[no subject]

Can My Computer Get me Arrested?
LAST UPDATE: 1/24/2003 11:34:35 AM
Posted By: Jim Forsyth

Who guitarist Pete Townshend was arrested in England
for simply clicking on a child pornography site, and
that well publicized arrest has people
wondering...what can I do with my computer that will
get me arrested. 

Assistant Bexar County District Attorney Cliff Herberg
says anything that is illegal in the real world is
illegal in the cyber world, and that includes going to
web sites that include illegal material, like child
pornography. 

And he says Townshend's excuse that he was 'conducting
research for his autobiography' doesn't let him off
the hook. 

"That would be just like somebody saying 'officer, I'm
going to study the effect of drugs, so I'm going to
take some cocaine'," Herbert told 1200 WOAI's Matari
Jones. "It's not going to work." 

He says the offense involves knowing possession of
child pornography, even if that possession exists on
your computer hard drive. 

"You're not going to get into any trouble if you open
a piece of spam e-mail or a web site, and discover
that it's child porn and immediately shut it down,"
Herberg said. "now if you download images and access
the site and continue to access the site, you are in
knowing possession of child porn." 

He pointed to the Alamo Heights physician who was
sentenced to federal prison for using his home
computer to access child pornography sites. 

As for Townshend's claim that he was doing research,
Herberg says unless Townshend has a PhD in psychology,
that defense wouldn't fly in Texas. 

He says the law allows some psychiatrists and other
medical professionals, as well as police officers
conducting legitimate investigations, to access child
porn and other illegal sites on the Interent. 

As for Townshend and the rest of us? 

"In Texas, that means you'd be going to jail," he
said.


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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