Re: Boston Herald on Pete and Internet investigations

["Tom Connor - SU President" <misc25@xxxxxxxxxx>]

hmmm... Minority Report anyone??

Tom

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Cady" <brianinatlanta2001@yahoo.com>
To: "oddsandsods" <oddsandsods@thewho.net>; <thewho@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 6:34 PM
Subject: Boston Herald on Pete and Internet investigations


> Thanks to David Brewer for sending this along:
> >From the Boston Herald at:
> http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/opinion/edit201172003.htm
> 
> Editorial: Townshend's porn crime 
> Friday, January 17, 2003
> 
> Pete Townshend is a rock 'n' roll genius, but is he
> also a pedophile? We don't know, and as the founder of
> the Who faces child pornography charges in England,
> we'll not rush to his defense. 
> 
> But we can't help but note the circumstances of his
> arrest. His name was among 7,000 British residents in
> the credit card records of a Texas Web site that
> featured child pornography. We don't know how often he
> visited the site, and whether his goal was "research,"
> as he says, or something darker.
> 
> We also didn't know, frankly, that you can be arrested
> simply for clicking on someone else's Web site. That's
> news that may send a chill down the back of many
> otherwise innocent Internet surfers.
> 
> We can understand arresting the people running the
> site. Whether or not they had a hand in getting
> children to pose for pornographic pictures, their role
> in their exploitation is clear. By generating profits
> for the enterprise, Townshend and other customers may
> bear some responsibility, but they are at least a step
> further removed from the crime.
> 
> "It's inherently wrong for anyone to look at this
> stuff," Ashland Police Detective Charles Garbarino
> told a Daily News reporter. "If you fantasize about
> children over and over, you'll act out on that
> fantasy. It just mushrooms."
> 
> Maybe so. But the law has traditionally drawn a clear
> line between thought and action. You may fantasize all
> you want about killing your boss or robbing a bank.
> You don't get arrested until you act on that fantasy.
> 
> But if police wait until fantasy becomes reality, it's
> too late to save a child from a terrible crime. In a
> dangerous world, preemptive arrests, like preemptive
> wars, hold some appeal. But they also hold a treat to
> principles, like the presumption of innocence, that
> are fundamental to American values. If the government
> can arrest you for a crime you have yet to commit, how
> do you defend yourself?
> 
> 
> =====
> -Brian in Atlanta
> The Who This Month!
> http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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