In Amsterdam red light distict

From The Telegraph

The Amsterdam's famous red light district has seen better days. A morning stroll through this most picturesque part of the Dutch capital reveals signs advertising windows for hire and an atmosphere of general depression.

The decline in 'window prostitution' - where the working women display themselves behind glass for the passing clientele - has been documented in a new survey revealing that the number of window prostitutes in the Netherlands halved between 1999 and last year.

The survey, conducted by the 'Rode Draad', which looks after the interests of prostitutes, found that many women were working 16-hour days for a pittance.

Legislation passed in 2000 that legalised brothels with the intention of improving conditions for prostitutes had not led to better security or conditions, the report found.

Amsterdam's 'Wallen' red light district bears this out. In an alleyway near the Oude Kerk (Old Church) that traces its history to the 13th century, a row of girls smiles tautly at passers-by.

A blonde with an eastern European accent calls out an invitation in English, but an attempt to engage her in conversation meets with an increasingly frosty response. 'You are in, you pay euro 50 ($65),' she says.

The city authorities are investing large sums in the area, where most of the buildings are 17th century and many even older. The canal side roads are being repaved and the canals themselves repaired.

The Rode Draad report describes the atmosphere in many establishments as 'depressing' and notes that younger men show little interest in old style brothels and window prostitution.

It points to the rise in more upmarket businesses where sex is available for money, like massage salons, and saunas and to the 'eroticisation' of social life in general. The kind of kinky sex once sought in brothels is now to be had in the bedroom or at sex parties.
 

A third of Amsterdam's red light windows to go dark

From the BBC

Authorities in Amsterdam have ordered 33 sex clubs in the Dutch city's famed red light district to close by the end of the year.

The clubs, 20% of those operating in Amsterdam, have lost their licences or had an application for one turned down. The move affects a third of the windows where scantily-clad women are on show.

It follows a police investigation which revealed that a number of sex clubs were involved in illegal activities such as money laundering.

We're not knights on a morality crusade, and this is intended to target financial crime, not prostitution per se, city spokesman Martien Maten said: But we do think it will change the face of the red light district.

The owners of the affected clubs are able to appeal against the decision in court.
 

Amsterdam girls fight back

From the BBC

Brothel owners in Amsterdam's red light district have taken the city council to court over its decision to close a number of sex businesses.

The council is demanding the closure of 33 brothels, which account for around a third of the district's sex businesses, by the end of the year.

The prostitutes union says the move will force many women to work illegally. The brothel owners say they will go to the highest court to save a third of the windows in Amsterdam's famous red light district from disappearing.

Amsterdam's mayor, Job Cohen, claims that many sex businesses are fronts for criminal activity, such as women trafficking and money laundering.

But the prostitutes' union, the Red Thread, which represents 20,000 prostitutes, argues that closing legal brothels will force many women onto the streets.

The city council wants the banks to play a role by making it easier for sex businesses to get financing. Many have loans from private companies which the city council says are too risky. The city believes that with proper paperwork for registered brothels and prostitutes, banking could have a positive effect on the fight against crime at the heart of the sex industry.

   
Atlanta sex shop under threat

From X Biz

The legal battle over The Love Shack, an adult retail store operating in a suburban Atlanta neighborhood, took a new turn today, when a federal judge ordered the store owner to close his doors or face a possible contempt violation.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash rejected a claim by Love Shack owner John Cornetta that the retail establishment complied with Fulton County rules and should be treated as a regular store.

Immediately after the federal court granted the county’s request for a preliminary injunction to close the store, Cornetta and his attorneys filed a notice of appeal with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In his ruling, Thrash said it was clear to him that Cornetta was operating an adult store without proper permits and in violation of local zoning ordinances. He then warned Cornetta that if he stayed open with a “significant” amount of adult material, he would risk being held in contempt of court. However, the judge refused to define what a “significant” amount of adult material was.

This latest turn in the legal saga of the Love Shack marks a setback for Cornetta, who last week won a small victory in a state court when Judge Jerry Baxter tossed out the county’s claim that the store was open in violation of local laws. Baxter said the federal court, where Cornetta had earlier filed a case to force the county to issue him a business license, was a better venue for the matter.

The Love Shack remains open pending appeal.

   
Korean government pay cash for abstinence pledge

From International Herald Tribune
From The Korea Times

South Korea has launched a campaign offering cash to men if they promise not to buy sex from prostitutes after year-end office parties, government officials said.

The move is aimed at changing the party culture in this male-dominated society by winning commitments from male employees to abstain from hiring prostitutes after their parties finish.

A total 4.6 million won (US$5,000; €3,700) will be paid to companies based on the largest number of volunteers who sign a written pledge, said the official. Some 1,300 companies have so far participated in the campaign.

A government-funded study showed that South Korea's sex industry generated 4.1% of the country's gross domestic product in 2002 and employed 330,000 women. Some experts say the figures are grossly underestimated.

The government is also planning sterner punishment for job brokers involved in sex trade next year, setting up a maximum prison term of seven years and a fine of up to 30 million won ($32,150).

The new rules, which will go in effect in July next year will focus on those arranging prostitutes for hostess bars, hotels and other establishments, the Labor Ministry said.

The ministry said it will also provide cash rewards for people reporting on unlawful job brokerage activities, such as trafficking, fraud and other illegalities.

   
Anti adult business law ruled unconstitutional

From AVN

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a law banning nudity and imposing other restrictions on strip clubs violates the state constitution.

The court had already deemed the law unconstitutional in August 2005. The court’s decision was based on that fact that the law was tacked onto a bill toughening Missouri’s drunken-driving laws, and the state constitution requires legislation to deal with only one subject.

According to the Missouri Supreme Court, the strip club law constitutes “log-rolling,” which refers to the practice of gathering several matters in a single bill, in the hope of ensuring their passage.

According to Dan Margolies’ report for the Kansas City Star, the ruling last year was a victory for the adult entertainment industry and yet another setback for Missouri Sen. Matt Bartle, the Lee’s Summit Republican who sponsored the bill as well as other measures aimed at the adult entertainment industry.

Margolies’ report went on to say that the strip-club bill struck down banned full nudity; required dancers to stay at least 10 feet from customers and behind a rail; barred dancers from touching customers; and required customers and dancers to be at least 21 years of age.

In striking down the law, Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan found that it violated both the Missouri Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

Like it or not, Cole wrote, nude dancing qualifying as expressive conduct is constitutionally protected activity falling within the outer perimeters of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

   
State sees illegality in erotic movement

From X Biz

In a far-reaching decision that could potentially make cheerleaders or pop singers a target for prosecution, a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ban on erotic simulation in adult entertainment venues throughout the state of North Carolina.

The case of club owner Giovanni Carandola vs. Douglas A. Fox, chairman of the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, met its fate this week before the Circuit Court, which ruled that the state can prohibit erotic movements or gestures at alcohol-licensed establishments even if the performer is fully clothed. Only venues that are “primarily” devoted to the arts or theatrical performances are exempt from the ban.

The court’s decision comes as the last stop in a battle that began in 2000 when a commission officer for the ABCC witnessed dancers at Carandola’s Christie’s Cabaret performing in a manner that violated then-applicable state law.

Two years after Carandola was first cited, the 4th Circuit struck down that law for being overly broad, only to have the Legislature amend it last year with even more specific guidelines prohibiting adult venues from allowing simulated sex acts of any kind that mimic masturbation, sodomy, sexual intercourse, bestiality, oral copulation or flagellation. The terms of the amendment also included touching, caressing or fondling of the breasts, buttocks, anus, vulva or genitals and the use of artificial devices or inanimate objects.

In final arguments before the 4th Circuit, attorneys for Carandola argued that that law, even in its amended state, had a chilling effect on adult entertainment and posed a major threat to protections of the 1st and 14th Amendments.

The law exempts theaters, concert halls, art centers or theatrical performances when those performances are expressing “matters of serious literary, artistic, scientific or political value.”

No one would mistake a dancer gyrating her hips for someone having intercourse, nor believe that a Carolina Panthers cheerleader patting her buttocks as part of a dance routine was masturbating, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote in her dissent.

   
New York to suffer more jobsworths

From AVN

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that he will be bumping up the number of employees that monitor sex shop growth in New York City.

The New York Post reported that Bloomberg will be expanding the small city office that was set up 30 years ago to combat the growth of sex shops in Manhattan is to encompass all five boroughs.

The new unit will have a staff of 12, compared to the seven people employed by the old Office of Midtown Enforcement.

The Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, as it is now referred, will be responsible for coordinating various city agencies, including those empowered to shut down adult shops. According to The Post, the office will have other responsibilities, including investigating bazaars selling counterfeit merchandise and apartment buildings being illegally converted to hotels.

   
Canadian laws said to endanger sex workers

From 570 News

A leading advocacy group for decriminalizing prostitution in Canada is planning to take the federal government to court over laws that it says endanger the lives of sex workers across the country.

Valerie Scott, executive director of Sex Professionals of Canada, says the legal action will go ahead in January: The communicating and bawdy house laws are arbitrary. They do more harm than good, and we'll be filing in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. We're hoping to get a judgement from them within two years. Then we'll go to the Supreme Court of Canada with it.

The common bawdy house laws can evict women from their homes, since landlords receive a notice of their alleged activities, said Wendy Babcock, spokeswoman for the Sex Professionals of Canada.

Scott, who expects to be one of the plaintiffs in the court case, says the group will challenge the country's solicitation laws on constitutional grounds.

The sex trade in Canada falls into a legal grey area because, while prostitution itself is not illegal, activities related to it are. Individuals who communicate for the purpose of prostitution or who sell sexual services can be charged under the Criminal Code.

It's really unfortunate that our profession is one of the few professions that doesn't have any legal protection to it, Babcock said. Making it illegal is just forcing women into dangerous situations.

   
Malaysian calls for flogging of prostitutes

From Asian Sex Gazette

Malaysian lawmakers have called for foreign prostitutes to be flogged as a deterrent to others considering coming here to work in the sex industry, a report said this week.

Mohamed Aziz, from the ruling National Front coalition said: If we can impose whipping for drug addicts, why can't we do the same for prostitutes, he said in a proposal that was supported by at least one other lawmaker.

Malaysia's government is considering introducing tougher laws against prostitution amid concerns over an influx of foreign sex workers who are using tourist visas to enter the country.

Deputy internal security minister Johari Baharum has said that over 15,500 foreign women were arrested for prostitution from 2004 to July 2006, including more than 6,000 from China, 4,596 from Indonesia, 2,613 from Thailand and 1,316 from the Philippines.

Prostitution is illegal in the predominantly Muslim nation.

   
Cologne's pleasure tax take increases

From Hemel Hempstead Today

Cologne in Germany will earn a record 828,000 euros (555,000 pounds) in "sex tax" revenues this year, a figure well above expectations when the levy was first introduced in 2004.

Cologne officials said that the sex tax component of the "pleasure tax" had jumped from 790,000 euros in 2005 to about 828,000 this year.

Cologne has been charging prostitutes a flat 150-euro per month tax since 2004, replacing a voluntary reporting scheme.

In 2006, the city introduced a new 6-euro per day fee for "part-time" prostitutes who had claimed the 150-euro monthly fee was unfair. Authorities said many prostitutes had documents proving they were only working a few days each month.

Prostitution is legal in Germany and sex workers are required to pay tax on their income and a value-added tax.

Norwegian court rules that striptease is art

From the BBC

A Norwegian appeals court has ruled that striptease is an art form and should therefore be exempt from value-added tax (VAT).

The owners of the Diamond Go Go Bar in Oslo had refused to pay VAT of 25% on entry fees as tax authorities demanded.

The local authority had taken the club to court over its refusal to pay tax.

The lawyer for the club's owners argued that striptease dancers were stage artists just like sword-swallowers and comedians and deserved the same status: One can suspect there were moral scruples behind the tax authorities' claim since all forms of stage dance are free of value-added tax,

Striptease, in the way it is practised in this case, is a form of dance combined with acting, the judges ruled. The court's ruling upholds an earlier verdict of May 2005.

The court ordered the state to cover the court costs of the owners of the bar.

From The Guardian

A parade of prostitutes by police aimed at naming and shaming sex workers in southern China has sparked a backlash by an unusual coalition of lawyers, academics and the All-China Women's Federation.

As part of a two-month crackdown on vice in the booming city of Shenzhen, public security officers hauled about 100 women and some of their male customers through the streets on November 29.

Handcuffed and wearing bright yellow prison tunics, people in the parade attracted large crowds of curious onlookers. Although the women tried to cover their faces with surgical masks, it was not enough to hide their identities because police revealed their names, hometowns and dates of birth while publicly sentencing them all to 15 days in prison.

In a sign of the increased consciousness of individual v social rights, police were criticised for going too far. I think the parade is a violation of human rights, said Ai Xiaoming, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong. The public humiliation may frighten people, but it is not a good way to resolve problems. And it is not fair. Why are only sex criminals paraded in public? What about people guilty of graft and corruption?

The All-China Women's Federation filed a formal protest to the ministry of public security, saying the parade was "old-fashioned", "damaging to social harmony", and "an insult to all the women in China". Legal questions were also raised by Yao Jianguo of the Shanghai Promise law firm, who has written a letter of complaint to the national people's congress in which he accused the police of acting illegally and violating human dignity.

New adult service for Hungary

From Variety

Budapest-based film producers and distributors have unveiled adult viewing network LUXx TV, which will made available over Internet protocol television and cable.

It will be launched by LUXx Video, one of Hungary's most prominent porn film and video producer-distributors, owned and operated by filmmaker Istvan "Kovi" Kovacs.

LUXx TV reps said the network will offer 24-hour programming, with a package that includes access to a Web porn site.

LUXx will launch in January with little competition as regional erotic network, Private Gold, went off the air in this market last year.

Nutters prevailing over Louisiana adult business

Based on an article from X Biz

An ordinance recently adopted by the Tangipahoa Parish Council in Louisiana and crafted in part by the nutters of the Alliance Defense Fund could become the model used by cities across the country to restrict or prohibit adult stores, according to legal experts.

The law, adopted during a Council meeting on Nov. 13, took effect immediately. It outlines what owners and employees of sexually oriented businesses (SOB) may or may not do, and it enacts permit and licensing requirements, criminal background checks, hours of operation limitations, and health code, architectural and sign requirements.

ADF senior legal counsel Mike Johnson said:. The courts, from the Supreme Court down, have confirmed that [the model ordinance] is constitutional for local governments to do this.

Johnson said the ordinance was written so that it could be used in a wide variety of states, and to facilitate its use, the Scottsdale-based ADF has placed it on its website.

Kansas City, is one of the cities where the model legislation recently has been used, adopting it last Tuesday, according to Johnson.

Don't let the risk pedantic censors at the BBFC hear about this. It will give them ideas.

Based on an article from International Herald Tribune

Starting next year, French cable television channels will no longer be allowed to air porn with scenes of unprotected sex because it sets a dangerous example, the official French broadcasting watchdog High Audiovisual Council, or CSA, announced Wednesday.

The risks actors take by having unprotected sex during filming are real, AIDS awareness organization Act Up wrote to the CSA in January, pressing for the change. These films trivialize and possibly glorify risky sex.

The CSA agreed with the activist group, moving to classify unprotected sex in pornos as "delinquent behavior," noting that the films rarely showed sex between partners in committed, l

The new rule will affect nine cable channels licensed to air porn. Movies on demand, however, won't be affected because they aren't regulated by the CSA.

Based on an article from Irish Examiner

The Irish Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) homed in on a major player of Cork’s sex industry yesterday as 100 gardaí raided  massage parlours, lap-dancing clubs and sex shops across the city.

The series of coordinated raids began shortly after 8am and continued throughout the day. A total of 17 private and commercial premises across the city were targeted. At least three of the premises are owned by the same individual.

Teams of detectives from CAB and backed up by Cork officers raided at least two sex shops which they discovered had upstairs massage parlours.

It is understood the investigation is focusing on human trafficking and prostitution. They also raided one of the city’s busiest lap-dancing clubs.

They seized substantial amounts of cash, bundles of documents, video-tapes and DVDs from a number of the premises. Some of the premises were closed for several hours yesterday after the raids but many of the sex shops reopened last evening.

There were no arrests but a number of follow-up searches were continuing last night. The presence of large numbers of gardaí and ongoing surveillance is likely to seriously damage the businesses.

A CAB source said gardaí would be trawling through caseloads of seized documents in the coming days as part of a proceeds of crime investigation. Forensic accountants are also expected to trawl the documents to examine tax compliance issues.

From AVN
See also full list of nominations

Wicked Pictures’ Manhunters scored an overall high of 24 nominations, including Best Film, in the race for the 2007 AVN Awards. The nominations represent the best of the over 6,000 new adult videos reviewed during the period, Oct. 1, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2006.

Ninn Worx’ Sacred Sin, co-produced by rocker Eddie Van Halen, snagged 18 nominations, including Best Video Feature. Hot on its heels, with 17 noms, was Corruption, the first big-budget feature from Sex Z Pictures.

Close behind Manhunters in Best Film was Vivid’s big-budget Emperor with 18 nominations. Tailgunners, Jenna's Provocateur, Island Fever 4, The Fashionistas - Safado and Valentina.

Winners will be announced at the 24th annual AVN Awards show, January 13, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

From AVN

Those who like their Las Vegas lap dances with some fondling and caressing will have to go elsewhere after the Nevada Supreme Court banned dancers from getting too hands-on with their customers.

In a 5-2 decision Thursday, the high court upheld a Las Vegas ordinance that bans exotic dancers from fondling or caressing patrons to sexually arouse them.

Although a lawyer for some dancers said the measure effectively bans lap dancing, the city says strippers can continue to grind on their customers but must keep their hands to themselves.

Las Vegas police had cited 14 dancers for violating the ordinance for such activities as rubbing their breasts on customers’ faces and grinding their buttocks on customers’ groins.

A number of Las Vegas dancers challenged the law and a lower court agreed, saying the measure was too broad and unconstitutional, prompting the high court to step in and adjudicate the matter.

The ruling, however, would not affect a Clark County ordinance on clubs which allows erotic dancers’ clothed pubic region and anus to make contact with a patron’s legs during performances. Las Vegas is located in Clark County.

The dancers said they are weighing their options about on whether to proceed further with their case.

From Asian Sex Gazette

Oral and anal sex in private between consenting heterosexual adults would be legalised under Singapore's first major penal code amendments in 22 years, the government said recently.

Singapore, which in recent years has gradually eased social restrictions that have given it a straight-laced reputation, said it had conducted a comprehensive review of sexual offences in the penal code, which was enacted in 1871 and received its last significant amendments in 1984.

We sought to modernise it to be in line with social mores and emerging societal trends, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

Prostitution is not an offence in the city-state but the proposed amendments would make it a crime to purchase or solicit sex from anyone under the age of 18. What this new section does is to enhance the age of protection for females to include 16 and 17-year-olds when commercial sex is involved, the ministry said. The purchase or solicitation of anyone under 18 in a foreign country would become an offence which could be prosecuted in Singapore.

A gay rights group, People Like Us (PLU), welcomed the repeal of the section against carnal intercourse against the order of nature, which currently forbids oral and anal sex. But PLU expressed disappointment there is no plan to repeal a section which criminalises "gross indecency" between two males.

While acknowledging there have been no prosecutions against consenting males in recent years, PLU said retention of the section will signal to many that homophobia is justifiable and acceptable and has the support of the state.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in defending retention of the law against gay sex, noted that Singapore remains a largely conservative society: Many do not tolerate homosexuality, and consider such acts abhorrent and deviant. Many religious groups also do not condone homosexual acts.

Based on an article from The Times

The American pornography business is growing so fast that for the first time in a decade it is attracting the unwelcome attention of the White House and federal prosecutors.

When George Bush entered the Oval Office in 2001 he accused his predecessor Bill Clinton of being “soft on porn” and vowed to crack down on an industry that was generating $9.8 billion (£5.2 billion) a year. But anti-porn campaigners in Bush’s own party say that since then the president has been distracted by the war on terror and has done little.

Industry earnings have now risen to more than $12 billion a year. Top producers such as the Private Media Group are even listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

With an average 40% profit margin on DVD sales, explicit porn is twice as profitable as the music business. Porn revenues in the US are higher than all money generated by the combined professional American football, baseball and basketball franchises.

Production is booming too. According to Adult Video News, 13,500 titles were released last year, compared with 8,000 in 1998 and 1,250 in 1988.

Porn has also become high profile, with brands such as Hustler edging towards respectability. Hustler is published by Larry Flynt, who was the subject of a 1996 film The People vs Larry Flynt and has stated his net worth as $400m. His business, built around publishing more explicit videos and photographs than mainstream companies like Playboy, has an annual turnover of around $150m.

The business is now moving from video to online sales; many say the development of the internet has been driven by porn. There are some 4.2m pornographic websites, 12% of the total web content, according to the anti-porn watchdog Internet Filter Review. It says users make 68m pornographic searches every day, a quarter of all search engine requests. And some 40m adults in America admit to being regular users of the sites.

But a backlash against porn may be brewing. Chris Cannon, a Republican congressman from Utah is promoting a law that would allow states to define pornography and overturn national standards that protect free speech.

In the last three months federal prosecutors have initiated actions against companies in Arizona and California accused of distributing “extreme” DVDs, which lawyers are trying to separate from the so-called “vanilla” porn that Flynt says he sells.

Clay Calvert, communications professor at Pennsylvania State University, said that while films involving children or violence remain beyond the legal pale, many other genres that we used to call hardcore have gone mainstream in America. He suspects the latest crackdown has been motivated by the forthcoming congressional elections — politicians want to “warm up” evangelical voters.

But no matter how many indictments the government hands down, the genie is out of the bottle and there’s little that can be done to reverse the trend, said his colleague, Robert Richards, a co-director at the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment, which promotes free speech.

There is another problem facing the business: oversupply.

Peter Bart, editor-in-chief of Variety, the Hollywood trade paper, says 13,500 pornographic films represented an unprecedented glut: It is clear from the numbers that too many are being made to maintain a quality standard.

Porn producers agree. According to an editorial in Adult Video News, a shakeout is looming: Can you have too many college babes and biker girls? I say no, but the consumer might feel otherwise unless standards are improved and more imagination harnessed to the wheel. But, at the end of the day, people will never grow tired of sex. If they do, it’s the end of the world as we know it.

Based on an article from DW World

Today sees the opening of the first Berlin Porn Film Festival. The films are not exactly the sorts of movies you'll find down at the local multiplex. There is Sexual Sushi and TRANNYFAGS, Bulldogs in the Whitehouse and Naked Over the Fence. But most are showing in mainstream cinemas around Berlin this week during a film festival focusing squarely on the erotic.

Pornography itself is not a problem, it's only made into one, Jürgen Brüning, a filmmaker and producer and organizer of the first "PORNfilmfestival" told dpa news service. We want the festival to help get rid of pornography's filthy image.

The basic question posed at this festival is: 'What is pornography?' said Michael Höfner, the festival's media spokesperson. It is different things to different people. The young urban hipster will have a completely different view of the pornographic than will the Catholic bishop or observant Muslim. About 50% of the films in the show are simply discussions about sexuality.

There is a wide palette of movies that cover most of the sexual spectrum.

American Stag documents the development of adult film industry in the United States; a series called Dutch Pearls features controversial 70s-era films from the Netherlands, including a work by Paul Verhoeven, now a well-known Hollywood director. A collection of movies from Japan will strike many from the West as dancing on the outer edges of sexuality.

Curator Brüning tried to strike a balance of films that would appeal to both straight and gay audiences, as well as those somewhere in between. He also wanted to screen works that would appeal to both men and women, who often have different views on what is erotic.

The amount of interest in the festival has surprised its organizers, Höfner said. What started off as a volunteer-run, four-day festival with no budget scheduled to start on Oct. 18 was eventually expanded to the entire month of October, as seminars, workshops and additional films around sex and sexuality were added at various venues around Berlin.

Individuals well known in the alternative porn industry, such as performance artist Annie Sprinkle from San Francisco or Canadian punk porn film director Bruce LaBruce have come for screenings, workshops and performances.

According to Höfner, there have been no complaints about the festival from parties who feel bringing pornography to the movie theater around the corner is a step too far. Anyway, in a way, pornography has already made it into the mainstream movies, he said, citing the new film Shortbus by John Cameron Mitchell or the British film Intimacy: Today, porn is chic.

Based on an article from Mainichi

Tobita Shinchi is a distric standing on the site of the its predecessor, the old Tobita Yukaku (licensed brothel quarters), which was founded in 1918. After the Anti-prostitution Law went into force in April 1958, the old two-story establishments therein officially became "restaurants." But young women still sit by the ground floor windows waiting to escort male customers to rooms upstairs, assisted by businesslike crones who handle the negotiations.

At the 80 to 90 establishments currently operating in Tobita, rates begin at 11,000 yen (£50) for 15 minutes, rising to 16,000 yen (£75) for 20 minutes and 22,000 yen (£100) for 30 minutes; but discounts can be negotiated, especially with some of the older gals or when business is slow. Once inside the room, time is of the essence, and the standard method of getting clean prior to performing the act is a few quick swipes with a pre-moistened towelette.

After absence of five years, the first thing that struck Asahi Geino's reporter is how the quality of women working at Tobita had considerably improved. Some gals were even outstanding -- as cute, he said, as the "idols" that appear on TV.

What's the explanation for the sudden appearance of these lovelies?, wonders Asagei's reporter.

The quality has definitely improved over the past three years, says the editor at a magazine covering Osaka's "pink" trade. One theory is that a major police crackdown of 'fashion health' massage parlors at Daikokucho, which had the city's biggest pink area, drove the girls to work at Tobita.

Apparently Tobita gets away with things that would bring down the authorities elsewhere.

In the past, Tobita's workers featured a high percentage of women from Okinawa or Kyushu, who came to the big city in search of work. But recently, writes Asahi Geino's reporter, a surprising number of local Osaka girls can be found working there. The reason is simple economics. A gal's cut of the house take is 60 percent. By servicing 10 Johns a day, she clears about 100,000 yen -- an income no massage parlor or soapland can match.

More girls at Tobita are making efforts to cater to customer fantasies, such as by adorning themselves in maid costumes or wearing glasses to give them a more "intellectual" appearance.

Asahi Geino's survey of Kansai red light districts doesn't stop at Tobita. A map of the region identifies now fewer than nine locales where houses of prostitution operate openly. Osaka proper boasts two other red-light areas: Matsushima Shinchi in Nishi Ward (70 shops) and Imazato Shinchi in Ikuno Ward (30 shops), bringing the city's total to nearly 200. And other red-light areas can be found around Kannami Shinchi in Amagasaki City (30 to 40 establishments); Shintaizan Shinchi in Izumi City (30 establishments); Gojo Rakuen in Kyoto (15); Ikoma City (10); Takii Shinchi in Moriguchi City (10) and Tenno Shinchi in Wakayama City (5).

Based on an article from gridskipper

Tokyo has the most intense, well-developed and generally fucked up fetish scene in the world.

Fetish clubs in Tokyo abound. Most recently, anybody with a pair of eyes and a libido has seen Joan Sinclair's photoessay on Tokyo's sex clubs: they've got mermaids, girls in green goo, breast touching, stewardesses. But these are all relatively above board, as far as Tokyo fetishes go.

Not only are the Japanese responsible for my personal favorite, bukkake (literally: splash), but for many many many lesser known fetishes. Ganmen kookegi, for instance, face attack, nyotaimori, a fetish in which one eats off a naked woman while unagi is a fetish of putting eels in a woman. Kikkou, the Japanese good ol' bondage, is one of the most popular hentai fetishes, rivaling Cosplay in its pervasiveness.

But perhaps the most emblematic fetish is ha daisuki, dental exam, where the "porn" merely features women (fully clothed) getting their teeth checked. What is more badass then taking dental hygeine and making it dirty?

Based on an article from Planet Out

The Bush administration is seeking to overturn a court decision that lets nonprofit AIDS groups apply for federal funding without signing a pledge opposing prostitution and sex trafficking.

At least one of the groups, DKT International Inc., has refused to sign the pledge because it helps distribute condoms to prostitutes and other sex workers in Vietnam. DKT last year sued the U.S. Agency for International Development, contending their free-speech rights were violated by a 2003 law requiring that they explicitly oppose prostitution and sex trafficking to qualify for part of a $15 billion AIDS program.

In May, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan sided with DKT, saying the funding conditions insist that groups "parrot" the U.S. government's position on prostitution.

But the Justice Departmentcalled the funding condition "highly germane" to the overall goal of fighting the spread of AIDS and HIV: Congress could reasonably determine that the government's efforts to stamp out prostitution and sex trafficking would be most successful if HIV/AIDS services are provided by organizations that affirmatively oppose two underlying causes of the disease.

The case now heads to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Based on an article from AVN

The US Spice Digital Networks have been re-branded and re-launched as four distinctly new channels: clubjenna, SPICE:XCESS, fresh! and shorteez.

The new channels debuted today. All four channels are available to operators with customised levels of censorship.

• clubjenna will primarily feature productions, with premieres from CJI, Vivid, Wicked, and more, along with live events
• SPICE:XCESS will focus on ‘must see’ internet oddities, ‘caught on tape’-themed content, MILFs, fetish, ethnic, and ‘alt’ programming.
• fresh! will include series consisting of reality programming, casting calls, themed auditions and similar genres
• shorteez looks to cater to the fast-paced, short attention span, new generation of adult fans looking for more content in less time.

Based on an article from The Irish Independent

Prostitutes working in Dublin are now making significantly more money than they can earn in most other European cities, and a senior garda says our law-makers should consider legalising the business.

Gardai say that Eastern European girls are charging punters up to €400 an hour. Average half-hour rates are now running at €130 which compares to just €50 for the same period in cities like Hamburg and Amsterdam.

A major investigation into the brothel bosses has resulted in four facing charges for brothel-keeping and organising prostitution and files on the other two are set for the DPP.

Detective Superintendent John McKeown, who heads Operation Quest at Store St Station, says that there is no evidence that any of the girls are being forced into prostitution, none is underage and most pocket 50% of their earnings.

He says the oldest profession in the world is experiencing similar benefits of our booming economy as other industries and Dublin is now a highly sought after place to work. And he believes that politicians should considering legalising prostitution in a bid to monitor it properly and offer more protection to girls.

We have carried out an in-depth investigation into organised prostitution over the past 18 months and we have found no evidence of exploitation or trafficking. There are no gangs involved and there is little violence.

The youngest girls appear to be 19 and most are in their 20s and early 30s. We have found no evidence of underage girls working - the pimps don't want to bring that kind of attention on themselves. The girls are working because they want to make money and Dublin is somewhere that they can earn a lot of money," Detective Superintendent McKeown said.

I was very surprised when we started this investigation to find that a lot of the old myths regarding prostitution have gone out the window. It is a service that is in demand and there is a lot of money about nowadays. To put it simply, there is room for everyone and plenty of work. The pimps know one another and work side by side. They don't want trouble and there are rarely disputes."

Polish, Slovenian and Lithuanian girls make up the vast majority of foreign prostitutes working here. They work in six to twelve months stints, then return to their homelands with money to invest or save. According to gardai, they work in small brothel units in many major apartment complexes around the city centre and can vacate the flats within minutes if required.

They usually operate for a few weeks before we start getting complaints about the comings and goings. Then they will close up and rent out a new apartment within days. They are very resilient and just keep coming back.

Operation Quest have also investigated a number of lap dancing clubs but say they have found no breaches of the law within that industry and no exploitation.

Again the girls are here willingly and it is their choice to work in the business: they are earning a lot of money. They seem to be very happy doing what they are doing. They are not breaking any criminal laws. Obviously prostitution is morally wrong but there are no laws being broken because the girls aren't soliciting sex on the streets, said McKeown.

We do not go after the girls - we wouldn't even consider doing that. It is the organisers that we are interested in, But the fact is that prostitution is here to stay and perhaps it is time that our legislators started to consider making it legal and getting a proper handle on it. Of course that would mean that taxes would have to be paid and maybe Dublin wouldn't be as lucrative a place to work.

Sounds a large haul, I hope it does not lead to a shortage here in Thailand.

Based on an article from Monsters & Critics

Malaysian police seized two container-loads of pornographic video compact discs (VCD) and digital video discs (DVD) worth some 1.2 million ringgit (325,000 dollars).

The raid, conducted late Monday, also resulted in the detention of two men believed to be managers of the northern Penang state's largest pornographic distribution ring, said police chief Christopher Wan Soo Kee.

The 150,000 pornographic discs were stored in two 40-foot containers parked in an industrial area. A small number of pirated music albums and movie discs were also found, he said. The discs were believed to have been brought in from neighbouring states and meant for local distribution.

Based on an article from News.com.au

The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) chairman Robert Needham has released findings from a recent inquiry into escort services, rejecting calls for them all to be legalised supposedly in a bid to stamp out illegal and dangerous trade.

The CMC has recommended combating illegal prostitution through further cracking down on advertising, disabling telephone numbers used to advertise illegal prostitution services and creating new offences targeting illegal escort agencies.

In Queensland it is only legal for sole prostitution operators to provide in-house services and visits to a client's home, and for licensed brothels to provide in-house services.

All other prostitution services, such as independent "escort agencies" and call outs from licensed brothels, are illegal.

Needham has said a previous CMC probe into prostitution found large-scale organised crime "virtually non-existent" in the industry. However legalising escort prostitution would lead to "just too many risks", he said: This could include an expansion of the industry which could lead to more organised crime and sex trafficking, as the industry attempted to meet the increased demand for sex workers and the illegal industry competed with the legal industry.

Nor are we persuaded that legalising escort services would actually encourage illegal operators to move across into the legal industry - an argument frequently put forward for legalising outcall services. Instead, he has said, the existing legal industry should be supported through attacking illegal trade.

The CMC's recommendations include requiring ads for social escorts to include the prominently displayed words "non-sexual" or "sexual services are not provided".

From X Biz

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case involving a Texas law banning the sale of sex toys shaped like sexual organs.

Ignacio Acosta, an employee at an adult bookstore in El Paso, Texas, was arrested for violating the law after he allegedly showed a penis-shaped sex toy to two undercover officers. According to a police report, Acosta allegedly told a female officer that the sex toy would arouse and gratify her.

Acosta challenged his arrest, arguing that the law was unconstitutional because it prevents individuals from using the sex toys in violation of their sexual privacy.

An El Paso County court agreed with Acosta, granting his motion to dismiss the criminal charges. But a state appeals court reversed the lower court’s ruling and reinstated the charges.

Acosta’s lawyer urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case in light of conflicting rulings throughout the nation as to the sale of so-called obscene sex toys.

Colorado, Kansas and Louisiana courts have all weighed in saying that laws banning the sale of sex toys on obscenity grounds are unconstitutional. Courts in Georgia, Mississippi and Texas have upheld sex toy bans.

The case will now go to the El Paso County court for trial.