"Why is he wasting limited government resources on trying to prove legal adult entertainment is obscenity when there is so much work to be done on combating child pornography?" asked Joan Irvine, Executive Director of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP).
"Instead of alienating and prosecuting the adult entertainment industry, Gonzales could be working with the industry," Irvine continued. "Everyone in the industry is against child pornography and many industry leaders have funded ASACP during the development of its sophisticated spidering and monitoring systems and the automation of its hotline."
Since 1996 ASACP's mission has been to make a difference in the battle against child pornography on the internet. Its hotline receives over 5,000 reports of suspected child pornography per month and sends URLs of over 250 validated child porn sites (called "Red Flag Reports") to the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and state Attorney General offices.
For years, the adult entertainment industry has been on the cutting edge of technology and ASACP is no different. It looks forward to informing government agencies and other associations about the industry's proactive approach to self-regulation and its stance in the fight against child pornography.
Andrew Oosterbaan, head of the Justice Department's Child Exploitation & Obscenity Section, was responsible for over 200 arrests of child porn producers and users as part of 2001's Operation Avalanche, but was condemned by the ultra-right-wing Family Research Council on March 1 as "anything but aggressive ... prosecuting only a few, mostly insignificant cases" because he hasn't targeted adult sexual material.
"Instead of pouring tax dollars down the drain to harass legitimate businesses that create legal adult entertainment for consenting adults, Gonzales should be investing his time, funding, and staffing in the prosecution of illegal child pornography," stated Michelle L. Freridge, Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), trade association of the adult entertainment industry. "In keeping with our long-standing policy condemning the sexual abuse of children, FSC offers a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons creating or trafficking in child pornography."
Joan Irvine will be speaking on this topic at the next FSC meeting, Thursday, March 17, at 5:30 PM at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, California. To RSVP, contact Neva Chevalier at FSC (818) 348-9373.
