“The guide will talk about the whole process of submission,” FSC Executive Director Diane Duke told XBIZ. “They can communicate their points to us and we’ll formulate that into a document that's ready for submission and send it back with instructions on how to submit. We’ll be putting together a FSC document that is extremely detailed and complex, and people can sign on to that. And if people would like to submit a comment on their own, it gives full information on how to do that.”
Duke said the guide will list “items that people will want to consider communicating — the financial aspect as well as the practicality.”
“They are saying that the burden to the industry is negligible, and we know better,” Duke said. “We’re encouraging everybody to let them know that this is not the case. Especially for small businesses, having to staff a place of business 20 hours a week when you do this on off-hours is devastating for some of these producers.”
Duke said that in addition to the comment guide, the FSC will post an FAQ to address some of the most commonly asked questions that their legal team has received since the new proposed regulations were published to the federal register earlier this month.
“One of the most common questions is ‘What should I be doing in the meantime?’ between now and when the final regulations are published,” Duke said. “The FAQ will address that question.”
Duke emphasized that the new regulations are merely proposed regulations which “do not have the force of law behind them yet.”
Should the government simply ignore the comments and make no alterations to the proposed regulations, Duke said that having the comments on the record would still “give us incredible ammunition should there be litigation challenging these regulations.”
Duke said the FSC plans to seek a court order preventing implementation of the proposed “final” regulations unless they are radically changed in ways more favorable to the adult entertainment industry. This court order would be sought after the regulations are announced, but prior to the effective date.
The 2257 Guide for Public Comment and FAQ document will be posted on FSC’s website at FreeSpeechCoalition.com by July 30. They will also be included in the next X-Press e-newsletter, which is sent to FSC members.
The Justice Department will be accepting public comment through Sept. 10. Written comments may be submitted to:
Andrew Oosterbaan, Chief, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division, United States Department of Justice Washington, DC 20530; Attn: “Docket No. CRM 104”
Comments can be submitted electronically to: admin.ceos@usdoj.gov or to www.regulations.gov by using the electronic comment form provided on that site. Comments submitted electronically must include “Docket No. CRM 104” in the subject line.
Comments can also be faxed to (202) 514–1793. Comments submitted by fax must include “Docket No. CRM 104” on the cover sheet.
