Group Reveals There Are Ways To Fight Child Porn Other Than Useless Web Filters
from the progress,-perhaps dept
There has been something of a stink made in the UK after some children's charities complained that some ISPs weren't implementing web filters designed to stop people from accessing child pornography. While trying to stop child porn is certainly an admirable cause, the problem here is twofold: first, the filters simply don't work, and often do more to block access to legitimate content than to stop access to undesirable or illegal material. Second, simply thinking filters will solve the problem focuses only on catching consumers, rather than working to stop the producers and distributors of such reprehensible material. Stopping it at the source would seem to be a much more effective way to combat child pornography, rather than to just focus on the point of consumption. With that in mind, it's nice to see that a new pan-European alliance has been formed to go after child-pornography producers by tracking the flow of money around trade in it. The goal is to track the money back to those who are abusing children and making the porn, which would seem a much better way to fight the real problem. By only focusing on stopping consumption through filters, little is done to actually prevent kids from being abused, or to put the dirtbags who make this stuff out of commission.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why not just legalize it?
Or are you all still under the impression that children are somehow "harmed" by having their picture taken when they're naked?
Violent crimes (rape) are violent. Treat violence as violence. Violence towards children is a higher offense in any civilized society. There's no need to change that.
But don't be carving out special laws for CP when none are needed. If there's no violence involved, the children aren't harmed, no matter how naked they are, and there's no need to waste taxpayer money on it.
(And now, I will get flamed to hell and back for actually knowing something on the matter and not just buying into the "protect the children" mentality...)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why not just legalize it?
CP is a gateway drug to child molestation and abuse.
That is why the FBI will pull up in a van and beat you with an ugly stick.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
*Sarcasm mode = ON*
Just like porn is a gateway drug to rape and spousal abuse.
We should go nuke all those countries that have their age of consent set below our arbitrary number. We need to rid the world of perverts.
*sarcasm mode = OFF*
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
My point is that anyone sick enough to get off from kiddie porn is sick enough to do worse and worse things. Is it too far of a jump to say that if they enjoy it in their fantasy, some, not all, will want to seek it out in reality?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why not just legalize it?
Go pick up a psychology book or just stop talking please!!!
One, you wanna know where the majority of Americas strippers and crack whores come from??
Two, how naive are you, naked is just the beginning.
Three, Exploiting a child whether its for naked pictures or for their candy is just plain evil.
Four, Just imagine what the sick fuck who takes porn shots of his kids or some orphans he found actually does to them or how he treats them.
You probably watch the shit and as an atheist, I sincerely hope there is a god, so he can put you in that special part of hell reserved for those who ruins children's lives before they get a chance to begin.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
Listen even if child porn was just naked pictures, WHICH IT IS NOT, children develop a sexual identity at a young age. And when I say sexual identity I don't mean puberty and sexuality. Ask an eight year old if he would be willing to goto school naked, and he will respond the exact same way a 30yr/old would. The difference being children process stress and trauma differently than adults. Simply forcing a child to be naked in front of others repeatedly is going to have a long lasting and permanent effect on there mental state. THEY WILL DEVELOP DIFFERENTLY THAN OTHER CHILDREN.
Now if we exit your fantasy world where child porn consists only of naked children and enter the reality of sexual abuse and child molestation and you have fucked up kids.
Please Please Please shut up. You're an idiot. And obviously incapable of rational thought beyond a face value third grade level.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
PLEASE, if you insist of arguing your ridiculous point, at least attempt to defend some of your ignorance with an actual argument.
Do you even know the definition of irrational.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
No, that's rape. Not children being photographed in the nude.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
I too believe Jesus is a fairy tale much like Santa or the Easter Bunny. That said, you speak of being naive, perhaps you should take a look in the mirror.
When a girl is 14 and having sex with a boy who is 16, it's rape. Two years later when she is 16 and he is 18 it's not only consensual, it's the plot line of practically every "high school" movie (with the exception of those damn musical movies) since before Grease. Hell, Juno was one of the best selling movies ever, but the real story would've ended with the male lead in jail for 15 years, even though they both agreed to do it.
In several countries in the area of Indochina, girls are expected to be married and with child by the age of 14. If no boy will agree to do this with them, they are considered to be too ugly to be a productive part of society and are looked upon as lesser citizens for the rest of their lives. If they don't have sex at the age of 13, it hurts them, not helps them. How does your "childhood development" logic apply here?
But perhaps the big problem I have with you is that you profess a lack of belief in religion, and yet you still grasp at a code of morality that if not for the three major world religions would not exist. It's simple: Don't kill, steal, lie, or rape. The rest of the Bible, Torah, or Koran is in the words of Lewis Black, "A story told to a bunch of people in the desert to distract them from the fact that they did not have air conditioning." On last of those 4, I believe that rape should be a matter of personal opinion, not forced upon a child by the norms of society. Rape should have no statue of limitations and anyone under a certain age should be required to have a rape kit done in a hospital, but pressing charges should be up to them to decide any time for the rest of their life. With the kit collected and stored they will have all the evidence they need if they decide to proceed with a trial later, but if a couple of teens decide to get a head start on their future college roommates, I don't think the law should prevent that.
As for child porn - actual children, before the age of 13 or so - we could argue that since they are not sexually developed enough to gain anything from it, they should be prohibited. Of course, there are well documented cases of girls going into puberty before age 9, so maybe we can't put a number on this at all. Perhaps this should be the legal test: "Was it good for you?" In truth, this would seem to meet the spirit of the law, if not the letter of it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
When the parents were ok with it, the kids were just fine.
Stop oppressing your kids (by making them think their nakedness is sinful/wrong) and you'll stop fucking up their fragile minds.
Also, I've taken my kids to a nudist camp, and several nudist beaches. See, I actually know what I'm talking about, and you're just foaming at the mouth.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
Not according to the law.
According to the law, we are sending 16 year old girls to jail for taking a picture of themselves.
According to the law, I can go to jail if let my mother take a picture of my kids in the bathtub. I refused to let her. Not because I was afraid it would traumatize my kids, but because I was afraid some zealous irrational fool would have us arrested and my kids put in a foster home.
According to the law, my mother can go to jail for being in possession of pictures she took of me when I was kid running around the house naked covered in marker cause I got bored one day.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
But there are many many many children who are being harmed and exploited by "pictures".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why not just legalize it?
You, sir, are obviously psychic.
:p
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
Also, just so you know, I'm a 200 lb Triathlete who teaches self defense classes. If you attacked me for having a differing opinion than yours, I would leave you with more than just your fragile ego broken.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
I'm a 240 pound ex marine, I wouldn't attack you for having a differing opinion, but you had to have know that we were arguing to different subjects and that the manner in which you were replying comes off as very pedophilia.
And I do sometimes get the urge to beat pedophiles senseless.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
And yet you still attacked me as if I was raping 5 year olds.
I am not pro pedo. I am anti-over-reaction.
Child rape is a seriously heinous crime. Child nudity is not. Traumatizing our children by oppressing them with an irrational fear of their own nudity should be illegal, as that does actually harm them. You can ask any child psychologist about that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
Taking a 10 yr/old boy or girl whose already aware of how society views nudity, and forcing them to take picture with there legs spread open, sitting on someones lap, hold someone else s genitalia, riding a bike or doing any number of other acts that may or MAY NOT be rape will permanently harm a child. you can ask any psychologist about that.
Most PORN
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
How do you think a grown women would react if a gun was held to her head and she was told to strip naked so I can photograph you.
well
You don't need a gun with children, in there minds they have no choice.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Middle Ground
What is the physical/emotional difference between a 17 year old and an 18 year old?
Is a 16 year old girl tramautized, embarassed, abused, raped, or molested if she films herself stripping for a webcam?
is a 15 year old boy scarred for life by watching porn and masturbating? What if he films it?
My point is that "child" is arbitrarily defined as under 18. younger people are incresingly sexual (15 for me, there's a 10 year old father out there) and they like to film themselves and take pictures. I can't say there is anything the government should be doing to criminalizing it. I won't say it is right or moral but I know it isn't criminal.
CP is completely reprehensible if it is forced on the kids. just as if it was forced on an 18 year old or a 40 year old. Rape is still rape. sexual abuse is still sexual abuse. Punish the crime itself bot the evidence of it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: The Middle Ground
18 is an arbitrary number, but it is the age where legally a person becomes an adult. They can sign a contract, they can go and die in a meaningless war on the other side of the world, and they can get naked on the internet without a problem. It's just one of those things. 18 is actually too young for most of those things, but that is the line that is set and that is the way it goes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: The Middle Ground
But....
I would say that the emotional difference between a 17/and 18 year old is quite large. Most people aren't fully matured until about 26 or 27. But 18 is where we have drawn are line.
"My point is that "child" is arbitrarily defined as under 18. younger people are increasingly sexual " Yes, and each year younger you go; the less responsible a young adults/child's actions will be; And the less you can reasonably hold them responsible for said action; and the less they are able to protect themselves from bad situations.
"Punish the crime itself bot the evidence of it." - That's analogous to saying don't punish me if I buy a car I know to be stolen, punish the thief.
And yes, I know, being criminalized for having a photo of you baby taking a bath is DUMB!!!! however an ADULT should be punished for caring around a naked picture of a girl he KNOWs to be 16! She may not know better he should.
"child porn" doesn't need to be legalized, it needs to be ENFORCED more intelligently!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Child porn
2. Additionally, even though I am a patent attorney, I have always been a history buff and a Constitutional law buff. I am always concerned about limiting access, since, "who decides"? If we have limits, but we are not EXTREMELY careful about "who decides", we move in the same direction as Nazi Germany - don't want to go there.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RE: usmcdvldg
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why not just legalize it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]