This week, Rick Santorum declared war on pornography - and the industry he's taking aim at isn't shrinking from the battle.

Film production company execs and XXX actors are railing against the Republican presidential candidate's recent call to ban hardcore pornography, calling it an infringement on free speech, a threat to their livelihood, and a pathetic ploy to get votes.

"It's ridiculous," Steven Hirsch, founder of the L.A.-based porn industry behemoth Vivid Entertainment, told the Daily News.

"I find it ironic that [Republicans] are about less government until it comes to issues like pornography when they want more government. This will never work."