Living in an international building I have the ability to interact with kids from Nigeria, South Korea, Japan, Canada, China and India. I asked each one of them the same questions. What do you think about porn? And, what kind of impact does porn have on your country, if any?

So when I asked the kid from Nigeria the questions his responses were: I do not really know much about porn, I have only seen a few things on the internet since being here at school and that is it. My country does not have a large economy to support something like that so it is not a factor in my nation at all.

Talking to the three kids from the Asian nations, they all gave close to the same response. Porn is fairly large in Japan and China. There are some notable porn stars from those countries and cities such as Tokyo and Beijing have types of districts like the old time square where movies and books can be acquired. South Korea’s opinion on porn was highly different. He said he has no interest in pornography and that type of thing. He also said he was never exposed to porn while at home and had no problem avoiding while at UB. The kids from Japan and China knew lots about porn and also seemed to semi-enjoy it.

When talking to the Canadian girl, she said porn is something she really doesn’t have a problem with. She doesn’t watch it on a regular basis, but Canada has a large strip club system and in some case has prostitution, So American porn has a sort of step up on the Canadian acts of sex she said. She said she doesn’t know an impact on her country because every since she can remember there has been sex and porn where she has grown up and things have just seemed to go ok.

The last person I spoke to was the kid from India. His responses were interesting. He told me that porn is something he found while here at UB and that at first he honestly did not understand the concept. He actually had questions for me about it. He knew some general things about it, but did not know how in depth it could go. He said he was sure he could get porn in some of the larger cities, but for a price and it would be tough to find. He associated it with more of an American tradition and something that makes America look selfish and sloppy.

All these answers were very interesting to me and I am fortunate to have the ability to talk to kids I already knew from these countries to get their honest opinion. I wonder if anyone from these countries would want to bring a class like this back to colleges in their country for more exposure on such a powerful industry driven by sex?

Love Always,
Ron Jeremy

 
First off, the technology growth as the porn industry grows was something I found to be an excellent topic. Once I stepped back and realized it, it all made sense. The VCR was for this, the Mini-tell turned into this, phone sex here, chat room sex there, everything comes together in a pornographic way somehow it seemed. The chapters in the book on sex and technology really added to the emphasis on this technology drive along side the porn industry.

 
The next great thing I learned from this class was the state of the internet according to porn. I knew porn was a huge part of the internet but I didn’t know just how big. With tons of different dimensions, thousands of niches, gonzo porn, forums and free sites, filtering of porn, dating sites and amateur sites, I was blown away. Again, the book went into excellent details regarding the internet and its relationship with porn which defiantly helped me better understand certain aspects of it.

 
The area of this class that had me most interested was the idea of how to make money in porn. While discussing all the entrepreneurs in the industry I often thought to myself, can I make a living in this business? The short videos and the documentary series on PBS explained so much to me I would have never realized. What it takes to run a site, how many legal issues there are, how difficult it can be to make money and how it is more competitive than I could ever imagine.

 
Not only did I learn things in this class that I would never learn anywhere else, but I gained appreciate for things. Ideas like censorship, indecency and obscenity were issues that I found I had a strong opinion on and didn’t realize it until it took this class. With all the material on rape and child porn Dr. Halavais had us read and research, I found I appreciate things such as internet firewalls and child protection acts in schools. Some of the things that porn does are so morally wrong in my opinion that I certainly support some of the cases we discussed and the verdicts against the people in these cases.

 
Just to wrap up, this blogging thing has been great. What a great way to interact with the class and professors at the same time. Plus, it gave me a chance to try something I probably would have never tried if it wasn’t for this class. So thank you Dr. Halavais for conducting such a great class and I am sure I will use my knowledge from this class later in my life.

Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

 It was originally said that the ban on publication of details of the case was to protect Bernardo's right to a fair trial, the Canadian government would later reveal, that it was really to protect the families. Protect the families? Isn’t it the media’s job to expose new issues in cases such as these? Although the media would surely blow things out of proportion, they have also been known to aid in the development of stories, murders and developing cases. With a ban such as this, it leaves ordinary people to do what the media is not allowed to do, make stories. Many myths were published on the internet and were more extreme than the actual details of the case, some of them stolen from other serial killers and attributed to Karla and Paul. Many of these reports can still be found, while the facts, protected by the publication ban, are much more difficult to find. This troubles me because the true details of such a notorious case are forbidden and hard to find. We as the public have a right to know what happened within this case and the details of Homolka and Bernardo. Why the publication ban is not considered freedom of press? I do not know.

 
There were accounts documented of people disobeying the ban. I would have as well. Like Dr. Halavais said, there was a Usenet group dedicated to following this case which published much that was forbidden and much that was simply false, leading to substantial misinformation and the origin of many misconceptions about the case. See the problems that can occur with a ban like this. I honestly do not remember another time since then that there was a publication ban and with the ruling in the Times Co. v. United States case, where the Court ruled that the publication ban was a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech, there shouldn’t be. It seems to me that the ban put on the Homolka and Bernardo case only caused more problems rather than controlling them.

 
I am glad this topic was brought up in lecture because it gave me a chance to find out more about this ban and voice my opinion on it.

Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

The council states that the most important step adults can take to help children steer clear of potentially harmful online content is to supervise and be involved in their use of the Internet. Parents can start by gaining a basic understanding of what is on the Internet and being willing to have sometimes-uncomfortable conversations with their children. This is amusing to me because it is true. The fact that the majority of children and teenagers today know more about the Internet than their parents. And to be honest I don’t see an excuse as to why parents should not be equally knowledgeable. Yes, just because kids grow up with it and were born into the Internet era shouldn’t be a legitimate excuse as to why their parents should know any less. Kids can out-smart their parents when it comes to web surfing and tracking, leaving parents without evidence that porn was ever viewed, purposely or accidentally. If the parents are clueless to the Internet and how it functions then porn is inevitably going to pop up sometime.

Children should be educated in Internet safety much as they are taught about their physical safety, the report says. This might include teaching them how sexual predators and hate-group recruiters typically approach young people online, how to recognize jargon that signals inappropriate material, and whether to provide personal information. Well ok, but how young are we talking here. Are we supposed to assume a ten year old can recognize a Neo-Nazi website from KKK website? And teaching them about how sexual predators work? Well, is there one generic way they all work? How do teachers know how sexual praetors work on a day to day basis? I find these things hard to grasp as Internet safety and being a difficult topic to teach with more areas to confuse children, not help them.

Research on the technology and social science underlying this issue would help to address it more effectively in the future. The science base for understanding the impact on children of viewing sexually explicit materials is sparse. In addition, the technology-based tools for enhancing the safety of children's Internet experiences are not well-matched to the growing diversity of channels through which children may be exposed to inappropriate content or experiences. Therefore, I think it will continue to be difficult to keep children away and out of sight of porn no matter how hard we try.

 
Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

The Duke Men’s Lacrosse team rape scandal isn’t just a huge story for the sports media, but the news media as well. Recent indictments were made and Wright’s blog made me see some things in a different light. Two players were arrested and held on 400,000 dollars bail, which was quickly paid and they were released. Each are charged with first degree forcible rape, first degree sexual offense and kidnapping. Wright states that despite the serious sound of the charges, it really doesn't mean a thing. The standard to get a grand jury to issue an indictment in a case like this is ludicrously low. Only the prosecutor presents evidence- no one from the defense is even allowed in the room. Grand jurors can ask questions of the prosecutor if they want, and 99% of the time prosecutors are able to get grand juries to return with indictments. This doesn't even mean that these two guys necessarily did anything, much less what they have been accused of. With that said, life just starts to suck a whole lot more for them and possibly a whole lot less for other players on the team. The fact that two players have finally been “caught” gives a sigh of relief to their nervous teammate who may or may not have been involved with the rape incident.

Wright closes his blog by saying, I don't know if these two guys deserve what they have coming. I know a lot of people who have commented to posts on this blog won't believe me, but I really haven't prejudged that they are guilty of what they have been arrested for. Guilty of other things, yes, but guilty of these things? I don't know. What I do think is that Prosecutors ought to either get the conviction they seek or else be required to pay all of a defendant's legal expenses if they cannot. There will be nothing fair about a result that clears these guys because they and their families will likely have been financially ruined to achieve it. I enjoyed Wright’s open mind on this topic from previous posts where he was extremely bias and scrutinized the players before he knew the full story. I am sure he will have more in depth posts as this story unfolds.  I am glad I found this site and am confident I will return for more opinions and thoughts on news in the media.

Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

First, I am curious as to how members of the Gay community feel about Brokeback Mountain and its portrayal of their lifestyle? Do they find it offensive or do not find it discouraging the way media depicts the average gay man as seen in the movie?

Second, what type of a person must someone be in order to work in atmosphere such as your entertainment company? I am sure that the employees support homosexuality but thier family and friends may not and thus might not support the ones they love and their choice to work in such an industry.  

Third, as a teenager, what types of things kept you motivated to someday do what you wanted to do in your life? 

Finally, do you ever receive criticism through e-mail or postings about your entertainment? Things like religious groups or hate groups?

Thank you.

Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

 
Now I am not saying within the next 10 years, but I am saying within the next 50. By the time I am a grandfather, my grandchildren will never experience a modern day version of child porn. First off let’s look at legislation and government law. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a non-profit organization set up by the IT industry to monitor obscene images on the web, has reported that less than one per cent of the child pornography on the internet is hosted in the UK. A reduction from 18 per cent to less than one per cent in less than a decade, and the removal of such material is a success.  The government has been increasingly involved with the censoring of indecent material throughout the world wide wed. Legislations power and technology will only become stronger with more forces being created to shut down porn. The second thing is interest. Things have been so erotic, bizarre and hardcore that child porn is somewhat of a joke. Fetishes are becoming so extreme that consumers could easily become bored with child porn. The third thing is difficulties. The production of child porn may become increasingly difficult due to not only the online crackdown, but societies crack down. An obvious illegal underground production of this type or porn will get cracked within the next ten years, leaving it difficult for producers and distributors to make their money. The last thing I think will lead to the end of child porn within 50 years is technology and the internet. The internet will be moving too fast at a pace that an industry like child porn could find it difficult to keep up in. Child porn consists of erotic photos of children. This phase will fade as the possibilities of online porn and interaction increase. There is only so much child porn can do to keep their audience without charging a ridiculous price and being left behind by their erotic and fetish porn counterparts.

 
Now I know that some of these ideas seem far fetched, but I ask that you step back an look at the possibilities. Part of me wants this to happen to the extent where I think it will happen. Who knows, I may just be right.

Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

For some time now the MPAA film rating system has been used in the United States and and instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate a movie based on its content. While the MPAA does not publish an official list of all the exact words, actions, and exposed body parts used to determine a movie's rating, some guidelines can be derived based on the MPAA's actual rating decisions. It is one of various motion picture rating systems used to help patrons decide which movies may be appropriate for children and/or adolescents. In the United States, the MPAA rating system is the most recognized system for classifying potentially offensive content, but it is usually not used outside of the film industry because the MPAA has trademarks on each individual rating. Rated G—General audiences all ages admitted. Rated PG—Parental guidance suggested, some material may not be suitable for young children. Rated PG-13—Parents strongly cautioned, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Rated R—Restricted, Under 17 requires accompanying parent or legal guardian. Rated NC-17, No one 17 and under admitted. There are many criteria that make up these genres, but I searched for the things that were most obscene and indecent that classified a movie rating. If a film contains male rear nudity, it is more likely to be given a lower rating than if the nudity were female. But wait, what about Titanic? Kate Winslet was naked and that is PG-13. Brokeback Mountain had male nudity and that is rated R. If a film contains strong sexual content, it usually receives an R rating. The film Lost in Translation had a scene in a strip club that had brief topless nudity. The scene was brief and the rest of the film had PG-13 level content, but the film still received an R rating.

Films that have legitimate historical or educational value are often granted leniency. Some have argued that level of violence in Saving Private Ryan deserved an NC-17, but that the film was given leniency because it was a historical war movie. Ratings criteria is intended to reflect changing norms within society. So, an evaluation of ratings criteria must specify what year or approximate period of time is being referred to, when modeling the standards relevant to each film classification.

Finally If a film uses "one of the harsher sexually-derived words" (such as fuck) once, it is routine today for the film to receive a PG-13 rating, provided that the word is used as an exclamation and not with a sexual meaning. Exceptions may be allowed, "by a special vote of the ratings board" where the board feels such an exception would better reflect the sensibilities of American parents. It is a common misconception that if a movie uses "fuck," in a non-sexual context, more than once, it will automatically receive an R rating. In reality, PG-13 movies are routinely allowed two or three uses.

So with such strict guidelines the MPAA has strongly regulated their films in an effort to keep what is Indecent and Obscene to the audience that can handle and is suitable for that material. Also. seeing a certain rating can attract audiences who are interetsed in violence, language or sex.

Love Always,

Ron Jeremy

Rating criteria taken from MPAA.org.

]]> http://mclizzle.wordpress.com/2006/04/12/the-mpaa-has-some-weird-rules-but-they-work/feed/ 0 mclizzle http://mclizzle.wordpress.com/2006/04/09/us-attorneys-porn-fight-gets-bad-reviews-but-should-it/ http://mclizzle.wordpress.com/2006/04/09/us-attorneys-porn-fight-gets-bad-reviews-but-should-it/#comments Sun, 09 Apr 2006 19:15:05 +0000 mclizzle https://mclizzle.wordpress.com/2006/04/09/us-attorneys-porn-fight-gets-bad-reviews-but-should-it/ ]]> Obscenity Prosecution Task Force will focus on Internet crimes and peer-to-peer distribution of pornography. That was the headline to the article regarding new interim U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta and his proposal. When top F.B.I. and C.I.A. agents went to Miami to meet with Acosta they didn’t know what to expect. Would it be terrorism? Organized crime? Narcotics trafficking? Immigration? Or maybe public corruption? The agents were stunned to learn that a top priority of Acosta and the Department of Justice was none of the above. Instead, Acosta told them, it’s obscenity. Not pornography involving children, but pornographic material featuring consenting adults.

This caught me as much off- guard as it did other area prosecutors. Aren’t there things like drug smuggling, illegal crime rings and terrorism to worry about instead of some low level risk of porn on the internet? “Compared to terrorism, public corruption and narcotics, [pornography] is no worse than dropping gum on the sidewalk,” said Stephen Bronis, a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder in Miami and chair of the white-collar crime division of the American Bar Association. “With so many other problems in this area, this is absolutely ridiculous.” But is this absolutely ridiculous?

With the rapid growth of Internet pornography, stamping out obscene material has become a major concern for the Bush administration’s powerful Christian conservative supporters. But the social conservatives have gained traction with new Attorney General Gonzales, a close associate of President Bush who is considered a strong contender for a U.S. Supreme Court nomination. In May, Gonzales established an Obscenity Prosecution Task Force under the office’s criminal division. The task force, according to a Justice Department news release on May 5, will be “dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of the distributors of hard-core pornography that meets the test for obscenity, as defined by the United States Supreme Court.”
The Obscenity Prosecution Task Force will pull together prosecutors from sections covering organized crime, asset forfeiture, money laundering, computer crime and intellectual property. They will be joined by prosecutors from the High-Tech Investigative Unit, which has computer and forensic experts. The focus will be on Internet crimes as well as on “peer-to-peer” distribution of pornography.

I feel this task force is an excellent idea and should be commended not ridiculed. Stopping something such as porn distribution and online obscenity is much easier than stopping drug trafficking into the US or organized crime. People have been smuggling drugs into the US for decades and what is going to stop them. Sure, arrests are made and drugs are captured, but how often? On how many attempts? I am not saying porn is going away, but I am saying that putting a focus and force into slowing something that should be taken down is worth while and it cannot make the situation worse than it already is. Good luck attorney Acosta.

Love Always,
Ron Jeremy