Watersports

[danny26]

Hi there,
Can someone please tell me in which states if any, is it legal to have watersports (piss) content on the server, as I live outside the US but am hosted in the US.

[danny26]

It may be easier to answer this way is watersports content allowed on servers in california?

[Lee]

I beleive BDBionic knows a couple of companies that have watersports type content so you may wanna hang around for about an hour or so until he sees this thread, im sure he will be more than happy to help you if he can find the info for you

Regards,

Lee

[BDBionic]

I'd suggest, Danny, to always consult with a lawyer for stuff like that and how the law applies to your particular site and specific situation.

But on the whole would offer up California and New York as being the only states here in the US in which someone would want to host the stuff.

US laws concerning what is wrongly obscene and what can be allowed depends on the definition of obscenity within ones own particular community. So obviously a place like San Francisco would have a different take on watersports than a place like Bumbleweed, Alabama. Know what I mean?

And that's really what it comes down to... community standards. Explicitly, California and New York have no prohibition of watersports and companies like Penthouse (operatng out of NY) and Flynt Publications (operating out of CA) consistently and regularly produce and distribute watersports content.

So again, US laws on obscenity are just vague at best. So the factors you'd have to consider would be community standards and the TOS of hosting companies, billing companies, etc.

What's kinda used as the default list of no-go US states when it comes to stuff like this is:
ALABAMA
FLORIDA
KENTUCKY
MINNESOTA
MONTANA
NEBRASKA
NEW YORK
NORTH CAROLINA
OHIO
OKLAHOMA
TENNESSEE
UTAH
VIRGINIA

because legal precedent in those states has made it unwise to release that kinda stuff there.

Again, though, it'd really be best to check things out with a lawyer because every individual site and company's situation is different and unique.

[danny26]

Thanks for that comprehensive info. One more question if you have the time. I am just about to turn myself into a Spanish company (sounds a bit weird that). I currently have legal representatives in Spain. I´m english by the way living in Spain for a few years now and have spanish residency. My question is, although I will be producing my sites under my spanish company name do I still need legal representation in the US. I know the Internet and its laws are all a bit up in the air, but I want to make sure that I am all above board in everything I do as there are a few back stabbers out there.
At the same time I don´t want to be wasting money in having laywers doing the same job in 2 different countries. Does the US govern the internet? As I mentioned earlier I have a dedicated server in the US as your technology is streets ahead than over here.

If I do need to be represented by a US laywer is their any law firms you suggest who could help me? I´d like Ally McBeals but somehow I don´t think that ones real.

Regards
Danny

[studpuppy]

Yes there is a long history of the "community standard" in the United States. But I am wondering how long this "standard" or in reality lack of a specific description of what constitutes porn and other lewd conduct will now able to enforced in the civil courts. This is due to the recent (just this month) U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning COPA. While the actual law suit did not deal with porn as we in the industry are dealing with, the U.S. Attorney General in his regulations and answers to the Supreme Court consistently tried to apply the "community standards" rule to the definition of what is or is not porno or questionable activity within the scope of COPA. This ruling now sets a precedent which can be applied to all aspects of porn and other activities which are against the "community standards."

[danny26]

I understand a tiny tiny bit of American law, from what I´ve seen on Ally McBeal! How true is that series obviously some of the suits are a bit weird and wacky but is it true to life? I´m mad about the series just wondering how it stands up in the US?

I think what maybe needed on the Internet is for some to take the 'bull by the horns' and set the standards and introduce laws to make sure the standards are complied with. To me living outside the US, it all seems abit wishy washy, but hats off to you at least you have some laws out there, even if they are a bit wishy washy in themselves.

The whole precedence thing is what I think is actually causing all this not knowing. Precendents have been set over centurys. The Internet on a legal scale its bigger than the eu as its world wide, and the EU is still building its standards and laws and some have been quite messy up till now.

I know in England that a lot of the obsenity laws concern those in public places. I would never dream of doing anything which I do in bed out on the streets. Yet saying that if I take pictures/movies of myself and place them on an adults only members site is this obscene?

Theres just toooooo many questions and not enough answers, maybe if I lived in a state in America and had my server in that state I would know exactly what I can and can´t do.