So OK I agree Smith was wrong to publish her name, but Mz. Berlin told Broadsheet "Having her name out there, she said, would make her feel unsafe" and it "truly made me feel scared." If she's scared for her own safety, why isn't she scared for her son's safety too? If she can travel to London, why can't she travel to Louisiana to visit him?

I'm a parent, I have always wanted to do porn, still want to do porn, but at almost 36 years of age I am probably beyound my prime to do porn.

As soon as I get out of the military I'll try dabbling in amateur porn, if I can convince my wife to do it with me, which I don't have a chance in hell of doing.

If my wife ever decided to leave me, she would probably have a decent shot of getting full custody if she wanted it (which I doubt she would), even though everyone says I am a good parent, and I have never cheated on my wife.

The fact that I say I love sex, watch porn, and collect porn would probably be enough to cause a court to look down on me as a parent, and I'll say that's not fair.

It's funny, I went to a book signing a little bit ago for an author that's a best seller. For some reason she's taken some flack for not being willing to share her real name. I think that's her business.

I agree with you. It most certainly IS her business, which is why Matt Smith is a horse's ass for revealing Mz Berlin's name in print. However, if someone chose to track down your author's legal name and publish it on a website, as Matt Smith had done in Mz Berlin's case, that individual would also be a horse's ass, but said author should also have been aware of the extreme difficulty of maintaining her privacy in the computer age. (I also question if being publicly known by a pseudonym would have protected Mz Berlin or her son if a fanatic had simply recognized her at a local grocery store and decided to follow her home.)

If I was an performer of BDSM online and I had an eight year old son, the ramifications of being "outed" in ANY capacity would have already crossed my mind before I shot a single scene, online or off. Doesn't make Mz Berlin a bad mother or deserving of her loss of visitation, but it does provide a cautionary lesson on internet privacy for anyone out there who wants to follow in her footsteps.

the idea that the spread and mainstreaming of pornography through the internet has a had desensitizing effect on the culture at large is one that needs further exploration. To me, this kind of assertion makes sense and seems correct.

...and thank you.

I would be soooooooooooo thrilled if Salon and other "mainstream progressive" media would be brave enough to take this enormous subject seriously.

If women do not dare to continue fighting the battles to force this society to maturity and to an adult level of acceptence of other peoples privacy and other peoples sexual identities there will never be peace in this world. This is without question the only route I can see left open to defeating the right, expose them and bring this insane charade of "family values" to an end. I am male but I am as outraged as any woman should be about what is being done to children in the name of this male dominated, sexually maladjusted, confederate cracker excuse for morality. Again we should be reminded of King, "Until all of us is free none of us is free."

I fucking hate Matt Smith. He is a bryozoa, lurching and oozing in the sewers of biblical morality.

I personally think that paying women/girls to have actual sex on camera (as opposed to pretending) should be illegal unless the she is married to the man she is having sex with, and she gets (at the very least) substantial royalties from all proceeds. Making porn is an incredibly stupid thing for most women/girls to do, unless they retain ALL ownership of the copyrights themselves. It is moronic to sell someone else the right to own and distribute your (nude) images, especially when your in such a highly vulnerable situation. What if you decide you are embarrassed later? What if you don't want your scene spliced into a clip show along side other scenes that you find repugnant. A parent who is making movies that depict highly destructive personal behavior as fun ARE unfit parents. How about a Mom who makes a movie about how much fun it is to be a heroin junkie? Or the fun of being a mobster. Depicting evil behavior as fun/exciting/rewarding in a movie your child might see DOES make you an unfit parent. I am not saying having sex is evil or wrong, but having casual, unsafe sex with strangers definitely is (at the very least) stupid as hell, which is what most porn movies are full of. I have no problem watching married people physically express their love for each other, and though a kid might not enjoy seeing it, at least he won't be mentally scarred for life if the feelings involved are loving ones. Seeing his mom depicted as a sex toy for depraved sex junkies probably would mess him/her up big time!

Better take away Quentin Tarantino's kids, then.

And everyone who worked on Grand Theft Auto.

You are a silly person.

The fact is, when a married couple with children decides to get divorced, things can get messy.

The father in this situation obviously cares deeply about his child, he is doing what he thinks is right. Why should anyone question his intentions? If I were in his position, I would likely do the same.

Mz Berlin is also doing what she thinks is right. She has a career she cares about and decided to speak out in her own defense. However, she must have known her career choice might cause problems in her family life, that is why she tried to remain anonymous. However, her career is not a mainstream type of job. Any woman who is a porn actress should be aware of the drawbacks. It doesn't mean it is Right, but it is the way things are in our society.

I hope she is able to retain her privacy in this matter.