Though the film was unseen by festivalgoers—the organizers deemed a civil disobedience screening too much of a risk—the official jury decided that it warranted the prize for "Best Short Film." It may not be quite the dramatic crumbling of Australian censorship that we were hoping for...but it's still nice to see Australians standing up for their right to view sex on film.

· "Matinee" (blueartichokefilms.com)

Concerned for their festival participants' privacy, the organizers of Burning Man have set up a new photo policy, one that's intended to keep photos of naked playa residents off of porn sites (and also Facebook—how did they know where we find our porn?). It remains to be seen whether the policy will actually be effective. But one thing's for certain: our plans for the launch of PlayaPunani.com will definitely have to be put on hold.

· Worried Over Porn Shots, Burning Man Sets Up Photo Policy (xbiz.com)
· Photo via Amateur Nut (amateurnut.com)

What was it that felled the buxom, bored housewife? Nothing more than plain old censorship: the Indian government—who were none too keen on Savita's rampant sexuality—banned the site from India's interwebs (being American, we can still see her just fine).

Of course, this is India we're talking about—India, the birthplace of Hinduism—so we suppose there's always a chance that lovely Savita will return to the people in a reincarnated form. For the sake of all her fans, we've got our fingers crossed.

· India Mourns the Death of Savita Bhabhi (indipepal.com)
· Savita Bhabhi (savitabhabhi.com)

We will, of course, keep you informed as further updates surface.

· Abby Winters owner Garion Hall issues statement (somebodythinkofthechildren.com, more @ avn.com)

Specifically, the California Employment Training Panel, which provides subsidies for training to make in-state corporations more competitive on a national scale. For years, Kink had used the program to provide its employees with video and multimedia training—but alas, they've now been cut off from this training.

What happened? It seems that a certain writer for the San Francisco Weekly decided to investigate why the state of California was subsidizing "torture porn"—and in the process, set off a chain of events that left Kink.com out in the cold. You can read the whole story over on the SF Weekly's website—but be warned, it's peppered with lots of poor reporting, judgmental talk about alternative sexuality, and, well, more poor reporting (though antiporn sources are quoted discussing the obvious abuse of Kink.com's models, not one of the models is quoted discussing his or her experience). A few sample quotes, just to give you a taste:

Riedel denies the victimization charge. "Most of our models have been around longer than the down economy," he said. "We go through an extensive interview process to make sure they're okay with this. We don't like working with models that aren't into this. If it's not consensual, it doesn't work."

San Francisco clinical psychologist Melissa Farley doesn't buy that. In 2007, she posted on her antipornography Web site, Traffick Jamming, the famous photograph of a hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner alongside a photograph she says came from Kink.com of a shackled, blindfolded woman apparently being poked with a cattle prod. "In this economy, this is something women would rather not do, but they feel they have to," she said. "This is a form of economic coercion. But people would rather not think of it that way. People think of it as a matter of rights, rather than ask the question, 'Should people have a right not to do this?'"

The company has passed itself off in articles in The New York Times Magazine, Salon, 7x7, and other publications as a hip, if esoteric, high-tech media startup. Yet its business plan is more medieval than modern, consisting, as it does, of giving people money if they'll agree to being on camera while being stripped, bound, impaled, beaten, and shocked.

Ah, fair and balanced journalism.

· Whipped and Gagged (sfweekly.com)
· See also: SF Weekly's Matt Smith Screws Kink.com: Unfair, Unbalanced, Malfeasant Journalism (sfappeal.com)
· Thumbnail: Mika Tan on Fucking Machines (fuckingmachines.com, via Ask Jolene)

Oddly, many of the stars who were suspended (including @AvaRoseXXX, @NikkiBenz , @TheJessicaDrake, @DanaDeArmond, and @FlowerTucci) don't actually post pictures of the XXX sort (the things we've seen are mostly PG-13 R-rated at best); apparently, their reputations were enough to raise Twitter's ire. Given the enthusiasm that many pornstars have shown for TwitPic, it's unfortunate to see that the feeling isn't mutual.

But fear not—all is not may not be lost! On the other end of the internet, some enterprising souls have created PinkTweet, a self-described "Twitter, but for porn." True, it only seems to have about six users at present, but we're sure it'll fare far, far better than X-Digg, TheXXXSpace, Sin2.0, SocialPorn, or any of the countless other "like this popular site, but for porn!" startups that we've seen.

· Twitter Lays The Smack Down on Some Porn Stars (lukeford.com)
· PinkTweet (pinktweet.com)
· Thumbnail: hot photo from Ava Rose's now banned TwitPic account

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)

Students at the University of Maryland were all set to attend a screening of the most important porno ever made—until some state legislators caught wind of where, exactly, these pirates were sticking their swords. In response, Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Baltimore County) introduced a bill to withhold state funding from any public university that allowed the screening of a triple-X film, which caused university officials to cancel the screening, which in turn led to a flurry of press (including Adella, DP's director of marketing, appearing on CNN to defend the adult industry).

And it doesn't end there: protesting of the university's decision, a group of students are planning to screen the film anyway, preceding the XXX action with a discussion of free speech, and how it relates to the pride of Porn Valley.

Man, we miss college.

· Porn Flick Screening at U-Md. Still On, as Is Funding Threat (washingtonpost.com)
· Image of Jesse Jane courtesy of Digital Playground (digitalplayground.com)

What is this "best job" you ask? Why, caretaker for the Great Barrier Reef, of course—a job that pays $150,000 (and provides free housing!), and doesn't require all that much in the way of responsibility. Naturally, to hire someone for the job, you'd want to turn the search into a giant publicity stunt, allowing any random person to vote for the next caretaker—which is how lovely Julia—a 29-year-old Russian marine biologist—quickly rose to the top of the list... and was summarily dismissed when Queensland Tourism learned a little about her past.

More's the pity, really, as we're not sure why working as a webcam girl would make someone (especially someone trained as a marine biologist!) a bad reef caretaker. You know, between this and that stupid porn filter, we're getting less and less keen on Australia. If it wasn't for Abby Winters and Girls Out West, we'd probably just write off the whole continent.

[Thanks to I for the video and tip!]

· The Best Job In The World (islandreefjob.com)
· Russian 'best job' candidate dumped over porn video (abc.net.au)
· Julia Yalovitsyna Porn Pictures: Porn Scandal for Tropical Island "Best Job in the World" Australian Tourism Competition (hottiesinthenews.blogspot.com)

We doubt that Jenni Perez meant to raise the ire of the lovely Ms. Grey while penning a sex column for her college newspaper, the Daily Nexus. But Jenni Perez should have known better than to slander the name of Sasha Grey. In a column titled "Fake Orgasms Facilitate No Fun," she likened Sasha's performances to an eighteen year old faking orgasm; a few weeks later, she made a snide remark about Sasha when discussing her distaste for swallowing semen. But Jenni Perez apparently underestimated Sasha Grey.

To make a long story short: upon learning about the articles, which had made their way around the blogs, Sasha decided to fight back, penning a letter to the editor that ran in yesterday's edition of the Daily Nexus. Some highlights:

I am neither ashamed or reluctant to admit what I do is performance art... This resonates two of my primary objectives in the adult business... one: challenge the idea of what women are supposed to like or be like in bed, and two: most of the porn I used to watch was boring and I wanted to make it more fulfilling for myself and viewers. These statements were made in order to challenge the one dimensional, romanticized Hollywood-idealized perception of "couples friendly sex".

I am a very sexually healthy young woman and I take pride in the liberation of female sexuality, I have a cause, I am determined, and I am a hard worker (pun intended). As a sex symbol, with an intellectual stance, I am and will continue to be vilified, and I am ok with that…in fact I am content; it gives me the opportunity to shed the light on the darker areas of sex and validate the insecurities of sexually repressed women. The days of victimized, disturbed porn stars (and civilian women) are fading away… I am the new breed.

If this whole "porn blogging" thing doesn't work out for us, we're strongly considering submitting an application to be head priest in Sasha Grey's Church of Sashatology . Do you think we could get paid for that?

· Sasha Grey Speaks Out (dailynexus.com)
· Fake Orgasms Facilitate No Fun (dailynexus.com)
· Drink It Up or Spit It Out: The Fellator's Dilemma (dailynexus.com)
· Porn Star Talks Sex, Fetishes and Pushing the Envelope aka My Opinion Editorial (myspace.com)
· Photo by Richard Kern (newnudecash.com)

We're a little skeptical of this whole movement fad, but we'll let it run its course. And if there are any ex-ex-masturbators out there... well, you should know that we'll always be here for you.

· P4CM PRESENTS "EX-MASTURBATOR" CAMPAIGN (p4cm.com)

We'd like to encourage all of our readers to show their support for Dan Lacey—and, by extension, for all artists who choose to use eBay to sell their work. Nudity has long been a part of fine art, there is nothing deviant or depraved about depicting the human body. And those who would take away our right to enjoy erotic arts need to be taught lesson.

Please, spread the word about this. Email eBay to express your support of erotic art, blog about the importance of artistic freedom, and let the wouldbe censors know that we will not stand for their petty, closeminded attitudes. Seriously, anyone who thinks that a picture of a fully clothed America Ferrara should be considered "child porn" should not be setting the standards for the rest of us.

· “Obama Porn” Artist Shifts From Obama PornTo Implied Child Porn and Full Frontal Nudity on Ebay (jdlong.wordpress.com)
· Alamo City Pundit Leads Drive To Have Paintings Removed From Ebay (faithmouse.blogspot.com)

KidRex—certified by kids, for kids!—is pretty good at its job. Just try searching for "vagina" (go on, try it). You won't get anything! Not even an anatomy lesson! Likewise penis, clitoris, breasts (though oddly, not breast), masturbation, gay, lesbos (pity the poor Lesbian children!).

But what happens if your child happens to hear about that nice lady Gianna Michaels, and wants to learn more about her? Well, suddenly that kid-friendly search engine isn't so kid-friendly. Let's all just hope the kids limit their porn interest to big names like Jenna Jameson and Ron Jeremy—those are safely blocked. (And remember: want to find porn in a computer riddled with blocks? Just get creative with your search terms!)

· KidRex (kidrex.org)