Back in the 70’s, the Miller v. California case established that in the case of obscenity, community standards would determine whether or not something was deemed pornographic. In other words, small towns could reserve the right to shut down adult book stores if they pleased, while cities in the fast lane didn’t have to be held to some Draconian standard that a one-size-fits-all approach would create.

How does this work in the Internet age? Paul F. Little, aka “Max Hardcore,” has been charged with 20 counts of obscenity in a Tampa, FL court because some of the servers his website uses are located in Tampa. With each charge resulting in a maximum sentence of 5 years, Little could face 100 years in prison if things go downhill.

Little claims he had no idea he even had servers in Tampa, and prosecutors never presented any evidence that he was aware they were. However, many prosecutors believe that since the Internet knows no boundaries, obscenity trials can be held anywhere they please. Add to that the fact that some of Little’s servers are in Florida, and you have a tough nut to crack.

Little’s legal team included two lawyers who were former presidents of the First Amendment Lawyers Association. “People down here should be outraged that the government is saying you can’t watch two people f—,” Little said. “If this is bad, where is the outrage here? Where’s the protesters?”

Although not all of the charges were related to the presence of servers in Tampa, the trial was brought there because of it. Any person who has an adult-themed site had better keep an eye on where their servers are located. It would be a good idea to avoid Florida. Also, it’s best to avoid getting involved in an election in Florida unless your brother’s the governor.

Story via Eric Krangel, Silicon Alley Insider, and Kevin Graham, St. Petersburg Times.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 10:03 amand is filed under Articles, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.