From CNN and the AP:

QuoteJapan criticized over child porn loopholes

Story Highlights
* Japan urged to ban possession of child pornography by UNICEF
* U.N. children's organization says legal loopholes threaten youngsters globally
* Child porn illegal in Japan, but possession not a crime

 TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan should ban possession of child pornography and crack down on animated films, comic books and computer games that show children being sexually exploited, UNICEF said Tuesday.

The United Nations Children's Fund said Japan's 1999 child pornography law suffers from serious loopholes that hobble law enforcement and threaten children around the world.

"Forms of child pornography that are banned in other countries but not in Japan ... are still widely available on the Internet and on the street," UNICEF said in a statement.

Japan was widely criticized for the wide availability of child pornography until it passed a special law in 1999. That law was tightened in 2004, and lawmakers are working on new measures to firm it up further.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer, who recently published an opinion piece in a Japanese newspaper calling for a tighter law, met with Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama to urge such a crackdown.

Critics say a major flaw with the current law is that while it bans production and distribution of child pornography, it is not a crime to possess it.

"Because it is legal in Japan to possess child pornography, it is almost impossible for investigators here to obtain search warrants to confiscate and search suspects' computers," Schieffer wrote in the Jan. 31 article in the Yomiuri newspaper.

The law does also not cover images of child pornography in animated films, comic books and computer game software -- products that Japan is a major producer of.

"(As) Japan, known worldwide as an IT and software contents giant, is left uncontrolled, hundreds of thousands of children ... continue to be sexually exploited," the UNICEF statement said.

I heard that the animated child porn can actually be used to... well satisfy sexual urges of pedophiles, so that pedophile will have no reason to rape kids...

Isn't that like giving someone grain alcohol to cure their addiction to beer?

I think it's more like methadone treatments for heroin addicts.

!i!

When you see Japanese and German pr0n, you understand why we had to win the war.

Quote from: VellorianIsn't that like giving someone grain alcohol to cure their addiction to beer?

Yes, its precisely like that except that the beer could be raped, whereas the grain alcohol doesn't actually exist.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Kyle AaronWhen you see Japanese and German pr0n, you understand why we had to win the war.

You have got a good point there.

RPGPundit

You know, while the term "child porn" certainly evokes distaste in me, I think there is a huge difference between actually making under-age children have sex on camera, and making fictional works about imaginary under-age children having sex.  

The former should be illegal, no doubt.  But the latter is valid free speech and creative freedom, in my opinion.  I don't approve of torture, murder, or rape any more than sexual child abuse -- but I don't have a problem with fictional portrayals of those.  I pretty regularly watch movies or read books that include under-age children having sex, sometimes with adults.  None of it is explicit enough to be called "porn" by most people, but that's a subjective judgement.  I don't think anything should be made illegal on this basis.  

Within the U.S., I am very disturbed by the baseless way that "obscenity" is prosecuted.  Neither obscenity nor offensiveness is mentioned in the First Amendment, yet courts continue act on the basis of invented precedent that vaguely-defined "obscenity" is not protected free speech and may be repressed at will by the government.

I'm not sure there is a line between the two.

If the work of art is encouraging fantasizing about underage girls (and boys) - then its still a problem.

Thats also one of the minor reasons that I will never be that interested in 'Anime".

One of the few bits of Anime I like is the Movie Ghost in The Shell - because it looks fairly realistic, is not a comedy, and focuses on adult characters doing their jobs. (admittedly in a Science Fiction setting and situation)

I still have not seen the TV version of it . (Stand Alone Complex ? or something like that?) So I'm not sure if that one is good or not.


- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarIf the work of art is encouraging fantasizing about underage girls (and boys) - then its still a problem.

I don't agree.  I don't believe in thought crimes.  People may fantasize about all sorts of things -- that's not the same as doing them.  In particular, I think it is very natural and common to be turned on by teenagers having sex -- and indeed that features pretty prominently in lots of mainstream culture.  The set of adults who are turned on by that aren't the same as those who actually act on it.  

There are tons of movies that glorify criminals of various sorts -- from dedicated revolutionaries, to suave scoundrels, to hit men for hire, to clever heist planners.  None of those are made illegal because they encourage fantasizing about crime.  

If there is a proven link between certain fantasies and real crimes, then there is a problem.  However, I'm extremely wary of such claims, though.  The same arguments have been used against D&D as well as horror movies and video games.  Even if there is a correlation on average, I still don't think that the fantasies themselves should be illegal, just discouraged by mainstream culture.  

More broadly than fantasies, people should be free to speak out even reprehensible messages.  That's what free speech means, and I believe it is absolutely vital to true democracy.  People must be free to criticize the legal and moral laws of the majority.

When I said underage - I was NOT referring to teenagers. (puh-leeze!! Zheesh!)

Have you seen some of the more blatant anime images? How about just the mild average every damn girl is in a school uniform thing???

 Thats pretty twisted right there.


- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarWhen I said underage - I was NOT referring to teenagers. (puh-leeze!! Zheesh!)

Have you seen some of the more blatant anime images? How about just the mild average every damn girl is in a school uniform thing???

Thats pretty twisted right there.

I've seen part of a pornographic anime which featured a bondage rape scene.  That didn't involve kids, but I'm familiar with, say, Ranma 1/2, which has a fair amount of schoolgirl nudity and panty shots.  I'm sure that there are plenty of really twisted anime images out there.  

I still don't think people should be judged by their fantasies.  Some people may find all sorts of weird things hot in their fantasies, and its none of my business.  If there are no actual people being harmed, they're free to do what they like.

Quote from: RPGPunditYes, its precisely like that except that the beer could be raped, whereas the grain alcohol doesn't actually exist.

I'm just generally of the opinion that when you're addicted to something, the answer is to avoid it, in every form.  

Feeding the monster does not make the monster go away, it just makes it live, grow and get stronger.

Starving the monster may not necessarily kill it, but it will certainly weaken it and (hopefully) make it manageable.

That being said, I still hold to the firm belief that child molesters should be treated no differently than serial killers.  And if you're too squeamish to do the right thing (kill them immediately), then we can use them to help the rest of society and turn them over to the pharmaceutical companies for medical experimentation.

Quote from: jhkimI still don't think people should be judged by their fantasies.  Some people may find all sorts of weird things hot in their fantasies, and its none of my business.  If there are no actual people being harmed, they're free to do what they like.

I find that a curious attitude to have when you spend so much time on your web site talking about feminism and role-playing and link to pages where they count the images of men and women and whether they are active and passive and so on.  If fantasies are really not anyone's business and nobody is being harmed, then we shouldn't be bothered by a Gor role-playing game, games like FATAL or RaHoWa, or even a role-playing game about men who hunt down, rape, and murder women for fun, should we?  And we shouldn't care how role-playing books depict women or minorities or gays or any other group because it's all a fantasy and nobody is really getting hurt, right?

Duplicate