From San Diego City Beat:
The Internet, as the song goes, is for porn. But it may be for less porn in the near future if new rules from the federal government go into effect. Actually, it doesn’t have to be for less porn–it will just become a lot more laborious to post it legally, because the new rules impose a pile of recordkeeping requirements on digital media. That’s why they’re part of Section 2257 of the Federal Labeling and Recordkeeping Law.
If the rules take effect, they’ll go like this: If a person wants to post dirty pictures, the person will need:
• A copy of identification for anyone whose dirty picture has been posted.
• A list of all the aliases used by the person in the picture.
• A system that indexes the model by name and alias.
• A notice that comes with the photo that includes the name of the producer (videographer, photographer), the address at which records are stored and the date of production.
These records must be available for government inspection between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday though Friday.
Failure to meet those requirements could mean five years in jail, even for a person who shows off his or her own, ahem, assets. The ostensible purpose of the rules is to prevent child pornography.
As First Amendment attorney and pornography-law specialist J.D. Obenberger put it, "You can’t tell how old a dick is by looking at it."