If obscene materials are being sold or distributed in your community, your local police department or sheriff's office is the best agency to handle your complaint. This would cover reports about obscene materials at porn shops and video stores, as well as concerns about crimes relating to obscenity such as prostitution, violation of local sexually oriented business ordinances, and materials deemed harmful to minors.
If the material has crossed state lines--via the mail, Internet, trucking, or cable and satellite transmission--it falls under federal jurisdiction. Complaints would be handled by the FBI or Postal Inspectors and then forwarded to the U.S. Attorney in that region for prosecution. The Obscenity Prosecution Task Force within the Department of Justice (DOJ) would also provide assistance.
The DOJ currently refers citizens to the Morality in Media web site www.obscenitycrimes.org to register complaints about online obscenity. To date, more than 70,000 complaints have been logged.
