WRESTLINGFAN
08-08-2003, 04:14 PM
credit www.wrestling-news.com
For fans of XPW, many are taking the side of Rob Zircari (aka Rob Black) with regard to obscenity charges filed yesterday. Although I would welcome XPW the wrestling company back in operation, some need to realize the nature of the charges. You have every right to defend or criticize Zicari in this case. But don't defend or support the man simply because you want XPW wrestling or you are an XPW fan. Defend or support the man because you truthfully believe the charges are without merit.
I myself, per the request of many, researched this case a bit further. Below are some additional tidbits of information that you may not know from the news releases yesterday. These tidbits are not meant to strengthen or weaken either side in the case. This is basically news tidbits to add to this story:
Authorities said that they were the ones that ordered the Extreme Associates videos and had them mailed to an undercover U.S. Postal Inspector at post office boxes in Pittsburgh. Authorities also got a membership to the Web site, which features six video clips federal prosecutors described as obscene. This is interesting, since they chose to order the most controversial videos, "Extreme Teen24" and "Forced Entry -- Directors Cut," which depict the rapes and murders of several women, according to court documents.
Authorities won't go after producers of mainstream pornography or even customers of companies such as Extreme Associates, she said.
Extreme Associates hasn't been shut down during the investigation because federal laws don't allow for it, Buchanan said. However, she said prosecutors intend to put it out of business through forfeiture actions.
Extreme Associates has employs approximately 15 people and has annual sales of between $20 million and $49.9 million, according to the U.S. Business Directory.
The indictments, issued in Pittsburgh, grew out of a "sting" operation by federal agents in western Pennsylvania that also had participation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Authorities said the case was the beginning of a crackdown on obscene material sold throughout the United States. Other such investigations are reported under way in West Virginia, South Carolina and elsewhere.
Zicari and Romano had been featured on a "Frontline" program on PBS television in February 2002. Zicari, who is listed as Extreme Associates' chief executive, chief financial officer, secretary and director of the corporation, had challenged Los Angeles police in the broadcast to "come and get me," adding he would vigorously fight any prosecution. Investigators in the case have stated that they had been investigating Extreme Associates prior to the "Frontline" broadcast.
Los Angeles police Capt. Vance Proctor says that California statutes make obscenity only a misdemeanor with a one-year prison term. Convictions, he said, prove only to be "a nuisance" to pornography producers who are making millions of dollars.
Several more "significant prosecutions are expected against distributors and producers of adult obscenity," Buchanan said, adding that the investigation will look at a Western Pennsylvania distributor for possible prosecution.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that materials are obscene if they satisfy a three-part test: The average person based on contemporary community standards would find the material appeals to a prurient interest and is patently offensive; viewing the material as a whole, a reasonable person finds that it lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Investigators in Pittsburgh state that their office received complaints from residents who wanted enforced the federal obscenity laws." They continued to state that there hasn't been a federal obscenity prosecution in Western Pennsylvania for nearly two decades, although there have been frequent prosecutions for possession of child pornography.
Authorities in the case have stated that "While the Extreme Associates videos depict young adults appearing to look like children, there are no minors
For fans of XPW, many are taking the side of Rob Zircari (aka Rob Black) with regard to obscenity charges filed yesterday. Although I would welcome XPW the wrestling company back in operation, some need to realize the nature of the charges. You have every right to defend or criticize Zicari in this case. But don't defend or support the man simply because you want XPW wrestling or you are an XPW fan. Defend or support the man because you truthfully believe the charges are without merit.
I myself, per the request of many, researched this case a bit further. Below are some additional tidbits of information that you may not know from the news releases yesterday. These tidbits are not meant to strengthen or weaken either side in the case. This is basically news tidbits to add to this story:
Authorities said that they were the ones that ordered the Extreme Associates videos and had them mailed to an undercover U.S. Postal Inspector at post office boxes in Pittsburgh. Authorities also got a membership to the Web site, which features six video clips federal prosecutors described as obscene. This is interesting, since they chose to order the most controversial videos, "Extreme Teen24" and "Forced Entry -- Directors Cut," which depict the rapes and murders of several women, according to court documents.
Authorities won't go after producers of mainstream pornography or even customers of companies such as Extreme Associates, she said.
Extreme Associates hasn't been shut down during the investigation because federal laws don't allow for it, Buchanan said. However, she said prosecutors intend to put it out of business through forfeiture actions.
Extreme Associates has employs approximately 15 people and has annual sales of between $20 million and $49.9 million, according to the U.S. Business Directory.
The indictments, issued in Pittsburgh, grew out of a "sting" operation by federal agents in western Pennsylvania that also had participation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Authorities said the case was the beginning of a crackdown on obscene material sold throughout the United States. Other such investigations are reported under way in West Virginia, South Carolina and elsewhere.
Zicari and Romano had been featured on a "Frontline" program on PBS television in February 2002. Zicari, who is listed as Extreme Associates' chief executive, chief financial officer, secretary and director of the corporation, had challenged Los Angeles police in the broadcast to "come and get me," adding he would vigorously fight any prosecution. Investigators in the case have stated that they had been investigating Extreme Associates prior to the "Frontline" broadcast.
Los Angeles police Capt. Vance Proctor says that California statutes make obscenity only a misdemeanor with a one-year prison term. Convictions, he said, prove only to be "a nuisance" to pornography producers who are making millions of dollars.
Several more "significant prosecutions are expected against distributors and producers of adult obscenity," Buchanan said, adding that the investigation will look at a Western Pennsylvania distributor for possible prosecution.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that materials are obscene if they satisfy a three-part test: The average person based on contemporary community standards would find the material appeals to a prurient interest and is patently offensive; viewing the material as a whole, a reasonable person finds that it lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Investigators in Pittsburgh state that their office received complaints from residents who wanted enforced the federal obscenity laws." They continued to state that there hasn't been a federal obscenity prosecution in Western Pennsylvania for nearly two decades, although there have been frequent prosecutions for possession of child pornography.
Authorities in the case have stated that "While the Extreme Associates videos depict young adults appearing to look like children, there are no minors