how about an adult webmasters guild ?
 

to give a collective voice to the online adult industry how about some of you big players look at putting a guild together. find a good model that exists and base it on that. maybe the directers guild or actors guild or whatever, it can evolve with time.

it seems the adult industry lacks influence in the governing of itself. show the government youre united, capable and responsible enough to police yourself and the government will maybe take your opinions into consideration when coming up with new legislation like 2257.

-funding. adult webmasters who wish to sign up with a new affiliate program must have a guild membership. membership can be cheap, but enough to deter anyone whos not serious. affiliate programs need your membership number when you apply to promote their program. every dollar paid out to affiliates can be taxed much like a union. 1% , 5% whatever. guild membership is universal. you have it and can use it for each affiliate program you sign up with. one time fee, annual renewals, whatever.

unions and guilds can be headaches but the one advantage they have is they are heard. strength in numbers if those numbers are united, not just a bunch of pissed off individuals with personal rants.

just an idea, top of my head, apologies if its already been discussed somewhere, Im not in the know.

ahh, and someone with more knowldge than me feel free to jack this thread. its above my head ;)

You've got to recognise the distinction between online and offline activities. Offline - it's down to the respective governing bodies. Online - you're talking about the whole world. The US can't control the world. The US isn't the internet. Whatever the US decides, the rest of the world can choose to ignore.

true true, but the US is a market that cant be ignored and i see a lot of non US webmasters concerned about 2257 so they can stay legitimately hosted on US servers using US hosted fhgs and content to sell to US citizens. Im a Canadian webmaster, im not concerned of being prosecuted or fined for non compliance, but i link to a lot of FHG's hosted on US servers by US companies. This along with my server location. I imagine going after US servers hosting non compliant sites is in the US govs plans.

Would we have a secret handshake and wear funny hats?

As the immortal Woody Allen said, "I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member."

UW was`nt that Groucho Marx who said that one?

Useless was probably distracted by the pretty girl that seems to be thinking about him, in Doug E's avatar.

[quote=Useless Warrior]Would we have a secret handshake and wear funny hats?
[quote]
What kind of funny hats you have in mind? |viking| |mml| |pimpin |jester| |pirate |party2 |rainfro| |santa| |smurf|

I'm in Canada also, but not overly concerned about their ablility to bother me in any criminal sense. Canada would have to have equivalent laws with similar penalties before they woud even consider extraditing. And anybody here knows that can take 10+ years if you don't want to go.

I understand they have tried, and been shot down trying to go after hosting companies before! They can't be held directly accountable for what other people put on he host.

My main concern is that they might somehow be able to interfere with the $$$ flow. That might open a NAFTA challenge that their restrictive laws interfere with Canadians trying to do business in the USA. Actualy NAFTA might be an option for US WMs also from the opposite side, because they would not be able to compete on an even basis.

Best wait and see.

yea, NAFTA could open up some complicated discussions. if it ever got that far US lawmakers would be regretting big time why they opened up the 2257 can.

ile let this thread drop, the majority of my income comes from outside this industry, I just saw something I thought needed comment. the fact this is a billion dollar industry and its united representation seems so weak is interesting. you cant depend on the hormones in congress to keep them from making your lives a mess of red tape. theyll never ban porn, on a personal level i doubt many of them would want that, but throwing out ill concieved regulation keeps the jesus freaks happy and maybe helps their own consciences. with no pressure from the industry theyre regulating all the future rules written will be as naive as this one.

Doug I think it's a reasonable topic to discuss.

I've heard it said that trying to organise adult webmasters is like herding cats. When the Acacia thing was hot, people were advocating a sort of union, but it never really eventuated. The 2257 thing is perhaps more threatening, so there's more incentive to get involved.

The Free Speech Coalition is probably the best bet at this point, even if their fees are a bit steep (I think they'd get more individual support if it cost less).

I just looked at the website of the Eros foundation, which is the lobbyist group for Australian traders in the adult business. They want over $500 to join, which is ridiculously expensive, especially when you're an adult webmaster primarily concerned with the US market, not the Australian one.

Perhaps that's the stumbling block... I think most people support these kinds of groups in theory, but most end up wondering what they get for their money. In the current climate, it's easy to see that the money will be put to good use, but at any other time it may be harder to see.

Herding cats, sweeping feathers, and orgainizing webmasters.

Alex