If you're keeping scote in the new year, it's the porn industry 0, the establishment 3
Utah- The Utah Division of Consumer Protection has issued its first $2,500 citation under Utah's seven-month-old Child Protection Registry law to a Canadian online pornography site. On Dec. 4 the site, whose name itself contains an expletive, sent a sexually explicit message to an e-mail address registered as accessible to a minor, according to Consumer Protection spokesman Thad LeVar. Under state law, adult-oriented Web sites and e-mailers are required to screen out registered addresses from their distribution lists. The registry statute provides for a maximum $2,500 fine per violation. "These types of complaints can be difficult to track down in terms of who actually sent an [offending] e-mail," LeVar said. "We chose this one for our first citation because the identity of the sender was clear in this case." Owners of the site, who list only a Post Office box in Gibsons, B.C., could not be reached for comment Thursday. Under the statute, they have 10 days to contest the citation; after that a cease-and-desist order can be filed as well. The explicit, hard-core pornographic site offers no effective barriers to underage visitors, such as a confirmation process that verifies age with the use of credit card, phone call or driver license. An initial screen entitled "Warning: Adult Material Ahead" and a statement that content "is not intended to be viewed by minors" can be cleared with the click of a mouse. Utah's Child Protection Registry, and a similar one in Michigan, took effect July 15. In addition to pornography, it is meant to protect registered minors from content promoting alcohol, tobacco, gambling, firearms and drugs. One way e-mailers can ensure they are not sending messages to minors on the protected registry is to have their lists "scrubbed" of those addresses. Both Utah and Michigan link mass e-mailers to Park City-based Unspam Technologies, which charges a half-cent for each address that is removed. The registry is free to schools, parents and others acting on behalf of minors. Mass e-mailers argue that the time and cost involved is unfairly burdensome and are challenging the constitutionality of the Utah law in U.S. District Court. In its November complaint, the Free Speech Coalition - a pornography trade organization - contends the law violates the right to free expression because of that burden. The coalition's Salt Lake City attorney, Jerome Mooney, said he was taken off-guard by the citation. "We were hoping they would forgo enforcement," he said. "This demonstrates the need to get our [federal] case moving forward."
