Porn producers fearing crackdown under legislation.

San Fernando Valley adult film producers are worried that federal legislation aimed at child pornography will spark a broader crackdown on their industry.

"This is the kind of law that makes the whole industry nervous," said Mark Kernes. editor of Chatsworth-based Adult Video News, the industry's top trade publication.

Kernes said porn film producers fear that under the legislation they may be targeted for producing films in which adults look like or play teenagers. They also fear harassment over record-keeping to show that performers are of legal age.

At issue is the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003, or PROTECT, which was passed by the Senate on Feb. 25 and was sent to President Bush for approval last week. As of late last week, the president had not signed the measure.

The legislation's main focus is to take California's Amber Alert system on abducted children to a national level but it also aims to stop porn producers from creating computer-generated child pornography. It also requires regular inspections of adult film makers to prove that all of their performers are of legal age.

"Some people have not been following the law as well as they should and that could pose a problem," Kernes said.

Under the Child Protection Restoration and Penalties Enforcement Act of 1990, porn producers are required to maintain records of the name and age and other information on all of their performers as well as put a notice of this practice on their videos. Up until now, however, regular inspections of the records were not required.

The new measure, authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is meant to replace the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 which had been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. That law made it illegal to create child porn from computer-generated images, but the high court said the measure was too broad and unconstitutional.

Now, the senators say they hope the new proposal will make it illegal for porn producers to create images aimed at making viewers believe they are looking at child porn.

Leahy said he is optimistic the new law would pass judicial muster if challenged.

"This bill is not perfect, but it is a good faith effort to provide prosecutors with powerful tools to combat child pornography," he said in a prepared statement.

But Leahy admitted that the measure's language could impact mainstream films since it bans any film which may portray sexual activity by people appearing to be minors.

But for industry insiders like Bill Lyon, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, a porn trade group which sued and won its case against the 1996 law, said the measure is aimed at cracking down on unsuspecting porn producers.

"They're trying to crack down on the industry by linking it to child porn," Lyon said.

Lyon admitted, however, that some adult film producers have been lax about keeping proper records.