LOS ANGELES—Perez Hilton is reported to be the most hated person on the internet—but he may also be the stupidest. Not content to spit venom at any passers-by he feels deserve the special treatment, the bad boy of gossip posted a sexually explicit porn clip to his site Monday featuring Chuy Bravo, the little person sidekick on E! Online's Chelsea Lately.
As thoughtless as posting the porn may be, considering his site is a magnet for teens, Hilton also neglected to abide by 2257 federal labeling requirements, and possibly the record-keeping requirements as well, an oversight that could in a worst-case scenario net him five years in the pokey.
18 USC 2257, for those who don’t know, is the law—currently being challenged in federal court by the Free Speech Coalition (FSC)—that is meant to regulate the labeling and record-keeping required of all websites, magazines, movies and other content that contain visual depictions of sexual activity covered under the law. There are myriad things wrong with the regulation, but until it is overturned or altered it remains the law of the land.
Perhaps its most minimal requirement says that web pages that contain sexually explicit videos and photos must also have a link to a 2257 compliance statement, or the statement itself, containing the name and address of the custodian(s) of records, who are required to keep records relating to the age and identity of the performers in the content, as well as other information.
There are certain lesser requirements (2257A) for mainstream Hollywood producers who only produce simulated sexual content, but there is no exemption that we are aware of for gossip sites. What’s worse, Hilton apparently got the video from a tube site that itself contains no 2257 statement, adding another layer of injury to insult, his apparent stock in trade.
Oh, if only they were still doing 2257 inspections!
[Ed Note: The author is a plaintiff in Free Speech Coalition v Holder, which may explain his lack of empathy for those outside the industry who flout this particularly illogical and unconstitutional law. That said, he doesn't really want Perez Hilton to undergo a 2257 inspection or suffer legal consequences because of the porn clip. Emotional ones will do just fine.]
