From: Duncan Frissell <76630.3577@CompuServe.COM>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 11:15:43 PDT
To: <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: Thoughtcrime
Message-ID: <930706181141_76630.3577_EHK32-2@CompuServe.COM>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


(Ed Carp?)

>There are no quasi-legitimate issues surrounding child pornography in the
>United States.  It doesn't matter, legally whether consent was obtained or
>not, etc.  Child pornography is not legal.  To make, sell, possess, distribute,
>or conspire to do any of the above is a crime.

Not quite.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently threw out the sell,
possess,
and distribute parts of the Child Pornography act on the traditional 1st
Amendment
grounds that retailers can't be punished for failure to examine (and get the 
model's age certificates) for every page or every film frame of every item in 
their inventory.  Such blanket coverage is vague and overbroad.  Who knows 
what the Supremes or other Circuits not located in San Francisco will do but 
the state of the law is still fluid.

The question of morphing or animated kiddie porn is an interesting one.  I 
haven't read the law so I don't know if they would be arguably covered.  Pure 
*text* kiddieporn is legal of course.  Remember all the battles over text 
pornography?  Isn't it great that the video/graphics revolution has 
eliminated most censorship issues concerning pure text.

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