon raised at least $1,257,484. A final accounting will be available in April.

The Variety Club of Western New York has selected Paul Cambria, general counsel to the Adult Freedom Foundation, as Honorary Chariman for this year's 44th annual telethon, March 5.
"It's an honor and a privilege to be associated with a program that has helped so many women and children obtain quality medical care," Cambria explained.
"I'm confident that viewers will once again dig deep down in their pockets to support this worthy cause," Cambria said.

2/13/06
AFF GEN. COUNSEL INVITED TO PREMIER ICRA ROUNDTABLE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Atty. Paul Cambria, general counsel to the Adult Freedom Foundation will attend the ICRA Roundtable along with representatives of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, AOL, AT&T and Verizon to seek answers to important internet issues.
“This is an excellent opportunity for the Adult Entertainment Industry to interact with internet industry leaders,” Atty. Cambria said of the meeting set for Feb. 21, in Sunnyvale, Ca.
“The Roundtable brings together leading industry thinkers and content providers to explore how best to protect ourselves and our children from the worst of the web.” according to the invitation issued by the Washington based Internet Content Rating Assn.

1/24/06
COMMENTARY ON CAMBRIA'S U.S. SENATE TESTIMONY
By Christian Mann
President of Video Team
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - After watching the proceedings in front of the Senate Committee, culminating with Paul Cambria's statement and the ensuing Q&A, I expected the litany of second-guessing and armchair lawyering from the gallery, i.e. the different gossip sites and the assorted web-hacks who fuel them.

The usual suspects, wanna-be muckrakers whose existence are dependant on the exposure of anything negative, were bound to weigh in, opining on what they would have done or said, how they would have somehow put on a better performance. In this regard, I knew that Cambria’s job would be thankless: you can’t please everyone and the nay-sayers will always be the loudest.

1/21/06
AFF STATEMENT TO U.S. SENATE HEARING ON "PROTECTING CHILDREN ON THE INTERNET"
THE TESTIMONY OF

PAUL J. CAMBRIA, JR., ESQ.

COUNSEL TO THE ADULT FREEDOM FOUNDATION

BEFORE THE

UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON
COMMERCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about this important national topic. I am Paul Cambria, general counsel to the Adult Freedom Foundation, and counsel to numerous individual and corporate clients who offer lawful adult-oriented entertainment to interested adults via magazines, movies, and the Internet. During my years of representing the adult entertainment industry, I have come to know first hand the commitment of the industry to providing adults, not children, with legal, mature entertainment. The perspective I have gained through more than a quarter century representing individuals and businesses involved in adult entertainment is probably unique among the panel members you will hear from today. It is my hope that my remarks will bring some balance to a discussion before this Congress that is too often dominated by a vocal minority intent on vilifying expression protected by our Constitution.

1/14/06
AFF BREAK THROUGH IN CONGRESS GEN. COUNSEL WILL TESTIFY BEFORE U.S. SENATE
The Adult Freedom Foundation is pleased to announce that Paul Cambria, our general counsel, has been invited to testify before a U.S. Senate hearing on “Internet Pornography,” Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006.
Atty. Cambria will present oral testimony and then participate in a panel discussion before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

1/11/06
AFF BLASTS RIGHT WING CRITICS’ CALL FOR ACTION AGAINST STERN’S NEW SHOW
LOS ANGELES, CA. “It’s just ridiculous” Atty. Paul Cambria said in response to a suggestion that the U.S. Justice Dept. look into “obscenity” charges against the new Howard Stern satellite radio show.
Cambria, AFF general counsel, was responding to a call for “tough action” against the Stern show by the Alliance Defense Fund’s Patrick Trueman.
Trueman told Family News In Focus that the Stern show “will be broadcasting obscenity. That’s a matter for the Justice Dept.”
“Legal obscenity is far removed from four letter words and fraternity type humor,” Cambria noted.

10/28/05
AFF GENERAL COUNSEL PAUL CAMBRIA NAMED TOP OBSCENITY ATTY. IN U.S. HE SHARES INSIGHTS GAINED IN DECADES OF DEFENDING ADULT ENTERTAINMENT
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment Law and Practice

Special Feature Interview

*147 ADULT ENTERTAINMENT AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: A DIALOGUE AND ANALYSIS
WITH THE INDUSTRY'S LEADING LITIGATOR & APPELLATE ADVOCATE

Clay Calvert [FNa1]
Robert D. Richards [FNaa1]

Copyright © 2004 by Vanderbilt Law School; Clay Calvert, Robert D. Richards

Paul Cambria has been called "probably the best obscenity lawyer in America" by Larry C. Flynt, the man behind the publishing empire that is Larry Flynt Publications, Inc., ("L.F.P.") and sexually explicit magazines such as Hustler and Barely Legal. [FN1] Cambria represented him when a twenty-something Flynt first faced obscenity charges in Cincinnati, Ohio, [FN2] in the 1970s [FN3] and several years later when Flynt was struck down and left wheelchair bound by a sniper's bullets. [FN4] Today, he serves as Flynt's general counsel.

10/12/05
POLL SHOWS GREATER PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE OF "PORN"
A Harris Poll finds that the public is divided on the subject of pornography and what, if anything should be done about it. The poll also shows that women are generally much more critical of pornography than men. As a result, a small majority of women, but not of men, favors government regulation of pornography on the Internet (if that were possible).

These are the results of a Harris Interactive® survey of 2,555 U.S. adults conducted online between September 20 and 26, 2004.

Among the more interesting findings of this research are:

About half of all adults believe that pornography "raises men’s expectation of how women should look" (51%) and that it "changes men’s expectations of how women should behave" (48%). However, women are much more likely than men to believe these (62% vs. 40% and 58% vs. 37%, respectively).
Two out of five adults (40%) believe that pornography "harms relationships between men and women" with this view also held by a higher percentage of women" (47%) than men (33%).
Almost half of all adults (48%) believe that "pornography is demeaning towards women" but this view is more widely held by women (57%) than by men (38%).
There is no consensus on the impact of pornography on children but most people, including both men and women, think the effects are mainly negative. When asked which one phrase best describes their beliefs about the impact of pornography on "children who see a lot of it," 30 percent of adults say "it distorts boys’ expectation and understanding of women and sex," 25 percent say "it makes kids more likely to have sex earlier" and another seven percent say "it distorts girls’ body images and ideas about sex." Very few people say that "it helps kids better understand sexuality" (2%).
What Government Should Do

When it comes to the role of government, the most widely endorsed position is that the government should "regulate Internet pornography specifically so that children cannot access X-rated material online" (42%). Whether this would be possible is debatable, but it is the preferred policy of 53 percent of women and 30 percent of men.

The remainder are divided between the following:

Twenty-three percent believe "whether one likes it or not people should have full access to pornography under the Constitution’s First Amendment."
Thirteen percent believe "the government should regulate pornography in a similar way to how cigarettes are regulated – with warning labels and restrictions so that harm is minimized."
Ten percent think "the government has no role with regard to pornography."
Only one percent says their preferred policy would be for "government to fully legalize all forms of pornography."

9/28/05
CHRISTIAN RIGHT E MAIL BLITZES BACKFIRE IN U.S. CONGRESS

Washington, D. C.-Almost every day right wing groups urge their members to bombard Congress with e mails on subjects including anti porn, pro life, Supreme Court nominees and same sex marriage.
But, the Adult Freedom Foundation (AFF) is learning that approach causes more harm than good to those so called “pro family” causes.
“Bad grassroots practices may get noticed on Capitol Hill, but they tend not to be effective at influencing the opinions of Members of Congress,” according to a study by the Congressional Management Foundation.

9/22/05
Arianna Huffington: Bush's War on Porn: Perverted Priorities Run Amuck Arianna Huffington
For those easily offended by sexually explicit language, New York's 92nd Street Y was ground zero on Tuesday night. I was part of a panel put on by the Creative Coalition to discuss The Aristocrats, the First Amendment, and the curious chasm between what Americans find offensive and what they don't.

Also on the panel were Aristocrats director Paul Provenza, the film's masterfully vulgar Bob Saget, South Park co-creator Matt Stone, Motion Picture Association of America head Dan Glickman (gallantly defending the movie rating system), and our moderator, Lawrence O'Donnell.

9/14/05
'Pornified': Dirty Minds
WHEN Paris Hilton's sex video catapults her to the A-list and the porn star Jenna Jameson's autobiography is a best seller, it's clear we're living in a pornified age. Sex stars appear in music videos, the raunchy docu-series ''Girls Gone Wild'' has become a staple of the culture, and preadolescent girls wear thong underwear. In ''Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families,'' Pamela Paul, a journalist and the author of ''The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony,'' denounces this sea change, lamenting that we've become inured to porn's negative effects on American men, women and children. Her biggest gripe is with the Internet pornography boom of the past decade, which she believes is creating sex addicts and splintering families. Unfortunately, though it has surely affected many people, Paul fails to prove a national trend, turning what might have been a provocative study into a diatribe.

8/2/05
AFF SAYS PROPOSED ONLINE BILL IS "UNCONSTITUTONAL"
Adult Freedom Foundation General Counsel Paul Cambria today told a national journal that legislation designed to tax Adult Entertainment web sites and curb children’s access to “pornography” would be “a violation of the First Amendment."

6/7/05
Pleasureboating on the River Rubicon: Why the Moralizers Can’t Win
By J.D. Obenberger, Attorney at Law
Copyright 2005 J. D. Obenberger, All rights reserved.

The American people form the largest single market for explicit, sexually-oriented entertainment in the world. As I write these words, millions of Americans are accessing pay websites, choosing pay per view on their home cable connection, selecting in-room hotel movies, and renting adult DVD’s and videotapes.
In theory, someone could count all of this commerce and study the demographics which seem to point to the conclusion that adult, erotic productions now experience such widespread acceptance that they can be called commonplace. Recreational erotica seems to cut across all strata of our society with a democratic disregard of race, creed, education, income, and generation.
Beyond those trackable events, vast numbers of Americans are seeking free erotica on “thumbnail gallery posts” on the internet, in the newsgroups, in peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Of course, untold numbers will be replaying DVD’s and tapes they have already purchased and video clips they have previously downloaded. Americans have taken the availability of all of this for granted.

5/25/05
People who feel victimized by porn:Let's give them sympathy, not a Congressional hearing
By Marty Klein, Ph.D.

The plural of “anecdote” is not “data.”

But people who believe that America is loaded with victims of porn have no data. All they have is anecdotes.

Pornography, like Brussels sprouts and plaid slacks, is something to be chosen (or not) and consumed (or not). It is also something to have opinions about. This is, after all, a free country. But public policy based on opinion rather than fact is bad public policy. And a vocal minority is demanding that their strong opinions about porn be enshrined in law.

5/17/05
CHRISTIAN RIGHT HYPES ITS INFLUENCE/ AFF INVESTIGATION REVEALS CLAIMS ARE BOGUS
Los Angeles, Ca…Every day the Christian right claims it’s members fight the Adult Entertainment Industry and promote their other causes by writing thousands of letters aimed at influencing newspapers and the general public.
One web site,” War on Pornography” even offers a scam that promises each letter writer will have the impact of “480 voices” for their battle against lawful erotic entertainment.
But, an Adult Freedom Foundation investigation is disclosing that more than 95 per cent of those form letters never see the light of day and influence no one.

5/2/05
FEEDBACK LETTERS
AFF,
Although I am simply one of the millions of fans and proud consumers of Adult Entertainment, I wish to thank you for your organization’s efforts to protect the rights of the producers and entertainers who’s freedom to express themselves in this art form are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

4/4/05
CONGRESSIONAL SEX CRITICS GUILTY OF “RANK HYPOCRISY” IN FUND RAISING
ADDICTED TO PORN Members of Congress Accept Contributions from Porn Purveyors Prepared by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

3/18/05
LETTER TO DR. PHIL
Dr. Phil:

Please allow the staff of the Adult Freedom Foundation to provide you with free expert information when discussing issues concerning the adult entertainment industry.

3/17/05
SENATE REJECTS SEX BIZ EXPERTS...AGAIN
LOS ANGELES, CA….Once again a U.S. Senate subcommittee has decided to conduct a one sided hearing Wednesday (March 16) into important First Amendment issues.

3/15/05
A LETTER TO SEN. BROWNBACK
The rescheduling of the "Obscenity Prosecution and the Constitution" hearing to March 16th provides a renewed opportunity for the Adult Freedom Foundation to work with you in supplying expert witnesses on the new date.

3/15/05
GONZALEZ URGED TO IGNORE BOGUS RESEARCH
The Adult Freedom Foundation is urging the new U.S. Attorney General to reject biased and one sided testimony that "pornography is an addictive commodity."

3/15/05
FIRST AMENDMENT LAWYERS ASSN.
The newly created Adult Freedom Foundation wants your input from the front lines of the battles to preserve First Amendment rights.