opinion

Will Times Change?

Recently, XBIZ asked several industry leaders, "Will the industry always be in danger of governmental regulation/intervention, or will times change?"

Here's what they had to say:

"I most certainly think that we will always have the government looking to intervene, regulate or even destroy our industry. Porn will always carry a certain amount of political power as its a moral hot button issue for many. Politicians will continue to exploit that in effort to forward their political careers and attempt to impose their moral agenda on everyone. On the opposite side, we will continue to have people that want to allow what I believe is the most important right of a democracy (the freedom of choice) and allow adults to make personal choices on whether to enjoy and/or participate in porn. So this is an issue that will continue for a very long time."
– Jimmy (Wizzo) Foreman, Program Manager, Mayors Money

"Since we are based in the Netherlands, we don't suffer directly from U.S. government decisions, but we still make sure we comply as a great deal of our business comes from the U.S.A. I do believe that the industry can expect some new regulations in the next few years, simply because there is no way back with everything that has been started over the last few years. One thing that I am curious to see is if European regulations will be influenced much by the changes in the U.S."
– Maria Motzo, RevenueCash.com

"Times will never change as the adult industry has forever been under scrutiny. As long as there are right-wing religious fanatics that believe that porn was sent by the devil, our industry will be under a lot of pressure. However, if we can self-regulate the industry, the pressure will lessen in some areas."
– Mitch Farber, President, Netbilling

"Unfortunately I think we will always be subject to some governmental intervention. The level of governmental action will ebb and flow, but it will always be there. Because our business is not completely accepted by everyone, we are an easy target for politicians looking to further their career or to make headlines. Additionally, I don't see the Religious Right changing their views soon, and they will continue to pursue their fight in the political arena. This is why it is so important to vote your voice and support causes like the ASACP and the Free Speech Coalition."
– Vegas Ken, Director of Marketing TheBestPorn.com

"More laws and regulations have been put in place for many aspects of the online business: domain names, trademarks, copyrights and 2257. Before that, everybody had so much freedom! They could do whatever they thought would be lucrative, either they were well-intentioned or shady. New laws, I think, have cleaned the market from those shady businesses and limited all sorts of scams. In the long term, this should be positive and not put the industry in danger at all. It will give people confidence in surfing/joining porn sites and give everyone a more positive outlook on our industry.

We have to look at it this way: The laws and regulations will not put the industry in danger, they will limit certains players and will create new opportunities for others."
– Magalie Rheault Affiliate Manager, FameDollars

"I think at varying intervals our industry is always going to be subjected to government regulation and intervention. We've already seen it happen once and very strongly in recent history during the Reagan years. By comparison the Clinton administration was pornapolooza bliss for the biz. Conservative governments have been coming and thankfully going for as long as there have been governments and their fascination with and desire to interfere with sexuality and all things to do with sex has been insatiable. As it no doubt always will be."
– Brian Randall Founder, Pistol Media

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