Italy has approved a controversial porn tax, according to an Italian news agency.
The earnings of porn superstars at the internationally successful Diva Futura porn factory - the stable that gave the world '80s porn divas Cicciolina and Moana Pozzi - will be among the hardest hit by the 25 percent tax , Italy's Ansa agency reported.
According to the Ansa story, stars like 'Italian Stallion' Rocco Siffredi - still at 41 by far the most bankable male performer - have threatened to take to the streets to protest the measure .
"The government has declared war on sex," Siffredi, who has taken part in two non-porn films and says he wants to spend more time with his family, told the agency.
According to the news agency, some say the tax will raise costs to consumers of videos and magazines "by 30-50 percent."
The report said that industry insiders claim the taxman just wants a chunk of a multi-million-euro business.
Italy puts out some 400 adult films a year and has more than 2,500 sex shops, according to the story. The porn tax is applicable to all revenue from the production, distribution, sale and projection of hardcore materials, Ansa said.
The porn tax will be applied for the first time to subscriptions for satellite TV porn channels such as Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia per-pay-view offerings, according to the report.
There is a very similar tax in France, Ansa said.
