USA — With the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s inspection of K-Beech Inc. last week, the total number of known 2257 records inspections performed to date has reached nine.The first inspections came in late July, with FBI visits to the Chatsworth, CA offices of Diabolic Video and the home-office of Sebastian Sloane Productions, in Bethlehem, PA
(The inspection of Sebastian Sloane precipitated from the execution of a more general search warrant, and was not solely a 2257 inspection).

Shortly after the inspections of Diabolic and Sebastian Sloane, on Tuesday, August 1st, FBI agents turned up at the offices of Robert Hill Productions for an inspection of the fetish video company’s records.

After Robert Hill, it was on to Sunshine Films for the FBI, where on August 16th agents reportedly targeted records pertaining to All Good Video, a production company purchased by Sunshine that has not produced a new title in several years prior to the inspection.

Although the inspections were not revealed until mid-October, the FBI next conducted one of Darkside Entertainment on September 12th and then dropped by the Canoga Park offices of Evasive Angles on September 27th.

The next inspection performed by the FBI may turn out to be the most controversial.

On Tuesday, October 10th, agents arrived for an inspection of Legend Video, a company that is both solely a “secondary producer,” and a member of the Free Speech Coalition, a pair of facts that were supposed to prevent Legend’s records from being inspected, per the temporary injunction issued by Judge Walker D. Miller in FSC v. Gonzales, the FSC’s challenge to the federal government’s record keeping, labeling, and inspections scheme.

Shortly after the Legend inspection, FSC chairman Jeffrey Douglas told YNOT that he spoke to the agent in charge during the inspection, and told him “I thought he was inviting a contempt citation.”

Although Douglas was unable to provide specific information on what action the FSC might take in response to the inspection of Legend, Douglas said that “the FSC litigation team will be responding appropriately.”

Two days after the Legend inspection, Douglas, along with fellow attorneys Paul Cambria and Greg Picionelli and other unidentified representatives of the adult industry met with officials from the FBI to discuss inspections, and to promote better communication between the adult industry and the FBI.

At the time, Douglas told YNOT the fact that James “Chip” Burrus, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division recognized that “you cannot regulate an industry that you are not in communication with” was the most significant development to come out of the meeting.

“The fact that [Burrus] acknowledged that is incredibly important for a long term change in the relationship between this administration and the industry,” Douglas said at the time, adding that the meeting was a “very positive development.”

Since the meeting with the FBI, however, has inspected at least one more set of records in apparent violation of Judge Walker’s order; FSC member Pure Play Media is both a primary and secondary produce, and the FBI team that inspected the company’s records reportedly searched both types.

Following the Pure Play inspection, the FSC issued a press release stating that the Coalition was “gravely concerned about the apparent violations of the injunction issued by Federal District Court Judge Walker Miller in FSC’s challenge to the lawfulness of 18 U.S.C. § 2257. “

“We believe that at least three members have had ‘secondary’ producer records inspected despite the language of the injunction,” stated the release, dated November 17th.

The FSC added that they are “engaging in good faith negotiations with the Justice Department to see if an agreement can be reached whereby the rights of the members under the injunction can be protected,” in accordance with court rules.

“The current situation is untenable and the FSC and the government are engaged in discussions to establish a procedural framework whereby the FBI can determine whether a producer is a ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ producer for the purposes of the preliminary injunction prior to a records inspection,” the FSC stated in the release, adding that if an agreement cannot be reached, the FSC would “return to Judge Miller seeking relief from these prior violations and a means to prevent further violations.”

Last week’s inspection of K-Beech is the only reported inspection since the Pure Play inspection in mid-November; it is unclear if any additional inspections have gone unreported, as did the Darkside Entertainment and Evasive Angles searches in September.

In addition to the inspections, Santa Monica-based Mantra Films, Inc. (owners of the Girls Gone Wild video line) and its owner/founder Joe Francis pleaded guilty to failing to maintain age and identity documents of performers in its videos, and failed to label its videotapes and DVDs as proscribed by federal law.

Mantra will pay a fine of $1.5 million dollars under the plea agreement, while Francis will personally pay $500,000, and perform eight hours of community service per month for the next 30 months.

The charges handed down under the plea agreement comprise the second-ever charges entered under section 2257; the first violation of 2257 ever alleged was brought against
James R. Schaffer, an alleged spammer.

When a federal grand jury returned an indictment alleging violations of the CAN-SPAM Act, money laundering and other charges against Schaffer and others allegedly involved in an illegal spamming operation, Schaeffer was also charged with one count of operating pornographic websites without including the required statements describing the location of identification and other records for the performers portrayed in the websites, a violation of 2257 (specifically, a violation of the labeling requirements detailed in 28 CFR 75.6).