As the executive director of the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP), one of my principal duties is to raise awareness of the association’s mission to keep children out of and away from adult entertainment. Another facet of my position is to help counter some of the misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding the depiction of underage performers in adult oriented materials.
This outreach takes place through various media and includes my personal interaction with stakeholders at industry and governmental events — providing an irreplaceable but resource-intensive platform for networking and the exchange of information. The benefits of this activism are tangible and revealing, however, providing a worthwhile return on ASACP’s substantial investment in travel and event attendance.
Increased awareness of the situation by pan-European companies and other marketers has led to more emphasis on productions involving older teen models, even in locations where younger models may be legally employed.
One of the areas in which ASACP’s global outreach is paying off is in helping shape, and to better understand, the world’s differing views on the acceptability and definition of “underage” content.
Despite some occasional cultural differences between the world’s societies over what constitutes the legal age of consent for such depictions, the message that children have no place in adult entertainment is being embraced by growing numbers of companies around the globe, due in part to the efforts of ASACP.
For example, several Eastern European countries have long been cited as notoriously prolific sources of illegal CP; while other nations on the continent allowed legal content production featuring performers as young as 16 years of age — complicating the situation for online adult companies working in an “18 plus” world.
Increased awareness of the situation by pan-European companies and other marketers has led to more emphasis on productions involving older teen models, even in locations where younger models may be legally employed. Document checking is also much more common now, regardless of where production is taking place; as foreign companies make a good faith effort to comply with the 18 U.S.C. 2257 age-verification and recordkeeping law.
After attending events in Europe to participate in some of the adult industry’s fall show schedule, I wanted to share with you a little bit about the events, and how they help support ASACP.
XBIZ generously continued its longtime support of ASACP and offered free admission and hotel accommodations to the association at its highly successful XBIZ EU event in London — along with flyers in the event’s gift bags, a show guide ad, and a table at the Mix & Meet event that allowed us to distribute ASACP literature. XBIZ EU offered the association an excellent opportunity to meet with a wide range of European business leaders and adult entertainment entrepreneurs. The event was also a great venue for spreading information about ASACP services such as the Restricted To Adults (RTA) website meta-label, which works hand-in-hand with parental filtering technologies to prevent children’s access to age-inappropriate content — a vital consideration for businesses coping with the EU’s evolving Internet laws.
ASACP also attended Webmaster Access Amsterdam. A popular gathering for the adult entertainment industry, Webmaster Access Amsterdam featured networking, seminars, parties and more; including the annual GFY Party and Awards ceremony. Thanks to the generosity of its promoters who graciously provided the association with flyers in the show’s attendee gift bags, an ad in its show guide, and a complimentary hotel room; serving as an outstanding example of how companies can help ASACP further its mission.
The third stop on this EU tour was the European Summit, held in Prague, which is known as Europe’s leading B2B conference for the online entertainment industries. The Summit’s backers waived the registration fee for ASACP to attend, and assisted with hotel accommodations. The event’s promoters also provided ASACP with flyers in the show’s gift bags, an advertisement in the show guide, and an information table to help spread awareness of its mission to a diverse, global audience made up of Eastern and Western Europeans, along with Americans, Canadians and other entrepreneurs from around the world.
These extremely generous corporate donations enabled the association to leverage its limited financial resources, so that a larger percentage of revenues may be spent on its mission. ASACP’s business is as much about protecting your business as it is about protecting children. Supported by sponsor and membership fees as well as by donations to its Foundation, ASACP is at the forefront of online child-protection on behalf of the online adult entertainment industry. I want to thank all those that have and continue to support us even in a challenging economic climate.
For more information on how you can help, please visit the ASACP website (www.asacp.org) or email tim@asacp.org — and thank you for your continued support!
