Federal judge blocks '98 Child Online Protection Act

U.S. Judge Blocks 1998 Online Porn Law By MARYCLAIRE DALE The Associated Press Thursday, March 22, 2007; 9:59 AM PHILADELPHIA -- A federal judge on Thursday dealt another blow to government efforts to control Internet pornography, striking down a 1998 U.S. law that makes it a crime for commercial Web site operators to let children access "harmful" material. In the ruling, the judge said parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not limit the rights of others to free speech. "Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection," wrote Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over a four-week trial last fall. The law would have criminalized Web sites that allow children to access material deemed "harmful to minors" by "contemporary community standards." The sites would have been expected to require a credit card number or other proof of age. Penalties included a $50,000 fine and up to six months in prison. Sexual health sites, the online magazine Salon.com and other Web sites backed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the law. They argued that the Child Online Protection Act was unconstitutionally vague and would have had a chilling effect on speech. Chilling effect? What is "chilling" is the indifference of such "free speech advocates" as Salon.com and the ACLU to the reality of the now further increased ease of access for children to such a dehumanizing, desensitizing and corruptive poison. pornography, fleshploitation>

Goa developing plan to combat sex tourism

The Navhind Times: Action plan devised to curb sex tourism: CM NT Staff Reporter Panaji, Feb25 Goa by no means is a sex capital, where tourist can come and pay for sex -- we do not want to become Bangkok, Bali or Pataya, said the Chief Minister, Mr Prataphsing Rane this evening. Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day workshop on ‘Prevention and combating human trafficking with special focus on children and women’ at a South Goa resort, Mr Rane revealed that a Goa state action plan has been devised with a code of conduct for foreign tourists who visit the state to curb the growing menace of trafficking of women and children, which lead to prostitution and paedophilia. Trafficking in human beings, more so in women and children, is one of the fastest growing forms of criminal activity, next to drugs and weapons, generating unaccountable profits annually. The reasons for this increase are multiple and complex, affecting rich and poor countries alike -- India being no exception. Of late, there is an expanding market for commercial sexual exploitation through non- brothel-based modalities wherein the trafficked persons are made to pose as attendants, masseurs and bartenders. Child pornography is another area that requires concerted attention. Sex tourism is also growing and India is emerging as a major tourist destination. Speaking further, Mr Rane said women and children are the greatest sufferers during any calamity and poverty is a great evil, which forces women and children into sex racket, which is a shame to modern society. There are 800 red light areas in the country where 75 per cent of the women are HIV positive. This is both alarming and a setback for a country which is trying to jump economically ahead. By eradication of poverty and illiteracy, the problem may be combated and the coming assembly budget session will be directed to women and children, especially of the rural sector of society, so as to make them independent, he said. Further referring to statistics, Mr Rane highlighted how Goa being a tourism hotspot has attracted trafficking of both women and children. Paedophilia is a matter of concern, and is on the rise, he added. The Goa Governor, Mr S C Jamir said that consciousness needs to be aroused amongst the people to solve what he described as one of the most formidable challenges faced by the society today; mere laws, legislations and NGOs would not be enough. Trafficking of children is not only a crime but also a shame to society and seeing the statistics which show that the same is on the rise, we must concentrate more on prevention than on rehabilitation, the Governor said. Read the rest here. human trafficking, sexual slavery, pornography, child pornography, prostitution, sex tourism, fleshploitation

Man allegedly downloaded child porn to cell phone

Child porn case alleges offender used cell phone. BANGOR - A convicted sex offender living in Houlton appears to be the first person in the state to face federal charges for using his cell phone to possess child pornography. Joshua Dunston, 27, owned three different cell phone models between April and September 2005, according to court documents. He allegedly used his T-Mobile account to download child pornography onto his cell phone. Dunston also allegedly posted 30 photos that appeared to depict the sexual exploitation of children to a personal Web page that T-Mobile allows subscribers to maintain. The pictures are described in court documents as "depict[ing] pre-pubescent children engaged in sexual acts with adults" and "naked pre-pubescent children in sexually suggestive and exploitive positions." Dunston also allegedly posted pornographic photographs of himself to the Web site using his cell phone. A T-Mobile employee discovered the images last summer in a routine audit of customer accounts. The company notified federal law enforcement officials. Dunston, who last year was a student at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, used computers at the campus Outreach Center to access his T-Mobile Web page, according to court documents. UMPI officials in December cooperated with investigators, giving them the hard drives from the computers Dunston used and surveillance video of him at the center. The man is not a student at UMPI this semester, a university spokesman said Tuesday. On the hard drives, investigators found Internet links saved by Dunston that included "Child sex murders and condoned Internet kiddy porn," "excited angels," "free Lolitas gallery" and others. Some of the children depicted in the images have been identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to court documents. Statistics on the number of prosecutions for obtaining child pornography using a cell phone were not available Tuesday. A Canadian expert in October warned that child pornographers were going high-tech. "Everything's going to be in the size of a [cellular] telephone that has the computer power of the best PCs that are out there right now," Detective Sgt. Paul Gillespie, a veteran of the Toronto Police force's sex crimes unit, told an international conference in Toronto. He warned that hand-held devices including cell phones, PDAs and portable MP3-type players increasingly would be used to take and transfer images of child pornography. Gillespie issued his warning while Dunston allegedly was posting child pornography to his Web site from his cell phone. Dunston is being held at the Penobscot County Jail until a detention hearing to set bail and conditions of release can be held. That hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk is set for 10:30 a.m. Jan. 31 in U.S. District Court in Bangor. His criminal record dates back to 2001. Dunston's convictions in state court include violating conditions of release, negotiating a worthless instrument, possession of sexually explicit materials, and sexual abuse of a minor. He is required to register as a sex offender because of the sexual abuse conviction. That conviction also means he faces a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted on the federal charges. He also faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A check Tuesday afternoon of the sex offender Web site showed that Dunston is registered as required. He also is on probation for his 2003 misdemeanor conviction in 2nd District Court in Houlton for having sex with a 14- or 15-year-old when Dunston was at least five years older than the victim. If his probation on that charge were to be revoked in state court, it's unlikely he would be released from jail. [SS] sexual slavery, pornography, child pornography, fleshploitation

The Hungarian "Catfight Convention"

Pestiside: Girls Gone Wild (III): Foreign Pervs Mob "Catfight Convention". Before closing out the day with our third report on the world-beating aggressiveness and go-ahead-and-stop-me-copper lunacy of some of our Hungarian womenfolk, we'd first like to give a big shout out to Belgium. For without the fathomless perversity and moral decrepitude of our good friends the Belgians, we never would have gotten wind of the following story of sex and violence so base and vile Satan Himself is probably wondering if He has the stomach to keep on reading. The story, which comes from Belgian television via dailies La Derniere Heure and Népszabadság, involves a most unusual "wrestling competition" that was held at an unnamed hotel somewhere south of Budapest last August. At the event, 30 women, among them Belgians, Ukrainians, Russians and Germans (and, one has to assume, a few super-aggressive Hungarians) duked it out with each other, butt-naked, in front of about 70 people, many of them foreigners who had paid an "entry fee" ranging from €1,500 to €2,000. Members of the audience - almost all men - were also allowed to fight the female wrestlers, among other things. According to the report, the competition featured not just hair-pulling and other catfight staples, but "violent sexual intercourse without condoms," and even "forced prostitution." The extravaganza was organized by an Austrian producer who used it to record an "erotic video." The event came to light after a Belgian girl who had participated went to the police. She was brought to the competition by a Belgian man only identified as Michel V., who denied the most serious charges, which we reckon would be the "forced prostitution" part. Among the four girls he brought to the competition, two also said that no "violent" intercourse or prostitution took place. V. admitted that such an event had taken place in Hungary, but he stressed that the event was in fact a "sporting competitions," and that the four girls he brought were all of legal age and had attended the "tournament" on their own free will. He also denied that he kept half of the money his "competitors" won. (The girls received €80 per fight.) He said he "didn't hear" about anybody being raped, adding that the reason the entry fee was high was that it included room and board for a few days. V. said that this wasn't the first time he was in Hungary for such an even, and added that the audience consisted of "respectable people," including university teachers. There was no word in the piece about whether the Hungarian authorities were investigating the events. As for the Belgians, they have apparently already told V. he is free to continue holding such competitions at his home in Brussels, and to otherwise continue with his stated goal of "liberating morals." Welcome to the EU. [SS] sexual slavery, pornography, prostitution, fleshploitation