August 3, 2006 | Sex & Society

2257 inspections begin

Like a monster under the bed, the threat of Regulation 2257 inspections have been hiding in the dark, waiting to pop out and scare the bejeesus out of the adult entertainment industry. That moment came last week as the FBI began conducting a 2257 sweep, surprising three porn producers with teams of agents charged with reviewing their model  records.

The lucky subject of the government's first ever 2257 inspection -- the purpose of which is to verify that models are of legal age --took place at the offices of Diabolic Video of Chatsworth, Calif., owned by Greg Allan.

Allan's attorney, Jeffrey Douglas, who also is chairman of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), said that the FBI took the better part of a day to examine his client's records, using only its own agents and its own equipment; his client passed the inspection, he added.

Following Diabolic's inspection, the FBI visited Sebastian Sloane Productions, a gay content producers, in Bethlehem, Pa., and Robert Hill Releasing in Chatsworth, Calif. Both passed their inspections.

“They told me [the FBI is] conducting an investigation of all producers who produce any kind of pornographic material and they plan to finish this by December," JJ Ruch, owner of Sebastian Sloane Productions, told AVN Online. "They also said they’ve spent two years gathering up information on adult websites … done Who is searches and have picked up information by going to [VOD sites] to figure out who is producing videos."

The FSC announced that the government had begun its inspections via a press release last week urging all producers to discuss impending inspections with their attorneys; it followed up with a 2257 FAQ and added that secondary producers -- those who only purchase content from its original creators -- are exempt from inspections.

Of course, the companies being inspected all produce adult porn for an adult audience. Since it is utter insanity to use under-age models and porn company owners are well aware of the 2257 record keeping requirements it is doubtful if anyone will be charged in this sweep. In the war against child porn (most of which is produced offshore) 2257 inspections are an utterly useless weapon. 

• FBI conducts first-ever 2257 records inspections [YNOT Masters]
• 2257 update: 3 companies inspected so far [YNOT Masters]
• Sebastian Sloane Productions target of second reported 2257 investigation [AVN Online]