Capital Video vigorously opposed these regulations in court and lost. We recount the story here.

Fundamentally, the problem is that Capital Video has a financial incentive to be lax about activities within their stores with viewing booths (patron: “…there’s more money going in the machines with lights off and holes in the walls”).

In the absence of regulations, one of Capital Video’s own patrons suggests an awareness that lax periods follow restrictive ones (periods when Capital Video cracks down to avoid government action): “I agree that it is not really worth the time with the bright lights and no holes but they will be back eventually. Be Patient!”

Hustler is not unusual. Here are similar examples from other porn publications.

To explore the links between porn and abuse, a good place to start is with this research paper by Diana Russell and Natalie Purcell, “Exposure to Pornography as a Cause of Child Sexual Victimization”.

I disagree that porn is a cause for abuse, of children OR women. Abusers might also use porn, that does not prove cause logically. I will stipulate that porn can contribute to the tendency to objectify women.

I would really like to see the studies showing cause. Please use smaller links next time, longer links don’t play nice with this theme. I’m really glad you took the time to reply.

http://nopornnorthampton.org/2007/01/30/providence-journal-archives-kenneth-guarinos-mob-ties-criminal-past-global-empire.aspx

http://nopornnorthampton.org/2006/06/30/capital-video-owner-kenneth-guarino-associated-with-natale-richichi-a-capo-in-the-gambino-family-of-la-cosa-nostra.aspx

http://nopornnorthampton.org/2006/10/31/boston-globe-profiled-kenneth-francis-guarino-in-1983.aspx

We disagree with the claim that porn is a harmless diversion that doesn’t affect many people’s behavior. Numerous studies have measured how porn makes many men callous about women and rape. People who work at shelters for battered women state the porn is part of domestic abuse in a significant percentage of cases. Certainly Hustler treats domestic abuse as something to be made fun of.

Then there’s the sexual abuse of children, estimated to affect 10% of boys and 25% of girls in America, clearly an enormous problem. Adult and child porn are a cause of this abuse, just as smoking is a cause of lung cancer.

These links are just a small fraction of the 400 articles at NoPornNorthampton.org. We encourage people to read these articles before they conclude porn is harmless.