We've seen more "obscene" images on public billboards—who knew postal workers had such sensitive sensibilities?

· Post Office Refuses to Mail 'Obscene' Postcard For Movie (adrants.com)

Evil Angel head honcho John Stagliano is the latest target of the Justice Department, but he's fighting back the American Way—through the news media. In this video interview with Reason TV he shares his thoughts on his ongoing obscenity case and explains why you should care about it. And it's not to sell another copy of "Milk Nymphos." (Although if you're interested we could probably find you one.)

. . .

· The U.S. vs. John Stagliano (reason.tv)

Previously: Coming For A Cause: Just About Everybody You've Ever Masturbated To In "Defend Our Porn"

People have been trying to answer these questions ever since Google Trends allowed them to examine global search statistics to determine both how often certain terms are being searched for but where they're being searched from. For example, did you know that searches for "anal sex" are more popular in Herndon, Virginia than any other city in the U.S.? (We had our suspicions.) The folks at Debonair Magazine decided to use Google Trends to see exactly who likes what and where they like it. But we think that if you really want to examine community standards, it's not enough to just know that people search about fucking—you need to compare naughty search terms (like "porn", pussy", and "dirt pipe milkshake") with innocent and wholesome one. (like "puppies", "rainbows", and "root beer floats"). We know people are horny, but are they hornier than your average board game playing, candy-loving, LOLcat fan? (Or are they the same people?)

So would people in your town rather think about naked bodies or adorable puppies? Big purple dildos or (Orlando) Magic tricks? We recently conducted this highly unscientific experiment ourselves and the results may surprise you! Or not! But that's science for you.

· Google Trends (google.com)
· "Searching For Sex - Global Sex Trends Examined" (debonairmag.com)

* * * * *

Previously: Google (Sex) Trends, World Porn Search Statistics

In April, 2008 Evil Angel founder and director John Stagliano was indicted on obscenity charges in the type of case that has become familiar to First Amendment watchers who are also porn consumers: several Evil Angel titles, as well as trailers for a Belladonna movie, were obtained in a United States county in which "community standards" seemed rigid enough to bring charges of obscenity. In 2009 the case will likely go to trial.

Notwithstanding (of course) that the titles in question arrived by request of someone over 18 years of age, as they did in dozens of more lenient counties throughout the United States, Stagliano now faces an expensive legal battle in a season that has also seen court cases against the more extreme JM Productions and Max Hardcore.

"Defend Our Porn" is a compilation DVD of scenes from every current Evil Angel director, as well as alumnus Jules Jordan. And it also features a brand new scene with Tricia Devereaux, Stagliano's wife. Proceeds from the 16-scene, 10-hour, 3-DVD box will defray Stagliano's legal bills.

What is remarkable about the Evil Angel case is that, though the company is undeniably hardcore, it is less so, and far more arty, than the year's other porn defendants. A case against Evil Angel bodes ill for more mainstream adult companies.

So, as both a compilation "Best of" DVD and as a statement of rights, "Defend Our Porn" starts with a bang in a scene with the irrepressible Nacho Vidal from "Fashionistas Safado: Berlin". No male performer can hold a candle to Nacho in the talking dirty department. "Why did you come here with underwear?" is one of his gems. Melissa Lauren handles this onslaught with fear and aplomb.

Then veteran director John Leslie presents a scene with Naomi. This scene is reminiscent of mid-90's porn and Naomi is definitely the type of model who embodies that vibe and is beloved of fans of that era. Naomi, I am required to say, has an amazing ass. With it she coaxes a load from James Deen that I expect he is still proud of.

In an outdoor scene from Rocco Siffredi's "Rocco's Way to Love," (I'm hoping this is a translation), Kelly Stafford performs in a headlight-lit gangbang. It reminded me a little of "Rebel Without A Cause" if that movie had ended the way I wanted it to.

"Do you want to see the throat fucking doctor?" a game Sasha Grey is asked in "Face Fucking Inc.," a departure from the grainier previous scenes. What sets this scene apart is the Porn Valley-ness of the proceedings, clothing, and lighting, but Sasha Grey lends the scene star power and makes it memorable. Really, porn is about the people.

Nacho then returns with Avy Scott in a scene that would have been creepy even without the monkey.

Disc Two includes part of Belladonna's return to guys, "Cock Happy," as well as an Eva Angelina gangbang in which the 2008 AVN Best Actress is used most jubilantly. Mia Rose appears in a scene with Manuel Ferrara that establishes her as the anti-Teagan. Unlike the harder-looking or more Euro-style Evil Angel performers, the diminutive Rose is all Porn Valley, but uncharacteristically self-aware.

Disc Three includes a performance by The Unsinkable Sandra Romain (on a spotless beige rug). Belladonna returns deliciously in a scene from Jules Jordan's "Ass Worship," and, in the set's one original outing, Tricia Devereaux comes out of retirement for a clothespinny scene with Derrick Pierce.

"I told you I was in love with my husband," she says.

"That's not what we're talking about, is it?" he says.

Of all the great, blitzkrieg excerpts in "Defend Our Porn", this final segment takes its time and benefits from it. Devereaux was nervous about this scene. She's older, she's put on some weight—all the things that make women uncomfortable, even in (or especially in) porn. But she looks great, of course, and, much as it is a signature pleasure watching all the teenagers flying around on the other discs, to watch grown women Romain, Belladonna, and Devereaux get (and give) the business in Disc Three is a real payoff.

"Defend Our Porn" is a fundraising effort but it is also a loadblowingly good value for all the diverse, quality porn it provides.

Defend Our Porn

Studio: Evil Angel
Director: Belladonna, Christoph Clark, Jules Jordan, Jonni Darkko, Rocco Siffredi, John Leslie, Raul Christian, Jazz Duro, Jay Sin
Cast: Avy Scott, Belladonna, Dana DeArmond, Eva Angelina, Holly Wellin, Jack Venice, James Deen, Jazz Duro, Jules Jordan, Lexington Steele, Manuel Ferrara, Mark Wood, Melissa Lauren, Mia Rose, Mick Blue, Nacho Vidal, Naomi, Nikki Jayne, Rocco Siffredi, Sandra Romain, Sasha Grey, Tricia Devereaux, Derrick Pierce

· Evil Angel (evilangel.com)
· Defend Our Porn (defendourporn.org)
· Buy "Defend Our Porn" (gamelink.com)

# Recordings of women experiencing orgasms
# Videos of nude men participating in "ejaculation educational demonstrations"
# Detailed photographs of men and women masturbating
# Images of mammary intercourse
# Close-up images of topless women and male and female sexual anatomy
# Large-scale photos of men performing oral sex on one another (and performing oral sex on themselves)
# An illustrated list of sex positions
# Threesomes
# Photos of nude strippers
# An image called "Virgin Killer" depicting a naked prepubescent girl from the 1976 cover of a Scorpions album (banned in the U.S.)

Our first thought upon reading this was that we are not spending enough time on Wikipedia. Our second was that we'd like to see some examples of this salacious content, because we had trouble finding any: those "nude" strippers are actually mostly* covered up, the sexual positions and anatomy photos are no worse than what you would find in a (really cool) biology textbook or on the Discovery Channel, and the gay fluffer pictures are tastefully non-explicit (at least by our standards*). What a ripoff!

Not only is this an unusually misguided display of anti-porn hysteria—anyone looking for free unblocked smut can do a lot better than Wikipedia—but their complaints show a shocking misunderstanding of how Wikipedia actually works. It's completely created, edited and policed by its users —i.e. anyone and everyone—and if there's a problem the users are the ones who fix it.

Take that infamous 1976 Scorpions album cover, which could be considered child pornography: it might have been banned, but one could also argue that it has some sort of historical relevance. If the community doesn't agree, then the community of Wikipedia users can remove it ... which they did are still debating**. (Here's the ongoing discussion about it, which predates the WND article by almost three years.)

Tattling to the FBI about nudie pics on the internet is like complaining to Congress about evolution. Hating it enough won't make it go away. Besides, one way or another people have to learn about strippers—so it's either on Wikipedia or in a strip club. Take your pick.

· "Is Wikipedia wicked porn?" + "Naked young girl photo troubles 'Wikipedophilia'" (wnd.com)
· Fluffing (Wikipedia)
· Wikipedia T-Shirt (bustedtees.com)

* Updated to reflect some specific photos which a reader bought to our attention after we posted this entry; however, we still don't think they're anywhere near as bad as the WND article makes them out to be.

** Update (5/9): Another reader has informed us that the banned Scorpions album cover has been restored to the Wikipedia post in question since we first posted about the issue, and the debate about it among Wikipedia users continues.

· "Fetish Fanatic 5" (2006) (DVD info + trailers @ evilangel.com)
· Belladonna Entertainment LLC (enterbelladonna.com)
· "FEDERAL GRAND JURY CHARGES TWO COMPANIES AND OWNER JOHN STAGLIANO WITH OBSCENITY VIOLATIONS" (.pdf press release @ usdoj.gov)
· "John Stagliano, Evil Angel Indicted On Federal Obscenity Charges" (AVN) + "John Stagliano, Evil Angel Charged With 7 Obscenity Violations" (Xbiz)

Their salaries are actually paid by Morality in Media, a conservative anti-porn group that likes to complain about things like hotel room TV. They got the money from the Justice Department, which has awarded them two $150,000 annual grants to run their own website ObscenityCrimes.org (helpfully linked from Justice's own government-run site.) That money came courtesy of a Congressional earmark from Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, which of course originates with your tax dollars.

Visitors to the site can report online content that they find offensive, then the two ex-cops review it and make their recommendation. (The site advises citizens not to seek out porn themselves, because without proper training you will surely become addicted and die.) It seems like a really useful and important service, until you learn that 67,000 complaints have verified and referred to the Justice Department for prosecution and the number of people actually prosecuted is exactly zero. None. Zip. Nada. In other words, Congress spent $300,000 on two guys watching porn. Now, we don't want to tell them how to spend your money, but we would have done it for half that. Maybe less, but don't tell our boss.

· Federal Effort on Web Obscenity Shows Few Results (nytimes.com, via thecarpetbaggerreport.com)

Previously: The War On Porn: Behind Enemy Lines

· Keeley Hazell has returned to class the joint up a little bit. We could use a little refinement, actually. (thumblogger.com)

· Even though China has officially "banned" them, Chinese-language porn sites are still raking in the dough. It's almost like the internet has a mind of it's own. (pcw.co.uk)

· Would you like to read the "filthiest criminal complaint ever filed"? Who knew the FBI had such nasty writers? (thesmokinggun.com)

· NPR commentator Frank DeFord says if "feather-brained" men had their sports pages taken away, they'd probably just turn their attention to porn. Yikes ... hopefully those Deadspin commenters can't figure out where we are. (newsbusters.org)

· Why would people get so angry with Family Video for having a back-room adult section? Oh, right ... the whole "family" thing. (dailyherald.com)

· A "hillside artist" is painting a "tasteful nude" on the grass alongside Hwy. 20 in Oregon. In other news, car crashes and traffic jams will soon shut down Hwy. 20 in Oregon. (kgw.com)

* * * * *

Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

· It's a virtual certainty that we'll be writing about Gemma Atkinson's bikini calendar come December, but you can get a preview of it right now. Try to guess which suit will be October. (dailypoa.com + hollywoodtuna.com)

· Two adult DVD distributors get busted for obscenity, because of the movies they sell, "none of the three films has a plot line." If that's the standard for arrest, why are the makers of "Fantastic Four" still walking the streets? (sltrib.com)

· Even rich and powerful people get destroyed by porn, which is weird because you'd think they could pay someone to destroy their life for them. (denverpost.com)

· Harry Reems looks back on the good old days of alcohol and homelessness. Oh wait ... yeah, he's probably much better off now. (channel4.com)

· Breaking: Men and women learn a lot about the opposite sex when they date one member of it for an extended period of time. They also learn how to fight over morning bathroom privileges. (gainesville.com)

· A judge orders man not to have girlfriend for the next three years. A) You can do that? B) We have some material that might help him through this tough time. (ap.org)

* * * * *

Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

Somehow, the 10-count indictment against Max Hardcore (nee Paul Little) issued from the U.S. District Court, Tampa Division, this week seems conventional. The indictment is for obscenity, not 2257 recordkeeping infringements or, like what befell Al Capone, tax evasion. Hardcore has beaten obscenity charges before during G.W. Bush's first administration, but that was in porn-friendly Los Angeles. This time the 10-count cocktail includes several instances of two-minute clips from Hardcore's websites as well as the European versions of "Fists of Fury" and "Golden Guzzlers".

Read more about Hardcore after the gap. - GP

- - -

For consumers of "extreme" porn, which gets more extreme every day, few producers can approach Max Hardcore's reputation or content. Vaginal fisting (the Department of Justice press release notes "insertion of an entire hand into a vagina or anus"), vomiting, and urination figure prominently in the European versions of Hardcore's movies, available online or by DVD. In recent years, many companies have shied away from carrying Hardcore's fare, so he either distributes himself from his headquarters northeast of Los Angeles or releases the less edgy material through Porn Valley's JM Productions.

It has not yet been brought to light how Hardcore's products were obtained, but in order for the indictment to have been filed in Tampa (from which a great many of Porn Valley's strippers hail), the DVDs need to have been purchased and sent from/to that area and the Internet content needs to have been accessed from a local terminal.

If the requirements for obscenity are met, i.e. if the content is found to be offensive to local standards in Tampa, Hardcore stands to lose his house (which the Feds two years ago shot a hole through), his production equipment, and his websites, including pissedonpornstars.com (image of "Britney Rears 4" co-star Jamie Lynn above).

"I just put up the hardest stuff I have on my site," Hardcore told me in March (close to the date of one of the recent indictment counts), and also on my Euro version DVDs."

This is why the Federales did not hedge their bets, including both Internet and DVD content.

"They love it in Europe," Hardcore said, "and I've never heard of anyone, even a store owner getting busted for obscenity."

· Feds Nail Hardcore Producer (thesmokinggun.com)
· Max Hardcore (maxhardcore.com)
· Team Hardcore on the move! (gramponante.com)

* * * * *

Previously: Max Hardcore's Process, Porn Valley Dispatch Archive

It's been more than fifteen minutes since eight US Attorneys were fired by the Justice Department—an unprecedented and suspicious occurrence—and amazingly, the country is still talking about it: in fact, the media just keeps digging deeper and it doesn't look good for the DOJ, the White House, and especially for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The best part of this whole brouhaha? It's all because of porn! There were hints of this from the very beginning, but as more details come out it appears that at least two of the firings were orchestrated by Brent Ward, a former US Attorney himself, who now heads the adorably named Obscenity Prosecution Task Force. It seems Mr. Ward was upset by the performance of prosecutors who were "unwilling to take good cases." (ie., anti-porn cases.) Lo and behold, those prosecutors' names were added to the list of lawyers to be "pushed out" in favor of "loyal Bushies." Despite nearly everyone in the government being in favor of an end to porn (we're not talking child porn, either, but old fashioned obscenity cases), the whole thing has become such a black eye for the administration that even some conservatives are calling for Gonzales to step down. Will he weather the storm? (Possibly.) Will there be a cease fire in the government's war on porn? (Unlikely.) Will anyone continue to care in three months? (Let's hope so.) We never thought anyone could get in trouble for hating porn too much ... but we'll try not to gloat if they do.

· "The White House's Porn Plot Against Prosecutors" (thenation.com)
· "Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Porn and the DOJ" (scienceblogs.com)
· Gonzales Urged to Quit "For the Nation" (techyum.com)
· See also: "Nation's porn prosecutor fronts war against obscenity" (sltrib.com)
· Thumbnail via Red Light District's "Lick Her Ass Off My Dick", in case you were wondering

Previously: US vs. Extreme Associates, Round 2, US vs. Extreme Associates, Round 3

· Your tax dollars at work: US postal inspector provides a "revoltingly detailed criminal complaint" against the subject of an obscenity case—thus ensuring that if the average American weren't already intimately familiar with things like fisting and scat play, they sure are now. (thesmokinggun.com)

· Austrian ski instructors endure the hardest nipples of their lives for a hot nude calendar shoot. How come the resorts we go to are never this fun? (ananova.com + skilehrerinnen.at)

· Ars Technica has more on the debate we mentioned last week over iTunes and their policies (or lack there of) regarding explicit podcasts. You know our stance ... the world needs dirty talk! (arstechnica.com, via blog.wired.com)

· If you're using Google Adsense to earn some extra cash with your blog, better watch what you post about because they're watching you. (Actually, we're just excited that someone mentioned our name!) (coolz0r.com, via googlewatch.eweek.com)

· Since we were visiting Coolz0r anyway, we had to link to this post about ads for a Durex sex survey. It looks a lot like the answer sheet from our SAT, which explains why we had to go to a state school. (coolz0r.com)

· Second-best headline of the day: "Search of man's pants rejected." Apparently, consenting to a police search does not automatically mean they can check your ballsack. Make a note of that. (charlotte.com)

· Finally, this collection of funny Japanese commercials is mostly harmless, but one clip in particular got our attention. Slurping never sounded so good. (YouTube + more videos at hight3ch.com)

* * * * *
Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

· Jenna Jameson won't be playing in the Lingerie Bowl next year, because she can't get insurance for her body. Why does she need insurance? She can't possibly get hurt with that padding. (thesun.co.uk)

· New Zealand taxpayers have spent $163,000 on training seminars for officers who were caught with porn on their computers. Just so you know, we could have trained them for half that. (stuff.co.nz)

· Police in Mumbai, India, aren't sure if the group of artists they arrested on obscenity charges have actually created anything obscene. To be fair, the title of the show was "Tits, Clits and Elephant Dicks," so you can understand their confusion. (expressindia.com, via Fark)

· If only real science fair projects were this interesting. (xkcd.com)

· The longer a woman has been in a committed relationship, the less interested she is in sex. So all of those husbands out there aren't just imagining things. (bbc.co.uk)

· Finally, something to wake you on this Monday morning: jiggling anime boobies. Enjoy. (ifilm.com, via bamkapow.com)

* * * * *

Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

Does this picture seem like the kind of image that would be deemed unfit to print by reason of obscenity? Well, it would be if you tried to get it developed at the Sam's Club in Topeka, Kansas, as one unlucky customer recently discovered. It seems that while the big box store has no problem selling R-rated movies or even actual bikinis much smaller than the one pictured here, a bored photo manager is free to comb through your negatives and decide which pictures are acceptable and which ones aren't. The customer was obviously not pleased by this overzealous censorship—and neither are we, which is why we're happy to help broadcast her displeasure. Plus, we're kinda hoping that if we ask nicely, she'll post some more pinup shots of the "offending" model. You know, in protest.

· "What's the matter with Kansas? Seriously." (disgruntledhousewife.com via Consumerist)
· Order: "Naughty Needles: Sexy, Saucy Knits for the Bedroom and Beyond" (Amazon)

Previously: CBS's Nude "Rock Star", E3 Booth Babes 2006, Watching the Banned (Super Bowl Commercials)

JM Productions, along with its distributor and its owner, Jeff Steward, was indicted this week on several counts of obscenity based on the sale of certain videos—like "Gag Factor 17" and "American Bukkake"—to residents of northern Virginia.

Some online retailers have suspended sales of JM products for this reason. Here, then, is a review of a JM title not named in the indictment (we couldn't find a copy of one that had) but representative of JM's freewheeling, often humorous, consensual, and frequently disgusting style. - G. Ponante

- - -

"Reverse Bukkake 2"

Studio: JM Productions
Director: Ashley Blue
Cast: Randy Rodman, Rick Masters, Rod Fontana, and 41 women, including Blue, Kami Andrews, Alana Skye, Celestia, Zora, Annabelle, and Gabriela Banks

Review by - G. Ponante

"Come on girls: This way," says Ashley Blue as she leads a group of women into a fieldlet in which a man would be drenched in their collective squirtings. "This is my boyfriend; and he's a loser."

Two of the three scenes in JM's "Reverse Bukkake 2" involve a woman leaving a man in a huff and the man being squirted upon by multiple women.

In the first scene Randy Rodman's girlfriend storms out, disgusted by his reverse bukkake fantasizing, and he enters the Realm of Dream, in which several women, including a few people I am sure I saw walking the street outside a Sepulveda Ave. Denny's, take turns squirting on him in a makeshift Terrordome which looks like that Steve Railsback episode of "The X-Files".

Kami Andrews appears to be the ringer in this movie, what with all her own teeth and all, but for Andrews to seem wholesome by comparison takes some doing.

As each woman finishes she leaves, so by the time most of the women have taken their turn hovering above Rodman's face, the room is echoing like an abandoned chapel in a flooded area.

The second scene is the most personally compelling. A man (Rick Masters) would rather smoke pot than have sex with Ashley Blue. He nods off and she leads the same group from Scene One into a woody glade to squirt on him. At least the Sepulveda Ave. girls were out in the sun.

In the final scene, 41 ladies squirt on Rod Fontana on a tennis court. Oddly enough, that sentence was how I mistranslated a passage of "The 12 Caesars" in high school.

While not being at liberty to divulge specifics of the shoot, such as how much each person was paid, I assume that the reason certain scenes seemed to empty out is that the bukkake talent were heading off to the next sequence, stopping to drink gallons of water in between. In a reverse bukkake, the talent rarely need a recovery period.

What is interesting about this movie is that the men are never given any release, other than a good hosing down. How can such an empowering movie for women come from a company branded obscene?

· "JM Productions, Others Under Federal Indictment" (xbiz.com)
· JM Productions (jerkoffzone.com)
· "Gag Order Factor: JM indicted for obscenity" (gramponante.com)

· To save you valuable time this afternoon, we've combined your regular Jenna Jameson and Jenny McCarthy updates into one easy-to-read tidbit: Jenna can now pole dance on your car antenna; Jenny is now a published author; and despite some bathroom stall kissing they officially did not have sex with each other. Got all that? (avn.com + hollywoodtuna.com + howardstern.com)

· In perhaps the strangest story you'll find on both the sports and porn pages this week, former Major League Baseball player and current Nippon Ham Fighter Tsuyoshi Shinjo will retire at the end of this season when he plans to take up a career in nude modeling. We always thought most athletes just take their balls and go home when they retire; they don't usually photograph them. (mainichi-msn.co.jp, via Deadspin)

· Anyone up for playing a few rounds of "Who's The Hottest Chick on 'Battlestar Galactica'" this weekend? Our pals at CityRag submit this study material from Grace Park's Maxim shoot for your perusal. (cityrag.blogs.com)

· Popular Italian smut director Riccardo Schicchi and porn actress Eva Henger were convicted of running a prostitution racket in Rome after prosecutors argued they smuggled illegal immigrants into Italy for purposes of sex work. No word on whether Schicchi's "Chocolate Bananas" and "Pornopoker II" were used as evidence in the trial. (stuff.co.nz)

· SugarJoy's Bandersnatch seeks out some dating advice from Counter Strike players—with predictably disastrous results. Is it any wonder most of these guys never get laid? They make Lenny and Squiggy look like Clooney and Pitt. (sugarjoy.com)

· Did you know Oregon is one of only two states in the nation without an obscenity law? Did you also know that Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any other city? Well, now you do and you can thank a group of protestors for bringing these facts to our attention. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a plane to catch. (registerguard.com)

* * * * *

Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

· If you like to spend your late nights doing something other than watching TV, you may have missed stripper-turned-author Diablo Cody's entertaining visit with David Letterman on Monday. Fortunately, the internet provides, so you can still watch her discuss her new book "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper" Check out this bonus interview as well. (diablo-cody.com + YouTube + fortwayne.com)

· The internet also comes through with these pics from the Agent Provocateur fashion show in Los Angeles earlier this week. It's the next best thing to being there, sort of. (via sexblo.gs)

· Thinking about getting into the adult business? Good for you! Remember, though, that you should never have to pay $16,000 in "deposits" in order to get an audition ... and that as far as we know, quality smut is rarely filmed in Rhode Island. (bostonherald.com)

· Just so it's clear: NBA star Tony Parker is the real teacher in the bedroom, not Eva Longoria as was previously reported. Thank goodness she cleared that up. (msnbc.com + cnn.com)

· Not merely content to helm her own ever-expanding media empire, Fleshbot fave Joanna Angel is now Spin magazine's new sex advice columnist. Is there anything that girl can't do? (avn.com; super-irritating audio ad warning)

· Kansas abandons the idea of a 10% "porn tax," but still decides to rewrite its state obscenity law to make it easier to prosecute offenders. Also, one state rep discovers that it's not 1952 anymore: "The fact is that something can have a sexually provocative aspect without being obscene." Hey, you're soaking in it! (kansascity.com)

· We always knew that Savanna Samson was tasty ... but now it's official! (reuters.com)

· While going over these quick do's and dont's regarding OPIs (a.k.a. boner pills) we got to wondering about the origin of the term "priapism." Now we know all about the Greek god who punishes thieves with his giant member . Don't ever steal from that guy's garden! (Unless you're into that sort of thing.) (thrillist.com + mac.com)

· To help you recover from that, here's a reminder from Frederick's of Hollywood that sometimes it's good to leave a little to the imagination. But not too much. (HQ gallery @ usemycomputer.com)

* * * * *

Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

· "Paris Hilton Digging For Crabs". We love when certain headlines practically write themselves, don't you? (egotastic.com; also spotted @ Gawker)

· Of course, we realize that most Fleshbot readers would never be so base as to want to know more about that porn actress who was indicted on statutory rape charges in California this week after allegedly plying a 15-year-old high school student with drugs and porn DVDs ... but if anyone else wants to know what she looks like, sources tell us that this gallery would be a good place to start. (mercurynews.com + freepornstarpix.com - thanks T.)

· 15-year-old high school students being seduced by 20-year-old women may still be verboten, but 16- and 17-year-old high school students posing for a baby beefcake calendar to raise money for an end-of-school-year party? Totally cool! (koin.com - thanks Raymond)

· Just when we finally hear some good news about "a substantial and welcome blow" to the US government's continued perusal of 2257-based regulatory schemes, along comes former Attorney General and Reagan-era bugbear Edwin Meese with a call for "another study to assess porn s imminent 'dangers'" ... as if all those other studies weren't "conclusive" enough. (freespeechcoalition.com + xbiz.com; more @ gramponante.com)

· In more pressing legal news, judges debate whether "the Hooters' Girls' 'primary function' [is] to fulfill customers' expectations and desire to see, be entertained by and interact with a sexy, barely clothed Hooters girl" in a case involving the company's lawsuit against a similar Florida-based wings-and-boobs restaurant chain. In case that wasn't already clear either. (adultfyi.com)

* * * * *

Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

Once upon a time there were plenty of reasons to visit social networking site Tribe.net, even if you weren't a member; the online community fostered groups with open dialogues about sex and culture and created resources for MILF fans, armpit fetishists, and cocksucking enthusiasts that everyone could enjoy. But in a sad turn of events yesterday, Tribe has voluntarily applied 2257 record-keeping requirements across the board for all users and groups in its architecture, thus removing a lot of worthwhile content and making group leaders like me feel more like the headmistress at a very bad boys' school ... and not in the way I'd like. It's time for a report card: See how Tribe scores on its 2257 implementation after the jump. V. Blue

- - -

Excecution: D
Oh dear, someone didn't do their homework. Tribe has removed the "mature" age verification that used to appear on pageviews, and instead made the groups "private". This means that you can't see the Tribe unless you're in it. But more importantly, it gives no reason for non-members to even look at Tribe—even if you just want to follow the very unsexy, no-image discussions on sex education events in The Center for Sex and Culture's Tribe.

Critical Thinking: F
An essential survival skill for all extracurricular activities is critical thinking, and here's where Tribe.net shows what they're made of. Does it make sense to apply 2257 laws to any social networking site, such as Tribe, Friendster, or Orkut? Only if there's another agenda involved. According to emails sent to users, Tribe.net is putting themselves in the "republishing" category where "pornography, sexually explicit conduct and 'obscenity' are concerned.

Now we have to get out the dunce cap: It's important not to confuse obscenity with "sexually explicit behavior." Whether something is obscene has no impact on whether 2257 applies to it, nor is 2257 content rescued by "redeeming social value" or a context of supportive community standards. That's exactly why the Abu Ghraib torture photos are in no danger of being deemed obscene, but could (at least technically) still be prosecuted under 2257. So Tribe.net is essentially interpreting 2257 record keeping laws under its own definition, and is attempting to define what constitutes obscenity for all its members, no matter where they're located.

According to Jason Schultz, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Tribe.net "can't be held to 2257 requirements for things they don't exercise traditional editorial content control over. Otherwise, all ISPs who host 3rd party websites would be liable as well, and the law explicitly says that isn't true. So as long as Tribe as a company isn't editing the content, they can host any groups they want that have sexually explicit material, even if it qualifies under 2257's weirdo definitions. Moreover, if Tribe had a backbone, they could join the suit to overthrow 2257; it wouldn't even cost them much, since the Free Speech Coalition is already leading the charge."

Effort: A +
If Tribe.net were jockying for a position in the Justice Department, they'd surely get into the second round of interviews (that is, before the FBI realized that they were all a bunch of hellbound San Francisco hippies in Birkenstocks). But it's not the government that Tribe is out to please by being so heavy-handed with content regulation; I'm sure that in no time they'll be getting offers of bailout revenue from Fox and ClearChannel based on their clean-minded stance—which will hopefully arrive in time to shore up the ailing cash flow, as evidenced by Tribe.net's increasingly heavy handed advertising.

Community Spirit: F
Do we have S-P-I-R-I-T!? Yes we do! Does Tribe.net? Well, if making online communities everywhere worry that putting up a naked picture on the internet is now a federal crime, then that would certainly be showing some kind of spirit.

Someone needs to be kept after school and made to write "I will not use 2257 laws for my own site administration tactics" on the chalkboard at least 100 times. Or else I get out the real paddle.

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Read more at "Tribe and 2257: Extended Dance Remix" (tinynibbles.com).

See also:
· "Big Changes at Tribe.net" (sfist.com)
· Blogger's FAQ: Adult Material (eff.org)
· "Tribe.net self-censoring to conform with 2257 porn laws?" (boingboing.net)
· Tribe.net discussion of 2257 self-application (Tribe.net)

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Previously: Fleshbot 2257 Archives, 2257 Updates, 2257 Lies, "Bound and Gagged" Bound and Gagged?

The fact that we've never been particular fans of Rob Black and Lizzie Borden's brand of over-the-top smut (mostly due to graphic design considerations, though that's somewhat besides the point) doesn't mean we didn't get nervous today when we heard that US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez made good on his promise earlier this year to overturn the dismissal of federal obscenity charges against Extreme Associates; after all, if the feds are going to deny consenting adults the right to watch "Ass Clowns 3" in the privacy of their own homes, what's to stop them from making similar restrictions about other cosmetically notable porn titles like Ramco Production's "Clown Porn" or Burning Angel's "Re-Penetrator" or Michael Ninn's "Catherine" in the future? (Even if the latter wouldn't be too much of a loss—but that's kind of besides the point as well.) In all seriousness, though, this could only be the beginning of a slippery slope. Let's hope things don't get worse before they get better.

· "Appeals Court Reinstates Charges Against Extreme" (avn.com; intensely irritating audio ad warning)
· "3rd Circuit Rules Against Extreme Associates, Case Goes Back to District Court" (Xbiz)
· US District Court of Appeal, 3rd Circuit: USA v. Extreme Associates (05-1555) (.pdf @ ca3.uscourts.gov - thanks AW)
· Thumbnail: "Ass Clowns 3" (one of the "Federal Five" @ extremeassociates.com)

Previously: US vs. Extreme Associates, US vs. Extreme Associates, Round 2, Extreme Associate Obscenity Charges Dismissed

Art or porn? That's what The Guardian is asking you to decide about ten images from the early days of cinema. If you haven't been paying attention, it's something we've been trying to figure out on a daily basis here at Fleshbot; thanks to the United States Supreme Court, the definition hinges upon "community standards of decency," and considering some of the "art" I've seen in some far-flung hotels, that makes me shiver. Sure, beautiful porn is always better than bad art, but why bother drawing that line to begin with?- J. West

"Art or Porn?" (guardian.co.uk, via sexblo.gs)

Previously: Erotic and Subversive Cinema, Violet Loves Nina, Nitke vs. Ashcroft Update, Manga Porn Crackdown, Obscenity Task Force, "The Other Hollywood", Famous Movie Breasts, Obscenity, Then and Now, B-Movie Beefcake, A History of Sex in Film

Max Hardcore's Pasadena offices were raided by the FBI and local law enforcement officials earlier this month while the man behind the "Golden Guzzlers" series was out of the country. In addition to discharging a shotgun into Hardcore's floor, the cops scared his dog, Sparky ... - G. Ponante

"Before they raid someone, they follow them for a period of time, and monitor their place of business and their home, to see what their routines are," Hardcore said. "I'm sure they followed me to the airport, and knew exactly where I was going."

Hardcore was in Barcelona for a convention on October 6 when he received word that several agents, some of whom had previously raided Hardcore's home in 2001, had literally rifled through his home and offices, blowing a hole into his floor in the process.

"One of the local Porn Patrol said to my assistant, 'Hey, this place has really improved in the last few years.'"

Hardcore's housekeeper was made to wait downstairs (with Sparky) and his assistant was told to sit in the driveway. After an advance team secured each room of the house with guns drawn, other agents moved in to check paperwork and confiscate computers. Of particular interest were the European sale versions of "Fists of Fury", a fisting title, and "Golden Guzzlers", a pissing movie.

"We have not gotten our computers back, and it's very annoying. The FBI said they were going to get them right back, but they were lying of course," Hardcore said.

The jury is out on why the feds saw the need to shoot at the floor. "When my attorney (Jeffery Douglas) asked them, they just ignored the question."

Hardcore reports that Sparky is fine.

· "Max: This Ain't Russia" (adultfyi.com)
· Max Hardcore (maxhardcore.com)

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Previously: Hardcore Raided, Porn Review Haikus: Extreme Edition, Porn Valley Dispatch Archive

Bad news from the front lines of the War on Pornography, at least where our side is concerned: after a nine month trial in which New York-based fetish photographer Barbara Nitke and the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom attempted to challenge certain provisions of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, a federal appeals panel yesterday ruled against the plaintiffs and "refused to find unconstitutional a law making it a crime to send obscenity over the Internet to children", according to the Associated Press (as if forcing her material onto children over the internet was part of Nitke's agenda in the first place). What effect the ruling will have on an adult online community still reeling from the US government's new 2257 regulations remains to be seen, but it's worth keeping in mind what lawyer John Wirenius wrote on his weblog following the decision: "The fightin' is in rounds. This is round 1."

· "New York judges refuse to say Internet obscenity law is unconstitutional" (AP @ NY Newsday)
· Nitke v. Ashcroft (resources and info @ sethf.com)
· "Nitke v. Ashcroft: Decision" (lawyer John Wirenius @ LiveJournal)

See also:
· Barbara Nitke: The Sexuality Project (portfolio @ barbaranitke.com)
· National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (ncsfreedom.org)
Thumbnail: Athena Starr in "Piggies" (1983) by Barbara Nitke

Previously: Nitke vs. Ashcroft, Obscenity Task Force, Obscenity, Then and Now, XXX Law, US vs. Extreme Associates, Round 2, War On Pornography, Porn Free!, "Perversion For Profit"

Well, they're here: as of today, the US Department of Justice's new 2257 regulations go into effect, and we're pretty much confused as everyone else is about how they're ultimately going to effect your porn viewing experience. While we're busy for the next few hours combing through our image archive and replacing the necessary thumbnails with 150x100 pixel portraits of Hello Kitty (hey, she matches our color scheme)*, here are some reports from the trenches:

· First, the (possible) good news: Xbiz reports that a "deal has been brokered by lawyers for the Free Speech Coalition in U.S. District Court" . More details will be available this afternoon; keep an eye on the FSC website for updates. (xbiz.com - read more @ AVN)

Update Xbiz reports that the "deal" involves a pending agreement that would "put a temporary delay on enforcement of the rules"—which presumably means that they're still going to be enforced at some point unless more legal challenges are on the horizon. (xbiz.com; more @ AVN)

· Despite the fact that a poster on an Xbiz forum claims that he was told during a phone call with a DOJ representative that "linking sites" (you're soaking in one!) would also be subject to the new regulations because they "increase sales and revenues of the images on the site they were linking to", we're not ready to close up shop here at Fleshbot Central just yet. (Adult FYI)

· Seth Lubove at Forbes weighs in with an article that's both breathtakingly condescending towards the adult industry (actually, some people are going to miss publications and websites like "Bound And Gagged" very much) and critical of the DOJ's new draconian recordkeeping requirements. (forbes.com)

· In the meantime, some of the more curious early casualties of the new 2257 rules include "explicit thumbnails" at Sensible Erection, "adult profile" photos at Gay.com and other personals sites, DVD box cover images at WantedList and other online retailers, and several sites in the Rotten.com family—not that we visited Gaping Maw to get our porn fix too often anyway.

· If you're still confused why the new 2257 regulations are such a big deal for porn producers and audiences ... well, maybe reading an informative article with stick figure illustrations will help you understand? (freeinternetpress.com)

· And remember, if all else fails ... we'll always have Google. (images.google.com - thanks Rob)

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*Ed. note: Actually, we've never had any explicit thumbnails on Fleshbot. At least something is making our jobs easier today.