Porn Industry Sets Business Practices Standards

For decades, members of the adult entertainment industry have been vilified and scapegoated, cast in the putrid light of society's festering underbelly as boogeymen and perverts. Pornographers are perceived as lecherous old men who prey on innocent runaway girls, the vulnerable daughters of Kansas corn farmers or neglected urban street urchins, then force them into moral depravity all to make a sleazy buck.

Times have changed. Take a quick look across the American landscape and you'll find porn stars running for public office, sex-positive artists and activists, politicized porn producers and all manner of intelligent and erudite champions of sleaze.

Enter Alec Helmey, Xbiz publisher and creator of the new XXX industry organization, Best Practices In Adult Video, a group dedicated to improving the image of the adult industry and improving current business practices.

"The priciples of BPAV are the topics that we regularly think about as members of the adult entertainment industry operating in an increasingly uncertain environment," Helmey said. "BPAV's mission is simple: To encourage proactive responsibility and to spread a positive message."

The organization will provide a voluntary seal which is available to members of the adult entertainment industry who support these principles:

• Discloser of Acts Stipulation: asks producers to notify performers in advance what kind of sex acts they will be asked to perform.
• Encourage producers to keep performers away from physical harm.
• Encourage the respect of performers on and off the set.
• Support efforts to make performers more responsible to protect themselves from sexually trasmitted diseases.
• Require producers to be diligent in ensuring all performers are of legal age.

The seal can be displayed on any website, box cover, print material or video.

Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Publications, was one of the first to publicly praise the organization and offer his endorsement of BPAV principles.

"Considering the amount of scrutiny the adult industry receives from the government and the media, it behooves video producers and content providers to run their businesses ethically," Fishbein said. "At AVN, we always felt that protecting the working conditions of the performers was of paramount importance, but difficult to monitor. So the creation of BPAV is a good thing that I hope will encourage people to ensure better working conditions for performers. Because many of the performers are young, the industry needs to set an example and send the message that working in the adult business can be a positive experience."

Lecherous boogeymen, indeed.

That's all the news for now. Thanks for reading and happy jackin'.