“We applaud and support AdultFriendFinder’s recognition that the Free Speech Coalition is the only organization actively fighting this provision,” National’s director of business development James Seibert said.
Seibert told XBIZ that in altering the law to make it clear that the record-keeping requirements under 2257 apply to so-called secondary producers, the government has gone too far.
“Saying that we have to have these records [as a purely secondary producer] is no different from telling every movie theater in the country they have to keep the same sort of records that Hollywood studios do,” Seibert said. “We’re really just a distributor.”
FSC Executive Director Diane Duke told XBIZ that the matching fund donation from HotMovies is just the latest example of the company’s strong support for the FSC.
“HotMovies has been wonderfully supportive of the FSC,” Duke said. “Earlier this year, they held a fundraiser that generated $18,000, so that’s almost $30,000 in a matter of a just a few months.”
Duke added that while the donation is obviously great for the FSC, “I hope people recognize how this kind of support benefits the whole industry.”
Seibert urged all members of the adult industry to follow suit, and show support for the FSC with contributions of their own.
“I’d love to see more people stepping up and getting involved,” Seibert said. “The FSC is the only one taking up this fight for us, and they need the industry’s help. For those who think this can wait or that they can depend on others to fight this battle for them, they will soon discover tomorrow is too late for everyone.”
Given the changes made to 2257 under the Adam Walsh Act last year, Seibert said he’s surprised by the lack of support from the mainstream entertainment industry for the effort to fight the new provisions in court.
“I’d expect to see mainstream support us more,” Seibert said. “But they are not showing that support, so far.”