This week in sex and technology we saw sex workers staging a protest at Google, the Silicon Valley sperm donor was revealed as an exhibitionist (shocking, I know), a porn meme entered the congressional record, and more.
Silicon Valley sperm donor had a hobby
While the FDA cracked down on a now-notorious Silicon Valley man for donating sperm via the internet to people he engaged through his website, gossip bloggers discovered his sideline as an amateur porn performer.
It appears that in addition to helping create at least 14 children for recipients, the techstar sperm donor fancied posting explicit videos and pictures of his live-action sperm donations at online “tube” sites.
SOPA unintentionally inserts “The Internet is for Porn” meme into the hearing record
Last week I pointed out that in the SOPA debate livestream there was an interesting sub-discussion where it was suggested to bring in an expert witness on porn and IP enforcement - which seemed surprising enough.
In addition, CNET reported that the two-day debate in the House Judiciary committee - now postponed until at least next Wednesday and perhaps until 2012 - was usurped by a further suggestion around porn and IP and it included a specific meme: “The Internet is for Porn.”
Naturally, as with anything that might make politicians seem not-anti-porn, the suggestion went over like a lead balloon. What’s notable here is that the complete lyrics for “The Internet is for Porn” has now been inserted into the congressional hearing record.
Sex workers protest at the Google campus
On Wednesday the American national organization for sex workers and their allies (SWAAY) staged an in-person protest at Google Inc.’s San Francisco campus.
The group was intent on voicing its opposition to Google’s recent announcement that it will be donating $11.5 million to religious organizations that fight sexual slavery but do not distinguish between consensual sex as an occupation and forced sex.
SWAAY and its international partner organizations say the work of Google’s chosen faith-based groups have been especially harmful to sex workers in the developing world.
Patricia West from the Sex Workers Outreach Project stated that the protest was met with a positive reception.
Protesters peacefully handed out 200 fliers in front of the San Francisco Google offices. Many Google employees stopped and discussed the topic, and no one argued or opposed our concerns.
A Google employee came down and asked if we had “been inside” or “talked to anyone” - meaning if we had had a dialogue with the company. He said they’re interested in us giving a talk in the new year, that the company probably “just didn’t do their research”, and took my card.
Defensive registrations and squatter resales are the rule for .XXX
The Vatican is being cagey about whether or not they are the entity that secured Vatican.XXX, but it seems that someone certainly has legitimately reserved the domain.
Well, as legit as you can get with dot-XXX’s ICM Registry.
Vatican.XXX has been reserved with ICM Registry - something that could only have been done prior to open registration. ICM claimed the pre-open period would be available only to registered trademark holders and vetted adult industry businesses. Meaning, the URL will likely never be “in business” but whoever got it was greenlit to do so.
It seems to be part of the buy-to-block or reputation-blackmail-sales business models that are clearly the rule for .XXX domains. An avoidable example is currently happening with Colorado.XXX, with its Las Vegas based domain registrant offering to sell it to The University of Colorado at Boulder for at least $1000.
- Yikes! Vatican.xxx sold to mystery buyer (TechTalk, CBS News)
Photo with permission via Sex Workers Outreach Project. Sperm USB from American Society For Reproductive Medicine’s 2008 conference, via Gizmodo.
