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Tom, you miss the point: had the FSC gone forward and requested an injunction, not only would FSC member be protected, but it would be VERY unlikely that any enforcement actions would be taken because there is pending legal action. While the TRO would not have stopped the DOJ from enforcing the law, it creates a very large legal burden to overcome if they want to move to actual prosecution of a case.
It is very likely that the very terms that they would charge someone under are the ones that would get thrown out in court.
Instead, the FSC made an 11th hour deal with the feds so that there is no TRO, no nothing in any true legal sense until August, just an agreement not to bother FSC members. What it means (conversely) is that the DOJ has a free hand to go out and inspect anyone else they want. The Special Master will determine if this is a FSC member or not, then away the DOJ goes.
The difference is overwhelming.
The reasoning? I suspect that the DOJ made it clear to FSC that certain members of the "adult webmaster community" were not anywhere near compliant. They probably pointed out that there are tens of thousand of sites owned and operated by people who are either not active in the community, or who are specifically non-participants for whatever reason. The DOJ wants a free hand to go out in the next 45 days and literally "fuck these people up". They want action they can take to congress and say "SEE! We are doing our jobs!". A TRO would have made that impossible.
The "return" favor in this? Very likely during the next 45 days a new interpretation of the 2257 rules will be made and published, which is abolish the secondary producer requirements and clarify the ID issues. It will once again permit CORPORATIONS and LLC to appoint a third part custodian of records. It will, however, require that the publisher of a website is listed on it, indicating the sources of the materials (the older list of content providers 2257). There will likely be some new legaleese in content license agreements that will stipulate that the provider is 2257 compliant.
Read the FSC / DOJ agreement carefully, and you will see that the next 45 days isn't for writing legal briefs, but for negotiation to come to a settlement.
Linkster, you are no more or less popular around here as a result of your choices. I know if I lived and worked in the US, I might be sitting on the other side of the fence. I can't say that I agree with what is going on at FSC, and I would have a hard time giving them any more money now or in the future, but that is my personal take.
Do we need an industry trade group? Yup.
Is FSC that group? I think not.
Alex
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