gonzo
07-28-2006, 01:00 PM
BETHLEHEM, Penn. - Amateur gay content producer Sebastian Sloane Productions was the target of the second reported 18 U.S.C. §2257 investigation this morning, according to owner JJ Ruch.
Reportedly one of 16 regional federal units saddled with investigating adult content producers, the agents showed up on Ruch’s doorstep at approximately 8 a.m. EST, went through his model release documents, his computers, video cameras, masters and even searched his kitchen and living room.
“They told me [the FBI is] conducting an investigation of all producers who produce any kind of pornographic material and they plan to finish this by December. They also said they’ve spent two years gathering up information on adult web sites… done Whois searches, and have picked up information by going to [VOD sites] to figure out who is producing videos,” Ruch told AVN.com.
Federal agents visited the Chatsworth, California offices of Diabolic Video on Monday to check their 2257 records.
Like Diabolic Ruch was told he passed the inspection, but we was still a bit shaken.
He reportedly received a phone call yesterday from the FBI stating that investigators would arrive at 8 a.m. on August 1 to inspect his records. So it came as a surprise when they knocked on his door this morning.
“I was a complete nervous wreck… They were just taking pictures of my model contracts and model IDs. They had a machine that they put the model ID information in and it tells them whether the model is under 18 or not. I don’t film models unless they look over the age of 21 anyway just for that reason,” he said.
“I do everything by the books just for this reason.”
Sebastian Sloane Productions primarily shoots videos and stills, but also has online content on SebastianSloaneProductions.com (http://sebastiansloaneproductions.com/). Some of that content is produced by other companies, and falls under the secondary producer stipulation in the 2257 regulations.
“Not all of the [content] is mine. Some of it is affiliated content from programs like TopBucks that I use to promote them,” Ruch said.
“They saw content that didn’t match the photo IDs and they wanted to know what that was, so I explained to them that other companies have released content to me to promote them, so they wanted to see the producer content releases.”
The investigators that visited Sebastian Sloane Productions this morning are currently moving through Pennsylvania, Ruch informed AVN.com.
Sebastian Sloane Productions is not a member of the Free Speech Coalition.
Reportedly one of 16 regional federal units saddled with investigating adult content producers, the agents showed up on Ruch’s doorstep at approximately 8 a.m. EST, went through his model release documents, his computers, video cameras, masters and even searched his kitchen and living room.
“They told me [the FBI is] conducting an investigation of all producers who produce any kind of pornographic material and they plan to finish this by December. They also said they’ve spent two years gathering up information on adult web sites… done Whois searches, and have picked up information by going to [VOD sites] to figure out who is producing videos,” Ruch told AVN.com.
Federal agents visited the Chatsworth, California offices of Diabolic Video on Monday to check their 2257 records.
Like Diabolic Ruch was told he passed the inspection, but we was still a bit shaken.
He reportedly received a phone call yesterday from the FBI stating that investigators would arrive at 8 a.m. on August 1 to inspect his records. So it came as a surprise when they knocked on his door this morning.
“I was a complete nervous wreck… They were just taking pictures of my model contracts and model IDs. They had a machine that they put the model ID information in and it tells them whether the model is under 18 or not. I don’t film models unless they look over the age of 21 anyway just for that reason,” he said.
“I do everything by the books just for this reason.”
Sebastian Sloane Productions primarily shoots videos and stills, but also has online content on SebastianSloaneProductions.com (http://sebastiansloaneproductions.com/). Some of that content is produced by other companies, and falls under the secondary producer stipulation in the 2257 regulations.
“Not all of the [content] is mine. Some of it is affiliated content from programs like TopBucks that I use to promote them,” Ruch said.
“They saw content that didn’t match the photo IDs and they wanted to know what that was, so I explained to them that other companies have released content to me to promote them, so they wanted to see the producer content releases.”
The investigators that visited Sebastian Sloane Productions this morning are currently moving through Pennsylvania, Ruch informed AVN.com.
Sebastian Sloane Productions is not a member of the Free Speech Coalition.