Quote:
Originally posted by Almighty Colin@Mar 18 2005, 07:18 AM
The worse thing about the "community standards" rule is that no one knows what the hell the community standard is. I don't think a nation of laws should have such an arbitrary definition. Tell me if I'm breaking the law or not so I know if I want to live here.
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I actually think the Rob Black precedent is going to have a greater impact on defining a legal standard of what is or is not obscene and will ultimately have a greater impact on the industry than even Flynt's case, which was not about porn so much as it was about the freedom to make fun of people as a form of social commentary.
The DOJ has been after Eddie W. for years. He is an outlaw to some and a hero to others. I think the porn part is firing from the hip and a distraction for the real goal which is to get him on tax fraud.
I think even in Memphis they will have a hard time proving the material is actually obscene. However, the Christian Right that helped Bush get to the White House need to be appeased since tackling obscenity was waved as a flag of war. Every attack has resulted in disaster though so far.
I am not saying we are out of the jungle here but I was around when Meese and Keating were trying to bring down the industry too. Back then, FBI would set up shop in places like Tennessee, order some tapes from studios in California, bring them to a judge that would conveniently find them obscene, then go bust the poor bloke in Cali for transporting obscenity across state lines.
As I understand it in layman's terms, the Rob Black case challenges that substantially because it says that if a person can choose to watch consensual adult material in the privacy of their home then it must be legal to produce it.
In any event, this is one to watch.