The porn industry's so-called “moratorium” on production is over after nearly a week (Aug. 21-27), but it seems that not everyone honored the shutdown, a fact that has been observed on some adult-biz blogs.

See also: Porn Production OK'd After HIV Scare, But Some Performers Are Wary.

In fact, a production company called Homegrown Video sent us a statement practically bragging that the moratorium would be ignored by so-called amateur pornographers:

Homegrown president Farrell Timlake says the industry's voluntary moratorium didn't really apply to his company:

Homegrown Video is all about real people having sex in an organic, healthy, uninhibited manner. If we felt there was any danger in continuing production, we also would adhere to the moratorium. However, our movies are composed of scenes submitted by real amateurs filming in the privacy of their own home.

The industry trade group known as the Free Speech Coalition, which essentially called for the shutdown, argues that its monthly testing of performers' works is sufficient — with a moratorium being a key component when someone turns up positive for a serious STD.

The FSC's adult health organization, Performer Availability Screening Services, said Tuesday night that all porn stars who might have been exposed to the patient zero of the HIV scare, Cameron Bay, turned up negative and that the XXX industry was cleared to go about its business.

Credit: Nate "Igor" Smith for LA Weekly

Credit: Nate “Igor” Smith for LA Weekly

But Homegrown's stance points to a serious flaw in the industry's system — underground and off-the-map producers who ignore the testing protocols and requests to shut down.

Interestingly, Homegrown is not a small or off-the-grid concern: It claims to have received 11 AVN Awards, the Oscars of porn.

When asked for clarification on its defiance, a spokesman for the company told the Weekly this:

Homegrown Video does not actually shoot its own content — it releases content submitted by amateurs who film in their homes. I'm sure many of the regular amateurs did film throughout the moratorium …

Homegrown chief Timlake argues that home-produced adult video is actually safer than the big-studio variety:

True amateur porn, the kind that Homegrown Video was founded on, comes from people who are typically in very committed relationships, people who are not having sex with every other person in Porn Valley USA. For them, the transmission of any sort of STDs is not an issue.

Still, there are all kinds of holes in the industry's program. It's well known, for example, that some porn stars freelance as escorts and do “privates,” e.g., get paid to have sex off-screen.

See also: Porn Defends the Money Shot.

At the same time, HIV is no longer the death sentence it once was, and its transmission, at least via heterosexual sex, is much more difficult than originally believed.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has criticized the XXX biz for failing so far to adhere to a new mandatory condom rule that applies to porn production in most of L.A. county. The adult industry says you, the consumer, don't want to see condoms in your porn.

Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.

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