pantyhose fun
Really Really Experienced
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2005
- Posts
- 394
It seems there are still more crack-downs on porn, and especially the written word. Don't these dick-wads have anything better to do with their lives?? How long before Literotica.com is shut down?
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Two Raids, One Local, One Federal, Put a Chill in the Air and a Webmaster in Jail
Cyberspace – The owners of two websites were raided last week in unconnected obscenity investigations that have nonetheless combined to create a level of increased concern within the industry, and a definite chilling effect. One of the raids resulted in an arrest and charges filed, the other in seized equipment and files but no charges as yet.
Neither case is run-of-the-mill. One is unique in that the website, red-rose-stories.com, which is no longer live, contained no visual content but only text and audio files, and the other, nowthatsfuckedup.com, is a situation in which local law enforcement may have targeted the site on behalf of the federal government, bringing obscenity charges relating to content that would probably not otherwise have attracted such attention. The owners of both sites also share the same attorney, Larry Walters of Weston, Garrou, DeWitt and Walters.
On October 7, Chris Wilson, a 27-year-old former policeman from Lakeland, Florida was arrested by Polk County Computer Crimes detectives and charged with one count of wholesale distribution of obscene material and 300 misdemeanor counts related to 20 online films and 80 photographs found on his community-oriented website, which locates its servers overseas and is still up and running despite the raid. The website describes itself as “an Amateur community for wife and girlfriend pictures,” and contains sexually explicit photos that are posted to forums on the site by registered members, presumably and contractually non-professionals, for viewing by other registered members only. Bail was set at $101,000.
But there is a twist. Perhaps not so coincidently, nowthatsfuckedup.com has also been a national news story over the past few weeks after the news broke that U.S. soldiers had been given free memberships to website members’ forums in exchange for graphic photos posted to the site of war dead from Iraq and Afghanistan, and also of nude female U.S. soldiers in Iraq. An investigation was launched by the Pentagon, but was shelved after the Army Criminal Investigation Command concluded that no felonies had been committed, and that they could not determine whether U.S. soldiers had in fact posted the problem photos to the site.
A week later, Wilson was arrested by Polk County law enforcement, which has since claimed that the raid had nothing to do with the site’s previous notoriety, or with its run in with the Army. However, an October 7 Polk Sheriff’s Office press release states that warrants were also served for customer lists, and contains the following quote by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, “The investigation into this matter is ongoing, and we will share any pertinent information with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division. In my 33 years of law enforcement experience, this is one of the most horrific examples of filthy, obscene materials we have ever seized.”
Grady has declined to provide specifics as to the exact nature of the photos and videos he is referring to as 'filthy" and "obscene," and no content has yet been identified as triggering the criminal complaint, but according to Wilson’s attorney, Larry Walters, “There is nothing different or more extreme about this particular Web site.”
The timing of the raid also appears anything but a coincidence. In fact, Walters was so concerned about it that he told a local Florida television station, "Of all the hundreds of thousands of webmasters in the country, and even in central Florida, why would Chris Wilson be arrested a week after he hits national spotlight news on the Iraqi war photos? I think any reasonable person would be suspicious of that.”
Indeed. Besides raising the ominous specter of local police being used to exact political revenge on behalf of the military branches of the federal government, this case is important because it illuminates the power of local authorities to disrupt people’s lives and even deprive them of their freedom, on manifestly arbitrary grounds, when the issue of community standards simply does not apply!
Despite the fact that Wilson does not create the photos and videos available on his website, but merely provides a “place” on the Internet where consenting adults may do so and where they may interact, he was arrested on the eve of a holiday weekend and charged with hundreds of individual violations - each of which requires its own bond and individual minimums – resulting in a situation in which no bail bondsman could or would get him released by the weekend from jail, where he still sits, unable to raise bail. (Update: Chris Wilson was released on bail late Tuesday evening.) It is doubly ironic of course that the government might use obscenity law to prevent political speech (photos of war dead), and if true, would certainly reveal the selective regard this administration has consistently shown for the First Amendment to the Constitution.
A website – www.freechris.org - has been set up where information is available about the case, and where people can go to contribute money to a legal defense fund established to help fight the charges.
The Red Rose Stories case is potentially as disturbing as Wilson’s, but the facts are less clear at this point in time. A search warrant was issued and a raid was conducted October 7 on the home office of Rosie, the individual who ran the site, who was not home at the time. According to comments posted subsequently on the site, “The men in black (FBI) took ALL of my computer equipment, and many of my diskettes, and have access to ALL my files and site information.”
Red Rose attorney Larry Walters confirmed that a raid by FBI agents had taken place and equipment and files had been seized, but also stated that no charges have been filed against his client, and that the website contained no visual images but only text and audio files of sexually-explicit stories. It is unclear at this time whether the raid was part of a broader criminal investigation, but even if it is, if obscenity charges are filed against an individual for possessing written content in which no human actually exists, it will represent a significant and troubling shift in federal tactics that will put people at criminal risk for expressing thoughts.
Anticipating possible obscenity charges, Larry Walters told YNOT News, “While obscenity laws are broad enough to potentially cover the written word, a conviction based solely on text, or even audio, would be an extreme uphill battle for the government in the current culture. We are hopeful that once the matter is reviewed at the next level, no further action will be taken in regards to the stories at issue."
He also said that he had been contacted by other members of the adult community who run erotic spoken-word websites, all of whom expressed deep concern about what this case means to them, and alarm that an area of commerce and expression they thought afe from charges of obscenity could now put them at risk.
It is October, and there is a definite chill in the air.
http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/images/banners/animated/120x60-animate.gif
Two Raids, One Local, One Federal, Put a Chill in the Air and a Webmaster in Jail
Cyberspace – The owners of two websites were raided last week in unconnected obscenity investigations that have nonetheless combined to create a level of increased concern within the industry, and a definite chilling effect. One of the raids resulted in an arrest and charges filed, the other in seized equipment and files but no charges as yet.
Neither case is run-of-the-mill. One is unique in that the website, red-rose-stories.com, which is no longer live, contained no visual content but only text and audio files, and the other, nowthatsfuckedup.com, is a situation in which local law enforcement may have targeted the site on behalf of the federal government, bringing obscenity charges relating to content that would probably not otherwise have attracted such attention. The owners of both sites also share the same attorney, Larry Walters of Weston, Garrou, DeWitt and Walters.
On October 7, Chris Wilson, a 27-year-old former policeman from Lakeland, Florida was arrested by Polk County Computer Crimes detectives and charged with one count of wholesale distribution of obscene material and 300 misdemeanor counts related to 20 online films and 80 photographs found on his community-oriented website, which locates its servers overseas and is still up and running despite the raid. The website describes itself as “an Amateur community for wife and girlfriend pictures,” and contains sexually explicit photos that are posted to forums on the site by registered members, presumably and contractually non-professionals, for viewing by other registered members only. Bail was set at $101,000.
But there is a twist. Perhaps not so coincidently, nowthatsfuckedup.com has also been a national news story over the past few weeks after the news broke that U.S. soldiers had been given free memberships to website members’ forums in exchange for graphic photos posted to the site of war dead from Iraq and Afghanistan, and also of nude female U.S. soldiers in Iraq. An investigation was launched by the Pentagon, but was shelved after the Army Criminal Investigation Command concluded that no felonies had been committed, and that they could not determine whether U.S. soldiers had in fact posted the problem photos to the site.
A week later, Wilson was arrested by Polk County law enforcement, which has since claimed that the raid had nothing to do with the site’s previous notoriety, or with its run in with the Army. However, an October 7 Polk Sheriff’s Office press release states that warrants were also served for customer lists, and contains the following quote by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, “The investigation into this matter is ongoing, and we will share any pertinent information with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division. In my 33 years of law enforcement experience, this is one of the most horrific examples of filthy, obscene materials we have ever seized.”
Grady has declined to provide specifics as to the exact nature of the photos and videos he is referring to as 'filthy" and "obscene," and no content has yet been identified as triggering the criminal complaint, but according to Wilson’s attorney, Larry Walters, “There is nothing different or more extreme about this particular Web site.”
The timing of the raid also appears anything but a coincidence. In fact, Walters was so concerned about it that he told a local Florida television station, "Of all the hundreds of thousands of webmasters in the country, and even in central Florida, why would Chris Wilson be arrested a week after he hits national spotlight news on the Iraqi war photos? I think any reasonable person would be suspicious of that.”
Indeed. Besides raising the ominous specter of local police being used to exact political revenge on behalf of the military branches of the federal government, this case is important because it illuminates the power of local authorities to disrupt people’s lives and even deprive them of their freedom, on manifestly arbitrary grounds, when the issue of community standards simply does not apply!
Despite the fact that Wilson does not create the photos and videos available on his website, but merely provides a “place” on the Internet where consenting adults may do so and where they may interact, he was arrested on the eve of a holiday weekend and charged with hundreds of individual violations - each of which requires its own bond and individual minimums – resulting in a situation in which no bail bondsman could or would get him released by the weekend from jail, where he still sits, unable to raise bail. (Update: Chris Wilson was released on bail late Tuesday evening.) It is doubly ironic of course that the government might use obscenity law to prevent political speech (photos of war dead), and if true, would certainly reveal the selective regard this administration has consistently shown for the First Amendment to the Constitution.
A website – www.freechris.org - has been set up where information is available about the case, and where people can go to contribute money to a legal defense fund established to help fight the charges.
The Red Rose Stories case is potentially as disturbing as Wilson’s, but the facts are less clear at this point in time. A search warrant was issued and a raid was conducted October 7 on the home office of Rosie, the individual who ran the site, who was not home at the time. According to comments posted subsequently on the site, “The men in black (FBI) took ALL of my computer equipment, and many of my diskettes, and have access to ALL my files and site information.”
Red Rose attorney Larry Walters confirmed that a raid by FBI agents had taken place and equipment and files had been seized, but also stated that no charges have been filed against his client, and that the website contained no visual images but only text and audio files of sexually-explicit stories. It is unclear at this time whether the raid was part of a broader criminal investigation, but even if it is, if obscenity charges are filed against an individual for possessing written content in which no human actually exists, it will represent a significant and troubling shift in federal tactics that will put people at criminal risk for expressing thoughts.
Anticipating possible obscenity charges, Larry Walters told YNOT News, “While obscenity laws are broad enough to potentially cover the written word, a conviction based solely on text, or even audio, would be an extreme uphill battle for the government in the current culture. We are hopeful that once the matter is reviewed at the next level, no further action will be taken in regards to the stories at issue."
He also said that he had been contacted by other members of the adult community who run erotic spoken-word websites, all of whom expressed deep concern about what this case means to them, and alarm that an area of commerce and expression they thought afe from charges of obscenity could now put them at risk.
It is October, and there is a definite chill in the air.
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