letters in Pete's defense

["L. Bird" <pkeets@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't think I posted this here last night.  If anyone is interested in 
writing to the UK media, here's what I sent most recently.  Feel free to use 
some of the ideas in composing your own letter.  I did get a comment from 
another list that you might use the link from Pete's site rather than 
Hectow's.  Here it is:

http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/media/020116adifferentbomb.pdf


I've been following the Pete Townshend case in the UK media with
quite a bit of interest. I notice the media discussion has turned to
issues that have been raised by the case. Pete Townshend and his
music are widely followed in the US, and many people here seem to be
watching for developments. Please present the following issues to your 
public. They are important.

First, the fact that Mr. Townshend's name was on a list for police
investigation was somehow leaked to the press, which promptly
pronounced Mr. Townshend a pedophile without any investigation of the
the facts. The accusation was picked up by US media, which has
continued to perpetrate the destruction of Mr. Townshend's reputation
with a number of assumptions that may not turn out to be true. Even
if he is cleared by the UK investigation, it will be impossible to
remove this kind of stain. If this affects the market for Mr.
Townshend's music in the US, then it will cause a reduction in income
to the UK through taxes and tourism, as fans from America routinely
travel to the UK for Who activities and performances and spend on
other activities as well. The accusations have blackened one of
England's most internationally respected musicians, which reflects
badly on the reputation of the country. Please take a strong stand
to reverse the damage to Mr. Townshend's reputation. Classic rock
music is one of England's finest assets, and The Who has always
carried the flag with them on tour.

Not only is his reputation in shreds, but Mr. Townshend has had to
hire a security company to guard his home and family because of the
current attitudes toward pedophiles in the UK which encourages
violence against suspects, as well as convicted violators of the
law. In particular this trend to violence is a danger to innocent
victims of suspicion, as Mr. Townshend may well be. This also looks
very bad internationally. Please call for a law to protect suspects
and offenders from this kind of violence. Attitudes really can be
changed by legislation; I've seen it happen in the US.

Mr. Townshend is best known as a musician, but some may not know that
he has also worked as an editor for Faber and Faber and owns a small
publishing company. He has written both books and plays, and so has
legitimate credentials as a writer. Mr. Townshend says that he found
this porn site while doing research for a book, and that he notified
the police of what he was doing in entering the site for research.
Afterward he wrote and published a widely circulated educational
essay which detailed problems associated with child porn and
pedophilia, and calling for protection of children. If such acts are
to be punished by arrest and prosecution, then perhaps there should
be an inspection of the law and it's enforcement.

Last, there is a question of how law enforcement and other resources
should best be used for control and eradication of child porn.
Opinions are going to vary on this, but it might be considered
questionable to sift through the 17,000 consumer names that have been
provided to the UK police, rather than searching out and prosecuting
suppliers and manufacturers. Mr. Townshend was right in his 2002
essay that it is very easy to blunder into child porn on a website or
to receive it in unsolicited advertising. Once the average citizen
encounters it, there seems no way to report it to authorities without
the possibility of coming under suspicion. There should be some
central phone numbers and email addresses established to anonymously
report apparent manufacturers or suppliers so that the average
citizen can participate in the effort to stamp out child porn.

Thank you for your consideration of these issues. Please provide a
public discussion of them, and some effort to repair Mr. Townshend's
reputation on an international level. If you haven't had a chance to
read his 2002 essay on the subject of child porn, it can be accessed
at this link:

http://www.hecktow.com/pete.html


Florida, USA






_________________________________________________________________
Help STOP SPAM: Try the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* 
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail