Thursday, July 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: Red light at the Green Door

Businesses that offer Internet access are the same as adult theaters?

Someone over at the county -- apparently an enforcement agent in the Business License Department -- has concocted a creative method of pestering a local "swingers" club.

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court by the owner of the Green Door, twice last February the county cited the business for operating an adult theater without a license.

But here's the kicker: The suit claims the agent who issued the misdemeanor citations said he did so because he was able to view porn on the computers the Green Door provides so its patrons may access the Internet.

County officials are saying little. On Tuesday, the line was that the suit is "without merit." But if the "I saw naked women on the Internet" objection was indeed the basis for the citations, the Business License Department had better hire scores more compliance officers, because they'll have a lot of work to do.

"I really don't think the county understands the implications of (its) actions," said Allen Lichtenstein, the attorney for the Green Door who also does work for the local ACLU. "This is very far reaching, because it suggests the government has the right to regulate access to the Internet solely on the basis of what possible content a person might conceivably access."

Mr. Lichtenstein likely gives county officials too much credit.

The Green Door passes itself off as a sex club, where consenting adults can enter for a fee and are then free to engage in lascivious activity. It also provides booths where patrons may pay to go online and view what they please -- read: porn.

In short, it's the kind of business that government officials, elected and otherwise, can't stand and will go to great lengths to get rid off. Far from being some "far reaching" effort on the part of the county to set a precedent, the citations are probably just a clumsy attempt to harass the club's owner.

Either way, the county had better prepare to take it on the chin in court. Adults can surf the Web at a number of commercial establishments -- and also at public libraries. Are these places in violation of the law if they are located outside the county's "adult overlay zone"? Give us a break.

"It's probably the first time the government has tried to regulate Internet access as an adult business," Mr. Lichtenstein noted.

And, we hope, the last. But don't bet on it.