LAS VEGAS — The 2021 Inked Awards opened its pre-nominations period today ahead of a virtual ceremony in late winter or early spring hosted by Rocky Emerson, Raven Roxx and Will Havoc.

Pre-nominations will collected through January 22 at 11:45 p.m. (EST), followed by the formal nominees announcement January 29 and a final round of voting that will conclude on Valentine’s Day, February 14.

“Fans can nominate their favorite tattooed performers in 12 different categories, ranging from ‘Best Anal’ to ‘Best Tits’ and more,” a rep enthused. “There’s also a new category — ‘Community Member of the Year’ — which is a performer-nominated award that’ll go to the top fan who has supported these amazing stars throughout the year.”

Inked Angels Owner Jason Jones expressed excitement about the newly established honor.

“I think it’s time to recognize those who support our favorite performers,” he said. “To nominate your biggest fan, please reach out to us via social media or email us for more info.”

Pre-noms are open in the following categories:

• Best Anal
• Best Ass
• Best Ink
• Best Oral
• Best Tits
• Favorite Female Clip Artist
• Favorite Male Clip Artist
• Favorite Model Website
• Favorte Trans Clip Artist
• Perfect Pussy
• Social Media Queen

Visit InkedAngels.com to begin submitting pre-noms.

The 2021 Inked Awards ceremony will broadcast live from The Vegas Studio in Sin City. The Vegas Studio is one of the event’s sponsors; Spunk Lube will also lend sponsorship support for the fifth consecutive year.

Follow Inked Angels as well as Rocky Emerson, Raven Roxx and Will Havoc on Twitter for the latest updates.

Tickets for performers and other industry members are complimentary; ticketing details for the public will be announced later. Direct inquiries to Jones at admin@inkedangels.com, including questions about sponsorship, presenting a category and about nominating an individual for “Community Member of the Year.”

LOS ANGELES — Julia Ann will ring in 2021 with a New Year’s Day interactive livestream tonight starting at 5 p.m. (PST) on Vicky Vette’s VNALive.com.

New subscribers can join the festivities by subscribing to her website in the VNALive network; all shows are mobile-friendly.

“2020 was brutal for so many people. I feel totally blessed to spend some time entertaining fans and it’s a great way to kick off hopefully a better year for everyone,” Julia Ann enthused. “If you have some time tonight, come and say hello!”

Vette expressed excitement about beginning the new year with the star.

“2021 is hopefully a fresh start for a lot of people and I am lucky to have Julia Ann online tonight. She’s been with me through a lot of ups-and-downs so it seems only fitting she kicks off 2021 for us. More announcements for VNALive coming in 2021, so stay tuned. It’s hard to believe we are coming up on a dozen years as a network this summer.”

Visit JuliaAnnLive.com for additional details and find her on Twitter.

Explore the complete VNALive.com schedule and follow the platform on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES — SOS Distribution will ring in 2021 with a weeklong takeover of the SPAM (Sex Professionals And Manufacturers) Facebook group from January 4-8.

“The week will be filled with fun contests, engaging educational videos and the first annual SOS Distribution ‘Unsunk Heroes Awards’ which celebrate and recognize some of the extraordinary people of our industry,” noted a rep.

“If you’re not a member of the SPAM group, join now or you’ll miss out on all the fun and celebration — and on your chance to win either a Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing Bundle or the all-new Xbox Series X for SOS Distribution’s huge hump day ‘Best in Display’ contest.”

Find the SPAM Facebook group here.

For additional information, email sales@sinkorswimsales.com or call (833) SOS-1-SOS (767-1767).

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed several laws last week to increase state control over information online, including one that introduces crippling fines for failing to remove “banned material.”

Although sexually explicit content is technically legal in Russia, existing laws banning “the illegal production, dissemination and advertisement of pornographic materials and objects” and other laws claiming to “protect the health of Russian children” are deployed by the state at its own discretion against sites hosting adult content.

The end-of-the-year legislative package signed into law by Putin, according to Reuters, also grants the Russian government “new powers to restrict U.S. social media giants, label individuals ‘foreign agents,’ and to crack down on the disclosure of its security officers’ personal data.”

Putin’s government is currently engaged in a campaign to “increase Russia’s internet sovereignty,” which according to observers might result in a closed, state-monitored internet, similar to what China achieved with its Great Firewall.

Some of the measures signed into law last week resulted from complaints about supposed bias and prejudice shown by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube against Russian media.

Twitter has labeled some tweets by Russia-based news outlets as ”state-affiliated media,” a move the Kremlin has protested as prejudicial. Putin’s government has attacked the U.S.-based platforms in terms almost identical to Donald Trump’s complaints about platform bias in his campaign to repeal Section 230 protections.

One of the new laws, according to Reuters, introduces “hefty fines of up to 20% of their previous year’s Russia-based turnover for sites that repeatedly fail to remove banned content, something that YouTube and Facebook have often failed to do according to Russian lawmakers.”

Russian government agency Roskomnadzor maintains a blacklist that includes thousands of sites blocked for allegedly “violating the notoriously vague extremism legislation or child protection laws,” according to a 2016 BBC report.

The BBC mentioned the case of a woman who asked Roskomnadzor on Twitter if they could recommend alternative sites to watch adult content.

The agency’s social media manager replied, “You can meet someone in real life.”

LOS ANGELES — Premium wand massager brand Le Wand has introduced a special All That Glimmers edition of its rechargeable Le Wand Petite.

Winner of the Women’s Health FEMTECH Awards, Le Wand Petite is a smaller version of the Le Wand Massager that features 10 rumbly vibration speeds and six vibration patterns.

Cordless, shower-friendly and body-safe, Le Wand Petite is also USB-rechargeable and travel-friendly. The All That Glimmers Special Edition Le Wand Petite set comes with a pleasure guide, a matching, glittery travel case, a pin and a set of Rainbow Glimmer nail polish and body gel. The All the Glitters set also includes a set of temporary tattoos and an enable pin.

Available in both white and pink, the Le Wand All That Glimmers set retails for $175. For more information, click here.

WASHINGTON — An article published yesterday by legislative news site The Hill yesterday highlighted the dire consequences that the campaign to repeal Section 230 is already having for sex worker safety and visibility.

“Being deplatformed can have a serious effect on sex workers’ livelihoods, especially with the coronavirus pandemic taking away many of their other sources of promotion,” writer Chris Mills Rodrigo pointed out.

Section 230 has jumped to the forefront of national news, after Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) adamantly refused to have a vote on much-needed $2,000 COVID relief checks for most Americans unless Congress also repealed the so-called “First Amendment of the internet.”

Multiple voices with actual inside knowledge of the sex work industry were interviewed by Mills Rodrigo, including a sex worker who reported increase surveillance and censorship linked to the campaign to repeal Section 230.

According to her, a direct consequence of this campaign was to “further [render] us invisible in the context of a pandemic when most work is online and we can’t even promote our work online.”

“It is actually evil in my opinion,” she added.

The article cites Kate D’Adamo, a sex worker rights activist and partner at Reframe Health and Justice, to point out that “the downfall of Backpage combined with FOSTA/SESTA destabilized the sex work industry in the short term and harmed it gravely in the long term.”

“Other websites that could have been spaces for sex workers to regroup after Backpage, such as Craigslist or Tumblr, cracked down on sex-related content in the wake of the law,” The Hill article continued.

The article also correctly noted that the passage of FOSTA-SESTA “forced content onto more obscure sites, ultimately making it more difficult to maintain lists of dangerous clients, called ‘no-date lists,’ and other norms surrounding interaction.”

To read “Sex Workers Warn of Unintended Consequences in Section 230 Fight,” visit TheHill.com.

LOS ANGELES — Kayla Kayden toplines VR fantasy “Happy Busty Year,” the third in a series of recent holiday-themed fantasies from VR Bangers, including “The Naughty List of Mrs. Claus” and “All I Want for Christmas is You!”

Kayden was enlisted by the studio to “cheer their fans up and make their transition to the new decade a whole lot more interesting and enjoyable,” noted a rep. “She will try to do everything she can to make sure that your dick will be emptied — just wear your VR goggles and give her a chance to give you all that pleasure.”

VR Bangers Producer Mike Henigan enjoys producing holiday-themed titles.

“We love to celebrate together with our fans,” he said. “That is why this year — just like in 2019 — we had a special VR movie for Christmas, a video for New Year’s Eve and another one in-between. Hopefully, all our fans are going to enjoy what we have produced this year and will come back for another one in 2021.”

“Happy New Year, folks!” he added.

Visit VRBangers.com for the forthcoming 8K ultra-HD “Happy Busty Year” and follow the studio on Twitter.

MIAMI — “Irresistible starlet” Natalia Nix is a bratty schoolgirl in “Sexting With My Teacher,” her latest hookup for Team Skeet.

“Natalia is taking sexy photos and videos of herself when she gets a text from her teacher (Johnny Castle). He reminds her she has a paper due today, and she needs to get it to him ASAP. Thankful for the reminder, Natalia promises to get it done and gets back to her naughty pics,” a rep explained. “But when she accidentally sends a video to Mr. Castle, she’s not embarrassed. She uses this as an opportunity to have a little fun. Knowing his wife is away, Natalia pays a little visit to Mr. Castle to turn her sexting adventure into a sex adventure.”

Nix enjoyed exploring the scenario.

“One of my fantasies has always been to get with a hot teacher,” said Nix. “I want to thank Team Skeet and Johnny Castle for making this fantasy a reality. I loved playing the naughty student and I think this scene will earn an A+ with all my fans.”

Visit TeamSkeet.com for “Sexting With My Teacher” and follow the studio on Twitter.

101 Modeling represents Natalia Nix for West Coast shoots, while AMA Modeling reps her on the East Coast; follow her on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES — POVR Originals is closing out 2020 with a pair of new titles that “push the limits of creativity in VR sex” starring Ember Snow and Laney Grey.

Snow toplines the 44-minute “virtual joyride” titled “Caged Ember” that locks up the viewer with the performer “after you’ve been out protesting and marching,” noted a rep. “Ember has a plan to spring you both from the slammer and only hardcore fucking behind bars will be enough to distract the pervy guards.”

Meanwhile, Gey stars in the 41-minute “tongue-in-cheek” homage to a classic adult trope in “Pizza Guy Porno Parody” that satirizes “XXX cliches while the viewer gets to poke at Laney in VR and become a part of porno history.”

The studio’s Darrell Rosebush noted the aim of POVR Originals is to “create something special.”

“By drawing upon the skills of experienced producers, editors and applying knowledge from years of virtual productions in adult and mainstream, we hope to fully harness the magic of immersive VR,” he said. “Part of that journey is exploring new themes in sexuality and making use of immersive 3D visuals and audio in a unique and fun way.”

Visit POVR.com to explore “Caged Ember” and “Pizza Guy Porno Parody.”

Follow POVR, Ember Snow and Laney Grey on Twitter.