Finance & Business
France’s top court rejects core of law attempting to block top tube sites
As reported by Xbiz, A Paris court of appeals rejected at the end of last month the attempt by local War on Porn groups, led by an extremist Catholic organization, to use France’s media authority and the courts to block the most popular adult tube sites in the country.
Considering that most tube sites use a pop up to confirm their users are over the age of 18, French media regulator ARCOM went to court in March and April to demand that French ISPs block Pornhub, YouPorn and RedTube, all owned by MindGeek, as well as Tukif, xHamster, XVideos and XNXX.
The recently formed agency ARCOM considers this measure does not make it possible to guarantee that only an adult is likely to access the pornographic content available.
Rees reported that last on 19th May the Council of State, an appeals court, issued a ruling rendering null all the activities taken up by ARCOM in connection with the initial requests to order a block of adult sites.
The age-verification mandate was secretly added to a quickly approved domestic violence law during an atypical and sparsely attended COVID-era session of the French Parliament in July 2020.
The law that specifies that adult companies should be required to institute measures beyond simply asking an internet user whether they are of age, also empowers a government institution, like ARCOM, to demand that the president of the judicial court order the ISP providers to immediately block infringing sites in the entire country.
Therefore, the Council of State specifically pointed out in the annulment of the proceedings against tube sites, the role played by the extremist Catholic organization Civitas in orchestrating the campaign against adult websites over supposed failure to comply with the 2020 law.
Finance & Business
Uncovering the Paxum Bank Behind Trump Media’s $8m Russian-Tied Loan
Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating whether Donald Trump’s media company violated money laundering statutes by receiving $8 million suspected to have ties to Russia. The inquiry has delayed the potential merger of Trump Media’s Truth Social platform with a blank check company, Digital World (DWAC). This merger would have provided the company with up to $1.3 billion in capital and a stock market listing.
The first $2 million payment to Trump Media arrived in December 2021 from Paxum Bank in the Caribbean. The wire transfer identified Paxum Bank as the beneficial owner, but the promissory note identified an entity called ES Family Trust as the lender. Two months later, ES Family Trust received an unexpected second $6 million payment.
Angel Pacheco, the trustee of ES Family Trust, was simultaneously a director of Paxum Bank. The possible Russian connection being examined by prosecutors centers on Anton Postolnikov, a relation of Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov. Smirnov held various roles in the Russian government, including Russia’s first deputy minister of justice until 2014.
The opaque nature of the two loans caused alarm in Trump Media. In the spring of 2022, Trump Media’s then-chief financial officer Phillip Juhan weighed returning the money, but it was never returned. The two payments ostensibly came from two separate entities, Paxum Bank and ES Family Trust. The money was wired through Paxum Bank, which has a history of providing banking services for the pornography and sex worker industries.
Trump Media’s since-ousted co-founder turned whistleblower Will Wilkerson alerted the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York to the payments on 23 October 2022. It is unclear whether Trump, who was the chairman of Trump Media at the time, was aware of the opaque nature of the two loans.
The extent of the exposure for Trump Media and its officers for money laundering remains unclear. Prosecutors need to show that the defendants knew the money was the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and the transaction was designed to conceal its source. However, the optics of borrowing money from potentially unsavory sources could cloud Trump’s image as he seeks to recapture the White House in 2024.
Sources: The Guardian, Forbes
Finance & Business
BCAMS Magazine, the 15th issue!
The independent livecam industry resource for news and tips & tricks for cam models and camsites.
Finance & Business
BCAMS Magazine, the 14th issue!
The independent livecam industry resource for news and tips & tricks for cam models and camsites.
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