- “Conservative lawmakers in over a dozen states are pushing a bill that would force consumers to pay a ransom to access pornography … And the only thing more bizarre than the Human Trafficking Prevention Act itself might be the man behind it … Chris Sevier (aka Mark Sevier, aka Chris Severe) once famously tried to legally marry his computer to protest same-sex marriage, and was charged with stalking and harassing both country star John Rich and a 17-year-old girl … Sevier has a warrant out for his arrest in Tennessee (…)”
* The Man Who Wants to Tax Porn Thinks His Past Assault Case Is ‘Fake News’ (Daily Beast)
- “Officials from adult tube site giant xHamster today said that visitors to the site now will be greeted with information about how to help support Planned Parenthood, which is in the process of being defunded.”
* xHamster Throws Hat in Ring in Support of Planned Parenthood (XBIZ)
- “Over the course of a month YouPorn surveyed thousands of women to get a better sense of what makes them tick. … 1 in 4 YouPorn visitors are female. … with this survey we’re going beyond the surface and scratching much deeper to take a closer look at how women in particular interact with porn.”
* What Women Really Want When it Comes to Porn; a YouPorn Survey (YouPorn)
- Facebook is quick to ban people like me and anyone posting about human sexuality, but… “Facebook has been accused of refusing to take down child porn and terrorist propaganda posted on the site, despite being made aware of it. Robust allegations made by The Times following an investigation claim the world’s biggest social media site could even be prosecuted in the UK, as some material was identified as illegal by a top barrister.”
* Facebook ‘refused to remove child porn and terrorist propaganda’ (Metro UK)
- “The robotic head is far from complete, but when it finally goes on sale (for about $10,000), it could be the world’s first commercially viable gynoid. She’s not the first of her kind, but take one look at Harmony’s predecessors, and it becomes clear she that was cut from a different cloth.”
* RealDoll’s first sex robot took me to the uncanny valley (Engadget)
- “Police affidavits stated that the tip came when the property manager “became aware of a problem when an industrial waste disposal unit connecting the property to city sewer services became clogged and destroyed by hundreds of condoms.””
* Austin police were told of a broken sewer pipe clogged with condoms. They got suspicious. (Washington Post, via @CarolQueen)
- “Elon Musk, billionaire business magnate and tech mogul, has launched a startup called Neuralink, which aims to connect brains and computers using implantable electrodes. Musk hopes that these “neural laces”—a term borrowed from the science-fiction novels of Iain M. Banks—will allow humans to remain competitive with advanced AI. … The neural laces of Banks’s utopian Culture novels are biomechanical meshes that regulate endogenous chemicals, increase memory storage, and enhance intelligence. They also augment orgasms.”
* What Elon Musk’s ‘Neural Lace’ Project Could Mean for the Future of Sex (Future of Sex)
- “Pushing beyond the ripped-Californian-pizza-boy-bangs-tanned-Californian-beach-babe paradigm, [London’s first Porn Film Festival] introduced audiences to a world of queer, feminist erotica with actual relevance to our messy, marginalised sex lives.”
* Behind the scenes at London’s first queer porn festival (Dazed)
- “From the start, Stubblefield claimed that “D.J.,” as he’s known in court documents, consented to their affair through what’s called “facilitated communication.” That is to say, he typed out his words on a portable keyboard, with her hand supporting his and pulling back against his frequent muscle spasms. ”
* Can a Multiple-Choice Quiz Prove a Disabled Man Consented to Sex? (Slate)
- “Fur is flying between different sects of a niche community of Coloradans over allegations of neo-Nazism, unpaid taxes and fake legal threats that has led to the cancellation of the popular annual “furry” convention in Denver.”
* Amid allegations of unpaid taxes, neo-Nazism, and sex offender, Denver furry convention canceled (Denver Channel)
- “MindGeek’s PornHub once again was made available in Russia, according to reports. The Roskomnadzor, which is Russia’s communications regulator, blocked the adult tube site property in September after it issued a ruling that said the site could be harmful to users. Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky stated in media reports that access to the site was opened on April 7 “by court order,” and that the PornHub case was sent for a new review.”
* PornHub Gets Unbanned in Russia (XBIZ)
- “Yet somehow, in assuming that there must be a TV show, or a book, or a secret art project, I forgot the number one driving force behind nearly all Instagram trends. Why have you created a puppet? Why does your puppet have genitals made out of felt?”
* Inside the sex, money, and scandal of Instagram’s puppet community (New Statesman)
- “Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta of design label Eckhaus Latta recently ignited controversy with images from their new spring 2017 campaign. The designers got real people (not professional models) to actually have sex for the ads, where pixelated sections leave little to the imagination.”
* Real People Had Real Sex In These NSFW Fashion Ads (Huffington Post, main post image via)