TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Monday that his office is now suing in state court the parent companies of Aylo and Segpay for non-compliance with the state's House Bill (HB) 3 age verification requirements for adult entertainment platforms.
“Florida is committed to being the best place to raise children," Uthmeier said in a press statement. "We passed strong legislation to keep kids from being exposed to harmful and toxic material, and instead of following it, these platforms ignored it."
"We are taking them to court to make sure they cannot continue bypassing Florida’s common sense safeguards," he added. Uthmeier filed two separate complaints in state court alleging violations of HB 3 that are punishable by up to $50,000 per violation of non-compliance.
In the first complaint, the affiliated companies that comprise the high-risk payment processor Segpay are targeted for non-compliance. Uthmeier insinuates in the suit that pornography is "addictive" like drugs and alcohol, relying on pseudoscientific evidence that age verification could serve as a public health intervention.
"The defendants of the first complaint distribute or publish the website xh.lustyheroes.com," Uthmeier's statement reads. "This site not only distributes pornographic video game content on its website, but it [also] does not have any age verification process compliant with Florida law to prevent children from accessing its content."
The second complaint brings forward similar claims against Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, and subsidiary Nutaku. Nutaku is a popular adult gaming platform offering games compatible with mobile devices and most personal computer operating systems.
"The defendants of the second complaint operate a variety of websites with pornographic and sexually explicit material that is harmful to minors, including, but not limited to, Nutaku.net, SpiceVids.com, PornHub.com, RedTube.com, Tube8.com, and YouPorn.com," the statement notes.
"SpiceVids, Pornhub, RedTube, Tube8, and YouPorn provide pornographic content on their websites while Nutaku distributes pornographic video game content online," it adds. "Neither SpiceVids nor Nutaku have any age verification process compliant with Florida law to prevent children from accessing its content."
This is the latest round of litigation from Uthmeier's office about failures to comply with House Bill 3. Last month, Uthmeier sued the firms that own tube sites XVideos and XNXX. AVN covered these complaints previously.
Uthmeier is also suing these companies for violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA). He asserts, applying FDUTPA, that the defendants engaged in some form of deceptive trade practices.
Corey Silverstein, an attorney representing Segpay, told AVN that his client has not yet been officially notified of litigation from Attorney General Uthmeier's office.
"Segpay has yet to be served with any formal complaint and maintains a policy of not commenting on pending or threatened litigation," Silverstein told AVN.
A spokesperson for Aylo has not returned AVN's request for comment as of post time.
