According to ASACP Executive Director Joan Irvine, the label will not only help parents shield their children from objectionable material, it will help the industry demonstrate its commitment to preventing children from viewing adult content. Taking the lead on labeling is an important tactic for the adult industry in light of the current politic situation, Irvine said.
“There are now at least three bills in Congress that attempt to make labeling mandatory,” Irvine said. “We have to move ahead now, since there will be a lot of work involved. ASACP will need to work with companies that provide filtering software, search engines and browsers to make sure that a standard label from the adult industry is recognized.”
While ASACP has recently activated an “Online Town Hall” to open the topic up to discussion among members of the adult entertainment community, Irvine cited the changing political climate as the reason behind ASACP’s decision to accelerate its timetable.
Given the changing political climate and ASACP’s efforts to bridge the gap between the government and the adult entertainment industry, Irvine believes that the nonprofit is well situated to achieve the twin goals of protecting children and providing government agencies with guidance on how best to attack illegal content in a way that does not interfere with legitimate adult online businesses.
“The increasing credibility ASACP has gained with government and mainstream companies, thanks to its child protection efforts on behalf of the adult entertainment industry, would carry over to an ASACP label as well,” Irvine said. “Plus, adult companies may be quicker to adopt the ASACP label, since it comes from an organization known to be supported by and friendly to the adult industry.”