You have to give California credit. The California regulatory state seems poised to succeed where everyone from religious groups to radical feminists have failed. California stands on the cusp of crushing the porn industry in that state.

Last week, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHA) proposed a new raft of safety standards for porn production sets in the state, raising ire and eyebrows in the process. The standards, which have yet to be finalized, fill 21 pages and detail a wide range of new safety protocols actors and their employers would have to abide by on set. Nestled among them is a provision about “eye protection.” That’s right, goggles. Goggles, to be worn by porn actors, in porn films.

“…[T]he employer shall provide, at no cost to the employee, appropriate personal protective equipment such as, but not limited to, condoms, gloves for cleaning, and, if contact of the eyes with [bodily fluids] is reasonably anticipated, eye protection….The employer shall ensure that the employee uses appropriate personal protective equipment,” reads one section of the standards.

This is hypothetically great news for goggle fetishists. But this is terrible news for California’s thriving adult film industry, according to the professionals who work in it. And it isn’t just about goggles; The standards would require the use of condoms and dental dams, and ban many common porn practices, including any contact between genitals.

I’d be willing to watch what they produce just to see how they are able to comply with the rules.

The sad thing that as funny as this is, it is actually a meaningless regulation. The porn industry saw this coming, so to speak, since “Measure B”, a ballot initiative requiring the use of condoms in porn produced in Los Angeles, was passed in 2012. Enter “amateur porn.” A Washington Post story titled The Uber-ization of porn describes how porn producers are using the Uber model to evade even the most stringent regulations.

 Unlike legacy cab companies, Uber will tell you exactly who is coming to pick you up and gives you GPS information about how close the driver is and when he or she is expected to arrive, a dramatic improvement over calling for a cab that may never show up (or, if you’re African American, calling for or hailing a cab that then refuses to serve you). The amateur porn boom provides greater variety at more competitive prices than the old studio-based model, and because it’s less dependent on geography, makers of pornographic films can more easily avoid regulations, such as the California requirement that sex performers use barrier protection in their films.

As the current porn producers transition to porn distributors they shed costs associated with employing people. They also shed the regulatory liabilities. One doesn’t know what kind of impact this law will actually have on porn, but given the history of the business one could guess it will have little impact and that will not be good.