Tuesday, May 30th, 2000
Anthony Spinelli Dies
From GeneRoss.com: Legendary filmmaker and AVN Hall of Famer, Anthony Spinelli, born Sam Weston, passed away Memorial Day from complications due to pneumonia. Spinelli was 73. Services, according to his son, Mitchell Spinelli, will be for the immediate family.
Louis Scorbick writes: Luke- Just wanted to say I offer my condolences to his family on hearing the news of Anthony Spinelli's passing. While most of the current porn world will have no idea who he was (being the brainless, soulless f---ing zombies that they are), Spinelli made some great, experimental, dark and erotic films in the 70's and 80's. He always pushed his work to be a "movie" experience, to have intense moments, striking images both sexual and non, and of course, hot young chicks getting it on. As a teenager I quickly noticed his name on the few tapes I was lucky enough to find to be far superior quality. He made some great porno flicks. I was a big fan. RIP.
Jasmin is not Doing Bukkake
Quasarman posts to GeneRoss.com: "Attention all ye who hath functioning penis: Metro Studios is seeking industry and non-industry male talent who possess a current PCR/DNA test and a penis for their exciting new video "Bon Appetite'Bukkake" starring Jasmine St.Claire. This event will be held on the fifth day of June in the year of our Lord Two Thousand (Monday of next week). If ever ye hath desired to release the Kings chowder upon the face of the fair maiden Jasmine please call 818-885-2800. Dial 0 for ye ol' operator and tell her of your desire to be a Bukkake participant. Fluff wenches will be on hand on the day to orally stimulate the serfs prior to releasing their ejaculatory payloads on the Queen. Ye could earn a few hundred sheckels for thy trouble. Act now. Don't delay. Ye could already be a winner!!! P.S. In laymen's terms: We need cock for this event. If you have a current test and want to make some dough for dropping a load or two call the number mentioned above. Thank you for your interest in Metro Studios."
Tabetha writes: Luke: Jasmin St. Claire is out of town but read on Gene Ross's site an "advertisement" from Quaserman about Metro's latest Bukkake release - CLAIMING it's starring her. However, she laughed and asked that I write all concerned IMMEDIATELY and set the record straight once and for all. Her statement she wanted me to publish was, "I don't have a clue of what they are talking about!! I am not doing a Bukkake film for anyone on June 5th...I just had a 7 page layout come out today in WOW magazine (World of Wrestling) and I'm booked with interviews & photo shoots. I've been working very hard and have been dealing with some tough crap lately. I really am just looking forward to getting in my car and taking off for a few hours by myself to think. I will definitely have some surprises for all those who enjoy my work, but that is for me to know and you to soon find out!"
You Guys Are Losers!
Tough Jewish Chick writes: I have been lurking about your web site ever since a friend clued me in to its existance. We like it, not because it is well written or attractive or because we are interested in porn. We like it because it makes us feel like we belong to a superior race of beings. I mean, you guys are all a bunch of losers! How dare you criticise any woman for her appearance! The truth is that the men who buy porn do so because they cannot get laid, so they rely on porn and their arthritic hands for release. The guys who read your stuff cannot get laid. LOSERS!
And as for you Luke, you are a disgrace to jews AND especially to jewish men everywhere, if in fact you are jewish and not just playing at it. My friends and I (we are jewish) agree - no jewish woman is going to give you the time of day, not once she knows what you do for a living. I mean, what have you got to offer her? You are poor, but not because you have dedicated your life to charity or finding a cure for AIDS. No, you are poor because you are unable to make much money in a field that gives me and all my friends the willies. Why should any of us choose you when we can date doctors, lawyers, business men etc?
As far as your readers go, they seem to be even bigger losers than you. Not only can they not ever get laid, they are DUMB, in the way that all bigots and antisemites and misogynists are dumb (some of your moron readers are all three). Just a bunch of geeks who get their rocks off insulting jewish women for having the brains not to have anything to do with them. Yech! Do yourself a favor: shut down the web site and get a real job. Maybe then one of us will talk to you.
Luke: Dear TJC, my readers ask that you submit a picture of yourself so they can decide whether your opinions are worth considering. BTW, who are you?
Tough Jewish Chick replies: I am a flesh and blood realization of much that your readers and associates fear: young, tall, jewish, ivy educated, sexually desirable by conventional western norms, and totally disinterested in the eternal juveniles who prefer a two-dimensional image to any real women whom they might actually get to know.
I am writing to you mostly to satisfy my intellectual curiosity and that of my friends. Do you and your "community" of the porn obsessed recognize that, in the final analysis, you are losers, and that most of the women you desire think of you - if they think of you at all - with a mixture of pity and revulsion? What must happen to a man before he decides to go into porn, as you have, well into his thirties? What do men who rent porn tell themselves as they prepare to drive out to the local porno video hut in the lower class part of town on a Saturday night in preparation for a date with their fingers to make the experience more palatable? How can a man talk about porn with his friends, when doing so is clearly an admission of failure of the most fundamental sort? And just where do you think you will be in ten or twenty years; surrounded by supermodels? My advice to all of you is to get rid of all your dirty movies and magazines and live life among the living, before it is too late. Amy.
Luke: How about we do a phone interview? A threeway with one of my readers...or is there a particular porn star that you would like to talk to? Is reading LF.com a safe way of slumming it?
TJC aka Amy Steinberg writes: You do not get it. You just do not get it. Why would I want to be interviewed by you for such a web site? Why would I ever want to talk to some self esteem - free porn star? Both the men and women with whom I associate tower over you and your lonely, sexually self-servicing readers in every respect that is of importance to us.
The only question that you pose that is marginally interesting is why we visit your web site. Partly for the same reason we watch "When Good Pets Go Bad" on FOX, or "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" on ABC, even though we generally know all the answers to the questions. By observing those who are inferior to us in oh so many ways at the safe distance your web site provides, we get a little ego boost. And in the end, that is your only function in our world. To boost our egos, by keeping yours deflated.
Laura writes: Kudos to "Tough Jewish chick" for telling off the degenerates, low-lifes and riff raff that post on this site attacking and demeaning women based on their looks. All of these "men" should provide photos of themselves so we can judge whether they are good-looking enough to make such critiques of womens looks. Having seen some pornos I can tell you that most of the guys who perform are disgusting looking, do you think we are attracted to that? For example I recently viewed a film where an old fart with white balding hair and white chest hair f---ing a girl young enough to be his granddaughter and I was completely grossed out. Can't the hetero porn industry get hot-looking guys with hot bodies to perform? I would have to believe that women who watch porn are either lesbian, bi or bi-curious and are really interested in the lesbian scenes cause there's no way they are attracted to those guys. And judging by the comments about women on this site it's no wonder more women don't become lesbian. BTW Luke you are pretty much a low-life and a loser yourself that you have no business judging women's looks either, you're lucky if you can get any woman let alone sexy, gorgeous ones. Signed Hot Jewish Chick
Aghast writes: Methinks "Tough Jewish Chick" is that small breasted Jewish looking pre-op in the Camp Erotica pics that was so brutally roasted yesterday. Just a hunch.
Marc Putative: i'll put my name in the running to help interrogate tough jewish chick, once she caves into a phone call. besides, it's been a year or two since i've even paid a passing attention to the porn business, beyond what i read on your site. and even before that, i was hard pressed to care about the business, especially once all "the people vs. larry flynt"/"boogie nights" business ran its course. (dare i mention that part of the reason i disappeared from your in-box was some sideways glances from the jewess in my life as to why i'm always checking the site ... i tried to explain the attraction was bits like where chaim amalek was contemplating when kendra jade's period would be ending so that she could go to the mikvah but ... no such luck ...)
Bruce writes: Tough Jewish Chick; Ahemmm..."you guys"? I trust you noticed the one lone defender of femininity, standing alone against the powers of darkness? (actually Fred, your OK) Fighting to prove that having a penis dosen't automatically make you one? Battling to prove once and for all that being a man is not a handicap? Bruce
P.S. So.....what are you wearing? (sorry, couldnt resist:-)
Rumdar writes: Luke..... I can't take credit for this one buddy. I had to send Tough Jewish Chick's E to my Guru.....Here is his most worthy response. And Shalom! to Tough Chicks, Jewish or otherwise throughout this great land.............................
Shut down the web site!!?? If that happened, do these bitches actually think someone would want to talk with them? If that was the case someone would already be talking with them and they wouldn't have time to read about someone else having sex!! Typical cunts (of any religious orientation)!! - Rationalizing their (lack of) sexuality to voyeuristic, quasi-intellectual curiosity! They are reading Luke just like their misogynist counterparts without the benefit of getting a hard-on every time they are stimulated by something other than new carpet, new cars, additional (worthless) degrees, etc.. s--- these women (if they are women) are looking for something that all those expensive meal, high end vacations, and walk-in closets can't give them - a legitimate, head rocking, banshee screaming orgasm!!
Johnny: I was wondering, Luke, if TJC (or Amy) is yourself writing, like you do in the guise of Chaim Amalek? Anyway, it's not true that all guys who watch and masturbate to porn are losers who can't get laid. Lots of guys who get regular sex masturbate to porn on the side, 'cause it's pleasurable. As for women being interested in dating Luke F-rd--maybe he's not rich but is a nice guy who is interesting and fun to be with. I don't know, maybe he's good in bed. Does his involvement in porn make him untouchable? He doesn't even actually support porn. TJC is really close-minded. She deserves to marry a Jewish doctor or lawyer who is a mean prick. In response to Laura, women could watch gay male porn if they want more handsome guys.
Evilstein: Amy Steinberg asks "Why should any of us choose you (Luke F-rd) when we can date doctors, lawyers, business men etc"?
Well Amy it looks like you are doing a little judging yourself.Do you think these professions more honorable somehow? Because they might make more dough than the average working guy? SOME stupid men judge women solely on looks.What do you judge men on?Salary?There are many professional types out there who are total scumbags(And yes they look at porn too!).If these lawyers or businessmen you or your freinds "can date" were making money off the porn industry in some way,would you not date them or refuse to have them spend money on you? Does it gives you the "willies" enough that you would refuse it's benefits? Just how principled are you Amy?
Don't worry about what I'm thinking when I pick up a couple of porn flicks and I won't worry about how you and other women like you,might like to date some "upstanding" professional guy who does God knows what sleazy things others to make a few dirty sheckles. I think the moral of this is Amy,is that it is not too fair or smart to generalize on certain groups of people.
Lynne writes: They may be losers, but they're my losers, goddammit! Chaim, you finally get what you want -- a Jewish woman of putative reproductive ability writing in to the site -- and she's nowhere near as nice as I am!
In their defense... For most men, porn use is an intermittent thing: between relationships, or occasionally during a relationship. Some of the guys who rely on it exclusively don't attract a lot of sex partners for physical reasons -- guys in wheel chairs, guys with giant port wine birthmarks covering half their faces -- the guys we see at CES year after year. Psychological scars can be just as bad as physical scars -- some men are just too f---ed up emotionally to score with women -- they got that way in childhood and despite their best efforts, they're too odd to connect. Be fair, Amy -- there are guys out there that no one else wants to f--- that you aren't offering to f---, either.
But mostly, guys are just a whole lot hornier than women, and pornography makes up the difference. Men are sexual with or without women around, and porn works for them in the breech. It's safe sex, doesn't involve picking up a hooker or taking advantage of some half-drunk babe in a bar, even if they had the skills or the desire to do that. Most of the women in pornos aren't even all that attractive. The biggest problem with porn is when men start believing that porn is real sex and think that what works in porn will work in real life-- porn is real sex, sorta, but only in the ways reality-based TV is real. The cops in COPS are real cops, but the show is crafted. The f---ing in porn is real, but the context isn't. Very confusing.
We can't all get laid whenever we want, men or women (though women are supposed to pretend they don't really want to get laid, anyhow). Glad you can -- but not having an active sex doesn't make someone a loser. There are a lot of reasons why guys prefer porn to real women, and some of those reasons are more valid than others. And there are plenty of misogynists out there who have sex lives, don't use porn, and make life miserable for the women with whom they come into contact on a daily basis. Some of those guys are policy makers -- a lot more dangerous than the wankers infesting l-keford.com.
RULE FOR GUARANTEED DIVORCE #3: Marry for economic potential, not for the way you feel about one another.
In all the years I've been in porn, I've met a great many consumers, or fans, or readers, or whatever. They're just a cross section of society, Amy. Luke selects for the bigots, anti-Semites and misogynists Most of them will insult any woman, not just the Jewish ones. But you are just name-calling in reverse. I have no interest in race or politics, so I stay out of those "discussions." I don't have to share Luke's every interest. As to the misogynists, Luke sets 'em up and I shoot 'em down. I try to take out a few misogynists every day before breakfast, hopefully with wit, erudition or both.
Even if Luke shut down the site tomorrow and went to work at a car wash, he would still be the same Luke. Luke the stockbroker would be the same Luke as internet quasi-journalist Luke. The only difference would be the size of his wallet. Obviously your main concern.
Gee, Luke, this woman finds our mostly harmless, occasionally enlightening little dialogues really offensive! Guys, if you aren't out there balling a different woman every night you are losers! Or is it that you're supposed to latch on to anyone who will ball you on a regular basis, like every night, so as to avoid the curse of pornography? And what am I supposed to do? I'm not even a guy! Stop enjoying porn as I wait for the sacred to come along? Have sex with anyone and everyone who will have me, to prove I'm not a loser? (Or are there different rules for women?) Abandon participating in the site, go to therapy and whine about not having a doctor/lawyer husband with a Bloomingdales charge card? What am I missing here?
Luke, if this is the kind of woman you prefer over me, you're crazier than I think you are. Quit your job. Divest yourself of your interests. You are pitable and revolting because you don't make enough money at what you do. I hope someday you will stop flagellating yourself with this bulls--- and find some spiritual value in Judaism. Taking up a religion to be abused by women with dollar signs in their eyes is very odd. Better you should have stayed SDA.
Men who rent porn on a Saturday night are lonely single guys who want a sure thing. They have no dates lined up, they're no good at scoring in singles bars, they're fat, skinny, balding, ugly, not rich, drive ordinary cars, lead ordinary lives. Amy, you won't f--- them, I won't f--- them, no one really wants to f--- them and they want to get off. Doesn't make them "losers," just horny. Whenever they get lucky, they toss the porn (or give it to a buddy, more likely). Six weeks, six months, six years later, they're back in the video store, commiserating with their fellow porn consumers about the quality of the product, healing from the last relationship and wondering if there'll ever be another. Just normal, regular guys.
Putative Jew Marc Putative
Marc writes: luke--had my jews-in-radio panel today before about 20 people, so thanks for the inspiration for some of the ideas discussed. that and a few new comments on recent developments with your site TK. check out inside.com for my debut appearance today amongst the nyc media elite.
Marc writes on Inside.com: Shift, the continually morphing Canadian magazine that last year turned its focus to digital culture and began a push into the American market, is now embracing the world of e-commerce.
Luke: A professional job there, mate.
Marc: well, it's not like i'm gonna take that media business stuff any more personally than you seem with your beat. inside's about as legitimate as the online writing world gets, though, so i'm pleased to be a part. i did guided tours of my shul to about 1000 people (jews and non alike) over the weekend as part of an architecture appreciation tour, so that's more indicative of what i find edifying, as you should know.
Tonsil Hockey
A Miller Beer commercial showing during the basketball playoffs has a man hitting on a woman. She tells him to bug off, saying that she'd rather "spend the night playing tonsil hockey with an unemployed clown."
Dennis Prager wondered if this intimated oral sex. Callers said it only meant deep french kissing.
P decried the desensitizing affect of TV. People are not allowing themselves to be vulnerable to others. Instead they are tough and cutting. P does not appreciate America's cruel humor. He's never liked jokes that destroy people and put people down.
TV robs children particularly of innocence and it develops a society where people keep up a rough exterior. We have more sexual freedom than ever but less love, less vulnerability.
But on l-keford.com we foster intimacy. This website provide a safe haven wherein people can reveal their vulnerabilities. We seek love rather than meaningless sex.
Amalek Needs Dietary Info
Chaim Amalek writes: Luke, KJ will be staying here in just a few days and I am not sure how best to stock my pantry and refrigerator. Any idea on what sort of foods I should have on hand for snacking and munching? What does she like - chips, cookies, salted petzels, what? And what about that assistant of hers? Is she a vegetarian (i.e., someone who will not eat sausage) or something?
Heather Barron Writes Gene Ross
Knowing a sympathetic ear when she sees one, Heather Barron writes GeneRoss.com:
"Dear Gene, I am sending you this because I think you can do it justice. It is an account of why I am where I am [in the adult industry]. I get asked it a lot and til now, I have kept mums the word. But I think it is time. My banking career is over. And no, I didn't scrub toilets. I don't think people understand why this is so important for me. And I know they are going to judge me. But still. I did what I had to do.
"It's a short story. I was having problems in my marriage and at the time working at a conservative New England bank making $27.5K in corporate trust. My boss, a female was also coming out of a bad relationship. We commuted together and became the best of friends. One day we crossed the line and slept together while I was over her house watching a video. We felt really comfortable with each other. We were both having problems at home and it just felt natural. I had never been with a woman before nor had she.
At the time, I felt like my world was falling in. My ex was working as a butcher and got fired due to drinking on the job. We had been having marital problems and I knew making the break would mean he would not contribute financially but I didn't want those influences around my children. So I kicked him out and went it on my own. I had my parents to help with childcare. I took on a second job waitressing in Boston and babysitted on weekends. I would drive from New Hampshire 2 hours to Boston to work at the bank, walk 20 minutes to the restaurant, waitress from 5-1am and then on weekends I would babysit and waitress. I was working 7 days a week from 7am to 3am. I tried commuting home to sleep but I couldn't function. I was falling asleep behind the wheel of the car on the way home at night so I would sleep in the parking lot in my car at Days Inn in Southie and in the morning shower at Ballys in Boston. At least, I got sleep that way, but I wasn't seeing my kids at all. My ex fell off the face of the earth so to speak so I was in deep - ALONE financially and childcarewise.
My mom was diagnosed severely asthmatic and my dad, being diabetic was also limited and I was realizing that they would not be able to care for my children on a full time basis much longer. I didn't have any family I could call. And I didn't want people to know what I was doing to get by. I thought they'd think I was a loser because I didn't stay with my ex for the money. And I was not about to go on public assistance. I was a banker for god sake. My son and my dad are diabetics and I had my hands full.
When I was home, I was monitoring their health and was cognizant of the fact that they needed care and that I couldn't be there as I needed to due to having to work. My boss knew this and she was supportive of me making it as a single mom. She was letting me leave earlier to get to my second job and other employees began sensing a favoritism. At this time, things reversed and my boss somehow seemed constantly in fear that I would tell people about what had happened between us. I kept my mouth shut. We were friends. I had no intention of bringing all of this up. She was good to me as a boss understanding my problems at home and I was never going to violate that or our friendship. But it was knawing away at her. She started calling me into a soundproof room "the quiet room" daily saying "You're not going to tell anyone are you? We are still being quiet about this right?" I would knod my head quietly like a sheep and go back to work. But when this happened every day for 2 months, I began to realize that working side by side with a women I had f---ed was going to be an issue. I had let it go. She had not.
Finally one day, my boss called me into the quietroom and told me I was being moved to a different job in the same department. I had just been promoted, gotten my yearly review and a raise and now I was being moved to the correspondence area to push paper. I told my boss that I would rather stay just where I was...that I liked my job. She said that was not an option. She gave me the rest of the day off to prepare for my new position.
I went to the coffee shop around the corner and cried. I was supporting 6 people that I loved on my own...and I couldn't even see them. My college education and 8 year solid financial services career was being transformed in one day to a clerical position with a rating lower than the one I had had just getting out of school. But this wasn't sexual harassment. This was just a f---ed up situation. One that I had no way out of. My credit cards were maxed and I was paying $26 a day to park in Boston to support 3 jobs that were earning me less than $120 clear a day. My expenses were well over 3400 a month for 6 people (I wasn't living home remember and living in the car was reasonable). And now I was being moved to a new job with hours that wouldn't allow me to work the 2nd job. I went home, saw my kids for the first time in months and took a nap. The next day I woke up and instead of following the path crossing Fidelity to the bank, I made a detour and headed for the bank's Human Resources.
I explained my situation without breaking the silence but the personnel rep said that if my boss had made a recommendation for a move, it was probably in my best interest. "Do you have any reason why your supervisor would want you out of her area?" I took a deep breath and sat back far in my chair. I then told them everything. The bank sent me home with paid day off at 11am and they told me to call them the next morning, that they had to open an investigation. Two weeks later, paid time off during the hiatus, heart in my mouth wondering if I would have a job at the end of all this, I was given one "option"...a confidentiality agreement and a payoff. I said "What about a job?" The response "We don't feel it would be in your best interest to stay with the bank and we wouldn't want this story to get out." I had phone records to prove my boss and I were more than friends and one employee admitted he knew of our friendship (which my boss had denied in entirety) I had no money for a lawyer. So I signed my name in blood and went to Downtown Crossing in Boston. The people were milling about like flies. It was noonish and frigidly cold, late October. In the window of a video store, actually 3 video stores all side by side, I saw adult film boxes and on them, images of scantilly clad women. I went into the store and scanned the rows of porno.
These women were goddesses because of sex. Sex made them. Sex took away my career and the way I was supporting my kids. So I had to turn this around.
I spend two months, October 1999 thru December, with my children. I evaluated my 31 year old, 4x c-sectioned body and decided that I was an over the hill non-housewife who needed Ballys 4 hours a day in order to play out this wild idea I had in my head of being a porn star. So I told my dad the truth of what happened and what I was considering doing...going to LA to somehow turn all of this around for me. His only response: 1. Don't do drugs 2. Pay your taxes 3. Don't tell your mother. You have to do what you have to do. You have 4 kids. Drive safely and call me when you get there.
I got to LA and found out really quickly that the adult film industry was based upon what you looked like, entirely, not who you were inside or how good you could talk the game. I hit the pavement from Santa Monica to Glendale and applied for secretarial and waitress jobs to help pay the bills but they kept telling me..."You're a banker. You're not going to stay with us making $8 an hour." I would say "I just need a job." I got one offer, $2.13 an hour waitressing filling in for a waitress on vacation, graveyard shift.
The menu was intense. The outfit cost $90 bucks and the job would last 2 months. I didn't have $90 bucks. All this time I was cybering at night on the net with men and learning all the things about sex that men liked and didn't get in their marriages. I was a virgin til 21 and faithful during my 7 year marriage so I wasn't all that experienced. I learned a lot on line. I also learned that men who were married were willing to pay for time with women who wouldn't rat on them. I had no clue of how this stuff worked but I still had the bills back east, the bills in LA and credit cards maxed...so I learned FAST. I ran a profile looking for a sugar daddy and I found one.
Soon I had many offers and the rest is history. I became HeatherBarron. I met one guy that offered to help me put up a web site. I met others that offered to help with photography. I had my pictures taken and stollen but in the end, I had a marketing tool. www.HeatherBarronXXX.com. I met with people in the industry, Jim South, Metro and a few others. But my body was s--- and I knew it. I was still working out at Ballys 4 hours a day but I couldn't get my stomach back and my breasts were deflating with the weight loss. So I saved every penny that I made and flopped it down at a Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon for a breast augmentation, a tummy tuck and full lippo of my legs. Full body work. Done 2 weeks ago. I am still recovering.
The idea of a single mom making it as an adult entertainer at the age of 31 is ludicrous. But that doesn't mean I am not going to try. I did what I had to do. And it fed my kids. All of this, I did on instinct. Survival makes you hungry and gives you a drive and determination. I will probably get sued for disclosure. All this because I tasted pussy. Now I know why men pay for it. So don't ask me if I'm bisexual. I'll just tell you that I had pussy once and I ain't going back for seconds. Unless of course, it's a Wicked girl.
Chaim Amalek writes: Luke, I was all set to criticise putative female banker Heather Barron for abandoning a career as a banker for one in porn, when you ruin it all by revealing that, silly us, of course she was no banker. (I had hoped that she worked in the finance department of Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs making 750k per year.)
Heather Heather Heather. Sorry to hear that you are down on your luck and all black and blue from porn surgery, but there is no reason for you to do this at age 31(!). Just ask the warm, welcoming community of l-keford.com what else you might do with your life to support your family besides sell you body for sex, and you are sure to get at least a few good ideas. For example, have you considered running thousands of TINY ADS in small newspapers? If you run 2000 TINY ADS per day and make just $1 profit off of each ad, you would be pulling in well over 300K per year! And it does not matter what you are selling, so long as each TINY AD generates about a dollar in profit per day! You see, even though you are some sort of shiksa (you gotta be to go from banking to porn), Chaim Amalek stands ready to help you.
PS Where will that TV show of yours appear? Is it really television, or some internet crap? Can I appear on it? I will if you fly me and my cardiologist out to the coast first class all the way. I have lots to say that other people should want to hear. That they might not would be to their utter damnation and infamy.
Luke: It will be streamed on the internet.
Spanker Banker We Hardly Knew You
Curious writes: Well, Ms. Barron has effectively destroyed her porn career with her thoroughly depressing life story as told on Gene Ross. Who could ever get their "jerk on" knowing that sad freckled face above the bukkake bowl was a single mother of four who is supporting her ailing parents. Talk about "boner poison." Wait a second! How did she swing a Beverly Hills breast job? Food stamps?
Luke Meets His Hero
On Monday I got to meet via the phone one of my porn journalist heroes - "Selwyn Harris." From an Irish Catholic background, he wrote for Hustler and other Larry Flynt Publications from 1993-95 (also serving as cartoon editor, overseeing such slime as the late Dwaine Tinsley), then for Genesis for over a year before disappearing from porn.
Living in Brooklyn, he's now back writing on sex for Rouze, a section of Playboy Online aimed at the Maxim-magazine market (boys in their 20s).
If you want to peruse some of Selwyn's Rouze writing, here are links:
1999: the year in Teen Movies: http://www.rouze.com/sex/0/3873B948-0001-327D-1.cfm
Extreme girl watching: http://www.rouze.com/sex/0/392D7F14-0001-3A38-1.cfm
Confessions of a Cybertrannie http://www.rouze.com/sex/0/387CEACA-0001-16A4-1.cfm
Christmas Eve at the Adults-Only Cinema http://www.rouze.com/sex/0/38596056-0001-3459-1.cfm
Koko the Gorilla vs Marilyn Chambers
Depressed Jewish Girl started this discussion board: "I saw a flick about Koko the Gorilla and came to the logical conclusion that she is more human than such reptiles as Marylin Chambers. Koko is kind and has pride. Kodo would never suck coce or take John Holmes dick up her Pooper, let alone for all the world to see. Moreover, at this point in Marylins's so-called life, Koko is better looking than that old slut."
Swamp Things
Brother Terry from Mondofamilyfilms.com writes: Your readers were cracking me and Col. Rob up with their descriptions of how ugly the girls of Camp Erotica are. You guys are f---in' hilarious! I want to thank Aghast for coming up with the Mondo Family's new motto: "Mutant Porn." We love it! We are also considering launching a new line entitled: "Boner Poison." Aghast, there is a job waiting for you at Mondo Family Films (your first job will be fluffing the Camp Erotica girls!)
Did I forget to mention that Camp Erotica marks the porn debut of child star Frances Lurid? He appeared in many commercials and T.V. shows in the late'70s and early '80s, and was in a very memorable episode of an after-school special with Brian Keith. Another exciting, young actor making his film debut in Camp Erotica is James Long. Mr. Long has been compared by many film critics to Edith Massey (she played the the Egg Lady in Pink Flamingos,) both for his acting ability and his rugged physique. He is a veteran of summer stock theatre, and most recen! tly performed in "Showboat" with Dick Van Patton and Imogene Coca. As you can tell, the Mondo Family is VERY excited about our newest venture. Thanks to all of you wonderful folks out there for writing in and saying such nice things about Camp Erotica.
Dan writes: At least the big Fat Guy in the Camp Erotica pictures has a better rack than the girls.
The Bluff Is Called
Aghast writes: Brother Terry, I am a firm believer in truth in advertising and as such you have my full permission to use the terms "Mutant Porn" and "Boner Poison" in all your Mondo Family Films endeavors. In fact, if I were you I would buy the domain names ASAP before LGI gets wind of it and snatches them up. If you do proceed with the "Boner Poison" line might I suggest for Vol. 1 a dramatization of Lynne Lopatain's melancholic encounter with a sweaty biker that she details farther down below.
I am also a firm believer in taking a man at his word. You offered me a chance to work for Mondo, well here's my proposition. Forward a screener copy of "Vomitorium II: Camp Erotica" to Luke BEFORE you print the box cover. Luke can forward the tape to me. I will screen it and submit some box copy that will be so caustic it will make those Bog Dwellers rue the day they surgically removed their male genitalia! I will also submit a 100% honest review of the said film for publication at l-keford.com. I swear on NJG's life that it will be a completely fair assessment and if I do get an erection from its contents I promise to get down on my hands and knees and suck that fat blonde braided trannie's estrogen shriveled cock. Fair?
If you do decide to run my box cover copy I seek only one small reward. A seat between Rikki Lixx and Maren Beautte at the Mondo Family Films table at the 2000 XRCO awards. I want to be there when Mondo picks up the "Worst Film of the Year" award again for "Vomitorium II: Camp Erotica." Brother Terry? Do you want to call my bluff?
Brother Terry from Mondofamilyfilms.com replies: Aghast, I think that can be arranged. We are trying to get Camp Erotica finished in time for the VSDA convention. Soon as I get a screener, I will get a copy to Luke for your perusal. You are a man of vision, Sir, and anything you write for the box cover will be golden, I'm sure. The Camp Erotica girls are very anxious to meet you, especially Rikki Lixxx. She loves a challenge, and can't wait to show you a good time back at the Spawn Ranch, where we will be holding our victory party after we win the XRCO Worst Video of the Year! From your mouth to Jim Holliday's ears! Thanks again for all the kind words, Aghast, I almost feel like I owe you money. For your enjoyment, I will be sending Luke several more pix of the Camp Erotica girls in action. The cherubic KiKi D'Aire is your favorite, I know, so I'll send Luke a few extra pix of her, just for you.
Nic Andrews Blockbuster
Brad Parker writes: Nic Andrews had an article at avn.com about this new feature he directed for New Sensations which is destined to be a blockbuster due to the large effort to make it more like a mainstream movie. Don't you guys get it? You can't expect to do a film with mainstream qualities on $100,000 which is considered a Titanic budget as far as porn goes. And if you do try do a great film on a shoestring you certainly must have vision and talent both behind the camera and infront. While there is a small chance you can get talent behind the camera(haven't seen any yet), there is virtually no chance anyone with acting talent will want a porno on their resume or even traces of involvement.
A Humble Suggestion
Helpful writes: Luke, Since you are marching ahead with MPEG video on your site why not increase the interactivity with a web poll? Your questions, in true Ford fashion, could go from the topical to the ridiculous.
Examples: Would the framers of the Bill of Rights protect Max Hardcore's style of urinary "free expression"? Yes / No
Should Kendra be held legally responsible for Chaim's death by heart attack? Yes / No
Should Luke blow off his date to go to his therapist's engagement party? No ( If date has larger breasts than therapist ) / Yes ( If therapist has larger breasts than dates )
Does Heather Barron, the 31? year old redhead, have a snow ball's chance in hell to become a "player" in the Porn Valley? Yes / No / Get the f--- outta here!
Should Lynne Lopatain trim her "wild and untamed" pubic hair? Yes / Hell, Yes!!
How many Israeli brothels should Luke patronize to properly "research" his expose on white slavery? one / two to five / six to ten / as many as his Master Card will allow
Gene Ross's physique? superior genetics / dedicated work out regimen / "The Juice"
Please consider my humble suggestion.
Luke: Hmmm. I am more interested in the views of people who can write complete sentences than of those who can just punch in a vote. Dear reader, if you have an opinion, feel free to write me an email.
Fred writes: 1. Regarding the e-mail from "helpful", you write "I am mainly interested in the views of people who can write complete sentences." That's outrageous. In my opinion, this bias toward those who can
2. Interesting that John Bone said that the Banker's body was s---, and Mark Carriere proffers similar words of encouragement for the young lovelies who come his way. At the risk of seeming a bit slow on the uptake, I bet there is a fine art of manipulation, by finding out what the girls are most insecure about, sticking in a knife (so to speak), twisting it a few times, and seing what you can get the girls to do in response.
Would you say that Bone, Carriere, or others in the biz are world class manipulators? I wonder if Bone or Carriere have any other hints at becoming the next Machiavelli in the war of the sexes. Luke, do you wave any insight into the ways of manipulation used in the porn biz?
Luke: Porners are manipulators of the stupid, low class and vulnerable. Those would even consider doing porno are generally not persons with strong values, self discipline and worthy ambitions. They are society's losers. You can make a good argument that Bowen, Carriere etc exploit the vulnerable. They probably do. But life exploits the vulnerable. If most of these boys and girls did not get f---ed in porn, they'd get f---ed outside of porn.
This does not absolve Carriere and co of moral responsibility. Mark seems a particularly low sort, who routinely intimidates people through threats and constantly pushes vulnerable women into plastic surgery. I hold Bowen in higher esteem. I have never heard of him threatening people with broken legs. John is a master at reading people. For instance, he, better than almost anybody, understands and can articulate what motivates me. John is a loveable rascal.
The talent agents are excellent at reading and reacting to the talent's screwed up psyche. Jim South and Reb Sawitz come across as low key uncle figures. Regan Senter as a lecherous uncle. Regan is the most open about his sexual desires. But all the talent agents have routinely slept with the girls and have felt comfortable for asking them for sexual favors.
Reb runs a bachelor party service on the side, which has been a good way for him to bring girls into porno. Jim operates under the "World Modeling," which lets girls think he's a legitimate "modeling" agent. He advertises for "figure models," rather than for "porn stars." He gets them in the office to do nude modeling and soon persuades them to do porn. Regan is up front. Girl, you have to have sex with me before you can go anywhere.
Alien Abductions
Dudley Moore writes: Luke, I'd like to extend my ideas on Sunday's column Childhood Sex Traumas to explain the phenomenon of alien abductions.
I believe "victims" of alien abductions are simply recovering memory traces of trauma experienced in the presence of strangers they feared! The descriptions, for example, best fit the experience(lost to conscious memory) of having one's diapers changed in the presence of adults/strangers perceived as menacing.
The memory of being lifted up and off into the air as though in a spaceship and being surrounded by aliens could aptly be attributed to being picked up and given over bodily to a stranger and also to being surrounded by strangers and having one's diapers changed. Imagine how fearful and terrifying it is to be physically helpless, as an infant is, and given up bodily in one's entirety to a stranger perceived as somehow menacing or threatening by the infant.
The next time you hear of alien abductions I hope you'll remember how well it fits this theory of stranger fear in infants.
Also, another crucial point. I believe that once the infant/small child reaches the age where it becomes capable of sustained eye contact, it may feel violated by prolonged, direct eye contact with strangers, whom they perceive as menacing, just as other predatory mammals do. This is an important additional dimension of the sexual trauma which I believe is experienced with great intensity by the young child or infant, and thus it is an intense component of these recovered traumatic memories.
Also, Luke, I would appreciate your thoughts on the following question: What is it that all l-keford.com readers have in common?
Australian Porno
Mxyz writes on RAME: First, ABC radio has reported that the government has finally given up on the proposed NVE rating. As I have been predicting for years, the proposals were always unworkable and would never be implemented. The X rating will stay, and we can all carry on as if nothing has changed (because it hasn't).
Secondly, and even more amusingly, the Herald-Sun reported this morning that our old friend, Senator Brian "Ban The Smut" Harradine may be charged with breaches of the obscenity laws for organising a screening of porn films in Canberra some time ago. He gave the videos to National Party MP De-Anne Kelly, who showed them to several other members of parliament with the aim of demonstrating to them how horrible the X rating is. Trouble is, this amounts to a public screening, and public exhibition of pornos is illegal in Canberra.
Kelly and Harradine have been reported to the Federal Police by an Australian Democrat senator. Worse, one of the films (not named in the report, but it was Max Hardcore's Going South) is not classified at all. If it is deemed to be outside the X classification (highly likely) then Harradine could be facing a charge which carries a prison term.
Luke Gets Mail
LT writes: Heather Barron wrote how straight up John T. Bone (Bowen) was for telling her that her body was "s---". Guess what Heather?, Mr. Bowen says that to anyone that doesn't have massive fake tits! (he says that to all the girls, literally!). A supermodel could come in and he'd say the same to her. Mark Carriere is another that always finds "flaws", no matter how perfect a woman. Congratulations, you bought it. If you'd have disagreed, he'd have re-inforced it all the more. Gotta get that self-esteem beaten down. To some of these guys it's more a head trip and power trip than anything else.
Rumdar writes: Luke It is great to read in print that NJG is getting wet undies over the very protective John Decker. It seems Mr. Decker did a darn site better in his street brawl than you made out in yours with that XXX errrrrrrr! never mind. By the way, do we have anyone's word other than Mr. Decker's for what allegedly transpired? Challenging an indolent, thieving, knife wielding Afro crackhead over a suitcase full of stinky used clothing doesn't seem like anything your average white boy would want to undertake. Next up in the battle of the suitcases, Marc Davis? PS..I too wanna know if she boinked him?
Ann Hedonia write: Hey Luke- If NJG is done with Mr. Decker, will you hook me up? I'm normally dominant, but I'd switch for him. Pleeeeeeease? I'll teach you all the verses to dyaenu for your next seder! - Anne Hedonia.
Fred: anhedonia n. Psychol. lack of pleasure or of the capacity to experience it. (Random House Unabridged Dictionairy.) In other words, anhedonia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to experience pleasure.
Bytch writes: Fred- That is indeed what it means - straight outta the DSM IV! - AH and Luke - I'm totally serious. Okay, I'll double the stakes here...all the verses to dyaenu AND Had Gadyah for your next seder. Oh, wait, since it's your website, I'm supposed to include my measurements and say how nice my outer labia are or something to accomplish this. Aw hell, I'll just get his damned number and call him myself! -AH
Mc writes: This is Marc from TX i had emailed you before about some nasty comments said on your website about Gina Ryder and you replied back and said you apologized to her and her ex who did all the s--- apologized too. I thought that was nice of you to do that and i'm happy for her that she doesn't have to deal with that crap anymore cause like i said i think she is one of the prettiest, nicest, sexiest, and cutiest women i have ever met and she is a breath of fresh air for the industry but i didn't think that was right the way people talked about her and Shay Sweet cause Shay is a cutie pie also. I feel sorry for Brooke Ashley cause that wasn't right how she got done and then the comments made about Jenna Jameson were not right either. I have a ? Luke whatever happened to sexy little Tia Bella cause she was like the most beautiful woman along with Racquel Darrian, and Kobe Tai that worked for Vivid. To me she is the bomb!!!!! I was sad to hear that Jenna's movie Dreamquest is her last one for Wicked cause she is the bomb too. Also, what happened to Leeanna Heart and Davia Ardell cause they are both pretty too.
Luke TV
I want to interview people from the porn industry for my new TV show shooting June 20th in Culver City. Email Luke
Did Lynne Do Wrong?
Lynne writes: Dear Rabbi Luke:
Please tell me -- did I do wrong?
These guys are used to moving. Bikers are not the most stable people. Old furniture, pieces of Harleys, piles of scrap lumber. The usual stuff. I, on the other hand, have hundreds of LP's and thousands of pounds of books. More books than anyone has ever seen outside a library. And no one minds, because they know I'm the smart sister, and going to college and all that stuff, Boxes of books pour out of my basement hovel up the stairs into a seemingly never ending river of knowledge.
Now, the social club is also a rock band. As in Led Zeppelin, Sammy Hagar, Lynryd Skynryd, mid-seventies rock in general. Total timewarp. What they call classic rock on the radio, and the stuff that was played when I was eighteen. For some people, their late teens and early twenties, the years when life is full of promise and a boy can dream of what he will become as a man, are their very best years. Twenty years down the road, life itself turns out to be a disappointment -- the dreams are the high point, and the music which accompanied them still sounds sweet. The hair is the same, the T-shirts are the same....it's life that weirded out on 'em.
I remember my late teens, early twenties, too. Guys in bands topped the list of potentially cool boyfriends. Guys with long hair who didn't work day jobs, who played the Starwood or the Whiskey on weekends, who were into back stage blow jobs and who just might introduce a girl to REAL rock stars, who could whisk a girl off into a fantasy world of national tours and unlimited sex and drugs... I remember...the past.
It is not, however, my place to critique the aesthetics of the men who are carrying my books up the stairs. Otherwise I will end up carrying them all myself, and that will take a very long time. I am in fact, very grateful. So when one of these gracious gentlemen turns to me with a big fat box of books in his arms and says, "You know, you should give me a blow job for this," I crack up completely.
I'm covered in sweat, my hair soaked in it, wearing filthy sweat pants and an equally filthy t-shirt and the idea that anyone would conceive of me as a sexual object is ludicrous, plus the old rock and roll back stage line is so out of place, and time -- it struck me as very, very funny!
But -- we'll call him DLR, for David Lee Roth, who he resembles (only with more hair), DLR really means it, and he probably does deserve a blow job for helping me move, because I have tons of s---. Books, records, business papers going back seven years, video masters, silverplate... it goes on forever. I tell him, "We'll see." The situation itself is hardly sexy. Filth, exhaustion and strangers who look like they've escaped from a 1976 road tour are not my usual turn-ons.
Still, when the move is over and DLR asks me if I want to take a shower, I do. I mean, I really do want to take a shower. A timely suggestion. So I check in with my brother to see what the deal is with this guy before I hop in the shower with him -- he's okay, I'm told, but he's getting married in July. Wonderful. But the shower is a good private place to discuss this sort of thing, so we hop in the shower and wash up, and DLR isn't quite ready to confess his marital status to me but does tell me that he wanted to have sex with me the moment he saw me (covered in sweat and dirt, right?). I get a nice look at his cock in the light, scrub it down, wash his hair, get everything nice and clean, discuss condom usage and leave everything open ended.
Luke said a few days back that he has had sex with 40 women and is very grateful for all of it. He has also said that he will never have sex with me. I love Luke dearly, but I, too, am grateful for offers of sex (especially after having been told over and over again on the site that, because I'm over twenty-five, I should dry up and blow away). So I go to the store myself and buy condoms. Shorthand for the New Millenium: handing someone a condom means, "Let's f---."
I hand DLR a Trojan and we end up in bed. I do have some second thoughts, because I do not like messing with guys who have relationships -- I think women are hurt enough by guys and shouldn't be hurting one another. The backstory, which I find out from his friends the next day, is that he's got one child and a pregnant girlfriend, who he caught in bed with another guy a couple of weeks ago, and he's really in a state of confusion about his relationship. He's planning to marry this girl after a five year relationship in six weeks. I really don't think my actions have hurt anyone, here.
DLR is my age, and reliving his rock and roll past, if only for an evening. For one night he is not a construction worker, but a guitarist, and I'm a chick who just happens to have a Lightning Hopkins LP in her collection. He says to me, "Please...I'm clean. I don't have AIDS or herpes or the clap. I've been in the same place for five years. Please just f--- me." I oblige. I'm probably showing him the most fun he's had with a woman for years. Sweet, mindless, no-strings-attached f---ing.
He is very proud of himself, his staying power and so forth, and I'm having fun exploring the potential of my new bunkbed for handholds and toeholds and sexual positions. Everything is going very nicely. I'd already decided to be nice and not make this a menage a trois -- to leave Luke out of it. Still, I can't help thinking how sad it is that this man, a total stranger, can so easily use his body to bring me pleasure when Luke cannot. And I think of how barren the physical act of sex is without the emotional component, for I do dearly love Luke.
I am giving a gift of pleasure and acceptance to DLR, who is indeed grateful for it, and asks me if I want to be his "lover" (I say "I don't know"), and I feel as though I have done a good deed. I seem to be no worse for it. I think that, considering what's going on emotionally in his life, he'll probably be back for more, at which point I'll have to evaluate the therapeutic aspect of the behavior against the ethical implications of having sex with someone who does not belong to me and in whom I am not interested. But I don't care either way....
I do love Luke, not because he's pretty or famous or an incredible f--- with a huge dick (we have his word for that), but because, within the limits of his emotional disability, he treats me very well and we share some mutual interests (reading, writing, pornography, Luke F-rd). I have no idea what kind of sex life he has at present -- I just know it isn't with me, nor will it be for the foreseeable future. I know that he desires women who can't be bothered with him, with their acceptance symbolic of entrance into the Jewish community as a whole (crashing Judaism being as hard as getting backstage at a Nine Inch Nails concert).
So, Rabbi, did I do wrong? Was anyone hurt? I know that a woman should only give herself to the man she loves, and who loves her in turn, but what if that man may never be capable of physical love with someone who truly cares about him? Is it wrong to break my vow of chastity to the man I love and use my body to ease the pain of another fellow human with a troubled soul? Or am I expected to maintain a superhuman isolation from the world until Luke heals enough to understand how precious and rare love truly is, and can receive love from those who wish to give it, rather than pinning his hopes on women who find him an "object of derision?"
Luke, I love you. Sometimes reality intervenes. I didn't do anything deliberately to f--- with you emotionally -- I don't work that way. I know you love me and that you're too f---ed up to deal with it. I don't intend to take advantage of that, or hurt you because of it or whatever.
I've had sex with hundreds of guys, from porn stars to strangers on the beach in Spain. It's just sex. Sex without love is incomplete, but so is love without sex.
You find it easy to tell me to "get my s--- together" and "deal with reality," but you would hate to have me say the same thing to you. I wouldn't even think it -- it would be unfair, given the real reality.
Rumdar: Luke.. Lynne L-patin's brother seems to have many problems. He is a biker drug dealer who sleeps on dirty mattresses and feasts on chicken assholes. If things weren't bad enough she informs him he is Jewish. Now he can develop a major neurosis and presumably have to sell more drugs to afford the therapy he will require........... Thanks sis.
Lord Peter writes: Dear Friend of Luke: That your heart is broken is clear to all who read your sad letters to Luke. But know this - no male member, not even Luke's, can fill the hole that lays at the heart of your soul. Only the love of Christ can fill that huge void. Accept Jesus into your heart, and everything else will fall into place.
Steven writes: Lynne, your comments about sex and love were absolutely true, and beautifully expressed. But theres a thorn..the emotions attached to love are not always positive. Caveat for the day; When someone offers you a meaningful relationship, find out what their meaning is first! Personally, Im through with "spiritually uplifting sex" and am looking forward to some good old fashioned, lip biting, back scratching, dont stop 'till the skin comes off, f---ing.
Lynne writes: No one understood that letter, Luke. I didn't feel sad at all, except for you, because I had fun and I want you to have fun, too. I thought I did a good deed for a suffering fellow being who had helped me out, and I was just returning the favor. Got laid, had orgasms. In a very egalitarian fashion -- went out and bought my own condoms, even. It never occurred to me to look at the guy's wallet, either.
Men (specifically Pat Riley, a few weeks back) complain that women never fulfilled their promise of sexual revolution, but when I do exactly what he proposed women should do (say "Sure, why not? And I've got the rubbers!) it's "Boner Poison?" I don't think the guy I f---ed was unhappy in the least. Next time a guy wants to have sex with me I'll turn him down, suggest he get a job as a doctor or lawyer, and go f--- a Tough Jewish Chick.
Speaking of whom, I'll bet she can't wait to go out with you. After she's put you in your place and established who's really in control in the relationship. Humiliation on a daily basis. You will never be good enough. She will never be pleased. The sex will dwindle in reverse proportion to the increasing bank account. Sounds like your every fantasy come true! You could be a real Jewish husband -- henpecked, miserable, and cheating on the side cause you're desperate for love.
Beware The False Flag
Lord Peter Luther Christian writes: Dear Mr. Ford:
Your web site contains a letter that reads "Hi Luke, I wrote you an email about a year ago . . . . And your Dad is really something too!!! " It is signed with my name. I did not write that letter to you. I would be very suspicious of someone claiming to be a Christian who pretends to be someone else.
On a separate matter, I received a letter from one "Ricki Spencer" asking me what I thought of the "community" you have created. The truth is, it is a community of the lost and unsaved, men and women who have not found Jesus in their hearts.
You, Luke, are the "center" of that "community" only in the sense of a hole is at the center of a doughnut. Each provides some pleasure, but only for a moment. Being saved by God on the other hand, has eternal worth. I see lots of professing jews, buddists, atheists, communists, socialists, new age-ers etc. in pornography but no saved Christians. But then one cannot both be a saved Christian and be associated with the pornography trade.
Yours in Christian Charity, Lord Peter Luther Christian, OBE
J.D. Considine writes: Lord Peter Christian etc. etc. writes: "...[O]ne cannot both be a saved Christian and be associated with the pornography trade." If so, then what brings you to l-keford.com, Peter? Did you wind up here after doing a Lycos search on keyword "sinners"? Just wondering.
Vatican Urges Media To Do The Right Thing
VATICAN CITY, May 30 (Reuters) - The Vatican, saying that the media could either help people reach heights of virtue or plunge to depths of degradation, on Tuesday urged communicators to do the right thing. In a 40-page document called ``Ethics in Communications,'' the Vatican said it wanted to help communicators by setting out positive principles that would help them put trust before trash, people before profits and righteousness before ratings.
``Entertainment media feature presentations of a corrupting, dehumanizing kind, including exploitative treatments of sexuality and violence,'' it said.
``It is grossly irresponsible to ignore or dismiss the fact that pornography and sadistic violence debase sexuality, corrode human relationships, exploit individuals -- especially women and young people, undermine marriage and family life, foster anti-social behaviour and weaken the moral fibre of society itself,'' it said.
Penthouse Copyright Violation
From Stunningcurves.com: Yahoo News has a report that Penthouse is going after people who post their copyrighted material on Usenet.
After months of observing the illegal posting of the copyrighted contents of its members-only section of its website to Usenet Newsgroups, Penthouse.com announced today it has moved against one of the worst offenders, "Muad'Dib@dune.com."
Following the issuance of a temporary restraining order and a search and seizure order from a United States District Court in New England, federal law enforcement officials and representatives of Penthouse.com served the orders on "Muad'Dib." Officials entered the subject's premises, which were then searched and all computer equipment and storage media found there were seized and placed under seal.
This action concluded a three-month investigation by Penthouse.com into the theft of its copyrighted materials.
Penthouse alleged that for some time "Muad'Dib" and others had been invading the members-only area of Penthouse.com's web site, where they would copy large portions of the site and then post the images and text in wholesale quantities to Usenet Newsgroups, most notably alt.mag.penthouse.
The theft and copying activities were carried out using anonymous email addresses. After determining the true identities of the most flagrant violators, Penthouse proceeded to assert its rights to the full and complete protection of the law.
Gerard Van der Leun, Vice-President of Online and Internet Services and Director of Penthouse.com, at General Media Communications in New York City made the following statement: "For some months now we have seen tens of thousands of our images copied wholesale from our site and posted to the Usenet Newsgroups by users operating under false email addresses and identities. The sheer scale of their activities and the clandestine manner in which they operated would leave no one in any doubt that their motives were malicious. Although we regret having to take such drastic actions as raids and seizures, we felt we had no choice for two reasons":
"First, our private members' area is a pay site. To protect our business, we need to control access to its contents and assert our ownership of our exclusive copyrighted images and material. Unlike many adult sites, our images and material are exclusive to Penthouse.com. They can be seen nowhere else on the web and are part of Penthouse's total inventory of over 150,000 images. They are our inventory as much as a bookstore's inventory is composed of the books on the shelves in the store. No business can tolerate or sustain this level of theft."
"Second, and equally important, is the fact that our pay site is an adult site. It is for adults only and we mean it. We take the responsibility of limiting access to our site and our content to adults very seriously. Once material is stolen from our site and posted to a global newsgroup we have no control whatsoever over who sees it. We certainly cannot tolerate or abet such a situation."
"Given the fact that 'Maud'Dib' has not only boasted of having more than 20,000 of our images on his computer, but was in the habit of filling requests for material from other members of the group, we felt we had no choice but to pursue this course of action. In the course of tracking down the true identity and location of 'Muad'Dib', we also had the opportunity of discovering the identities and locations of other members of this group. The action we will take against them has yet to be determined. We will, however, actively pursue and prosecute online theft and the unauthorized posting of our material from this point forward."
A settlement in the case was reached between "Muad'Dib" and Penthouse.com this afternoon. While a number of details of the settlement will remain sealed, Mr. Van der Leun stated that other actions will be forthcoming in the near future.
Muad'Dib@Dune.com writes alt.mag.penthouse: Many of you know me from my Usenet posts and from #SDC in Dalnet. I haven't been posting lately and there has been a lot of discussion about whether that was because Penthouse sued me for copyright infringement. I wish I could tell you that it wasn't true - but it is.
As most of you know, I had copied and reposted lots of Penthouse.com pictures - literally tens of thousands of them. I also developed and posted CSV index files to help others collect and organize these pictures. I now understand that I was doing was illegal, but I didn't think it was a big deal at the time. I was wrong. It turned out to be a really big deal. On April 20, 2000, federal Marshals came to my home and removed my entire collection of Penthouse files and my computer equipment. I had to hire a lawyer to handle the civil lawsuit that Penthouse had filed against me.
Copyright laws expressly permitted the Marshals to seize my computer equipment, especially in my case where the scope of the infringement was in the thousands of postings. Penthouse had an extremely strong case against me for "willful" copyright infringement because of my postings. If Penthouse had wanted to pursue the case, it could have obtained the type of monetary judgment against me that I could have worked my whole life and never been able to repay. Fortunately, Penthouse offered to settle the case for far less than my full liability would have been. I got lucky - Penthouse was interested more in stopping my postings than in ruining my life. The settlement also included a promise by Penthouse not to disclose my real name to protect my wife and family. Of course, I also had to promise not to post copyrighted photos to the Usenet anymore.
What happened to me could happen to you or anyone else uploading
copyrighted information to the Usenet. Now that the case has settled,
I can make this last post to warn you. Listen - you don't want to
go through what I just did. Believe me, it isn't worth it - even though
you might think that I got off kind of easy. I didn't. In addition
to the embarrassment and inconvenience of the seizure, I still have
to pay Penthouse damages under the settlement. As part of the settlement,
I also agreed (after this post) not to speak about the matter anymore,
so don't expect any replies. It is not in my interest to get Penthouse
angry at me again. I might not be so lucky next time.