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Online Kid Porn a Tricky Problem
By Lauren Weinstein

The recent arrests of The Who's Pete Townshend and
Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) on child pornography
charges spotlight complex issues in which the Internet
is increasingly a major player. 

The overwhelmingly vast majority of us consider child
porn utterly disgusting. But as uncomfortable as it
may make us, it's wise for us in an Internet world to
consider carefully whether everyone who has contact
with such materials should be painted with the same
broad brush. 

Producers and distributors of child pornography, and
other child abusers, should be subject to the harshest
of penalties. That's an easy call. 

The situation is much cloudier when it comes to
punishing people who are only in possession of (or
have simply viewed) child porn as defined under
current law, especially in the case of first-time
offenders. 

Before the advent of the Internet, only people
seriously driven to obtain these disreputable
materials were likely to do so. They typically had to
meet with shady characters in back alleys or
participate in secretive, underground photo-mailing
clubs. 

The Internet changed everything. It's been a dream
come true for the distributors of such garbage and for
predators who could target children through chat rooms
and similar venues. 

Yet the Net has also made it possible for individuals
who would never have come into contact with child porn
in a non-Internet world to be sucked in with only a
few mouse clicks. 

The ability for mildly curious or bull-headedly
thoughtless Internet users to easily view this
material online represents a qualitative change in the
picture. 

Most people don't realize that child porn is one of
the few forms of data available on the Internet that
can turn you into an instant criminal through the
simple act of viewing particular websites in your own
home -- even just one time. 

So people with no criminal background and no
accusations of improper contact with children are
being led off in handcuffs in increasing numbers,
facing serious criminal charges for Web browsing. In
some cases, they also face the specter of being
hounded as registered sex offenders for the rest of
their lives, thanks to the Internet. 

Lost in this circus is a serious debate about
proportionality, and a recognition that humans are,
after all, imperfect animals subject to a range of
failings, particularly when technology that's enticing
enters the mix. 

The witch hunts that have ballooned beyond legitimate
child pornography investigations are also part of the
problem. 

Authorities have interrogated mothers after innocent
naked photos of their toddlers in bathtubs were
reported by film processors. Retroactive
criminalization of very old photographs (reportedly a
key element in Reubens' case) and continued attempts
to criminalize even artificially created images that
didn't involve actual children add explosives to the
minefield. 

Research isn't viewed as an excuse. Townshend claimed
that his access to child porn sites was to further
work on his autobiography relating to his own abuse as
a child. The irony that The Who's classic rock opera
Tommy revolves around an abused boy has not been lost
on observers. 

Whether or not one chooses to believe Townshend, the
fact remains that laudable efforts to stamp out the
scourge of child abuse, combined with the trivial ease
of access to child pornography online, have created a
situation in which the punishment for an entire class
of first-offense child-porn viewers no longer fits the
crime. 

Protecting children from genuine abuse should be one
of societies' top priorities, but we shouldn't be
swatting flies with nuclear bombs. 

The criminals who prey on our children must be
isolated and punished severely. On the other hand,
first-time Internet offenders whose only crime is
being seduced or suckered into viewing child porn on
the Web -- which makes it so very easy -- should be
subject to significantly less harsh and less
permanently punitive consequences. 

Simple fairness and justice demand no less. 

 - Lauren Weinstein has been involved with the
Internet for decades, beginning with ARPANET. He is
the co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility,
the creator and moderator of the Privacy Forum and an
outspoken commentator on technology and society.


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