Sites under Threat.
Matthew X
profrv at nex.net.au
Sat Sep 7 10:09:46 PDT 2002
Ten Porn Websites Were Threatened in Granholm Letter
Michigan's attorney general Jennifer Granholm threatened at least ten porn
websites with legal action in last week's guilt by association letter that
was sent to iBill, a website billing company. Frankiesangels.com was one of
them. The other nine are identified in that letter. Frank Bongiorno says
iBill has now assured him that they would support him in any legal action
against Granholm. Bongiorno says attorney Jeffrey Douglas has referred him
to a free speech attorney in Michigan. "I've gotten a proposal on what the
costs might be and we're going to try and generate some funds for this
legal endeavor," says Bongiorno. "We're going to go after her for
defamation of character and do it in a way that creates as much publicity
as possible. We want to get this on CNN and MSNBC; we want to get this
story any place we can possibly get it. We're going to keep plugging away
until she gives us a public apology, recants what she said and pays us for
our losses."
According to Bongiorno, the webmasters of the other nine sites being
targeted are reluctant to go public. "I don't know why," he says. "That
doesn't make any sense to me. Adult webmasters aren't known to be the best
businessmen in the world."
The ten companies are listed in the threatening letter sent from Granholm
to iBill. Granholm specifically states that the companies are "engaged in
the promotion and distribution of child pornography" - a libelous
accusation if there were ever legal grounds to sue. Granholm accuses iBill,
vis a vis, of aiding and abetting the distribution of child pornography and
that their conduct will result in prosecution. iBill is ordered to cease
and desist in its activities.
Bongiorno said on advice of Jeffrey Douglas he'd be breaking the other
adult companies' rights to privacy by divulging their names from the
letter. The companies include gay sites, fetish sites and straight. "Mine
stands out like a sore thumb," Bongiorno says. "The other ones are pretty
hardcore urls. Frankiesangels seems out of place on the list."
In au the daily planet,a legal brothel has been ordered to pull alleged
'ads' off the web as they can be printed out in Victoria.The Judge joins a
list of aussi Canutes that includes state attorneys of NSW and SA.Also the
Federal Minister has had some flak for being a bull in an internet china
shop.('cept the damge is being routed around)
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