Unlike other labeling protocols, RTA was developed by online adult entertainment industry leaders as a proactive response to the needs of parents and the demands of lawmakers – and as such, RTA is something that all legitimate operators should employ and support.
If you haven’t already labeled your sites with the free RTA tag, now’s your chance, as ASACP has declared June 4th to be “Label With RTA” Day.
According to ASACP’s Executive Director, Joan Irvine; “ASACP is urging all adult sites that have not yet adopted its RTA (‘Restricted to Adults’) website label to do so. The organization is asking supporters to contact their affiliates on June 4th and encourage them to use the tag as well. Between 12 noon and 2:00 p.m. Pacific time on June 4th, ASACP staff will field questions online during a mini-forum on the GFY Webmasters Board.”
While some irresponsible operators may question the need to do anything that is not explicitly mandated by law, especially when it may potentially lower the amount of traffic their sites receive; voluntarily adopting the RTA tag may actually prevent more restrictive legislation which is gaining traction in Washington.
“There are already three bills pending in Congress that would require mandatory labeling by adult websites,” said ASACP Executive Director Joan Irvine. “The RTA label offers the adult industry a chance to head that off by publicly demonstrating we’re capable of self-regulation. With RTA, we can help prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate content, and at the same time achieve a real political and public relations victory for the entire industry.”
Of course, for any industry initiative to succeed, including RTA, it needs the support of the industry, and not just verbal support, but a wholesale adoption of the label across as many sites as possible. This will demonstrate that we’re able to self-regulate and that additional legislation is not needed. “When we tell legislators and reporters about RTA, we need the statistics to back it up. The more adult sites labeled with RTA, the stronger our case.”
The RTA label has already been endorsed by many adult companies, is supported by noted industry attorneys and recommended by the Free Speech Coalition and ASACP.
For more information about the RTA label and how to use it, visit www.RTAlabel.org.
