Social Responsibility and the Adult Entertainment Industry

The adult entertainment industry had a small victory as the Supreme Court of Oregon had ruled 5 to 1 that live sex shows are permitted in that state under the freedom of expression banner. The Oregonian newspaper followed by filing a brief in favor of that ruling.

There is no doubt that the adult entertainment industry is a multibillion dollar industry. It is also a recession proof industry. In the 1990’s when the rest of mainstream America were suffering through a recession, companies struggling to make a profit, and laying off hundreds of thousands of workers, the adult entertainment industry was alive and kicking making record breaking profits.

Our society is based on the foundations of capitalism and the free enterprise system. We have the right, protected under the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to choose the type of business that we want to create. However, as business owners, we have a responsibility to protect society from those that should not see adult material. These individuals consist of those under the age of 18 and those convicted of a sexual offense on a child.

Child pornography is a big problem in this country. Convicted sex offenders have free access to adult material to lure little children so they can commit their sick acts on a child over and over again. Bill O’Reilly is right. If you sell adult material to someone who then commits a sexual offense on a child, that vendor should be held accountable as well. It creates a market for this kind of behavior. Hold the vendors accountable and you destroy that market and will deter this type of behavior.