Thursday, June 23, 2005

Canada's porn performers concerned about personal information going to the United States

This is perhaps a privacy issue that not everyone has to deal with, but it is near and dear to the hearts of Canadian porn performers and members of this country's "adult entertainment" industry. New regulations are going into effect today in the United States that require, among other things, that perveyors of sexually explicit content online keep records related to the identity and age of all performers. According to a Vancouver lawyer who has written to the Canadian and BC Privacy Commissioners, this will mean that all Canadians whose content will be distributed via the United States will be required to provide detailed personal information to the custodian of records for each site in the United States, all of which is there for inspection by federal agents.

The relevant law is 18 USC s. 2257. You can read it here, as I suggest that you not just Google "18 USC 2257", particularly from a workplace computer.

The Ottawa Citizen has a report on the issue and the position taken by some in the Canadian porn industry: Canadian porn performers want protection from U.S. law: Critics say industry's enemies, after failing to ban it, are trying to regulate it to death.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

But really, is it mandatory for all strictly Canadian based adult sites need this law on the front page. I have no American models on my site and I run it from Canada. If I do need it on my site, I will add it, but it seems pointless at this time, as I keep records of two pieces of ID of each model on my site.