Sex News: Author Sasha Grey, Masters of Sex comes early, X-Art sanctioned, LELO’s legal trouble

• A federal court in Wisconsin has sanctioned a lawyer for adult film producer Malibu Media (also known as X-Art) for filing lists of “disturbing lewd, unusual and unredacted titles of pornographic films allegedly also downloaded by the defendant” but not produced by Malibu, in eleven lawsuits. Judge William Conley said that the list “appears calculated principally to harass defendants.” (I stopped promoting X-Art over their evil tactics last year.) The ruling will hopefully put a stop to this awful tactic nationwide.
  Judge Fines Copyright Troll Lawyer for Harassing Tactic Used Nationwide (EFF)

• “Masters of Sex,” one of this fall’s most hotly-anticipated new series – based on the groundbreaking 1950s sex studies conducted by Virginia Johnson and William Masters – is headed to Showtime on September 29 but the premiere has hit the Internet two weeks early.
  ‘Masters Of Sex’ Premiere: Showtime Releases Episode Online Two Weeks Early (VIDEO) (HuffPo)

• New study shows that after viewing porn, people who are assholes behave more sexist. Media outlets are picking this one up as “porn makes men sexist” – but the study clearly states that the people who behaved more sexist after watching porn were already unpleasant and had disagreeable personalities to begin with. Viewing porn didn’t actually “make” anyone sexist. Earlier this year, the same group of researchers found that porn may not influence teenagers’ sexual behavior as much as often thought.
  Watching porn makes men [and women] sexist (universitypost.dk)

• United Nations researchers just published a sweeping study on the roots of sexual violence, spanning six countries and two years. The survey, which they say represents the world’s largest scientific project into the subject so far, aimed to investigate the “under-researched” area of male-perpetrated rape.
  What We Can Learn From The Largest International Study On Rape That’s Been Conducted So Far (Think Progress)

• LELO is responding to Standard Innovation’s latest message to its retailers and distributors, notifying of possible further legal action against LELO for its newest couples massagers, the Ida and Tara.
  LELO Responds to We-Vibe’s ‘Threats’ to Block New Products (XBIZ)

• The adult film industry has announced it will lift its latest moratorium on porn production this Friday, because its actors are no longer at risk for contracting HIV on set after a recent scare.
  Porn Industry Lifts Production Ban, Increases STD Testing (ABC News)

• Photo: Former adult film star Sasha Grey discussed, signed and read from her book The Juliette Society on Aug. 28 at an event at Book Soup on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood.
  Sasha Grey Book Signing [GALLERY] (XBIZ)

• Wikipedia has reportedly abandoned efforts to implement a filter to remove explicit images from its user-generated online encyclopedia after board members could not agree on a feasible method to do so. The Wikipedia Foundation attempted to clean up “questionable” photos and videos from its site after FoxNews published an exposé concerning the offending material, FoxNews said in a recent article.
  Wikipedia Gives Porn a Break (XBIZ)

• Porn company Shane’s World started an Offbeatr campaign and is telling press that it is the first adult film studio to attempt to fully crowdfund porn (we all know it is not – but HuffPo bought it). The company is raising money from fans for its series “Shane’s World 43.” Contributors will get to choose the show’s location, stars and stars’ activities, and a few will travel with the crew to wherever filming will take place. Other contributors win sex toys, porn star phone calls and custom-made sex videos.
  Crowdfunded Porn Reality Show Will Let Contributors Dictate The Show (HuffPo)

• “He’s become a staple for the gossip pages, particularly the New York Post’s Page Six. In November he was banned from the midtown outlet of Robert De Niro’s celebrity sushi joint, Nobu. Ten days later he was taken into custody for allegedly pulling a gun on an elevator operator. And most notoriously, this June it was revealed that he had been sending friends copies of a sex tape involving three women that he filmed in the back of a limousine.”
  Guns, Girls And Sex Tapes: The Unhinged, Hedonistic Saga Of Billionaire Stewart Rahr, ‘Number One King Of All Fun’ (Forbes)

• More than 2 million people in the U.S. are sickened by antibiotic-resistant germs each year, and at least 23,000 die, according to the first report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rank the threats. Three bacteria, including drug-resistant gonorrhea, are classified as urgent threats with the potential to become widespread.
  Gonorrhea Among Drug-Resisting Germs Sickening Millions (Bloomberg Businessweek)

• This is a lot of fun. Interviewee: Pauline, 98, retired mother of two. Divorced. Lives in Florida; grew up in New York. Married in 1923, 1941, and 1959.
  Sex Advice from a 98-Year-Old Woman (Esquire)

• In an era when many Playboy readers have grown up viewing online pornography and a monthly title featuring narrow stereotypes of softcore pinups is irrelevant as fuck, the men’s lifestyle magazine is in the midst of an editorial reboot – of sorts. As Playboy approaches its 60th anniversary, the magazine faces decades of ebbing influence, declining circulation (from a 1972 peak of more than 7 million issues distributed monthly to 1.25 million today) and, worse still, a lowering in August by Standard & Poor’s of Playboy Enterprises Inc.’s corporate credit rating from a B-minus to CCC-plus.
  To Playboy magazine, sophistication is the new sexy (LA Times)

• Alpha Media Group, parent of Maxim, has sold the brand to Darden Media Group (owned by former UPS executive turned property developer Calvin Darden Sr). The sale includes the magazine and its 15 international editions sold in 34 countries, all Maxim events and digital assets. Maxim was taken over by creditors after a $250 million buyout; financial terms of the Darden deal weren’t disclosed.
  Maxim Sold to Darden Media Group (FishbowlNY)

Post images courtesy of friendly and fun French production company Dorcel Club.