Page 43 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 10.01

website operators in California are scrambling
to address AB 5 and most businesses expect
that AB 5 is going to result in a substantial
increase in worker costs. If you operate in
California or utilize California based workers
and haven’t fully discussed the effects of AB 5
then you are playing with fire.
On September 25, 2019, the FTC’s
targeting of dating sites rekindled when the
FTC filed a complaint against Match Group,
Inc. alleging numerous incidents of “unfair
and deceptive acts or practices in or affecting
commerce.” The specific alleged acts include,
Misrepresentation Regarding Users of
Defendant’s Service, Exposing Consumers to
Risk of Fraud, Deceptive “Guarantee Program”
and Unfair Denial of Access to Consumers’
Account. The FTC also alleges multiple
violations of the Restore Online Shoppers’
Confidence Act (“ROSCA”), including, Failure
to Provide a Simple Mechanism for Consumers
to Stop Recurring Charges. This is a case that
needs to be carefully followed.
After numerous delays, the middle of
October 2019, brought the death of the
United Kingdom’s Digital Economy Act of 2017
otherwise known as U.K. Age Verification.
Free speech advocates across the world
celebrated this as a win while many others
are now scratching their heads after spending
millions of dollars becoming compliant or
developing products or services around the
now defunct law. Protecting minors from
being exposed to sexually explicit content
remains the responsibility of every single
adult entertainment business operator and
hopefully this Digital Economy Act of 2017
debacle will at the very least motivate those
business operators who aren’t doing enough
to protect minors to do more. Equally, I hope
that the death of the Digital Economy Act of
2017 makes governments across the world
think twice before creating overly intrusive
laws that in the United States would have
surely been deemed unconstitutional.
And the last thing that I will mention (that amendment / free speech, obscenity,
is certainly not the least newsworthy), in
October 2019, the owners and two employees
of GirlDoPorn were charged in United States
Federal Court with sex trafficking crimes in
connection to an alleged scheme to deceive and
coerce individuals to appear in pornography.
To my knowledge, this is the first time ever,
that a pornography producer has been
charged under 18 U.S.C. 1591 (Sex Trafficking
by Force, Fraud Coersion) in the course of the
production of pornography. Moreover, these
charges occurred in the middle of an ongoing
civil lawsuit. I have spent countless hours
writing and presenting at seminars about the
United States government’s war against sex
trafficking and I truly hope that those who
haven’t been paying attention or ignoring my
warnings will now wake up.
All of the 2019 legal developments
mentioned in this article are going to spill into Show, Webmaster Access, the LALExpo, the
2020. That is an absolute certainty. Yet no
matter how many individuals and businesses
are investigated, sued, or prosecuted there
are still far too many in the adult entertainment industry and online marketplace. Amongst
industry that are not taking legal compliance
seriously enough. If you haven’t done so
already it’s time to make legal compliance a
priority and as always, I’m available to help.
Don’t wait until it’s too late.
Corey D. Silverstein is the managing and
founding member of the Law Offices of Corey
D. Silverstein, P.C d/b/a/ Silverstein Legal.
Corey D. Silverstein is licensed to practice law
by the states of Michigan, Arizona, Georgia,
New York, and the District of Columbia.
His practice focuses on representing many
areas of the law that impact the adult
entertainment industry. His clientele includes
hosting companies, affiliate programs,
content producers, payment processors,
website operators, dating websites, webcam
sites, traffic brokers, affiliates, advertising
(ad) networks, social media websites and
performers, just to name a few. Corey D.
Silverstein regularly provides legal services
related to: age verification, record keeping
requirements (18 USC 2257), intellectual
property (copyrights and trademarks), the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA),
Section 230 of the Communications Decency
Act, the Restore Online Shopper’s Confidence
Act (ROSCA), Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) compliance, SESTA/FOSTA, General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), first
corporate law, criminal defense, internet law,
domain disputes, data privacy and various
other areas of the law. Mr. Silverstein is an
acclaimed litigator and dispute resolution
specialist. His practice also concentrates on
complex contracts, business structure, and
business formation. Corey D. Silverstein prides
himself in providing prompt and aggressive
representation tailored to each of his clients’
individual needs. Corey D. Silverstein is
regularly featured in adult industry periodicals
such as AVN, XBIZ, and YNOT, and has been
quoted and published in mainstream media
including the New York Times, FOX News,
MSNBC, the Miami Herald, the Washington
Post, the Detroit News and the Associated
Press. Corey D. Silverstein is also a regular
speaker at tradeshows and conferences
across the world including Internext, the
Phoenix Forum, the FSC Summit, the XBiz
European Summit, and the Qwebec Expo and
has made countless presentations related
to topics and issues that affect the adult
his numerous professional affiliations,
Corey D. Silverstein is a member of the First
Amendment Lawyers Association (FALA), the
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
(F.I.R.E.), the Free Speech Coalition (FSC),
and the Association of Sites Advocating Child
Protection (ASACP). Corey D. Silverstein
has won numerous awards including, being
distinguished as a Super Lawyers Rising
Star in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, & 2019.
Corey D, Silverstein has also won awards
from the National Trial Lawyers, Lawyers of
Distinction, Who’s Who Legal, the American
Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys, and the
American Society of Legal Advocates. Corey
D. Silverstein has a perfect 10/10 rating from
leading attorney review website AVVO.com.
Corey D. Silverstein has also been a guest
on talk radio, local news and a guest speaker
at the University of Michigan and Michigan
State University. Myadultattorney.com is a
website dedicated to the representation of
adult clientele. Mr. Silverstein can be reached
through Myadultattorney.com or by email at
corey@myadultattorney.com. Mr. Silverstein
can also be contacted by telephone at 248-
290-0655.
This article does not constitute legal
advice and is provided for your information
only and should not be relied upon in lieu of
consultation with legal advisors in your own
jurisdiction. It may not be current as the laws
in this area change frequently. Transmission
of the information contained in this article is
not intended to create, and the receipt does
not constitute, an attorney-client relationship
between sender and receiver.
PAYOUTMAGAZINE 43