Transportation of Obscene Goods
Posted On: 2007-09-27
Now there is an interesting crime that I bet most of us never even knew existed ... but under United States Federal Law it does ... and people have been charged with it.
But what does it mean? Does it mean that anyone who packs some dirty pictures into their backpack and takes them over to the other side of town to show a friend has transported obscene goods? Well maybe it does.
Does it only apply when you take that backpack across State lines to show your friend who lives in the next State? Maybe it does.
Does it apply if you happen to have some adult images on the hard drive of your laptop and you take that across State lines for strictly personal entertainment? Maybe it does.
Does it apply if you happen to order a CD or DVD of content from a content provider and he sends them to you via the postal authorities or Fedex? May be it does.
But now we know one way that you can be charged with the transportation of obscene goods and you probably never even considered it as transportation. Send adult images over the Internet and you're transporting obscene goods as two well-known industry figures found out back in June.
That was when they were found guilty on eight counts including transportation of obscene goods. Their 'transportation' related to sending adult images out via email and of course that makes it easy for us to dismiss as something that only applies to spammers ... but does it?
Could it apply to any of us who upload adult images to the Net? Could it apply to those who order content CDs from content providers? Could it apply to content providers who send out those CDs to clients or enable the clients to download their orders?
It's an interesting question and what's also interesting is the way many in the industry seem to hide their heads in the sand when stories and challenges like this one appear. It's been posted on at least one of the major industry boards and so far the number of people who have actually taken the time to post in the thread is quite small.
If you don't count all those idiots who want to laugh at the spammers then the number of serious posts would be struggling to get above 30 and yet this is something that has far-reaching implications for all of us.
It's also quite interesting to look at those who are laughing at the misery those two guys now find themselves in. To those who are mocking them these two are wicked and evil as well as being stupid and they deserve everything they get ... and maybe they do but at the same time all those who are baying for their blood are still sucking up to even bigger spammers on the boards.
It's a funny industry we work in and these days; one minute everyone is your friend and as long as you keep buying them drinks they'll think you're wonderful but God help you if you end up in trouble. Suddenly you're a pariah and no one wants to know you. As one Australian politician put it; 'you're a rooster one day and a feather duster the next'.
And if you want to get lots of page views and comments in a thread on the boards don't talk about the real world, don't discuss serious business, people don't really want to know what might pop up and bit them on the ass - just show them a few images of tits or offer to give away some money and make them feel good by pandering to them instead.
Well that's a dark and gloomy way to start the day but sometimes we really do need to come out of the dream world that so many of us seem to live in and get in touch with what's happening in the real world. It may not be nice and all warm and fuzzy - it might actually be quite threatening and filled with doom and gloom - but if you want to survive and make it as an affiliate marketer then sometimes you do need to face up to reality.
If you take the time to check in with the real world now and again you'll see what's coming down the track and you'll be prepared for it. And once you're prepared for it you'll be able to survive and prosper.
The fact is that this industry is just not ever going to go away and if you want to be part of it in the future then you need to know how to work in it and stay on the right side of the law. The only way you're going to be able to do that is to stay in touch with reality and never think that bad things can't happen to you.