The Reykjavik Police Department is looking into the Snow Gathering webmaster event to see if the conference breaks the Icelandic penal code. The conference—taking place March 7-11—is a gathering of porn industry executives who meet and discuss various aspects of the adult entertainment business.
According to the Gay XXX Review, Reykjavik police Chief Stefan Eiriksson confirmed "the police are investigating this matter, and the national commissioner of the Icelandic police will also be going over some aspects of the case. We are making an assessment if there might be something illegal going on there that would require our intervention."
According to news reports in Iceland, Mayor Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson requested that "police investigate the attendees of the upcoming pornography conference, as there could be child molesters and producers of child pornography at the venue of such a conference." This statement was in response to a challenge posed by rape-victims' organization Stígamót, which encouraged government officials to stop the conference from taking place.
"We are very satisfied with the mayor's response," said Jónsdóttir, a spokesperson for Stígamót. "It is enjoyable that he responds with such responsibility, and we hope that the government will do their job and stop this conference from taking place."
In a prepared statement, Maurice, owner and founder of FreeOnes.com and organizer of the event, said, "First of all, FreeOnes.com would like to apologize for any inconvenience the whole commotion in Iceland has caused anyone attending this year's Snow Gathering. We never expected this extensive media coverage and the subsequent discussions our visit has generated. In order to try to clarify our visit and show our good intentions, we have been talking to the Icelandic authorities, and the police department assured us that as long as we obey the Icelandic legislation, we will not encounter any problems."
Maurice explained that his company is well aware that "producing and/or distributing pornography is illegal, so it is obvious we will obey these rules. All of the commotion and protests have been caused by [Stígamót], and [the majority] of Icelanders do not have any inconvenience or problems with our event.
"The Snow Gathering got extensive media attention due to the protest of several feminist parties who not only oppose to the Snow Gathering, but oppose pornography in general," Maurice continued. "We do not fully understand but do accept that there are people, even in 2007, who are offended by pornography—and we totally respect this point of view. The only thing we will not accept or tolerate is to be linked to child pornography, human trafficking, rape, or prostitution. We—and we suppose everybody who will be attending the Snow Gathering—are 100-percent against this kind of behavior and do not condone it in any way.
"We would like to point out that this attack has not been aimed at the Snow Gathering as an isolated target," he went on to say. "The discussions and criticism FreeOnes.com encountered as the organizers of this event has basically been an attack on everybody who is trying to conduct a decent, legitimate business in the adult entertainment business. We are very grateful that the majority of you understood this, and we would like to thank everybody for their continuous support, understanding, and their interest shown in resolving this matter."
As it stands now, the conference is expected to continue without additional interference from the Icelandic government.
