Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know
Operators of US-based porn web sites are said to be concerned about the inauguration of President George W. Bush because he is expected to enforce existing US obscenity laws that could put many of them out of business.
Over the past eight years, the Clinton administration turned a blind eye to on-line pornography. Anti-porn advocates described the inaction by Clinton’s Attorney General, Janet Reno, as a “green light” to porn sites to “get more graphic and explicit.”
The Department of Justice is now reported to have $5 million set aside specifically to enforce obscenity laws.
In addition to State-specific laws, the US federal government has a three-part test in determining obscenity:
- Is the material offensive when applied to contemporary community standards?
- Does the material break state statutes? and
- Does the material have any literary, artistic, political or scientific value?
Commentators suggest that the strict application of these criteria would find countless sites in breach.