Duck and Cover: Guidelines for Making your Website less Obscene
 Part 2 of 5
 By Sensuous Sadie
SensuousSadie@aol.com 
www.sensuoussadie.com 

The full series includes:

 

In September of 2005, the FBI formed an anti-obscenity task force to crack down on pornography. Any website that has content containing "sadistic and masochistic behavior" can be shut down. Not only can the FBI shut down your website, but they can initiate a criminal prosecution for obscenity, which is a felony and is punishable by jail time. It is this criminal charge that is the most challenging problem for any website owner, because once you are charged by the FBI with the federal offence of obscenity, you are pretty much screwed because the legal costs of defending yourself create an untenable situation. While the first amendment protects free speech, it does not include all speech, such as, for example, yelling "fire" in a crowded auditorium.

This article is not legal advice and should not be taken as such. The guidelines are a compilation of recommendations from many sources and are no guarantee that any particular website is safe from prosecution.





When the people get lost they start building a cross.
~ From the song Crazy John, by Tom Paxton.
(This song is about John Lennon and was written at the time when Lennon was campaigning for peace.)




This article is for BDSM website owners who want to make an informed choice about how to manage the content of their website. What you want to consider here is your ability to manage risk. For example, if you are married, have children, and work in a sensitive job, then you might consider yourself a low risk taker and so take the route of least risk and remove your website completely. If you are like me and have something to risk (as most people do), but also feel strongly about holding tight to our right to free speech, then you may want to modify your website instead.


Website owners have three choices:

1. Do nothing and take their chances.

2. Modify their websites to make it less likely they will be targeted. This is the area that this article will explore in more detail

3. Remove their websites completely.


Doing Nothing
Consider Pittsburgh's Red Rose Stories (http://www.red-rose-stories.com/), a website which featured online erotic stories and was recently targeted. A statement on the homepage posted on October 3, 2005 states in part, "I am sorry to inform all interested parties that Red Rose Stories is a DEAD site. The FBI has succeeded in closing me down. I am being charged with 'OBSCENITIES' and face charges for having posted fantasy stories. The men in black (FBI) took ALL of my computer equipment, and many of my diskettes, and have access to ALL my files and site information. They came when I was NOT home and seized my belongings, I had no choice, and no recourse. Chat WILL remain, as will some parts of the forum. However, please do not post anything of a sexual, or political nature in the forum."


Modifying Your Website
One well-known website http://www.suicidegirls.com recently released a statement that, "Given the U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' new war on porn task force and it's intent to bring obscenity charges against their loosely defined 'Deviant' imagery, we have removed any images with fake blood and any images we felt could be wrongfully construed as sadist or masochist."

One website host, who prefers to remain anonymous took a similar approach: "I am speechless about this whole turn of events. Because of these concerns, I am not taking on any other kink-related websites and I'm in the process of removing all alternative fiction and non-fiction from my own websites. Fortunately, the bulk of my business is vanilla websites and sadly other than that, I will only be able to host BDSM Club sites with small content splash pages with a members area for more information."

National activist and photographer Barbara Nitke agrees, "If everyone bows down, then they win," she says. "What's important is to find ways to keep our websites up and not to sanitize them so much that they have lost everything that makes them what they are." I agree with Barbara. I advocate the "duck and cover" approach because I recognize that this conservative political situation will pass, and I want to still be standing when it's all over. So I plan to sanitize away so that my website flies under any porno detector the FBI cares to run over my pages. That means that these guidelines are the most conservative that I was able to put together based on the advice of many. Of course, your mileage may vary.


Removing Your Website
GrandPa DeSade recently announced that he was removing his websites. In a press release he said, "With a heavy heart, we make the following announcement. Our three sites, http://www.houseofdesade.org, http://www.grandpadesade.com, and http://www.realbdsm.com are all going away. The current politics makes it too risky. The FBI is setting up a special task force to find and prosecute what they see as porn sites. One of the criteria for porn prosecution is if the site promotes or features S&M. If convicted they can confiscate anything involved and throw the owners in jail. Even if not convicted, or the conviction overturned, the process would financially break us."

Another scene personality who has taken down her website is well-known speaker and educator Midori, who cited the same concerns in taking down her website http://www.beautybound.com. Midori and the Beauty Bound team state on their homepage, "Thank you for all the years of supporting Beauty Bound and our efforts at creating gorgeous images. Unfortunately the current political climate with the Communication Decency Act and the increased demands of the record keeping requirements, it has become nearly impossible for many artists to publish beautiful erotic work. We've decided that it's time to close this site. Not happy? We're not either. We encourage you to think about, talk about and have your voice be heard through votes and individual activism."



General Website Recommendations for Modifying your Website
1. Include a "splash" page which forces visitors to accept the following statement before being allowed into the website:

"By entering this site, you are certifying that you are over 18 years of age and are not offended by descriptions and photographs of alternate sexuality. All models on this site were at least eighteen (18) years old when they were photographed."

2. Use a password for your website if it is at all possible. This will help prevent persons under 21 from looking at your content.

3. Utilize less explicit photographs on your homepage.

4. Choose a kink-friendly website host who will protect your privacy. Some options are listed at the end of this article.

5. Be a non-commercial website if at all possible. That means don't charge visitors to visit the website, and don't sell anything.

6. Avoid any of the following written content or photography:
Subjects that are, or appear under 21 years old
Genitals, especially vaginas and penises.
Women in extreme or violent situations.
Interracial gay sex
Fisting
Incest
Bestiality (animals)
Blood or blood play
Gender situations (transgender etc.)
Knives, swords, guns or other weapons
Toilet play such as urination or defecation
Activities that appear to be nonconsensual – such as fantasy rape scenes, choking, or violence of any sort
Drugs
Anything illegal

*in other words, pretend you are an evangelical from the bible belt.



Photography Recommendations
Mistress Heart, a model and professional Dominant in the San Francisco area comments on her changes to her own website: "I have taken down my photo gallery and only put up images that all participants have clothes on. You will not find any hard dicks, open legs, or female nipples. We're aiming for a sense of intimacy and high fetish photography like that of the fashion photographer Helmut Newton."

Every page of your website that includes photographs of a sexual or BDSM nature should include the following statement of compliance:

In compliance with the Federal Labeling and Record-Keeping Law (also known as 18 U.S.C. 2257), all models, actors, actresses and other persons that appear in any visual depiction of actual sexual conduct appearing or otherwise contained in or at YOUR WEBSITE NAME are over the age of eighteen years. With regard to the depictions of sexually suggestive conduct/sexual images or otherwise contained in or at YOUR WEBSITE NAME, the records required pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2257 and C.F.R. 75 are available upon request from each individual photographer. All content and images are in full compliance with the requirements of 18 U.S.C. 2257 and associated regulations.




Your Filing System
In addition to the above statement on your website you will need one of the following two things for any art or photography on your website:

1. Copies of the drivers license of the models in your photographs proving that they are 18 years old or over

2. A statement that when you took the photographs or did the artwork, that the models were posing and that no sex occurred. A form with the specific language for this is linked to below.


Plan in Advance for Your Own Legal Protection
In addition to sanitizing your website as much as possible, and having all documentation available, it's a good idea to have contacts made in advance just in case a situation arises. For example, you will want to educate yourself on the ongoing situation around these issues by subscribing to the news releases that the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom provides for free by e-mail. You may also want to contact the Free Speech Coalition or the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to see what your options will be should your website be targeted.
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Sensuous Sadie is the author of It's Not About the Whip: Love, Sex, and Spirituality in the BDSM Scene. Read an excerpt at http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-0551.html. She is the founder and leader (1999 - 2001) of Rose & Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM group. Comments, compliments and complaints, as well as requests for reprinting can be addressed to her at SensuousSadie@aol.com or visit her website at www.sensuoussadie.com. Sadie believes the universe is abundant, and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance, so she allows reprints of her writing in most venues.

Copyright 2005 Sadie Sez Publications