The article, titled "Untangling Child Pornography From the Adult Entertainment Industry: An Inside Look At The Industry's Efforts To Protect Minors," was written by Robert D. Richards, professor of journalism and law, and Clay Calvert, John and Ann Curley professor of first amendment studies. Both authors are professors from the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment at The Pennsylvania State University.
"It is gratifying to finally see an article in a professional legal journal that is based on research by professors at Penn State University which substantiates what ASACP and the industry has been stating for years: the adult entertainment industry is not involved in child pornography and does not want children to view their content," ASACP CEO Joan Irvine said. "We plan to share this research with legislators in both Sacramento and Washington D.C. in hope that they will base future legislation on the reality that over 90 percent of the commercial child pornography is produced and distributed by organized crime in the Eastern Europe Bloc countries, not by the professional adult industry."
The 54-page article looks at the problem of child pornography and the efforts of the U.S. adult entertainment industry to keep children safe, featuring an in-person interview conducted with Irvine in July 2007.
In the interview, Irvine tells of the founding of ASACP in 1986 by XBIZ President Alec Helmy and discusses the difficulty the adult industry faces both in stopping politicians from linking mainstream adult entertainment to child pornography and in changing public perception about this mistaken belief.
Calvert and Richards also interviewed several adult industry insiders including Tom Hymes of XBIZ and attorneys Gregory Piccionelli and Clyde DeWitt.
"There are so many misconceptions and erroneous assumptions about the adult entertainment industry, and this article, we believe, helps to correct some important ones," Calvert said. "In particular, the article makes it clear that the industry, with the important lead of ASACP, does not promote or otherwise have anything to do with the creation or distribution of child pornography. Indeed, the adult industry in southern California actively works against it.
Co-author Richards agreed.
"The article breaks new ground by demonstrating the vigorous efforts of the adult industry to keep minors away from adult content," Richards said. "The industry is so often unfairly criticized by academics who, by and large, are probably unaware of the RTA label and the good work of the ASACP. We hope the professors and academics who constantly blast the adult entertainment industry may now see things in a different light after reading this article."
The California Western Law Review is affiliated with the California Western School of Law, an independent law school located in San Diego that has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1962.
The article is available now online in both the LexisNexis and Westlaw legal subscription databases, as well as in hard copy form at law libraries and law school libraries that subscribe to the California Western Law Review.
Founded in 1996, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet. ASACP battles child pornography through its CP reporting hotline, and by organizing the efforts of the online adult industry to combat the crime of child sexual abuse. ASACP also works to help parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate material online. For more information, go to ASACP.org and RTALabel.org.
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