Two weeks ago I got an email with a link that simply said you need to see this.
I followed the link and in it were open directories that contained the photo IDs, credit cards, social security cards and phone numbers, AIM tests and model releases of pretty much every person in the biz.
You want Teras Name, address, SSN, phone number? What about Sasha Grey, Jenna Haze, Tommy Gunn, Evan Stone, Lisa Ann, just to name a VERY few.
Now when someone hands you something like this you think WOW and once the shock wears off you think OK what’s the best thing to do with this. First thing I wanted to know was who owns it. A little digging and it was apparent that it belonged to an affiliate program called incredibledollars, well known for shady dealings in the adult web world, things like prechecked cross sells and credit card slams were but a few of their tactics. They were hidden behind a myriad of offshore companies.
I called Paul Fishbein at AVN and showed him what I had and suggested that as an industry we might be able to use this to our advantage. He was stunned just as I was and he put me in touch with Mark Kernes, who was also shocked.
Mark wanted to turn it over to the lawyers at FSC and those handling the 2257 lawsuit. I agreed with that tactic and they kept me in the loop while they collected the info there and then made efforts to shut it down, which they finally did by contacting the hosting company.
The scary thing is that IncredibleDollars bought content from lots of people in the biz and that is how they got all of this info, it came with the content presumably to satisfy 2257 requirements.
Incredibledollars is just one of hundreds and probably thousands of people who got this kind of info and posted it to a site, thinking nobody could find it.
This is one of many reasons why 2257 is such a horrible idea. Imagine all the people who have access to this type of info who really shouldn’t. It’s like if I buy a DVD of Sin City I get Bruce Willis’s ID and SSN along with Jessica Alba’s and Rosario Dawsons etc….. It’s just insanity.
What it made me realize is that with just a few keystrokes in google I can get the personal info on anyone in this biz, easily…it’s all just a matter of knowing how to find it.
Kudos to AVN and The Free Speech Coalition for handling this properly and I hope that it can be used to help defeat 2257.
11 Responses
[New Post] If You Are In Porn Your Personal Information is EVERYWHERE – via #twitoaster http://www.mikesouth.com/avn/if-you-are-…
[New Post] If You Are In Porn Your Personal Information is EVERYWHERE – via #twitoaster http://www.mikesouth.com/avn/if-you-are-…
This situation is atrocious! Admittedly everything about me except my SSN and home phone number is available to anyone that knows how to look for it — and I have never stripped on camera for anyone. The only reason my home phone number isn’t available to the average person is because I pay $5 a month to the phone company to keep it that way. Unfortunately, telemarketers must bribe the phone company or something because I get two or three calls wanting to sell me something a day!
I agree that we need more privacy. Ban telemarketing, take people’s addresses and phone numbers off of the net and hit violators with a $10K fine per address or phone number not removed.
I know porn companies check performer results before they shoot the scene, but are they actually stupid enough to pur copies of test results in with all the 2257information that gets passedon to who ever they sell the scene to. Are they really that stupid? Do the porn companies have the legal right, a written waiver, from the perfromers to pass along this private medical information?
Aids Healthcare Foundation is going to have a field day with this. Porn companies actually pass along the private medical information along with 2257 information!!!! Dam you guys are making it EASY for your detractors.
2257 does require IDs to be passed along, for legal purposes it is not unreasonable to ask for copies of the model release though a simple statement that the content seller has the rights to reassign the releases is more than sufficient.
As for AIM tests there is no way that information should ever be relayed for a simple content sale
I’ve purchased a fair amount of content over the last couple of months for my AVS sites. I was quite surprised when reviewing the latest batch to find two separate STD screening results included with the docs for one of the models.
Toby,
Do yourself a favor and get rid of those test results. It is completely illegal for anyone to have given them to you, and it is equally illegal for you to keep them. Dont give your industry advisaries any more ammunition than they already have.
I know that most people in porn are not the shaprpest tools in the shed, but this is beyond stupid.
They’re already gone, trashed the pdf’s as soon as I saw them. But I’m still stunned that they were even included, for content shot 6 years ago.
You would be amazed at the amount of producers in porn that never read the entire 2257 regulations that say ONLY the ID and age statement/model release is to be included in that official paperwork, and not the test results. Some still have test related questions in mark-off columns on the model release, and consider the testing documents part of 2257. No – you aren’t dealing with rocket scientists as the norm – except South. 😉
Used to be? I don’t know much about Mike’s privates, but usually dick don’t shrink with age, Bob. Also, since Mike’s privates get lots of exercise (he has as much as said it himself), the blood canals that cause an erection should actually grow with each use as the outer walls stretch. Therefore it should be larger as he ages, not smaller.
Speaking of, how are the local girls in Georgia doing, Mike? The ones in Michigan won’t fuck without a marriage license so I don’t know about the women here.;-( Maybe I should come out to Georgia and get laid a few times!
^ Funny, Bob! I get it now. Maybe I should move to Ohio or Georgia and start off my new career as producer/director/camera man/male talent in porn. God, where is the Caverject when you need it?