In addition to My2257, Ytracker and 2257-Compliance, which are local or server-based subscription databases, affiliate programs like Braincash, Ghostcash and others are advertising their 2257 compliance methods to attract webmasters.
“We were aware of what might be coming when the [new] regulations were proposed,” Braincash Traffic Manager Patrice Gauthier told XBiz, “then, half of our development team and all of our marketing team spent hundreds of hours building a secure system that would protect models’ privacy and give webmasters access to [model] information.”
Gauthier said the Montreal-based company, which also manages AdultContent.ca, has always retained 2257 information for its models anyway. The system Braincash has built for webmasters is an extension of its existing database. Webmasters log in to the webmaster area on Braincash and, after providing personal identification information of their own, can download watermarked copies of models’ identification.
The company needed to consult with Canadian and American lawyers before going ahead with the compliance feature, because there was a chance that adhering to United States' 2257 law would infringe on Canada’s privacy laws.
“It was a very fine line,” Gauthier said.
The amended regulations are, at the very least, spurring companies to educate their customers. Affiliate program Ghostcash offers a thumbnail description of webmaster responsibilities on its site, stressing that, as secondary producers of content, webmasters buying material from Ghostcash are also required to have 2257 information in their possession.
“We don’t want to visit our affiliates in prison,” a Ghostcash spokesperson said when announcing the company’s own 2257 information access tool.
Webmaster board JustBlowMe recently announced its own 2257 forum, rating content providers’ adherence to the regulations as well as legal info. Other topics on the updated site include whether companies can charge for 2257 data.