PRESS RELEASE
DR. LAURA'S DIRTY DOZEN - 12 PHOTOS IN WHICH SHE BARES ALL GO UP ON THE INTERNET.
SEATTLE, October 22, 1998-- A dozen fully nude photos of Dr. Laura Schlessinger taken by an ex-mentor have made their way to the Internet, revealing "My Kid's Mom" in poses that will stun her 18-million radio fans. \n The photos and an accompanying news story posted Friday 8 a.m. PDT, on the notorious www.clublove.com Website operated by Internet Entertainment Group (IEG, www.ieg.com), the company that has gained fame for posting photos and videos of celebrities, including the "Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee: Hardcore and Uncensored" videotape. \n The photos of Dr. Laura, were taken when she was in her 20s by Bill Ballance, a prominent California radio personality who is accredited with launching the career of the radio shirink. Ballance, who will be 80 on October 27, told IEG that Dr. Laura willingly posed for the photos and insisted that they show full frontal nudity, including some extremely revealing closeups. \n Schlessinger, now 51, is married to Lew Bishop, who manages her career, and the couple has a 12-year-old son. She converted to Judaism and is allied with the strict Orthodox branch of the faith, and she frequently is seen wearing a Star of David around her neck. At public appearances, she has been known to pass out buttons reading, "Character Does Matter." \n "With these photos she could become a poster girl for her own best selling book, 'Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives,'" according to Seth Warshavsky, President of IEG. "Here's a case of a woman who sets herself up as a paradigm of virtue and it turns out she has had a few salacious moments in her own life." \n An article in the September 1998 issue of Vanity Fair says Dr. Laura admits doing things "I regret and have shame for" and says she is "repentant: I have moved on: \n I see no reason to embarass myself." \n According to the article, when Ballance was told she was writing a book on the Ten Commandments, he jokingly replied: "She's broken them all." Ballance, who is credited with inventing modern talk radio, is also quoted as saying: "You want to talk to me about Laura? This ogre I created?" \n IEG will offer free one-week memberships in www.clublove.com to all persons over 18 who want to see the Dr. Laura pictures and read the accompanying article about her. The photos will be displayed using "Live Picture Technology," which enhances quality and enables the viewer to zoom in on specific body parts. Internet Entertainment Group is a leading provider of "adult" content Websites on the Internet, and manages sites in a variety of other fields, incliuding sports, gaming, legal services and psychic entertainment. \n
Temporary Injunction
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\r\n PRESS RELEASE\n
INTERNET ENTERTAINMENT GROUP WILL FIGHT AN ATTEMPT BY DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER TO BAR NUDE PHOTOS FROM WWW.CLUBLOVE.COM WEBSITE
Seattle (October 23, 1998) - Internet Entertainment Group (IEG), the Company that posted 12 nude and revealing photos of Ms. Laura Schlessinger on its www.clublove.com Website, says it will fight the temporary injunction that forced it to remove the pictures within hours after they went on the Internet. \n IEG says a ruling obtained from U.S. District Court Central District of California Judge Pregerson by Ms. Schlessinger is without merit and the Company expects to have it lifted. While she claims that the photos are not of her, she also states that she owns the copyright to them. \n Shortly after they went on the Internet, thousands of computer users swamped the www.clublove.com Website to get a glimpse of the photos taken by a former boyfriend, Bill Ballance, of a then 28 or 29 year-old Dr. Laura. She was married to her first husband at the time the photos were taken by Mr. Ballance. \n Seth Warshavsky, President of IEG, issued the following statement: "How utterly ironic it is that Dr. Laura claims that the photos in question are phony, and also says that we cannot use them because she holds the copyright to the pictures. It is no more ironic than the fact that this woman has set herself up as a paradigm of morality when she has posed for very sexy photos taken by a lover while still married. We are confident that when all the legal aspects of this case are finished, we will prevail in our right to carry the photos and news stories about Dr. Laura." \n
\r\nIEG is Free to Air Nude Photos of Dr. Laura Schlessinger on Website.
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\r\n PRESS RELEASE\n
LOS ANGELES (November 2, 1998) - A Federal judge today ruled that Internet Entertainment Group (IEG), is free to air 12 revealing photos of \n Dr. Laura Schlessinger on its www.clublove.com Website. Judge Dean Pregerson of the U.S. District Court Central District of California lifted a temporary injunction obtained by the radio agony aunt that had forced IEG to remove the pictures within hours after they went on the Internet last Friday. \n Judge Pregerson ruled that IEG will not be restrained from showing the nude and seminude photos of Dr. Laura, as she is known to her radio listening audience, when it bought them from her former mentor and lover, retired Los Angeles radio personality Bill Balance. The couple had an affair some 20 years ago, when both were married to other people. Dr. Laura at first publicly denounced the photos as phony, then went into Federal Court to say that she owns the copyright to them. \n The photos and an accompanying news story were viewed by thousands during the 10 hours they were on the www.clublove.com Website. IEG said the photos are being restored immediately and is offering a free one-week subscription to www.clublove.com. \n Seth Warshavsky, President of IEG, issued the following statement: "We are delighted at Judge Pregerson's decision. We never doubted our legal right to put the photos and story on the Web and never once thought that the judge would not turn over the Temporary Restraining Order. What makes them so interesting is that Dr. Laura has set herself up as some sort of stern archetype of virtue who attacks callers if they reveal an extramarital affair. The photos and news story show that she, too, is human and has defects of character." \n IEG is a Seattle-based Internet content provider specializing in adult entertainment, legal services, financial information through its websites. \n
\r\nDr. Laura is New Internet Pinup
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\r\n For years, Dr. Laura Schessinger preached the gospel of old fashioned morality to an estimated 18 million listeners daily on her national radio talk show. Now those same listeners, along with anyone else with access to the Internet, can see more of Dr. Laura than ever before. \n There are 12 nude pictures of her posted at www.clublove.com, a Web site operated by the Seattle based Internet Entertainment Group. \n Dr. Laura, 51, went to considerable lengths to halt the posting of the shots, taken about 25 years ago by a boyfriend at a time when she was married to her first husband. She got a temporary emergency injunction that required IEG to take the pictures off the Web site after they had been up for about eight hours and received an estimated 14,000 hits. \n A few days later, though, the injunction was lifted and federal judge Dean Pregerson ruled IEG has the right to put the photos, referred to as "the dirty dozen," back on the Web. \n The judge said he "did not feel it was productive" to continue the injunction because "this matter has been spattered on the Internet already." \n IEG got the photos from Bill Ballance, an 80 year old Southern California radio talk show host. He said Dr. Laura voluntarily posed for them more than two decades ago when they were having an affair. Reportedly, he received $50,000 for the shots. \n For Ballance, probably more than money was involved in the transaction. He was among the first to talk about sex issues on radio and Dr. Laura was his protégé. He has taken a dim view of her judgmental stance in recent years and, in one interview, referred to her as "this monster I've created." \n For her part, Dr. Laura, author of "Ten Stupid Things Women Do To Mess Up Their Lives" and a new book, "The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life," has said nothing publicly about the photos. Up until the most recent ruling, she kept mum on her radio show, issued no press statements and, through her lawyer, turned away all interview requests. \n Dr. Laura is known for her outspoken stances against divorce and adultery and in favor of abstinence before marriage and taking responsibility for one's actions. She has offered listeners the software program WebChaperone to help them avoid sexually explicit material on the Internet. \n In her request for an injunction, Dr. Laura claimed copyright violations, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. IEG lawyer Derek Newman argued that the photos were newsworthy and that the company legally obtained the copyright to them from Ballance. \n Seth Warshavsky, IEG president, called it ironic "that this woman has set herself up as a paradigm of morality when she has posed for very sexy photos taken by a lover while still married." \n Those who wish to see Dr. Laura's pictures can do so for free by providing information requested to obtain a week's trial membership at Clublove. Regular memberships at the Web site cost $24.95 a month. \n IEG has been best known as the distributor of the Pamela Anderson Lee honeymoon sex tapes. Coincidentally, the same day that Judge Pregerson ruled against Dr. Laura, he also ruled against a suit by Pamela and Tommy Lee. He said the two stars of the best selling adult video of all time had no legitimate claim against IEG, which purchased rights to the video.
