Possible 2257 violator that worked as Tampa exec director of the expressway system
Porn Sites Might Not Comply With Law
By JOHN W. ALLMAN and LINDSAY PETERSON The Tampa Tribune
http://news.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBYDDYJDUE.html
Published: Nov 11, 2006
TAMPA - A gay pornographic video company in San Diego owned by Ralph Mervine may be in violation of a federal law specifying how and where an adult business keeps records documenting the age of its performers.
Mervine, 55, resigned Wednesday from his $208,000 job as executive director of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. He quit shortly after being confronted by Tampa Tribune reporters about his affiliation with Coast Productions.
Documents on file in San Diego County list Mervine as the sole owner of Coast Productions.
The company is affiliated with at least two Web sites, coastguys .com and coastproductions.com, that sell DVDs produced by Coast Productions or offer monthly memberships to view photos and video clips. Both sites cater to customers who are seeking young men ages 18 to 21, called "twinks," who the Web sites say have never been on film before.
The federal rule requires Web sites carrying sexually explicit videos or photographs to keep records of the performers' names and dates of birth.
The home pages of Coast's Web sites include links to a statement about the record-keeping rule, known in the industry as Section 2257.
The link lists "D. Stone" at 3841 Fourth Ave., Suite 243, San Diego, as the custodian of records. That address also is listed on the Coast Production business documents filed with San Diego County.
But that address is a mailbox at Hillcrest Postal Services, for which Coast pays $180 a year, Hillcrest owner John Nettles said.
"That could be a problem," said Lawrence G. Walters, an Altamonte Springs lawyer who represents the owners of several adult Web sites.
The address must be a real place, Walters said. "The government wants to know where to go to look at these records." They want to be able to see performers' pictures, legal names, stage names and dates of birth.
"You can't have a P.O. Box," said Paul Cambria, a criminal defense lawyer in Beverly Hills, Calif., and a leading expert on Section 2257. His clients include Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt and the Adult Video News.
A postal box "totally frustrates the whole system because there's no place to go," Cambria said. "The whole idea is to be able to actually look at records. You can't do that if you walk up to a P.O. Box."
"Without a doubt," a company would be in violation, Cambria said, if they listed a postal box as the address where records are kept.
Mervine could not be reached for comment Friday.
FBI Has Inspected Some Businesses
Written several years ago, the law recently was amended to more clearly address record-keeping requirements for Web-based content.
Noncompliance with the law is a felony offense and can result in a five-year prison term.
An adult-entertainment industry group, the Free Speech Coalition, has filed a federal lawsuit to have parts of the law's record-keeping provisions thrown out, saying they violate the First Amendment.
Despite the challenge, the FBI recently started inspecting adult businesses to determine compliance with the law, Cambria said.
The law also is specific about naming a person to maintain the records.
"You have to have a real person as the custodian," Cambria said. "They have to be readily identifiable."
Tribune reporters have been unable to locate the person listed as the Coast contact, "D. Stone." The site does not provide a phone number. There are more than 15 listings in the San Diego area that match that first initial and last name.
The law also states the records must be accessible at least 20 hours a week.
Walters said Coast might also be in violation of the law by using someone other than the owner as a records custodian.
"The way the law reads, the producer of the material needs to maintain the records," he said. If the company is incorporated, it could name a custodian. If it's run by an individual, "then the sole proprietor is responsible for maintaining the records. It's unclear whether he would be able to designate another person."
Coast is not incorporated. Its business records filed with the San Diego County recorder list only Mervine as the owner.
Coast's Web site says it has been making DVDs since 1996. Softec Internet Services, a company in Cocoa, in Brevard County, provided it with technical support for several years, company owner Ferrell Ard said.
Ard said Mervine provided content to Softec and was the company's contact.
About a month ago, Ard said, he received an e-mail from Mervine saying Coast Productions was moving to a new Internet service provider. Ard said the e-mail wasn't from Mervine's expressway authority address.
Ard said the e-mail was short. "I really don't even know the person. We just put the content on the server and provided it to the world."
Company Address Changed In 2004
Mervine filed for a fictitious name for Coast Productions in 1999. He renewed the name in 2003 and 2004. The 2004 renewal included amending the company's address to his home address in Mulberry, in Polk County. That address change would not affect the records requirement because the custodian's address still is San Diego.
Coastproductions.com has been inactive since Wednesday night. Coastguys.com remained active as of Friday. The compliance statement, however, is no longer viewable because it is linked to the Web site that is no longer in service.
The law exists to protect companies such as Mervine's because it requires proof of a performer's age, plus other pertinent identifying information such as aliases, nicknames or professional names used by individual performers.
"If you're dealing with younger people, you have a greater chance of someone being underage than you do if someone is 40," Cambria said. "You have to be vigilant."
Activist Wants To Raise Age Requirement
William Margold, an adult film star and activist for the industry, said he has pushed to raise the age for first-time performers in adult films to 21.
Margold said he thinks a company that promotes youthful content has a responsibility to be more diligent.
"They should be even more on top of their game," he said. "If they have bragged about that, they better live up to that."
Coast Productions purports to have the youngest performers possible. One DVD description states that the actor is on camera a day after his 18th birthday.
"Coast Productions has the hottest, sexiest young twink models from the age of 18 to 21 that are currently available," one Web site states.
Federal penalties are severe for individuals who do not comply with the record requirements. That includes anyone who produces, manufactures or publishes adult material.
"Whoever violates this section shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years," the code states, "and fined in accordance with the provisions of this title, or both."
There has been one prosecution.
In September, the California producer of "Girls Gone Wild" videos pleaded guilty to failing to keep age records and to not labeling the DVDs as being in compliance with the law.
Joseph Francis and his two companies agreed to pay the government $2.1 million.
Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at jallman@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7915
