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Man in Court Over Simpsons Porn

Ever get the urge to look at pornographic drawings of famous cartoon children? Neither do I, but 28-year-old Kurt James Milner did, and that's what got him registered as a sex offender. Police received a tip about the pornographic material and eventually found images featuring child characters from The Simpsons and The Powerpuff Girls on Milner's computer. Back in 2008, a Supreme Court judge in Australia ruled that cartoons in which child characters engage in sexual acts is child pornography. Milner said he downloaded the images to show them to his friend 'because he believed they were funny.' Guess it's not so funny now.

138 of 673 comments (clear)

  1. Insanity. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ridiculous.

    1. Re:Insanity. by krou · · Score: 4, Funny

      At this point I'm picturing Nelson Muntz popping up in the courtroom, shouting HAH-Ha! at the judge, and then running off. (And just to be clear, it's not a naked Nelson Muntz).

      --
      'If Christ had tweeted the sermon on the mount, it might have lasted until nightfall.' - John Perry Barlow
    2. Re:Insanity. by quenda · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Ridiculous.

      Thought crime -- pure and simple.

      You could say the same about any pornography, unless they paid for it, or otherwise encouraged its production.
      Do you legalise the possession of all child, violent and bestiality porn? Denmark did that for some years.
      It's a tough question as to where to draw the line.

      A guy has just gone to court in Australia, after being caught with lots of photos of naked boy toddlers in his camera, taken discreetly (he thought) in parks or beaches or some such.
      His excuse is that he was obsessed with circumcision and wanted to show his wife that most boys were uncircumcised.
      Good luck with that one in court!
      Now if I caught that guy photographing my kid, I'd be pretty freaked out and maybe even do something that would land me in court.
      But really, he's probably just a sad git, and low on the list of people we should really worry about. (drunk drivers, thieves...)
      Its going to cost a pile of our taxes to prosecute and possibly punish this guy for his [alleged] crimes. I'm not sure what will be achieved.

    3. Re:Insanity. by the3stars · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather have a percentage of the 'pedophilicly inclined' spending their time acquiring pictures of nude cartoon characters than pictures of children. Further, in relation to the article, the way to get rid of undesirable elements of our ever changing society is not to punish the 'customer' but the 'distributor'. File sharing makes the line between the two difficult to see, but rather than putting people behind bars for the crime of clicking, why not focus more on removing the source? Under the current laws in many western nations, glancing at a computer screen displaying questionable photos of children is dangerously close to breaking the law. But there is a mile wide gap between the person who clicks a link and the person who subjects their own child to such inhumane treatment. I would suspect that the average person in a western nation sees hundreds if not thousands of simulated murders on television and in the movies, and murder is arguably a more heinous crime than active sexual deviancy targeting children. Cartoons are just as unreal as movies.

    4. Re:Insanity. by quenda · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Oh , and I must point out how brilliant the Queensland police are:

      but a year later police forensic experts recovered 64 images of cartoon child exploitation material in the machine’s recycle bin.

      12 months of crypto analysis before somebody looked in the recycle bin?

    5. Re:Insanity. by Architect_sasyr · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm not about to even TRY to defend that circumcision bloke. That prick deserves whatever he gets.

      Now I want you all to think about dwarf-ish people. The 40 something year old people who look like kids. Got that image in your head? Right, now pretend you're in front of a court facing child porn charges, and have a moment to think about how old Bart Simpson "actually" is (hint, the show has been running for over 20 years). The powerpuff girls are a bit younger than that, but if you combine their actual age with the postulated age on the show... so is sleeping with someone who just happens to look *that young* now a crime?

      And now I can't believe I just actually wrote that.

      --
      Me failed English...
      FreeBSD over Linux. If my comments seem odd, this may explain...
    6. Re:Insanity. by hanabal · · Score: 2, Funny

      how about this. Assume Benjamin button is real, now sleep with him when he's 12 years old. on other words he looks 80 something. Is it illegal? how about when he actually is 80 or so (looks 15) is it illegal?

    7. Re:Insanity. by Fred_A · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh , and I must point out how brilliant the Queensland police are:

      but a year later police forensic experts recovered 64 images of cartoon child exploitation material in the machine’s recycle bin.

      The fool ! He should have known that cartoon characters don't recycle ! You have to use *the Dip* !

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    8. Re:Insanity. by obarthelemy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yep, someone collecting pictures of my child while he happens to be naked is sick. no harm done top the child though.

      Nowhere near as someone who unclothes my child. Or worse.

      Take away the age factor. Not all watchers of fringe porn (whatever your definition of fringe is: gang bang, rape...) actually want to act the films out. Same as not all watchers of car chases want to launch into a car chase, etc, etc ....

      I understand criminalizing the possession of child porn to kill the market for it, thus the demand for "actors".

      I don't understand censoring virtual stuff. Or, someone needs to explain to me why murder, torture, American Idol are OK on TV any pretty much any hour, but not sex.

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    9. Re:Insanity. by HungryHobo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Personally I don't like any law that creates a situation where you can become a criminal while in a locked room with nothing more than a pen and some blank sheets of paper.

      Want to draw up your plans for bringing down the government?
      no problem, it's not conspiracy until another person is involved.

      Want to write about raping and maiming everyone around you?
      Again, you don't break the law until other people are involved.

      But god help you if you draw 2 stick figures and put an arrow pointing to one with a little side note reading "Age 15"
      For that you are a criminal at least as bad as people who gang rape children.

    10. Re:Insanity. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, that's the real problem. Nudity without eroticisim should not be pornography (or shameful, but that's another rant). The problem should be someone photographing you or your child without consent. Of course, actual child molestation is seperate and should be punished severely.

      In this case there wasn't even a victim at all, except 20th Century Fox or whoever owns the Simpsons IP. The entire case is incredibly stupid, and probably would have been dismissed if it wasn't for his prior conviction.

    11. Re:Insanity. by HisMother · · Score: 4, Funny
      I'm not about to even TRY to defend that circumcision bloke. That prick deserves whatever he gets.

      Bada-BOOM!

      --
      Cantankerous old coot since 1957.
    12. Re:Insanity. by vodevil · · Score: 3, Funny

      Aren't the simpsons kids over 20 years old now?

    13. Re:Insanity. by Zemran · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How will you feel when you get arrested for possession of photos of your own children playing in the paddling pool without enough clothes on to cover the dignity that they do not yet have. The whole situation is stupid. My mother has photos of me when I was a child playing almost naked, aged 3. Will my mother get arrested?

      We have entered an age where we are too frightened to smile at a child in case someone thinks we are perverts. It is stupid and although I accept that we need to address the problems and protect the child, this current behaviour is harming the children as they cannot play like children and enjoy their childhood in the way they should.

      In Britain it is hard to get male teachers to work with young children because of the fear of being prosecuted for touching them when they climb all over you. The children need good male role models but any man that has worked with children knows that the stupidity has made this too dangerous.

      Many years ago I grabbed a female student (aged 14) who had climbed out onto an upstairs window ledge and dragged her back into the room. There were witnesses, so the end result was OK but there had to be an inquiry because I had touched her by grabbing her around the waist. If I had let her jump I would have probably got 6 months sick leave and counseling. I realised then that we are no longer protecting the children but we have entered the realm of witch hunt.

      This guy just got burnt as a witch.

      The real threat is that the real perverts will get lost amongst the stupid witch hunt.

      --
      I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
    14. Re:Insanity. by McGiraf · · Score: 4, Funny

      You wrote "naked boy toddlers", please report yourself to the nearest police station.

      Thanks.

    15. Re:Insanity. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ridiculous.

      That's for sure. Who wants to see cartoon characters having sex, anyway?

      Now excuse me, I've got to go back to playing Dragon Age:Origins. I think Morrigan is almost ready to give it up.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    16. Re:Insanity. by Yvanhoe · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Want more insanity ? This just in : Australia bans small boobs in porn because they make actress look like minors.

      "Shall we put such hysteria aside and look at what this ruling is saying to Australian women? Basically, it's classing a certain normal female body type as obscene. It's declaring all flat chests to be automatically juvenile, something that should not be viewed by anyone because of a fear that it will stir up "base instincts" in certain people."

      "Can the Classification Board be any more insulting or sexist?"

      I suggest that from now :
      - Flat chested women stop having sex, this is obscene, they are like, you know, children, that's unhealthy
      - People having sex with flat women should be charged as pedophiles.
      - Pubic shaving should be forbidden. It makes the body look juvenile.
      - Men should have mandatory beard, otherwise they look too similar to children
      - Men without beard should be barred from doing porn.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    17. Re:Insanity. by Sobrique · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm sure my mum has baby photos of me. That's not porn, and the only 'harm' I've had was when they got shown to my girlfriend.
      So what if someone finds them erotic though? I mean, really? The crime is in harming a child that because of age is not able to meaningfully consent to sexual activity
      Underage sex doesn't necessarily cause harm - but we set an age threshold because the only person who is able to consent to sexual activity is the child themselves, and we acknowledge that not being an adult means we cannot be sure that they know and understand the implications of doing so - much like other areas in life, such as drinking or getting a drivers license, or smoking.
      When we do the 'lets think of the children' then ... great, but lets be sure that's actually who we're thinking of - no child was harmed in the making of this cartoon porn. That makes it a witch hunt, and one that diverts attention to the real problem.

    18. Re:Insanity. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree completely. Asking a pedophile to avoid child porn is like asking a typical man to avoid adult porn: the sexual urges are no doubt similar. With cartoons and computer simulation, a pedophile could find relief without any children being harmed in the process (as long as the images remain discreet). I fear that this prohibition on simulated child pornography is only driving some pedophiles into desperation, where they might do something stupid.

      It does depend on one's theory of pornography and sex, however: does porn relieve sexual urges or heighten them? If the former, then simulated child porn is good; if the latter, it's dangerous. Unfortunately, it might be both, depending on the person: whether they have obsessive or addictive tendencies, for instance. It's a difficult issue, something that the various national governments do not seem to recognize. They have to start from the fact that pedophilia is inborn, just like all other sexual desires and fetishes (who chooses to be a pedophile, or to be sexually attracted to shoes?). While the act of exploiting or sexually abusing children is a vile one which needs to be punished, I suspect that for every pedophile who is caught doing something evil like this, there are many others who suffer in silence, and those people need our help and sympathy, not expressions of horror.

      (I've never posted AC before but it occurs to me that someone might read this and guess that I am a pedophile. I am not, but the label of pedophile is so toxic that I don't want it tarnishing my identity here. Ironic perhaps, sad and spineless, but there it is.)

    19. Re:Insanity. by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2, Informative

      This reminds me of a recent story about a man on a British Airways flight who was asked to move seats. The reason? He was in the aisle seat and his pregnant wife was in the window seat. Between them was a child they weren't related to. British Airways policy assumes that all men are sexual predators, apparently, and thus men can't be seated next to children they aren't related to. No such problem with women. I guess all women are caring motherly types while all men are sex-starved perverts.

      Anyway, he objected to moving and was yelled at and threatened by the flight attendant. Eventually, he moved, but he's now suing the airline.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    20. Re:Insanity. by pnewhook · · Score: 2, Informative

      Me too. But apparently there is only a size limit on the recycle bin, not an age limit. When you hit the size limit it will delete older stuff to make room.

      If you delete something, then never delete anything further, the file will stay in the recycle bin forever (unless you manually dump it of course).

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
    21. Re:Insanity. by dstech · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "3. Look at the fucking guy, Jesus Christ.

      Sure, any one of those things, no problem, but his previous conviction combined with 1, 2, and 3 are enough that without some fairly strong exonerating evidence I'd vote to convict if I were on the jury."

      This is why trials by a "jury of one's peers" is so utterly flawed. Anyone who would use "Just look at him!" as a factor in deciding a conviction should not be serving on a jury.

    22. Re:Insanity. by Alinabi · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why do you list torture and American Idol as distinct categories?

      --
      "You can't allow somebody to commit the crime before you detain them." [Condoleezza Rice]
    23. Re:Insanity. by Domini · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm flabbergasted by people in the US's views one subjects like sex and alcohol.

      Hence all the teen drinking movies... just weird.

    24. Re:Insanity. by Yvanhoe · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually I'm opening a porn studio in Kabul. I could get girls to undress but still no men to shave. If these directives pass I could have an opening in Australia...

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    25. Re:Insanity. by Krahar · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The real threat is that the real perverts will get lost amongst the stupid witch hunt.

      That is absolutely not the real threat, and if you really mean that you are one of those people causing the real problem! People are born with their sexual orientation, and that can include being attracted to very young children. These people may be perverts, sure, but there is nothing morally dubious about them as long as they do not act on their urges. Which is actually tremendously sad for them, if you think about it - they cannot have a fulfilling sexual life. The situation we have now is morally equivalent to the imprisonment of gays in times past, except I do have the impression that the public outrage today is much worse for people who did not engage in any actual sexual activity with another person. The real threat is that the real child molesters will get lost amongst the cruel witch hunt of perverts and even non-perverts. Now if that's what you meant with what you wrote, then fine.

    26. Re:Insanity. by Blue+Stone · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "cartoon child exploitation"

      How exactly do you exploit a cartoon child?

      If I draw a cartoon child being shot, is this now 'cartoon child murder'?

      These lawmakers have allowed their pedo-hysteria to warp their sanity.

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    27. Re:Insanity. by mikael · · Score: 3, Informative

      Even passengers who have been pre-allocated a seat on an airplane are asked to move when they find themselves sitting next to a strangers child.

      Businessman sues BA 'for treating men like perverts'

      If it such a big issue with the airline, they should update their booking system to make sure children are sitting next to a guardian or parent and not a stranger.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    28. Re:Insanity. by computational+super · · Score: 4, Funny
      My mother has photos of me when I was a child playing almost naked, aged 3. Will my mother get arrested?

      Well, she will now, big mouth.

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    29. Re:Insanity. by plague3106 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem should be someone photographing you or your child without consent.

      Consent is not needed if the pictures aren't used commercially and you or your child are out in public. My problem is that apparently some people think its ok to let their kids run around naked in public to begin with.

    30. Re:Insanity. by 5pp000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But god help you if you draw 2 stick figures and put an arrow pointing to one with a little side note reading "Age 15". For that you are a criminal at least as bad as people who gang rape children.

      Very very very well said. We are perilously close to decreeing a thoughtcrime.

      --
      Your god may be dead, but mine aren't!
  2. Bad write up. by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is not what got him registered as a sex offender: he was already registered as a sex offender from a previous case, in which he had been found guilty of actually having child porn (with images of real children) on his computer. The prior conviction is reason for the severe response to the cartoon images. This being the case, his claim that he didn't get sexual titillation from these images rings rather false.

    1. Re:Bad write up. by MrMista_B · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What's wrong with sexual titillation from a drawn image of imaginary characters?

    2. Re:Bad write up. by pipedwho · · Score: 5, Insightful

      WTF? Two things:

      1. The concept of making child pornography illegal has nothing to do with whether or not someone was 'sexually titillated'. It is ostensibly there to prevent exploitation of children, which happens during the creation of the child porn.

      2. The argument that his prior conviction is grounds for a 'severe response to cartoon images' is ridiculous. As the cartoon images never required an illegal act to create them in the first place, the only thing making them illegal is the ludicrous ruling by the supreme court judge that made 'cartoon child porn' the equivalent of real porn.

      It's bad enough that partial nudity is starting to be considered porn. But, the 'cartoon porn' court ruling should be thrown out, and the supreme court judge(s) should be removed from the bench.

    3. Re:Bad write up. by DerekLyons · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The prior conviction is reason for the severe response to the cartoon images.

      In other words, he wasn't convicted of having pornographic images - he was convicted of being convicted and having pornographic images.

    4. Re:Bad write up. by lordholm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "It's bad enough that partial nudity is starting to be considered porn. But, the 'cartoon porn' court ruling should be thrown out, and the supreme court judge(s) should be removed from the bench." The whole thing certainly makes no sense, but that is NOT HOW A CIVILISED STATE WORKS. What happens, if the supreme court is interpreting the laws in a certain way that is not really what was intended, but because the law was written in a certain way is that the legislative authorities MAKE AN AMENDMENT to the law, clarifying the situation, the previous convictions by the law still stands however. It is not the fault of the judge if the law is not clear on the topic. I am sure they did not really define child porn as being between two natural persons, just some other vague description that also included cartoons. This is the fault of the law, not the judge who interprets the law as it is written. This is called rule of law and is one of the most important foundations for a free society and civilisation.

      --
      "Civis Europaeus sum!"
    5. Re:Bad write up. by Cimexus · · Score: 2, Informative

      Mod parent up.

      The real story here is NOT that the judge erred in his ruling. A judge can only work with the law as written, and as interpreted in the light of normal statutory interpretation rules and past judgements (precedent/stare decisis).

      The story here is that the Australian definition of child porn was apparently written in such a way as to (unintentionally) include drawn/cartoon images. And yes, it should probably be amended (I'll leave that argument alone for now though). The point is though that the judge only has some leeway in interpretation. He can't go against clearly written and unambiguous language.

      Here is the relevant Australian legal definition of child pornography:

      CRIMINAL CODE ACT 1995 (Cth)
      SECT 473.1 Definitions

      "child pornography material "means:

      (a) material that depicts a person, or a representation of a person, who is, or appears to be, under 18 years of age and who:
      (i) is engaged in, or appears to be engaged in, a sexual pose or sexual activity (whether or not in the presence of other persons); or
      (ii) is in the presence of a person who is engaged in, or appears to be engaged in, a sexual pose or sexual activity;
      and does this in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, offensive; or

      (b) material the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of:
      (i) a sexual organ or the anal region of a person who is, or appears to be, under 18 years of age; or
      (ii) a representation of such a sexual organ or anal region; or
      (iii) the breasts, or a representation of the breasts, of a female person who is, or appears to be, under 18 years of age;
      in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, offensive; or
      (c) ; or
      (d) .

      Note that the key test under Australian law is whether or not a reasonable person would deem the material offensive, rather than merely consideration of the content itself. This test is almost certainly satisfied by most 'Simpsons porn' cartoon drawings. It requires only a representation of a person who 'appears to be' under 18 years of age. Certainly Bart, Lisa and Maggie satisfy this definition.

      The equivalent US law requires that the subject of the images be "identifiable", which one might equate to "real". But there is no requirement for "identifiable" or "real" persons in the Australian law.

      So basically the story here is that Australia has a section of law that could probably use an overhaul. I don't really feel that the judge did anything wrong here - he judged in accordance with the law (and given the defendant's past history of having REAL child porn images, I don't think he was hard done by).

    6. Re:Bad write up. by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's bad enough that partial nudity is starting to be considered porn. But, the 'cartoon porn' court ruling should be thrown out, and the supreme court judge(s) should be removed from the bench.

      Or, replaced with cartoon judges.

      If cartoons of kiddie porn are the equivalent of actual kiddie porn, then cartoons of judges are surely the equivalent of actual judges.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    7. Re:Bad write up. by cgenman · · Score: 3, Funny

      Australia is putting people in jail? This seems oddly redundant.

    8. Re:Bad write up. by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When 'erring on the side of caution' means thought crimes, that's too far. You say that pedophiles should expect supervision and scrutiny... for what happens in their heads? Molesters deserve supervision and scrutiny (after prison, just like any other dangerous criminal), but people who are just aroused by kids and take no action deserve no more special treatment than somebody turned on by violence who is nonetheless never physically violent.

      Abstract concerns like normalizing a market for harmful criminal activity through (what should be, ethically) non-harmful, non-criminal cannot be allowed to set precedents. It's like a person said in a comment in another thread, it is completely messed up that a person can technically become a criminal in Australia with a piece of paper and a pencil in a locked room. Trying to protect real people by protecting imaginary ones is as psychologically dysfunctional as pedophilia itself (not to mention wholly detrimental to whole genres of art, not just simulated CP).

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
  3. No wonder we're losing the battle on child porn... by tck44 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The best part of this story... "Officers discovered the computer would no longer turn on but a year later police forensic experts recovered 64 images of cartoon child exploitation material in the machine’s recycle bin." So, it took officers a year to mount the hard drive in another system, and take a look in the recycle bin.

  4. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by abigor · · Score: 5, Informative

    I guess you didn't read the article, which is no big surprise.

    It's his second offense. The first involved real children.

  5. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by wiredlogic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    depicting sexual acts with people under the age of 18 years.

    Technically, even Maggie is over 18 now.

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
  6. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you ask me, he should have the book thrown at him. Not for the animated stuff, but for having had -real- pictures. How the hell was he let off the hook the first time?

    --
    Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
    altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
  7. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by mysidia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Interesting... a cartoon character rises to the level of person now. Whoever knew.. I suppose it is the next logical step.

    How do you measure the 'age' of a cartoon character, I wonder.

    Is it whatever age the author says it is.... or does the jury have to make some sort of subjective determination based on carefully examining the imagery to make a judgement on the appearance of the images filed as evidence?

    With careful consideration as to not be prejudicial against midgets and people who appear much younger than their actual age.

    Next step is to extend the law to include imagery depicting violence as well.

    And then expand the age a little bit... age under 21 instead of 18.

    And then extend the law to include images depicting not just porn and violent acts, but drug usage also

    Then extend the age rule a little bit... persons under age 25 instead of 21.

    Then expand the scope a little bit... images depicting any crimes or hostile activities at all against such persons.

    Then extend the age rule a little bit... persons under 30 instead of age 25.

    Then expand the scope a little bit... images depicting or showing anything the least bit offensive to community values to persons depicted.

    Then remove the age limit entirely.

    Then expand the scope a bit to include anything disruptive to the civil order, government business, or disparaging to authority.

    Next make it retroactive, include text, writings, blog posts, opinion columns, as well as images. And anything offensive to even dead people or non-governmental highly-regarded entities. Increase the penalty for some years of confinement to permanent imprisonment, and eventual execution.

    Wow, instant censorship (in 10 steps)

  8. Aren't child pornography for protecting children? by lbigbadbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I thought the point of harsh laws against child pornography were meant to prevent the exploitation of children. Child cartoon characters are not actual people and thus were not actually exploited. Clearly he should have been arrested for copyright infringement instead.

  9. Old News by SJ2000 · · Score: 2, Informative
  10. Re:No wonder we're losing the battle on child porn by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Interesting

        That's really sad. They sat on the evidence for a year before processing it.

        I guess what would be worse would be if they confiscated someone's equipment, sat on it for a year, and found nothing. I'd be a bit pissed if my computers were taken for a year before they found that I had nothing illegal.

        My mother-in-law's computer was taken as evidence in a case where a roommate may have used her computer in relation to child porn. They imaged the drive and gave it back the next day. I assume a block by block copy of the drive, so they could try to recover any deleted information. Needless to say, he was quickly invited to not be a roommate any more. This may have been because she wasn't a suspect, but they needed her assistance to look for further information.

        Her case turned out out to be nothing except a lapse in judgement that didn't quite cross any legal boundaries (but came very close), and he did nothing on her computer. From what I knew of the case from the investigator and my mother-in-law, the police were perfectly justified in their pursuit of evidence. I had worked on her computer between the time he used it, and the time they collected it to process, so I gave a detailed report of what I had done. Unfortunately, that had been clearing the browser cache and history, scanned for viruses, did some housekeeping, updated a few things, and defragged the drive. They may have been able to recover some things, but it was less likely after my cleanup. I wish they had called a few days earlier, and they may have found something more.

    --
    Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  11. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by dgatwood · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's not a 20-year-old picture. It's a new picture of a character that has existed for 23 years. If a new picture of a person who has been alive for 23 years is legal, so should a new picture of a character that has existed for 23 years. The logic is actually fairly sound; if a cartoon character is going to be treated as a person, it must be fully treated as a person, and therefore if the character has existed for more than 65 years, it should also qualify for social security.... Anything less is just absurd. Anything more is also absurd. Indeed, the entire nature of the question is absurd....

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  12. Re:No wonder we're losing the battle on child porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    As an Australian working in Digital Forensics who works in the private sector but worked in the public sector, Law Enforcement Digital Forensics folks are woefully trained in my experience and under-resourced.

  13. Re:Aren't child pornography for protecting childre by pipedwho · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe he plea bargained to the lesser offence of "possessing images of child exploitation".

  14. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by Nikker · · Score: 3, Insightful
    From TFA

    The Leichhardt resident was convicted of possessing child exploitation material in 2003 after 59 sexual images of actual youngsters were found on his computer. He received two years probation with no conviction recorded.

    This was his second offense but something doesn't really make sense with all of this. If these laws are put in place to protect then why is he not 'dangerous' enough to be taken off of the streets? This is starting to sound like parking or speeding tickets where they just do it to make a point but not really make a difference. It's not like I personally view 'cartoon porn' as something that serious although it is fucked up to get off of anything related to kids but obviously the courts see it the same way since their ruling was not much more than a slap on the wrist. So either the first conviction was too much or the system is all wrong becuase how can you say how much of a sex offender someone is? I would either think you are a threat to society or you are not how can you be kind of a sex offender?

    --
    A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
  15. Not any more by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That was the original intent, yes. The original idea was that children are not fully developed individuals mentally as well as physically and thus need adults to protect them against various things. As such laws were created that say that children can't enter in to a contract on their own. Likewise, it was decided that children lack the understanding to consent to making porn. So it was outlawed to keep adults from exploiting them for that purpose.

    However now it has become more or less a witch hunt tool. The laws exist only to further themselves and to punish indiscriminately. Best example is two teenagers who were convicted of sending naked photos to each other. They made no effort to distribute the photos to a wider audience and were both under 18. However, they were successfully tried and convicted on child porn charges and that conviction has since been upheld on appeal. After their prison stay, they'll both have to register as sex offenders.

    Clearly such a situation is not designed to protect them from anything. While they may cause themselves harm by sharing nude photos, that harm has already been caused. The harm of going to prison and being labeled a sex offender is far, far worse. So they aren't being protected, they are being punished. There is no point, other than strict enforcement of the existing law.

    There is very little sense to what goes on with regards to these laws at this point. It seems to bypass people's ability to think logically and start off a witch hunt mentality.

    1. Re:Not any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      fuck, if I had ever been convicted of something so stupid while under 18 I'd kill as many people involved in the prosecution as possible. not like you're gonna get anywhere in life labeled a sex offender anyway

    2. Re:Not any more by Asclepius99 · · Score: 2

      You don't really understand why certain laws are put into place do you? Speeding is not put into place because you might crash your car and hurt yourself, it's because you might crash into someone else and hurt them. Pollution only hurts the person polluting? Bribery and corruption don't affect anyone besides the person giving the bribe and the person receiving it? And how is theft/destruction of public property a crime where the perpetrator is also the victim?

      In fact, except for the first two, all of your examples involve an individual hurting more than just themselves. And do you really into that getting busted for drug use while you're under 18 is the type of crime where you should have to register as a junkie for the rest of your life? Or what about suicide? Should you even have to go to jail for attempted suicide? Honestly, why is that an offense that you're arguing against decriminalizing? A person was depressed enough to attempt suicide, let's give them more problems.

      Two underage teenagers giving each other nude photos (that they even took themselves) does not warrant any type of involvement from the state. If it's reported the only thing that should happen is that the kids' parents are told and they should punish them (not because the whole situation is so indecent so society but because you probably want to teach your kids it's probably just not a good idea). I find it hard to believe that a majority of us on here never had any sexual experiences (even just making out with someone) while both people were under the age of consent. It's completely natural, and as long as these kids didn't intend to sell the photos or give them out to friends after a bad breakup then nothing happened that should have a legal recourse.

  16. Wrong question by Mathinker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > What's wrong with sexual titillation from a drawn image of imaginary characters?

    You're asking the wrong question, IMO. You should have asked:

    "Why is it any worse than pure textual depictions of fictional children having sex?" (which AFAIK is not considered child pornography in most jurisdictions)

    Would ASCII art depictions of child-like figures having sex, which are simultaneously textual erotic fiction about children having sex, be considered child pornography?

    You could, of course, go in a different tangent and come up with the question:

    "Why is a simulated depiction of the sexual abuse of children any worse than simulated depictions of other heinous crimes?" (AFAIK there are no other crimes for which possessing a depiction of them is also a crime. No, wait! Under the DMCA, a depiction of copyright protection circumvention which is sufficiently detailed to aid in circumvention itself could be criminal. Oops, no. Even there, mere possession is not criminal, distribution might be.)

    1. Re:Wrong question by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is the rationale of the Judge:

      However it was also to deter the production of other material, including cartoons, that could "fuel demand for material that does involve the abuse of children."

      It's not clear whether this is a "gateway drug" argument or something somewhat different.

      Personally, I would not advocate criminalizing these images, but this guy makes a horrible test-case. It could be argued that it makes sense to register him as a sex offender for his previous case, that this situation revokes the basis for earlier leniency, but then to let it go at that. But this guy makes a horrible poster child for arguing for the right to produce and distribute these kinds of images: he practical makes the case for the "slippery slope" argument.

    2. Re:Wrong question by Aceticon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      More essentially:
      - Why are victimless "crimes" crimes at all?

      If it doesn't harm anybody and has no negative side effects for others than the perpetrator then there's no reason for it to be a crime. Ramblings about an activity "showing pre-disposition to"/"inducing the person to"/"making possible that a person does" commit a "real" crime are just that: ramblings - until the actual "real" crime is commited, there is no crime.

      This applies just as much to erotic images/texts/words about children (no actual children involved in making them = no "real" crime) as it does to taking drugs (which really only harm the one that takes them).

      A society that imprisions people for doing things that harm nobody or worse, for doing things in which they only harm themselfs is a society where the barbarians are winning.

    3. Re:Wrong question by laughingcoyote · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So the law stays, and we just hope everyone goes to jail before anyone gets hurt.

      Ah, there's the rub, to give us our bit of Shakespeare for the day. For the record, my kids aren't hypothetical. And while I absolutely hope they are never hurt by a pedophile, there are only certain lengths I'm willing to go to in order to reduce that risk, because to go to greater lengths means almost certain harm from greater risks.

      Consider the risk of them being injured in a car accident. I'll use carseats for the ones whose age necessitates it, I'll drive very carefully and defensively while they're in the car, and I wouldn't let them ride with anyone else I didn't know or trust to keep them similarly safe. Those are all reasonable measures. What I wouldn't do is forbid them to ever ride in a car and force them to walk everywhere. That's unreasonable and may in fact make them less safe, and regardless would be an extreme reaction to a risk which is already well mitigated by more reasonable measures. Not eliminated, mind you, and no risk is ever truly eliminated even by the most draconian measures.

      The same is true here. I'm far more afraid of my children growing up in a society where the attitude is "Throw the deviant in jail before someone gets hurt!" than I am actually afraid of said deviant. A free society means we must tolerate people who think and want some pretty disgusting things. We can certainly punish those who act on such urges, be they to murder people of a certain race or sexually abuse children. But we cross a line when we imprison someone simply for what they think, like, have urges to do, say, advocate, or anything of the sort. Freedom means tolerating things you find revolting, if no one is actually being injured.

      Why? Because someone else probably finds you or me revolting. Someone probably thinks it's unconscionable that I have children and yet don't support the "Lock 'em all up! Think of the CHILDREN!" mentality. Someone else may strongly disagree with other political beliefs I hold. Someone else yet may just not like the color of my shirt.

      Freedom of speech, and expression, and thought means that I may think, say, and express these things whether those people like it or not, and that, in turn, they may do the same. That's the only way that system works. Starting to say "Well...all speech is free speech except THAT!" is the true slippery slope. I'd much rather take my chances and let someone watch Simpsons porn, if they really feel the need.

      --
      To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
    4. Re:Wrong question by Jesus_666 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Of course, an angry person can calm down and get counseling.

      And a pedophile can't? Counseling and self-help groups help alcoholics stay dry. Why can't they help pedophiles? Is pedophilia really stronger than alcohol addiction? Yes, it's a sexual urge but there are ways of handling urges. In fact, we could even issue child porn (drawn/rendered and produced by tightly controlled studios to ensure no actual children are harmed) to help them let off some steam. Have them police each other - they're likely very motivated to help each other stay clean.

      The reason that nobody does anything to help pedophiles is that nobody wants to help them. They don't want to (attempt to) solve the problem, they just want the problem to go away if they close their eyes to it. That clearly doesn't work but still people think that somehow outlawing pedophilia will magically make it disappear.

      I just hope that society gets its act together before someone discovers a gene that might create a predisposition to pedophilia and the scaremongers start demanding a mandatory eugenics program to be instated.

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    5. Re:Wrong question by TheLink · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > Ah, there's the rub, to give us our bit of Shakespeare for the day.

      Shakespeare? Wasn't he that pervert who wrote Romeo and Juliet?

      Juliet's age to quote him:

      But saying o'er what I have said before, My child is yet a stranger in the world. She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Let two more summers wither in their pride, 'ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.

      http://www.twelfth-night.info/clicknotes/romeo/T12.html

      She was younger than fourteen.

      --
  17. Uh oh, he's a fatty. We'd better put him away. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This seems obvious to me, but I'm not hearing it from anyone else, so I'm just going to be the voice of reason here.

    Guy downloads real child porn (I'm going to assume deliberately). Get's busted for it, because law makes the argument that he's contributing to actual child exploitation.
    - I don't agree with this, but it could be argued

    Guy downloads cartoon child porn. Get's busted for it, because law makes the argument that he's contributing to actual child exploitation?
    - Hard to argue the benefit to society here.

    Only possible explanation: It's been made into a thought crime. They just need proof someone has been thinking sexual thoughts about children. And apparently that's been made illegal.

    If a guy tries to abide by a law he got busted for by looking at cartoon child porn instead of real child porn, my first reaction is to support him. Am I crazy?

  18. A fine line has been drawn by Ace905 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This guy is obviously a pedophile, the article points out he has a prior conviction of posession of actual child pornography. His defense that the images were just funny is a total lie -- and other people have pointed this out.

    The problem I have with this case is that the guy is disgusting, his motives were obvious and so it is very easy to support his conviction. But with Cartoons, it could be argued that there is _no victim_ at all. And as much as I hate pedophiles, and I do - I don't believe that the images, real or cartoon, actually encourage pedophile tendencies.

    Images of children being exploited sexually have been banned all over the world because the children have to be protected from those images remaining in circulation for their entire lifetime; images of children being exploited sexually encourage other pedophiles to exploit more children on camera for the purpose of trading images, etc. BUT with the case of a cartoon -- none of these reasons hold true, and more importantly, at best - they encourage pedophiles to draw cartoons of children being sexually exploited which, as i said, doesn't create any victims. Distributing actual child porn may encourage the creation of child porn, but it doesn't turn otherwise normal hetereosexual people into pedophiles. You have to be a pedophile to begin with to even want it.

    Now that this guy has been charged, and this is obviously a precedent setting case - it will be easier to charge and dole out harsh sentences for people found posessing cartoon porn even if it is their first offense and they really aren't pedophiles. I mean, cartoons are sometimes funny and in the case of Simpsons porn - I know I've seen a few cartoons featuring Bart and Lisa that were funny and.... at least to me, not sexually exciting at all. I mean christ, they're cartoons.

    It seems to me that they've gone after an easy person to hate, with a history of child porn collecting - to blindside people to the over zealous and really very useless law they've just created.

    --

    Ace
  19. never under estimate the stupidity of the law by cl191 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess I need to draw some clothes on my stick figure man just to be safe from now on.

    1. Re:never under estimate the stupidity of the law by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2, Funny

      I guess I need to draw some clothes on my stick figure man just to be safe from now on.

      Good idea, somebody better go tell Randall

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  20. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by _KiTA_ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So ... if someone has 20-year-old pictures of a 10-year-old being raped, it's okay because now the child in question is 30?

    While I don't see the harm in cartoon-sex, you can't really expect the "but technically $person is over 18 today " defence to work or even be acceptable.

    If you can, what's wrong with killing people? Technically they're already dead by the time you get to court over it, and there's no point in crying over spilt milk.

    Except Maggie, Bart, and Lisa are not real people. They do not have human rights. They are not children. They are cartoon characters.

    Child Pornography is illegal because it violates the rights of the children contained therein -- the right to consent, amongst others. The Simpsons "kids" have no such rights because they don't exist.

    Treating this material differently is merely a way to punish people modern society considers "creepy." That's all.

  21. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by Capsaicin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How the hell was he let off the hook the first time?

    Maybe because it was a first offence?

    And how serious was the nature of the "child exploitation material" the first time, given this is also classifed as such?

    OTOH wanting to throw the book (or something even heavier) at him for looking like that I can understand!

    --
    Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
  22. Bart's Unit by flyboy974 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So everyone who owns or has seen the Simpson's movie is liable for child porn? Is it me or didn't Bart go skateboarding naked in the movie, including showing his "talent". If I draw two stick figures in a suggestive manner, is that child porn? How old is a stick figure?

    1. Re:Bart's Unit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If I draw a dead stick figure, will I be arrested for murder??

  23. Re:No wonder we're losing the battle on child porn by honkycat · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'll wager that it's the under-resourced that was the limiting factor, since it doesn't sound like it took major effort. Given that California has something like a decade of unprocessed DNA rape kits due to lack of resources, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if data forensics had a year long wait before they even got around to touching a new case.

  24. Partial nudity by loshwomp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's bad enough that partial nudity is starting to be considered porn.

    The whole idea of "partial nudity" is silly anyway. Anyone who isn't covered from head to toe is "partially nude".

    1. Re:Partial nudity by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It only is different because our decency laws make it so. Talk with someone from 500 years ago and ask him whether asking a woman to show her ankles is considered sexual harrassment.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Partial nudity by c6gunner · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Are you really trying to make that your case? We wouldn't tell women "show me your genitals" if it wasn't quite obviously different from looking at wrists or necks.

      The main reason it's different is that we make such a big deal out of it. If you lived in a society where women were covered from head to toe, the sight of a female ankle would arouse similar feelings. Conversely, if you lived in a society where everyone walked around nude all the time, you would find it perfectly normal to be surrounded by breasts and genitals on a constant basis.

      The variability of sexual interest can also be demonstrated by the existence of fetishists. For instance, podophiles find the sight of feet just as (if not more) arousing than the site of genitals. The levels of homosexuality in ancient Greece show a similar phenomenon - large numbers of men being strongly attracted to other men, rather than to female genitals. We know that sexual attraction/preference is transferable and trainable, to some extent. While society in and of itself may not define what you are attracted to, it certainly plays a major role.

  25. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 3, Funny

    Treating this material differently is merely a way to punish people modern society considers "creepy." That's all.

    As we rightly should! If today we allow this, then tomorrow it might be acceptable for fat guys in beards to dress in sailor moon outfits. And when we start to allow that, then humanity's slide into depravity will be unstoppable.

    --
    Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
    altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
  26. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Rennt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't get this obsession that people have about breasts.

    Could it be you are not a heterosexual male?

  27. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by LBt1st · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But of course, having pictures of murdered children (cartoon or otherwise) is perfectly legal.

  28. All hail by BlackHawk-666 · · Score: 4, Funny

    All hail the Pedo Finder General!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvsoVdvtZC4

    --
    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
    1. Re:All hail by jimicus · · Score: 2, Informative

      Happens from time to time. It was part of a cartoon sketch show which was intended to drum up publicity.

      Another one (though I doubt you'd find it on Youtube) which definitely did cause hysterics was the Brass Eye paedophile special:

      http://www.channel4.com/programmes/brass-eye/4od#2929844

  29. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I consider it way creepier that the legal system considers cartoons real enough to protect their "human" rights.

    That's creepy!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  30. A truly sick society that's lost it's way by syousef · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Child Pornography is illegal because it violates the rights of the children contained therein -- the right to consent, amongst others

    That's a strong argument against creation, but a weaker one against distribution. (You could still argue that distribution does further damage by embarassing the child, so it's still a valid argument - just not as strong)

    Treating this material differently is merely a way to punish people modern society considers "creepy." That's all.

    I think you'd find the powers that be phrase it differently. For instance argue that gratification from cartoons leads to or encourages real world abuse.

    I'm in 2 minds about this, but I do think we should save harsh punishment for harsh crimes, and destroying someone's life and imprisoning them definitely qualifies as a harsh punishment where as having a giggle at immature cartoon porn that may involve depiction of child characters I find difficult to classify as a harsh crime. People and the laws they make have no sense of proportionality as soon as the word sex is mentioned. The dichotomy of laws like this with prolific sexual material and the legal sexualisation of children through idiotic kiddie pagents and the like is disturbing. It's a sign of a truly sick society that's lost it's way.

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    1. Re:A truly sick society that's lost it's way by _KiTA_ · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think you'd find the powers that be phrase it differently. For instance argue that gratification from cartoons leads to or encourages real world abuse.

      I don't think there's ever been a study done proving such a link.

      It would be an interesting study, no doubt, but it sounds like there's a chance that it would go against "accepted wisdom," which means said study would never be done, or would simply be ignored.

    2. Re:A truly sick society that's lost it's way by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Insightful


      Distribution of (real) child pornography is still a very bad thing. Aside from the trauma to the child (which is big thing in and of itself), you can make a supportable argument that distribution encourages production.

      Now as to artificial work, there are a number of problems. For one, no child has been harmed by it. For two, it can be very subjective what is porn and what is not. Just because someone gets turned on by a picture, it doesn't mean it is offensive or pornography. Unfortunately, this latter seems to be the way UK law now handles something. A film like Let the Right One In from Sweden shows a girl of around 13(?) naked from the waist down at one point. It's in no way porn - it's scary. But someone might like that and then it becomes pornography? Terrible principle for determining things. Or look at the kerfuffle about the cover to the Scorpions' Virgin Killer we had a year ago in the UK. Determining whether an artificial work is porn or not is of itself a very difficult thing. A recent UK law however, was explicitly stated during its implementation process as 'allowing the police to lock up people they wanted to lock up if they couldn't find a way to prove something'. I kid you not - the comment was made in the House of Lords as one of the purposes of the law.

      But the final question about artificial child pornography is whether it increases the likelihood of real offenses against children. I think if someone is attracted to pre-pubescent girls (and that's another thing - a girl of seventeen is "child pornography". Are they serious? It might be best not to allow pornographic images / films of her all over the place because she probably is too young to make informed decisions about these things, but to imply that it's wrong to find her physically attractive? At that age, a girl is biologically screaming sexual attractiveness! You might not find her attractive after half an hour of seventeen year old conversation mind you, but that's a different matter. ;) But anyway, back to the point... if someone is attracted to pre-pubescent girls, I doubt access to cartoon pornography is going to make a whit of difference. There's something wrong there a priori. But what it might do is diminish the chance of that person actually going out and harming a child. To be brutally honest, a porn-induced wankathon makes most guys lazier about actually trying to get with a real girl. A number of my female friends have complained that men are getting less interested in sex, probably due to having streaming porn on tap. I'm not an expert on peadophiles, but I would imagine the release of cartoon pornography would affect them similarly.

      What will get really creepy is when technology progresses further and the artificial porn gets much more realistic. But the principle will remain the same. I imagine it will ignite just as much bad legislation though, because I agree with one of the GPs that the motivation is probably less about actual harm (with the cartoons), than it is with social ostracism. Anyway, what about the UK 2012 Olympics logo? It clearly resembles Lisa Simpson giving a blow-job. Why hasn't this sick filthy been banned?

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    3. Re:A truly sick society that's lost it's way by VJ42 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A recent UK law however, was explicitly stated during its implementation process as 'allowing the police to lock up people they wanted to lock up if they couldn't find a way to prove something'. I kid you not - the comment was made in the House of Lords as one of the purposes of the law.

      This sounds more like something the bills opponents would say, not it's supporters (yes even here in the UK); a link to the appropriate Hansard page would be nice.

      --
      If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
  31. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Tastes and preferences vary from culture to culture and era to era. Go back even a century and whilst breasts were considered erotic then, they were much less eroticised and size less emphasized. Go back a couple of centuries more and they were hardly eroticised at all (in a general sense). A couple of centuries before that, and breasts were eroticised again. We can roughly infer these sorts of things from changes in costume style, art from the period, etc. At other points in time, shoulders and necks have been eroticised, legs and, rather a lot, bottoms. :)

    Anyway, you can be straight, male and attracted to girls primarily by things other than breasts. And if you are, the media fixation on them may well seem a little perverse. There are loads of girls you find attractive all the time who don't particularly have large or pronounced breasts. They're just, you know, pretty. :)

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  32. Beating around the bush by Mathinker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I think about this issue, I come to the conclusion that the real reason for simulated depictions of sexual child abuse being criminal is something which no judge would ever admit to: society wants to criminalize people who are sexually attracted to children, even if they have never committed any such crime, and because of their psychological makeup are even unlikely to ever commit such a crime in the future, because society is afraid of such people.

    All this "slippery slope" BS is just beating around the bush. My guess is that simulated child pornography will continue to be illegal even in the far future when it will be trivial to produce, so trivial that only the very, very stupid would consider producing it using real children (assuming, of course, that the only goal involved is the production of the pornography; I'm not talking about the case where a pedophile wants to film his illegal acts).

    BTW, your argument that he's a horrible poster child seems weak. His first offense was for actual child pornography, rather than simulated child pornography. If anything, he seems to be slowly climbing up that slippery slope.

    1. Re:Beating around the bush by joebagodonuts · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The real fear is that society IS "such people".

      We are. We just don't want to admit it.

      So we find the deviants, (homos, left-handed, pedophiles,...) and take out our fearful frustrations on them. On this specific matter, I think real children will always be used, because there is always going to be a desire for people to control others. A simulation (porn) doesn't address the real issue.

      The fantasy isn't "I like 13 yr olds" (or whatever), that's a justification. Or perhaps symptom is a better word. The REAL fantasy is "I like complete domination of another. I can do whatever I want. I'm a God" The fantasy of control for people who are overwhelmed by being powerless.

      Not just about the physical, there is a psychological component that is in play, too. Seems to me all of the attention on the sex act, the titillation, ignores a more fundamental drive. And, stops the issue from being dealt with intelligently. God forbid we address the fundamental issue(s) with offenders, finding a way to help them overcome the obsessions. Nope, it's easier to label them pariah and to punish them forever.

      --
      "Give a woman two glasses of wine and some pad thai, and they'll agree to just about anything." the Sports Guy
  33. Re:He didn't learn his lesson... by Xeno+man · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe they only found the cartoons, but...

    But what? But he may or may not still be thinking about that stuff? But he may be thinking about raping a kid? But he might go to a public school and rape a class room? Your assuming the worst about someone based on a single conviction. Maybe he is totally perverted or maybe he was just mildly curious and happened to get busted.

    Basically I see this like a guy that was busted for smoking pot and now he is being arrested for smoking a cigarette because it's kind of similar.

  34. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by c6gunner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It mentions that the first offense was of actual kids. That means it was real kiddie porn.

    My parents have old pictures of me as a kid, taking a bath. Should they go to jail?

    It's idiotic beyond belief to think that nude pictures are by default harmful or exploitative. It's like saying that, since guns are harmful, pictures of guns must also be harmful. If my government decided to make it a crime to own pictures of firearms, it wouldn't surprise me a bit - it would be perfectly in line with the policies they've been following.

    Yes, child-porn can be harmful. But there is a world of difference between pictures which depict simple nudity, and ones which depict child abuse. Not only do many governments not distinguish between these, but they apparently don't distinguish between reality and fantasy, either. They seem to feel that it's ok to arrest people for drawing a cartoon. When the Chinese do that, we rightly criticize them for oppressing their citizens; when we do the same thing, well ... it's For The Children!

    How can any thinking person defend these types of policies?

  35. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Grimbleton · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Small breasts beat big breasts any day.

  36. Re:No wonder we're losing the battle on child porn by Wordplay · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ignoring the fact that the drive could be backed up first via a duplicator, your argument is seriously that it took them one year to figure out the "No" button?

  37. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes but considering how truly insane the laws have gotten now I wouldn't trust TFA. Does it say what ages these kids were? I know here in the US they can be 17 years and 11 months and you would still get treated like they were 5, even if you had no way of knowing. And of course we have bullshit like this were we are talking about ink on paper, no actually kids involved.

    To me this kind of horseshit just cheapens the charge against those actually involved with really kiddie porn crap, because we have all heard stories like this, of the law going totally apeshit, that you have no idea if the person was busted for something real or "save teh kidz!" horseshit. We here in the US need to throw out any politician who pulls this "save teh kidz!" bullshit and bring sanity back to our laws. Hell the way the laws have gotten so fucked up you could have nothing but over 18 porn and STILL go to to jail because some judge decides it "looks lolita" and gets you for simulated CP. This shit is gone past crazy three exits back folks.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  38. Criminalizing "preferences" by erroneus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Some people get into some pretty whacked out interests. No question about it. I once saw some show where a guy was a collector of vomit... but it had to come from women. There are all kinds of interests out there; some funny, some disgusting, some make you worry.

    I think we have to draw a line between right and wrong when it comes to punishing people for their likes and dislikes alone. We don't throw people in jail for WANTING to rob a bank. We don't throw people in jail for being obsessed with TV shows about murder or rape or other crimes. Why do we throw people into jail for wanting be with children? It doesn't mean they did or ever will. It just means they "might." There are a lot of things that people might do... drinking and driving is something that people might do.

    We seriously need to stop "protecting children" and start being civilized and rational about how we administer justice.

    I'm not saying that being interested in children sexually isn't bad -- it is. I'm just saying it shouldn't be considered criminal until a criminal act is carried out. Until an actual person is harmed (even "harm" is often rather subjective) or at least involved, it should be treated as a mental illness at the very worst.

    And let's be honest about what we find more disturbing. There are people out there who get off on sicker things than teenage girls. There are people who get their kicks from crime scene photos that include murder, suicide, mutilation and dismemberment. I find that to be EXTREMELY disturbing. Why, then, aren't these people being charged with some sort of crime and putting these freaks away? I find our justice systems are seriously inconsistent.

  39. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Rennt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Good points, but you seem to be conflating the appreciation of "large and pronounced" breasts (which has changed over time and culture) with appreciation of breasts as part of the female form (which has NEVER been out of fashion).

    I think you would be VERY hard pressed to find a heterosexual male who does not appreciate breasts in this more general sense.

  40. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by delt0r · · Score: 2, Funny

    Your right. Its far more serious. Its copyright infringement!

    --
    If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
  41. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by EdgeCreeper · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No.

    Normal sized breasts beat abnormal sized breasts any day.

    Actually.

    Normal breasts beat abnormal breasts any day. Aside from something being seriously wrong, do not modify them.

    Actually don't modify your body unless something is seriously wrong with it.

  42. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's pattern is easy to explain...

    They're hiding it, so we want to see it. So we convince them to show it and we're okay with it for a little while until they become grandmas themselves and in the interest of not singling out the elderly we convince them all to put it away. Which we are okay with for a little while, until they keep hiding it, so we want to see it... and around it goes.

  43. Re:MOD PARENT UP by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Informative

    And no, I didn't rtfa.

    It's as simple as this: he pleaded guilty.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  44. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by c6gunner · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I just believe in doing what's right. Oppressive laws and tyrannical regimes only prosper when good people do nothing. Most of the people of Afghanistan didn't WANT their women to be chained up in a Burqa and kept locked up at home, but they kept silent because their society was ruled by a bunch of theistic maniacs who'd gladly put a bullet in your head for trying to defend your daughters right to lead a normal life.

    That's what makes "free speech" such a sacred right, in my eyes; it allows us to freely discuss anything, including what kind of moral and legal standards we want our society to have. I'm truly sorry to hear that you are too afraid to openly take part in that process. While anonymity may be a godsend in that regard, it's unfortunate that people in free nations can still be cowed into not exercising their freedoms.

    On the other hand, in this case you're overstating my supposed "bravery" since I am effectively anonymous on here anyway. Yes, some people could figure out my real identity from my slashdot username, but I'd be quite surprised if anyone bothered. While I have no problem taking part in these types of conversations in the offline world, I've got to admit that even the limited anonymity provided by a handle tends to make the process a lot easier. And while I'd be willing to stand behind my statements if someone confronted me offline, I'm in no hurry to identify myself.

  45. Stay classy, Australia. by bytesex · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So essentially, they wanted to throw the book at him and this was all they could find, and it happened to artificially fit the definition of a law that is really only randomly enforced. The guy may be a perv, but he did his time and this is no reason to put him away.

    --
    Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
  46. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Hurricane78 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I also don’t. Maybe because I god a extreme helicobacter infection from my mother’s milk back then, resulting in having horrible stomach pain and heartburn, whenever I sucked those breasts.

    There are other things that I find far more sexy. A sexy hip or neck, a barefoot girl, a fitting perfume.
    Oh, and that here in Germany, we can see tits every day, in advertisements, on TV, etc. We have no retarded “nipplegate”. Because it’s nothing special. So you focus less on them, and more on other things.

    I wish you could come to a south European beach in the summer. You will be practically guaranteed to see some sexy bare tits. :)
    On the first day you’ll get a boner. On the second you will say wow. On the third you will yawn.

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
  47. I don't understand... by nick.cash · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't understand the commentators that think there's nothing inherently wrong with the "Simpsons porn" but still think this charge is all okay because he's been convicted of having child porn before, as if that makes all the difference. If what he's doing isn't wrong, it shouldn't matter what he's done in the past. If what he's doing is wrong, it still shouldn't matter. I can't see any way to logically arrive at the conclusion that justice was served here solely on the basis that he had done wrong before. They say Justice is blind, etc etc. Look: he was probably ordered to stay away from schools, jobs involving children, etc. If he has violated that, he would be charged with breaking parole or something similar (whatever the antipodean analogue thereof is) and we would never hear about him. Instead, this is something it appears he was not told not to do, is not normally illegal, and wouldn't be considered wrong if someone else did it... but yet he's being charged with a crime ONLY because he had committed a previous crime. I can't see this as anything other than the Australian authorities on a witch hunt to target anyone classified as a "pedophile". I (admittedly) don't know much about Australian law and politics, but if this were the US, it would almost undoubtedly be some prosecuting attorney wanting to demonstrate that they are "tough on crime" to further their career. On the other hand, since I having a daughter a little over a year ago, part of me can completely understand the knee-jerk reaction against pedophiles (if anyone hurt my daughter, I can't say what I would do to them)... but I just can't see having that reaction against this guy. I don't think he hurt anyone here. He may have contributed to hurting minors in the past, but it appears he's served his time for that. The law says he's served his time and that's over with (if you want to argue that he should have been punished more, go ahead, but that's irrelevant to the case at hand). He apparently hasn't hurt anyone since. There's no reason this should be held against him. In short: I've seen a few Simpson's porn pics in my day. Most everyone who's been around on the internet this long has. I've seen most every cartoon, tv show, comic, book, etc Rule 34'ed. I laughed and continued my day. I don't think there was anything wrong with me doing that, and I don't think there's anything wrong with anyone else doing the same thing, even a convicted child porn trafficker. This is a misapplication of the law.

  48. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Marge clearly showed her tits, please move on to other types of porn.

    As these were "child characters", I doubt he was interested in seeing breasts.

    --
    If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
  49. ascii porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maybe it's drawn too poorly, but this is an actual depiction of Bart and Lisa engaging in taboo acts of a sexual nature!

    >+o
    >+o

    the sad part is that I am posting anonymously because.... what if?

  50. Comic book guy by ThaReetLad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is it just me, or does that guy bear more than a passing resemblance to Comic Book Guy?

    Also, talking about Simpsons porn, will Australia make the London 2012 Olympic logo illegal?

    --
    You can't win Darth. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
  51. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    and on the fourth day you'll see two fat grandmothers jogging.

    Then you will be scarred for life.

    You will not watch Baywatch.

    ever again.

    ever.

  52. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by makomk · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Under the equivalent UK law, if any aspect of the drawing looks under 18, it's illegal. So you can potentially be convicted of possessing child porn for (say) a drawing of a 23 year old with really tiny breasts.

  53. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by plastbox · · Score: 2, Informative

    "Attracted to" is not the same as "sexually aroused by" (although the two obviously overlap a bit). What I am attracted to, i.e. my taste, what makes one girl absolutely gorgeous to me but merely pretty/hot to my mates, I cannot define but it sure isn't the size of her breasts or some other specific, easily measurable property.

    What I am sexually aroused by on the other hand, is fairly easy to specify. At least two handfuls of nicely shaped, rounded boob. Slim waste, wide hips and a round, firm behind. Muscular, shapely thighs and ass. Full lips, heavy'ish makeup, long hair, high heels and the skill to not look like a clown when wearing them.

  54. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by hanabal · · Score: 2, Informative

    there have been some cases of consensual murder. There was a famous case of one guy who wanted to be eaten by another guy

  55. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by ijakings · · Score: 2, Informative

    Only on slashdot can this be modded insightful.

  56. Your children are porn stars now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People who have children are aiding and abetting child pornographers by producing potential child porn models. They indulge in home porn shows when they bathe their children and offer provoking glimpses of young flesh when they flaunt their kids at the seaside. Outrageous!

    Well, I don't see it like that, but with the aid of a twisted mind, I can see how the folks who want to ban cartoons of children might be working towards that conclusion. The ban and control brigade are just as sick as the paedophiles they claim to abhor.

  57. Prohibit pictures of people killing by AttilaSz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So why don't they make it illegal to possess a picturing of any crime being committed, even if the portrayal is completely fictional? Like, I dunno, people beating up, or killing other people. That should be completely eradicated from movies now, don't you think?

    Sheesh...

    --
    Sig erased via substitution of an identical one.
  58. Re:Not the best comparison, perhaps by SilentSandman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Someone who --makes the concious choice to take a drug-- is also --making the concious choice to act under the drug's influence. Therefor, ANY crime they commit "while under the influence" is a concious, willing act.

    This "aww poor them, they were ADDICTED, so they HAD to beat their grandma to death" is a load of crap.

    Drugs should be entirely legal, with the simple premise that --if you CHOOSE to take them, your actions while 'under the influence' are also part of that CHOICE, and punishable as such.--

    Sorry for the rant, but this is one of my biggest pet-peeves; people should damned well take responsability for what they do.

  59. Re:So counterfeiting is not a crime? by HungryHobo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That requires other people or at least communication beyond the room.

    Try again.

    You can become a criminal without ever sending any of those sheets beyond that room.

  60. Pretty stupid to convict someone for this by strangemachinex · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Those type of images are kinda funny. I've seen them posted on message boards and various places dozens of times over the years. I don't think Simpson's porn is actually created to arouse anyone, it's just for jokes.

  61. Re:What happened to Mangas by wrook · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not sure if you're trolling or not. But just to clear up a common misconception, the vast, vast, vast majority of manga is not pornographic at all.

    Pornographic manga is definitely available in Japan, but not all of that depicts children. Pornographic manga is available in most book stores and as far as I can tell most of it depicts adults. There is definitely a sub-genre that depicts high-schoolers, but it is not the most numerous by any stretch of the imagination. As for manga depicting pre-pubescent children, I've never seen any in the shops. Probably you'd have to go to a specialty store of some kind. Where I live, I wouldn't have any idea where to start looking. Nor would anybody else I know around here.

    Graphic novels are a ligitimate avenue of storytelling that is very popular in Japan. Equating them with child-porn is really way off the mark.

    Having said that, my friend's niece is really into Inuyasha, so I mailed her the Japanese version of the first volume. I didn't realize at the time that there is a single topless picture of the main character (a 14 year old girl) in this volume. So it seems I am unwittingly guilty of distributing child porn into the US, to a child no less... :-P

  62. Re:Not the best comparison, perhaps by icebraining · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In my country, drug usage was decriminalized (not legalized, but you won't face criminal charges), while drug selling is illegal. Oh, and there are public "retreats", where one can go to give up drugs by a recommendation of a doctor, but you have to follow strictly the rules or you get banned (for life, iirc).

    Since it was implemented, drug usage has been going down.

  63. Zombies! by Sobrique · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's ok. They're actually 1000 year old zombies, so it's not CP at all.
    Seriously. What the hell? The anti-pedophilia laws are there to protect children from harm, particularly from people in a position of trust or influence. That's eminently reasonable.
    How does a cartoon - however tasteless - have anything to do with that?

  64. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Asic+Eng · · Score: 2, Insightful
    It's precisely this sort of woolly-headed thinking which creates laws which send innocent men to prison - for nothing more than looking at drawings.

    Seriously man: you've just seen the result of this nonsense: some guy who has never harmed anyone is now classified as a "sex offender". And still you spread this piffle around?

  65. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Draek · · Score: 2, Funny

    No they don't. Sincerely, somebody with more experience in the field than merely looking at porn.

    --
    No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
  66. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Rosy+At+Random · · Score: 2, Informative

    I believe the term is 'hebephile'.

    --
    Would you like a slice of toast?
  67. Re:Simpsons Already Did It! by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Depends on how you define "pedophile", I guess. Many people "like 'em young" without wanting to do children. Youth is simply attractive - I mean, just look at all the rich and/or famous old people who take on younger partners. The younger partners are attracted to fame or money and the older ones, well, to youth.

    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  68. Re:Jesus Facepalming Christ. by 91degrees · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It does not change the fact that you're a dereanged weirdo that is spanking off to kids.

    Yes he is. Who is being harmed such that we need to punish the perpetrator?

  69. Ah - all just about making more money! by no-body · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thought police in action. This is just a dry run.

    Soon there is a device which will sense thought patterns and everyone with a wet dream will go to jail.
    Since the prisons can't hold all the convicts private companies will pick up the slack and - $$$$$!

    Uups! That was Australia - I thought about the US business model - my fault...

  70. Re:So counterfeiting is not a crime? by Sir_Lewk · · Score: 4, Funny

    You could impale yourself on the pen. Attempted suicide is illegal in some places.

    --
    "linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
  71. Re:No wonder we're losing the battle on child porn by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You were lucky. My brother was shot in the leg by a burglar and when the police came in to look at the scene they found some pot. Big deal, except they also found plastic bags which to them clearly indicated that he must be a big-time dealer. (Yes, our village cops (without any drug crime experience!) explicitly told us that a few grams of pot and twenty 50 ml plastic bags must absolutely, positively mean he is at the center of a drug ring that supplies all of North Germany with hard drugs.)

    So he ended up being under close investigation by the police while the gun-toting burglar, uh, somehow couldn't be found. Yeah. No clues at all, sorry; the witness reports were somehow inconclusive. Anyhow, they go and confiscate some things of his: His mobile (understandable). His computer (again understandable). His wallet (also okay). Some papers (okay...). A shrink-wrapped blank CD-R (wait, what?).

    It took months of his lawyer writing them nastygrams before they gave back his wallet - sans an old telephone card, which they somehow determined they had to keep even though they admitted it wasn't evidence. The mobile came a bit later, the papers a bit earlier. The computer and the CD-R, however, were only returned after the lawyer started to threaten to sue them for drawing out the investigations. Of course they didn't find anything of interest but it was somehow important that they kept the computer for over a year even though they didn't do anything with it for most of the time and the forensic expert (probably just the local IT guy) had already looked at it long ago. On of the investigators admitted that it just sat in a corner of his office (and here I thought that they have special rooms for evidence...).


    A speedy mirroring of the hard drive might happen if you are under investigation by CSI $BIG_CITY but if you're under investigation by the local village cops you can be lucky if they figure out how to open the case before the processor architecture has become obsolete.

    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  72. We're gonna have a lot more people on that list... by ewenix · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Does this mean that everyone who purchased the Simpsons Movie (which contains a nude scene of Bart skateboarding)
    is now a sex offender? Doesn't this mean the folks who produced the show should be prosecuted now too?

  73. Wow...Just Wow... by painehope · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As repulsive as this guy looks (I damn sure wouldn't leave him around a child for 2 seconds - he definitely looks like the child-interested potential paedophile he is), and as much as he deserved his first conviction for possession of actual child pornography (I don't even download pornography for many reasons, of which this is one - I've actually had torrents that said "Goth Chick Likes Cock" or whatever turn out to be "Goth Chick "Of Very Questionable Appearance In Regards To Her Age" Sucks A Cock" and so I ran the "shred" utility about 5 billion times over that section of disk and pretended that I really didn't see that - I might or might not have downloaded something illegal, but I did not keep it in my possession once I realized what it was, not just because it was potentially illegal but because, of age or not, what it purports to depict is close enough to the real thing that it turns my stomach and makes me want to kill someone that is actually doing the illegal stuff, especially when I think about the number of children that just "disappear" every year in the oh-so-civilized U.S.A. and that it could happen to my friends' children, or my own child one day when I have children), which is almost as repulsive an act as distributing it, which in turn in almost as repulsive as producing it (which is a truly heinous act - the only thing worse than rape is the rape or exploitation of children, both of which I consider to be hanging offences).

    But one the other side of this very slippery slope is the fact that despite the fact that this guy is undoubtedly one sick fuck, he hasn't molested any children that anyone knows of (I'd be the first to be baying for his blood if he did) and this is a fucking cartoon. Oh, I can guess very readily at his intent (and, unfortunately what his corpulent corpus was doing while watching it - there is such a thing as having too much imagination, folks...I've just discovered that and am looking around the house for sedatives as I write this) while possessing and viewing it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a cartoon, any more than the current drug laws allow people to be arrested for possession or distribution of drugs even if they sell someone a bag of oregano or flour knowing that it's oregano or flour - both types of laws are both silly and a distraction from the real problem (the finding and execution of paedophiles, or instituting a drug policy that works, like decriminalization or legalization and regulation). There are (as anyone who has browsed Internet porn or went to a "24-hour bookstore" can tell you) entire websites and sections of most adult bookstores that cater to selling video that depict young women as being much younger than they are. Turns my stomach, but it's legal (and the consequences of making it illegal are not going to change anything that really matters, like getting the people that are making or doing the real thing, not just some play-acting by some fat guy who should have been shot when he was found in possession of actual child pornography).

    And if you go after people that aren't actually breaking any realistic laws (or teenagers that post pictures of themselves having sex on camera - something that I and millions of people my age or older did as a teenagers with age-appropriate partners and just didn't have an all-consuming, hungry Internet to post it on or else I probably would have as would have many of my friends, male and female alike - give a teenager a camera, some vaseline, and a hole drilled in a tree stump and there's going to be something sexual getting filmed, that's the nature of puberty) or are spending your time creating or upholding such silly laws, I have to ask : what are you doing about the actual, verifiable crimes that have been committed..what are you doing about those kids that used to be on the side of milk cartons until there were too many of them for any amount of milk cartons to cover? Why does the U.S. alone have something like almost 100K children a year disappear and n

    --
    PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
  74. Re:So counterfeiting is not a crime? by Sir_Lewk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When people print money out illegally, it slightly decreases the value of all money by artificially introducing more money into the system without actually introducing more value.

    If everyone was allowed to legally print out money, then money would become worthless, even before anyone did anything. This is because everyone would lose faith in the currency entirely.

    There is a good reason everyone doesn't just use grass clippings as currency. Honestly your comprehension of economics reminds me a lot of myself... when I was in 6th grade.

    --
    "linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
  75. Re:So any one with a copy of the movie has child p by 2obvious4u · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've got the Britney Spears "Baby One More Time" video. Does that count?


    Oh, and I believe that in the earliest Jenna Jamenson videos she was 17. It was on the VH-1 special about her. I don't know if anyone has any of those laying around.

  76. Re:So counterfeiting is not a crime? by Dyolf+Knip · · Score: 2, Funny

    > forcing people to clean up the mess Fine, they can charge the jumper with littering.

    --
    Dyolf Knip
  77. Re:So counterfeiting is not a crime? by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Drawing pictures of dollar bills shouldn't be illegal. If I tried to SPEND my creations, THEN I should be locked up for fraud/counterfeiting, but not before. And whoever accepted my creations should have a mental exam or eyetest.

    --
    Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  78. Re:So counterfeiting is not a crime? by Sir_Lewk · · Score: 2, Informative

    People should not allow the government to have such a monopoly on printing of the cash

    It is perfectly legal for you to go buy a printing press, make up your own money, print off as much as you want, then try to convince people to use it. Hell, you can even skip the printing press step. What is illegal is duplicating somebody else's currency.

    Has the government not intervened and setup this ponzy scheme

    You do not know what a ponzi scheme is. You are just throwing that term out there because you heard on the news that it is some "big bad, fraudulant thing that rich people sometimes do that hurts poor people".

    the money would have been created by private enterprise, that could compete with other private enterprise on the value of its cash.

    This has been done numerous times in history, and every time it is a clusterfuck. Nevertheless, there is nothing preventing this system from being implemented today, and to a limited extent, it already is. You want more competition in currency? Invest in foriegn currecies. Plenty of people do it.

    Listen, if you fancy yourself an anarchist, or if you think we should go back to a bartering system, or if you think we should put money back on a gold standard, then just say so. Any of those opinions are far more rational and respectable then "it should be legal to counterfiet money". You are not doing yourself any favors with this schpiel.

    The more times you state it, the more correct your statement will become, is that the idea?

    That was the first time I said that, but if you want to hear it again, go find yourself an economist.

    --
    "linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
  79. Re:First Pr0n by Dishevel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Obviously the Mod who nailed parent as Offtopic is an idiot.

    --
    Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  80. Re:Cartoon porn is still porn by precariousgray · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've always thought it would be interesting for a young person to produce pornography of themself, and then attempt to sell it when they are over the age of 18. As much as I'd love to see that one go to court, I'm sure we all know how it would end.

    --
    not much, just being forced to manually insert line breaks into my comment
  81. Australian age of Consent by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm surprised that none of the comments that I've read so far point out the Australian age of Consent, which is 16, as it is in many other western nations.

    I'll wait for you to think about this briefly. ...

    Right, so it's ILLEGAL to photograph a 16 year old having sex, or DRAW a 16 year old having sex, but it's 100% legal to ACTUALLY HAVE SEX with a 16 year old.

    They can consent to the ACT, but they can't consent to the DEPICTION OF THE ACT.

    Even worse, with the recent ruling that photographing women with small breasts may ALSO be illegal, depending on how young they look, it means that it's possible that you'd be breaking the law taking a picture of a 25 year old woman with A-cup breasts, but it would be fine to have sex with her 16 year old sister.
    (http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/australia-bans-small-breasts/)

    How's THAT for internal consistency?

  82. Re:No wonder we're losing the battle on child porn by ebuck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So they didn't find anything, and based on their findings:

    1. You effectively punished your room mate (forced relocation) on the grounds of an assumed conviction.

    2. You feel guilt that you aided and abetted your room mate because you assume your room mate was going to be convicted.

    Why do you feel that someone asking if a crime had been committed means the crime was committed?

    It may feel uncomfortable to interact with someone who's been accused of something, but accusations and trial by public humiliation come pretty cheap these days. Accusations don't require verification that any act actually happened, but if you make them loudly enough, you'll scare enough people into providing the punishment without any sort of due process. Your former room mate may be found guilty in the course of time; but, if said room mate is exonerated you are guilty of punishing unjustly. Since your punishment came before it was possible to know that it was appropriate, you are definitely guilty of using your brain as a fear stimulus response machine instead of an instrument of reasoning.

  83. They aren't children by Supergibbs · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Every character (well most) are at least 21 years (seasons) old. They must all have some disorder where they don't age.

    --
    First post! (just in case I am...)
  84. Deprive the rights of a real person for a fake one by mykos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    While cartoon porn isn't really my thing, I hate to see the civil rights of a real person deprived to protect an imaginary person.