Yowch! I just saw that Max Hardcore got 46 months in prison (insert pound-me-in-the-ass prison joke here). Looks to me like it was a real set up (show trials, a symptom of the growing fascism in America), and I have to wonder who’s next… Not that Max isn’t a scumbag that’s been taunting the feds for ages, but there’s certainly a lot of people producing analogous material, to say nothing of people producing more “extreme” material. I have to wonder as well why adult content is prosecuted but “torture porn” a la I Know Who Killed Me or the Saw series — true glorification of violence — is not.
Given America’s love for porn in general, the whole thing reeks of politics that pander to the borders of society. I have to wonder why the Christian right-wing nutcase fringe has so much political power…? I guess it’s that they’re vocal whereas people keep their porn fandom in the closet. Either way, I have to admit that I am very glad that I’m no longer in the adult content business (to say nothing of being glad to be in Canada… keeping my fingers crossed that Harper loses power of course).
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It bugs me as well that they go after Max, but not after the big cable companies and hotel chains for PPV features (which certainly included Max’s work) who profited from it… Go after the meth lab but not the meth dealers I guess?
My feeling is that the very fact that his stuff is mainstream enough to have a MAJOR market is proof that it meets community standards on some level, and that it’s not obscene.
I’m still at a loss as to how obscenity is a crime. Max (nor BME for that matter) ever walked into an elementary school and handed out ads. People would pretty much have to be looking for porn/intense body modification in order to even know the material existed. Who are they protecting? Call me paranoid, but it’s hard not to start to think that the government is trying to control who we are… =/
It doesn’t even really have anything to do with the government wanting you to be any way in my opinion… It’s simply the worst kind of political pandering — attacking the “enemies” of a vocal fringe group in order to stop them from saying anything negative about your party.
Perhaps I’m young and idealistic, but have we forgotten live and live? Or that my rights begin at my fist and end at your face for that matter? If I end up getting into politics I’d like to make the concept of legislating morality a funny memory.
I’m definitely of the opinion that if your actions aren’t doing anyone any harm, they shouldn’t be illegal, no matter how much the offend your neighbor’s morals.
I agree. Obsenity laws are complete bullshit. Freedom of speech has to include speech you disagree with, or it’s meaningless. No matter how repressive the regime, it’s always been legal to stand up and say that you support it.
Unfortunately, in the upcoming election, I can’t vote for who I want to. Instead, I’m voting for the person most likely to defeat the Conservative incumbent, to try and make sure Harper doesn’t get in again, or at the very least doesn’t wind up with a majority.
I work at an adult video store and we don’t carry (any of our 30+ locations) a lot of the movies that other stores around us carry for fear of being arrested for obscenity. While I don’t personally care for max and his movies I still don’t believe he should go to prison for them. The gov’t is also going after John Staggliano of the evil empire franchise for obscenity. He’s def. not the person you want to mess w/ and has plenty of money to fight his charges!
The following was anonymously posted:
“You’re either over-simplifying the issue, or you don’t understand the materials involved. These were videos that, among other things, had girls vomiting on each others’ faces. This is NOT the kind of thing you can find on PPV, and I’m hard pressed to think of anyone producing more extreme material. I don’t think he deserves to go to prison for it, but this is not like arresting someone for producing a vanilla sex tape. And although it’s extremely difficult to win a federal case, because the feds don’t get involved unless they feel they have an airtight case, they’re not the kangaroo courts you make them out to be. Seymore Butts got charged a few years back for distributing obscenity for selling a DVD with one fisting scene in it, and he won.”
You can certainly find that sort of thing on PPV in some areas… Maybe not in Georgia, but you can here, and I assume there are parts of the US where you can.
They chose specific jurisdictions to try these cases with unusually strong opinions on porn.
Sadly backdoor politics rule in this day and age. No matter what we the citizen think, its never up to us. The fat cats decide what is and is not acceptable. As for Harper being defeated. I think we are fightin a losing battle. This whole election is a big waste of money and we are going to be right back to square one with a minority government yet again. I have almost lost all hope in our political system. Christians vote based off of who is against gay marriage and abortion and not based on who has the best platform for our country. It makes me sick. How can one say our economy is fine, like Harper does? Blind leading the Blind.
I had to interview a lady yesterday about what kinds of things she wants to see in the newspaper. She ended up getting pretty heated about the state of politics right now. Because the older generation are the only ones who vote, that’s who the government is pandering to. Not that it really matters, because a lot of them just keep voting for the same person they’ve been voting for because they don’t know much better. Thus the conservatives being in power for nearly 40 years in Alberta. How much have you heard about each party’s stand on the war in Afganistan. Or childcare programs. I’m happy that I have more parties to vote for here, even if they don’t get in. Democrats and Republicans are pretty similar, beliefs-wise. Stupid Harper, and stupid country for not caring about elections.
Many people don’t see the danger in obscenity charges. While the majority of the US populace can look at this case and say “well, of course! I certainly don’t want to see girls dressed up as pre-pubescents being dominated in extreme sex acts,” they fail to see how this is a precedent that could affect the way *they* live and love.
The company i work for prints porn dvd covers of some Toronto tourture porn company but then they want us to turn the lables inward so that people who come in the shop dont see it. So its ok to make profits off the tourture porn company, you know just as long as no one knows about it.
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