It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. After a few years of accusations of Joe Francis' douchebaggery have quieted down a bit, things have caught up with him: due to the overwhelmingly destructive judgments and lawsuits against Francis and his company, Girls Gone Wild has gone into bankruptcy to shield assets from his debtors. In the beginning it was all about Joe Francis, but what the brand needs now is some business savvy that doesn't rely on late-night ads or bad publicity; bring in a real business to run things, even Hustler brands for cripes' sakes, and bring it back into prime territory. If there's a brand designed for the internet world, it's Girls Gone Wild, and the fact that they went with a fucking magazine - a non-nude magazine a'la the constantly-struggling Maxim, which makes no sense - shows they're not really getting it. Bankruptcy is a time to make these sorts of drastic changes, toss Francis out, bring back consequence-free teen boobs.

Prosecutors had tried to prevent the copying on grounds the videotape showing a girl "flashing" her breasts was illegal child pornography. Florida's child pornography law makes the depiction of "sexual conduct" illegal and defines that term to include physical contact. There was no physical contact in the video.

--3/9/2004 AP News wire, "Judge Rules 'Girls Gone Wild' Is Not Porn

I recently had this discussion, with a member of clergy no less -- what IS pornography, anyway? Minors exposing their nether-regions ain't porn, apparently, because there wasn't any physical contact. Who'da thunk? Men everywhere rejoice: "No, honey, it's not porn. The courts said so!"

Ever wanted to buy Girls Gone Wild? Have a listen to this writer's impression, and you might come to the same conclusion: "Once you see an hour of drunken women exposing their breasts, all desire to ever talk to a girl is gone."