# How Are Porn Sites Not Illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531 "2003-09-29T19:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/1 "2003-09-29T19:06:17Z")
… how is 99% of what you see on various porn sites NOT illegal prostitution? 1. Prostitution: I call a guy up and ask him to come to my house so that I can have sex with him and for this I will pay him $250. 2. Porn Site: I call a guy up and ask him to come to my house so that I can take pictures while having sex with him and for this I will pay him $250 and possibly publish the results on-line for the world to see. Apparently, the only difference is the presence of the camera or do I remove the illegality if I at least PROMISE to publish the results? The same holds true for the production of adult films. What is the defining issue here that makes one of these activities illegal and the other legal? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/2 "2003-09-29T19:32:24Z")
It’s the same reason that performing a sex scene in a movie isn’t illegal. Many of the things shown in sex scenes in mainstream movies (hand on breast, mouth on breast, etc.) are legally defined as “sexual contact” in many jurisdictions and no one would suggest that, say, Michael Biehn should be arrested for kissing Linda Hamilton’s nipple in _Terminator_. The people in porn films are not being paid for having sex. They are being paid for acting in a movie or posing for a photographer. The movie/photograph happens to involve having sex, but it’s still a job of acting/modeling and not an exchange of sex for money. As to where that line is drawn legally, I don’t know, but IMHO any slack there can be needs to be given to the pornographer on First Amendment grounds. I seem to recall hearing of case law on this from California but I don’t recall the specifics. I’m sure a real lawyer will be along in a moment with his hand on his…citation. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/3 "2003-09-29T19:51:08Z")
I could have sex with you OTTO and it would not be illegal. I could pay you for your time and expenses to come visit me and it would not be illegal. I could have sex with you during your visit and it would not be illegal (as long as I take pictures anyway). In fact, there are so many ways for me to pay you for something, get 30 minutes alone with you, have sex, and it still not be illegal. Frankly, I’m amazed that women are ever arrested and charged with prostitution. So what’s the defining difference? Man gets an erection makes it illegal? In fact, I submit that prostitution is already legal, it’s just the morons that get arrested for it. So what IS prostitution? One person selling some personal service to another? ---
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/4 "2003-09-29T21:25:33Z")
Well Isabelle, you hit on the interesting notion that prostitution should not be illegal. In reality, the prostitutes are rarely ever arrested. The johns get fined and then released to deal with their families. Consider it a money making revenue for the prostitutes and the local government. John pays up front, act starts, cops move in and bust john, then john gets fined by gov. Wash, repeat, wipe hands on pants. A way to tax the feral needs of men. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/5 "2003-09-29T22:02:10Z")
" 1. Prostitution: I call a guy up and ask him to come to my house so that I can have sex with him and for this I will pay him $250." This topic comes up alot. To make a legal porn film you need a permit. There are only two places in the USA you can get a permit. (At least that’s what I remember). [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) has a few books on how people can make legal porn films, ya know, ‘How to be a porn Director’… Of course, alot of those porn sites are probably in foreign countries too. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/6 "2003-09-29T23:00:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > **To make a legal porn film you need a permit. There are only two places in the USA you can get a permit. (At least that’s what I remember).** Can we get a cite for this, please? 'Cause it sounds like absolute BS to me. I seem to remember a little document in the USA that goes “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech…”. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/7 "2003-09-30T00:38:47Z")
I think they should legalize prostitution, and save all the trouble of defining it. It’s legal in Nevada. So let’s extend that nationwide - or even worldwide. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/8 "2003-09-30T00:51:09Z")
I’ts legal _as a local option_ in Nevada, I believe. Vegas and Reno have not decided to allow it. ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/9 "2003-09-30T00:51:37Z")
> [@](#): > > - George Carlin\* > I don’t understand why prostitution is illegal. Selling is legal, fucking is legal. So why isn’t it legal to sell fucking? Why should it be illegal to sell something that’s legal to give away? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/10 "2003-09-30T00:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > To make a legal porn film you need a permit. There are only two places in the USA you can get a permit. (At least that’s what I remember). Don’t think so. There is a very large market out there of amateur or semi-amateur videos where some guy with a home camcorder signs up a girl and a guy and they go to a motel and make a movie. Doubtful if there are any permits involved except for a model release. Now if you plan on doing it in the streets and frightening the horses, you probably need a badass permit. Except in the San Fernando Valley, where everybody does it. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/11 "2003-09-30T01:26:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Musicat \* > \*\*It’s legal _as a local option_ in Nevada, I believe. Vegas and Reno have not decided to allow it. \*\* In fact, Las Vegas officials “convinced the legislature in 1971 to pass a law prohibiting the legalization of prostitution in counties with a population above a certain threshold, ta\*lored to apply only to Clark County”, of which Las Vegas is the county seat. Even in areas where prostitution is legal, [many regulations apply](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Nevada). As **Musicat** mentioned, the San Fernando Valley is a hotbed (pun acknowledged) of porn filming. [Here](http://chblue.com/artman/publish/article_3029.shtml) is an article about the pending U.S. District Court case involving Lizzie Borden and Rob Black, a husband-and-wife team devoted to filling the fetishist niches that the more mainstream pornographers shy away from. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/12 "2003-09-30T06:07:14Z")
I did a double take on that one! :eek: She’s obviously not the same Lizzie Borden as the one who took an axe… What an unfortunate moniker. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/13 "2003-09-30T13:58:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I could have sex with you OTTO and it would not be illegal. Illegal? It would be apocalyptic! ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/14 "2003-09-30T14:08:17Z")
Oh **Otto** wild and unrestrained? Your place or mine? Tomorrow is my birthday, perhaps you want to give me a little gift? \ ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/15 "2003-09-30T15:14:27Z")
I’m guessing **Isabelle** doesn’t know about **Otto** ’s orientation. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/16 "2003-09-30T15:20:04Z")
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**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/17 "2003-09-30T15:22:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homebrew \* > \*\*I’m guessing **Isabelle** doesn’t know about **Otto** ’s orientation. \*\* Apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/18 "2003-09-30T15:34:00Z")
ohgodohgodohgodwheredidIputthatbrainbleachohgodohgodohgod If anyone needs me I’ll be in the corner hugging my knees, rocking slowly back and forth and weeping. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/19 "2003-09-30T15:36:48Z")
Ok. How about we just go shopping for a birthday present? \ ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531/20 "2003-09-30T20:46:20Z")
::laughs and points:: **Otto** was mistaken for _straight_! What kind of gay guy are you. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-porn-sites-not-illegal/204531.md?page=2)