Voyeur Dorm Ordered to Move Its Business

T A M P A, Fla., Nov. 7 -- A federal judge has ruled that a home-basedvoyeuristic Internet company that beams the daily activities of agroup of women into cyberspace must move from a residentialneighborhood.

At Voyeur Dorm L.C., women billed as college students are shownundressing, showering, eating and sleeping. Computer users canwatch live video of everything that happens in the house for a $34monthly fee.

Despite the order to move, the Web site was still broadcastingthe women’s activities and accepting new memberships early today.

Suit, Countersuit

The city said in September 1999 that Voyeur Dorm is an adultbusiness that violates zoning laws and tried to shut it down.

Attorneys for the Web site countersued to thwart the city’sattempts to equate it to a strip joint. The suit claimed the rulingwas unconstitutional because it restricted the plaintiffs’ rightsto privacy and free speech.

U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew on Monday granted thecity’s motion for summary judgment on the Web site’s lawsuit.

“That means we won the case at this level,” Tampa CityAttorney James Palermo said Monday night.

Voyeur Dorm won’t be shut down immediately and Palermo expectsan appeal, he said.

Attorneys for Voyeur Dorm could not be reached Monday night,according to a report published today in The Tampa Tribune.

Adult Cyber Business Not in a Zone

Lawyers for the company previously admitted it is an adultentertainment business. However, they also argued that Voyeur Dormis never visited by paying members of the public, and doesn’t haveany impact on the surrounding neighborhood. That would make thezoning laws invalid, they said.

Bucklew countered by asserting that the city code doesn’taddress the public paying money on the premises, and wouldn’tconstrue the code’s language to favor the Web site.

She also said the zoning law is intended to “protect andimprove the quality of residential neighborhoods.”