Pittsburgh- A panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Downtown Wednesday in a case that marks the federal government’s first attempt in decades to prosecute pornography producers.

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan will argue that a Los Angeles company, Extreme Associates, and its husband and wife owners, Robert Zicari and Janet Romano, violated community standards by distributing pornographic videos depicting graphic rapes and murders.

In January, U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster dismissed 10 charges against the Northridge, Calif., couple and their company and rejected the government’s arguments that it had the right to restrict distribution of obscene materials to protect minors and those who do not want to be exposed to it.

Criminal prosecution was not the best way to achieve that goal, Lancaster ruled. An undercover U.S. Postal Service inspector bought pornographic videos in 2002 through an Extreme Associates members-only Web site. The judge said technological devices can restrict access to Web sites and shield those who do not want to be exposed to it.

Buchanan appealed Lancaster’s ruling to the 3rd Circuit.

The charges filed in 2003 were considered the launch of the U.S. Justice Department’s renewed anti-obscentity campaign.

The 3rd Circuit’s three-judge panel is not expected to rule immediately on the appeal.