Michigan AG cracks down on billing companies
Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm (also the Democratic candidate for Michigan governor in the November election) announced that her office had served cease-and-desist letters to six companies which provide subscription processing services to adult websites: iBill, CCBill, BillCards, CardBilling, LancelotSecurity, and Trust-Bill. Granholm's office accuses the companies of providing billing services to child pornography sites. But at least some of the websites identified in the cease-and-desist letters are clearly not child pornography, but legitimate porn sites with legal-age models. Three Adult Video News writers provide a long, thorough analysis of the case and how different companies and site owners have responded. . . . MSNBC reported on Granholm's crackdown earlier this week, but made no attempt to verify Granholm's child pornography accusations. . . . This cypherpunks mailing list posting includes an angry response from webmaster Frank Bongiorno, whose site Frankie's Angels was cut off by iBill on the basis of Granholm's letter. He insists that every model on his site is over 18 and that he's got documentation to prove it.
