Much has been written about RapeLay since the controversial Hentai game was discovered for sale on Amazon a few months back.
But while the debate thus far has largely centered around whether Japan, where RapeLay and most similar titles originate, should allow games featuring sexual violence to be published, a recent court ruling suggests that U.S. citizens who possess RapeLay and games of its ilk may be guilty of a federal offense.
Wired’s Threat Level blog reports that on Monday the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to consider the appeal of Dwight Whorley, a Virginia man who was convicted in U.S. District Court of possessing actual kiddie porn. But, under what is known as the 2003 Protect Act, prosecutors also charged Whorley with possessing manga which depicted minors having explicit sex. From the relevant section of the Protect Act:
Any person who… knowingly possesses a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting, that—
(1) (A) depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(B) is obscene; or
(2) (A) depicts an image that is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in graphic bestiality, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex; and
(B) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value… shall be subject to the penalties provided…
(c) Nonrequired Element of Offense.— It is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor depicted actually exist.
Threat Level also cites a similar conviction against Christopher Handley, a comic book collector who imported sexually explicit manga containing illustrations of child sex abuse and bestiality. Unlike Whorley, Handley possessed no actual child pornography.
So how does this connect to the RapeLay situation? A [NSFW] review of the game posted on Something Awful describes graphic, forced sex with a mother and her two minor daughters, the youngest of whom appears to be about ten years old. Save for the fact that it’s interactive, RapeLay is not much different from the type of hardcore manga which earned federal time for Whorley and Handley.
We should note that a single judge on the 4th Circuit dissented from the opinion upholding Whorley’s conviction and urged that the case be sent to the U.S. Supreme Court. But for now, at least, owning a copy of RapeLay seems like a risky legal proposition, indeed.
Oh come on! The game wasn’t even that good. They should see the ones with tentacles in.
That same argument is used to claim porn leads to rape and that video games will lead to killing people.
Still hasn’t been proven in any of the three cases.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
Because, its like a gateway drug to would be child molesters. You see, some act on impulse, others act on instinct and others act on various things they see that can set them off an activate a dormant instinct.
To where, most would not receive gratification at the though of harming someone. When someone sees an act being committed this may trigger a desired response. That person might get turned on and like what he sees and over time, this may build up until that person gets to the point where they act on their impulses. Which me start off as hugging, rubbing, touching and then finally to abuse.
It’s kind of like a male or female who is bi curious but never had the impulse or thoughts of homosexual behavior. A simple touch, a rub from another person possibly by accident can trigger thoughts and desires. They want to say Homosexuality is no longer a mental disorder but yet pedophiles are considered of having a major mental disorder. Both do to be honest.
If I was a politician, I would try to pass a law that will ONLY target people who commit crime in real life.
Like Child Molestation.
Any other thing like downloading child porn (sometimes a kid in a bath depicted naked is sometimes mistaken for child porn even if it is just a family photo) or animated porn of cartoon children, that should all just be left out of the law because it can be confusing to define and will only punish the innocent people who have done nothing wrong in real life.
I know some people might not like pictures of REAL child porn, but if we are going to live in a world where someone takes a real photo of a naked child posing in artistic way in the name of freedom and nudity and NOT as something dirty like real porn, then we should protect those artists from being attacked.
When they first started adressing the issue of Pedophilia and Child Molestation, I thought it was fair to crack down on real child sex/rape offences. Because the victims do suffer allot.
But they went too far when the laws started to target simple people who just mistakenly download real child porn or even cartoon animated porn. Because innocent people can be targeted without knowing if it was really a child or an adult, like in the case of those near the age of 18 it can be a really thorny issue when someone has got breasts or even pubic hair and look over the age of 18 but is only a few years off.
All I am saying is that you need a strong and clear balance in the law. Something that targets REAL crime and REAL predators. And not punishing innocent victims who have done nothing wrong except for having a weird and strange sexual fantasy that is ONLY a fantasy.
That is all that I am saying, or else we will live in a world where parents can’t even bathe with their kids who are trying to teach them how to bathe themselves.
And that would be a sad day.
Hentai and porn in Japan is heavily censored. You cannot see bush or tities. Only thing that is not censored is the context of the porn. Such as raping a woman which in Japan rape has been a time honored tradition in fact your grand mothers might be living proof seeing if they were on a Cruise Ship during WWII the Japanese were known from using those women and turning them into "Comfort women"
Just go ask the Chinese.
However, just like the U.S Had the Greatest Generation. Japan had the Greatest Generation of Professional Rapists most thankfully will sit in a Chinese Prison for the rest of their lives. Just like the Children of the U.S’s Greatest Generation were a little off and weird and lazy and are destroying this nation and care less about their country or children which is completely different from their parents.
Well, Japanese Offspring is a little off. For example, they are very perverted and have vending machines of little girls love to watch the Rape Genre the only problem is that they are not sexually active with their spouses or anyone.
Japanese Men are now known for being quite perverted but not reproducing to where the Government is actually trying to pay for the Japanese to produce Children.
Sadly it’s not working out. And with the Grand Kids of the Great Generation of Rape they are really off.
You ever wonder why Asian Women prefer white men? Ever you asked them why or watched an interview asking these women these questions? Well, you got an entire generation of femmine looking men. One Asian woman remarked, she was at a public pool and this person got out and didn’t have a top on and she automatically ran over to tell the person they lost their top only to realize as she was telling HIM this, that it was a man.
To where the long straight up in the air hair and girlie look might be all the rage for the men well for the women, it’s not.
Sadly Japanese women are now known for paying men to sleep with them just so they can reproduce. As for other parts of the Asian World, it seems there are similar problems with Asian Women not being attracted to Asian men for various reasons but in Japan it’s really bad.
Between American Black Women and the Asian Male, those are the two most less desirable types in the world. As American Black Women with the Great Generation dying out and the kids of that generation which sadly have died out in massive numbers and the younger generations taking the lead the percentage for an American Black Women to be single is rising to 80%.
If I remember correctly, in the unedited Dragonball nudity was used in many of the jokes. After seeing it unedited, then edited, the jokes seemed, sterile.
If it does reach the Supreme Court that doesn’t automatically mean virtual child porn will be criminalized. They’ve ruled it was constitutional in 2002.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
Thankfully Anime and Manga are not really that popular, or else the politicians and family groups would have been all over it 5 years ago.
Well if these cases reach the Surprime Court, I will be going to live in Japan, because I just don’t feel safe in my own country anymore.
I often thought that if I could let my family and my friends know about Anime/Manga and even about Hentai that I am still an honest and kind person no matter what my interest is, that they might understand and even support me though tough times like these.
To be honest, I can only talk about Hentai to my close friends who also do like that stuff, I only talk about Anime and Manga to my family and friends by letting them know that some Anime and Manga can be for kids or everyone, some Anime and Manga is more for teenagers, and some forms of Anime and Manga are only for Adults that are known as Hentai. That is all I ever mention without going into any more detail.
I often thought that if I could talk to people about Anime and Manga in a positive way before the mainstream media decide to go Anime/Manga bashing and calling it child pornography like they have previously done with Videogames since Columbine then at least I will have some people who do understand me.
Now I am not sure if that is even a good idea at all considering how close mainstream media will be to trying to blow it all out of proportion.
And when that happens, I am thinking of moving to Japan.
Yeah it’s more or less thoughtcrime.
When the government starts to punish people for indecent private conversations, they will start legislating thought crime.
Or if they don’t it’s still a HUGE abridgement of free speech that is beyond disgusting.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
So when do you think these cases will reach the Supreme Court?
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-TA57L0kuc
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
Decades in how? Context? Amount?
Cause if you mean amount, then I am afraid you are wrong. The U.S. smites all other countries.
internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html#webpages_country
There is absolutely no difference between "child hentai" and other forms of hentai or non-hentai manga or anime; well, I should say, the only difference is the context within, but the process of production is the same in all of them.
It still took the work of artists to produce. It was still pen-on-paper. It was all still drawn out all the way to a finalized product, just as American cartoons are.
Hence, it is art, regardless of its context.
Just like those jobless, dirty, brain dead, live-in-mother’s-basement potheads. Or those Cheetos-dusted, grotesquely obese, mentally unstable, good for nothing, live-in-mother’s-basement gamers.
My point exactly within those words.
There are allot of Manga and Anime that have nudity. But nudity is not really Porn but because of this "You can’t see child porn or else you will be in trouble" is what makes so many people scared because they are told what child porn is, but some get confused with seeing naked children because they are told that it is a crime to even view it.
So therefore not many people ever really understand what porn is if they are told that they can’t see it.
There are parts in DragonBall series where it has Goku naked when he was a kid.
And yes even in the Manga series that was mentioned. Some Manga have nudity and sometimes kids are portrayed in the nude. It is so natural.
Every time I go into the shower, I am naked. It is natural.
So yeah, if someone attacks Anime/Manga or Japanese Videogames because of the Hentai, then us fans who love Anime/Manga and Japanese Videogames have to stand up and protect our fav medium no matter what we may stand on the Hentai issue. Because if no one does, then everything including our fav medium might be banned.
I would also like to stand uo and defend the Visual Novel genre.
There are allot of good examples of Visual Novels, not all have Porn but because they are not really seen outside of Japan (except a few) that is why sometimes Visual Novels have it harder than Japanese RPGs when it comes to getting a western audience.
Games such as Phantom of Inferno, Hourglass of Summer, Tea Society of a Witch from AnimePlay that were sold as Interactive DVDs in the west were one of the first few to break into the Western Audience. Some of those games were originally had Hentai content, but they had those bits removed and the rest of the content was ok. There was one game from AnimePlay that had a young girl bathing naked but the water splashes hid her private parts and it was ok as long as it carried an M17+ or an 16Up rating at the back and front of the box.
On the Nintendo DS, there have been a few Visual Novels from Japan that managed to get a release in the west. Pheonix Wright and also Another Code are more popular because they are Visual Novels that are aimed for a younger audience, but also there are two others that are more darker and serious Visual Novels like Time Hollow and also Lux-Pain.
So before you judge Japanese Visual Novels because of games like Rape-Lay, you need to have played allot more Visual Novels of different variety before jumping to conclusions.
Even with Visual Novels like Rumbling Hearts and also Shuffle that had Hentai content in the game but the storyline was allot more than just sex. There are allot of thoughtful moments in Japanese Visual Novels.
Sadly the western mainstream media only look at the bad things, and never at the good things because the good parts of Visual Novels (and also any Videogame you can think of) are never newsworthy for other people outside of Videogames.
I often get a little sad when people talk about Videogames in an ignorant way, because I know that they just don’t understand Videogames like we gamers do.
And not everyone can be like nintendo, they have done allot of good things for Videogames. If only a Japanese visual Novel can attract some positive media attention like what nintendo do for Videogames.
All manga is legitimate, though that’s a matter of opinion.
Anyway, my point is that even if we don’t defend regular manga along with adult manga, someone will still lump them both together. We’ve seen how little one has to do to get called a porn monger.
I remember back when I stil lgot issues of Shonen Jump, one chapter of Shaman King depicted some children in the past, and one was nude. I actually read their letter section and someone threatened to have the entire company thrown in prison for peddling child porn.
The point is, when it comes to porn, one doesn’t have to do much to get their media lumped with it.
There is one problem here is that there is a huge demand for types of games like this. The most popular media out there? Porn. We are decades behind Gaming and Porn and that is due to the Puritan Moral issues here in the West.
We can show anyone dying in whatever manner but you show a little pixaled ass and there is a problem.
Sadly, Rapelay and Sexy Beach 3 to use when played are extremely advanced games like we never seen before.
The PROTECT Act of 2003 is a United States law with the stated intent of preventing child abuse. "PROTECT" stands for "Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Childen Today".
The law has the following effects
For the purposes of this law, illicit sexual conduct includes commercial sex with anyone under 18, and non-commercial sex with persons under 16 when there is at least a four-year age difference or the person is under 12 years of age. Previous US law was less strict, only punishing those having sex either in contravention of local laws OR in commerce (prostitution); but did not prohibit non-commercial sex with, for example, a 14 year-old if such sex was legal in the foreign territory.
The PROTECT Act mandated that the United States Attorney General promulgate new regulations to enforce the 2257 recordkeeping regulation, colloquially known as the ‘2257 Regulations‘. The Free Speech Coalition has filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Justice claiming the 2257 Regulations are unconstitutional.
The PROTECT Act includes prohibitions against illustrations depicting child pornography, including computer-generated illustrations, also known as virtual child pornography. Provisions against virtual child pornography in the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 had been ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002. However, the provisions of the Protect Act are distinct, since they establish the requirement of showing obscenity as defined by the Miller Test, which was not an element of the 1996 law.
The act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on April 30, 2003.
On April 6, 2006, in United States v. Williams, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that one component of the PROTECT ACT, the "pandering provision" codified at 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(3)(B) of the United States Code, violated the First Amendment. The "pandering provision" conferred criminal liability on anyone who knowingly
The Williams court held that although the content described in subsections (i) and (ii) is not constitutionally protected, speech that advertises or promotes such content does have the protection of the First Amendment. Accordingly, § 2252A(a)(3)(B) was held to be unconstitutionally overbroad. The Eleventh Circuit further held that the law was unconstitutionally vague, in that it did not adequately and specifically describe what sort of speech was criminally actionable.
The Department of Justice appealed the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reversed the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling in May 2008 and upheld this portion of the act.
The first conviction of a person found to have violated the sections of the act relating to virtual child pornography, Dwight Whorley of Virginia, was upheld in a 2-1 panel decision of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2008. This was in apparent contradiction to a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling that stated virtual child pornography was protected free speech.
From Wiki
Okay, they’re legislating child hentai, not manga comics. You definitely want to make a distinction there.
part of the reason america is still so prudish is because of the polarization on the topic. There’s a difference between the japanese, who sell hentai in public vending machines, and other cultures that aren’t nearly as ‘liberal’ with their bodies or sexuality.
Lumping in legitimate mangas (The kind turned into anime and broadcast without a disclaimer) with pornos won’t do anything but discolor the legitimate manga in the public’s eye.
Also, ‘autistic child’ is not people first language, and thusly not politically correct. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People-first_language =)
You should write your legislator about this.
I would like to say that no matter what anyone says, Manga IS Art!!!
And as I read in the legislation, any Art is protected from such laws.
B) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value… shall be subject to the penalties provided…
And therefore, Manga should be protected. No matter if it is Hentai or not.
For prof that Manga is Art, I would like to highlight a Manga series that looks into some interesting social issues and understanding.
With the light: Raising an autistic child.
It is a beautiful Manga, and something to use as a positive way against all those Manga-haters.
Nonsense? Sex is unamerican. Porn is unamerican. Peeing is unamerican. Why, bodily functions in general are for terrorists!
Kids should not be exposed to the following bodily functions, EVER: Childbirth, pooping, peeing, eating (unless done in that order. LOL), farting, sneezing, blinking, itching, etc.
Child pornography is a nasty, detestable thing. I wish they’d do something about it instead of beating around the bush and chasing after idiots that read dirty comic books. Seriously, who still reads CLEAN comic books, much less nasty ones!?
Gee willikers, if I buy enough gum I can mail in my receipts with the back of this comic book and get some X-ray glasses! (Or in the case of the porn, a blow-up hentai doll)
Oh boy, I feel much safer now that my justice department is attacking 300 pound 30 year old dorks wanking in their mother’s basement to dirty chibi comic books.
</long rant deleted, above says all that needs to be said.>
It will be if this nonsence is not stoped….
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Great post!
IMO it comes down to free and open information vrs "protected" information, when we as a people cross into protected information,the nature of knowable itself becomes a legal matter hinged upon the whinms of the powers that may be.
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
There are people who look younger than they look performing on legal porn on the United States. Even if it´s reference to underage sex, is not because they are legal.
Next step is banning these persons because they look underage? Hope not, that would be stupid as hell.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Big Brother’s watching us. That’s crazy stuff. I read about this a while back on another blog (Dtiod?), and was hoping GP would pick it up. I don’t mind that they had to shoehorn Rapelay in there to post about it, it’s a really significant topic.
What concerns me, as with everything else that has ever and will ever exist, is where do you draw the line? Someone can draw what appears to be a 10-13 year old girl, but claim that she is in her 20’s. And since there are real people who look like that, it would be hard to dispute them. But someone could also draw an older looking girl who happens to be 14 or 15. Again, lots of people like that. I think that’s a sign that laws about this kind of thing aren’t resting on solid ground.
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Believe in something! Even if it’s wrong, believe in it! -Glenn Beck
Subjects of social conflicts in society have always interested me. Child Porn in this day and age has become the new "Nazi", the new "Communism" of our time. Anyone we call a pedophile is now considered to be the ultimate evil in our society, (although a majority of what people call pedophiles are actually adolphile, they like teenagers). It is interesting to see what is happening in our world today and the conflicts that occur with in our societies due to this problem. It also interesting to compare what is happening compared to what has happened in our past.
From all the cases I have read and the opinions I have read the courts have swung both ways. I know of many countries that have been trying to combat the problem of Child pornography and creating some Broad and Over encompassing laws that makes practically anyone who has a picture of a child a criminal. Hell a picture of a child taking their first bath would be considered Child porn is some cases.
But lets look a what the law, porn, children have been doing since the wide spread use of the internet.
"Wont someone please think of the children" ~ Helen Lovejoy
The Communications Decency Act of 1996
This is what I consider the start of regulating porn on the internet in our new "Information Society." Of course if anyone wanted to go back further on how porn / Obscenity well all know to start at Miller. The Communications Decency Act was an attempt to regulate the internet (and Cable Television) no differently than how TV and Radio have been regulated by the FCC. The intentions of the Act was to prevent minors from view obscene / pornographic content, however it criminalized many people for posting obscene content on the internet such as the novels the seven dirty words, Lolita, and any other works that can be considered indecent and / or obscene.
The act was struck down in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union in which all of the 9 justices voted to strike down the anti-indecency provisions. Using the precedent set forth by Ginsberg v. New York (1968); F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation (1978); and Renton v. Playtime Theaters, Inc. (1986); The indecency provision were unconstitutional abridgment of the First Amendment right to free speech because it did not permit the parents to decide for themselves what material was acceptable for their children, extended to non-commercial speech, and did not define "patently offensive", a brand new term with no prior legal meaning.
As a side note, I have not read many legal cases where teenagers pose as adults. Majority of the time adult websites contain a legal agreement that stats your of adult age when joining the website. But with social networking sites and the "Myspace Suicide" case I am wondering what will happen when a case comes to court where the defendant has evidence that the person contacted online lied about their age.
Resources:
http://www.cdt.org/speech/cda/
http://epic.org/free_speech/cda/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Decency_Act
http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/230
http://www.internetlibrary.com/topics/comm_decency_act.cfm
Child Online Protection Act of 1998
The next attempt at censoring the internet for the sake of children. The purpose once again was to restrict access of "anything harmful to minors" to minors. It was a direct response to the Communication Decency Act as aforementioned above. It tried to narrow and tighten the over broad communication decency act. The Act was swiftly struck down due to Forth and Fifth Amendment violations. U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed, Jr. stated "perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection."
Resources:
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_5494735?nclick_check=1
http://epic.org/free_speech/copa/
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-218.ZS.html
More Acts
Children’s Internet Protection Act (Passed and Upheld. Targets libraries and public schools, Does not criminalize people)
These acts were to prevent children from viewing "obscene and indecent material." The only reason why I brought them up is that it help to establish the "freedom’s of speech" we have on the internet and in our mass media today. In a smaller part it protects "adult" content from being censored.
Now for the Child Pornography side
Child pornography started with New York v Ferber. In 1996 the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) was passed to restrict child porn over the internet. It should be noted that the CPPA is similar to the Protect Act of 2003
It was overturned in Ashcroft V Free Speech Coalition where it was considered to Overbroad. It was aslo noted that works such as Romeo and Juliet, Traffic, American Beauty and many other films, notably porn with "school girl" would be severly punished. Judge Renquist did have a dissenting opinion that would later be used to create the Protect Act of 2003. In which Renquist stated
In which pandering was added to the Protect Act of 2003. However the 11th circuit court under struck the pandering section down only to be overturned by the Supreme Court. In the Dwight Whorley of Virginia case by the Forth Circuit Court of Appeals has ignored to precedent or contradicted the precedent set forth by Ashcroft v Free Speech Coalition on virtual child pornography.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_Act_of_2003
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashcroft_v._Free_Speech_Coalition
http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/FSCView.asp?coid=271
http://www.aftab.com/us_child_pornography_laws_post.htm
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/analysis.aspx?id=11865
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-795.ZS.html
My opinion
The law swings both ways on "Virtual Child Porn." It is a big debate and big moral crisis due to "Ultimate Evil" Child pornography and Pedophiles have become in our society today. People want to criminalize any thing that has to do with pedophilic behavior but that just opens up pandora’s box. Now I am not sure that Lolita is consider child porn since a majority of the arguments are about depictions of visual images not text but it is still something to consider. My problem with the law is that while it has good Intentions ("the road to hell is paved with good intentions") it is an all encompassing, over broad with the intent to criminalize all pedophilic behavior. It kind of reminds me of attacks on communism and the internment of the Japanese since the public was willing to condemn and criminalize any behaviors and similarities of their "Ultimate Evil"
Of course then their is human history where it was sexual maturity they already started having children. Every culture practiced some form of incest and every culture up until the modern period has began sexual relation at sexual maturity. Dont get me wrong, I m not advocating child sex, I m merely explain what has happen through out human history. Is that before we used to treat teenagers as already adults not children, (bar Mitzvah anyone?) but all that has changed, people are living longer and now teenagers are still children. 14 years old being charged as adults for murder while a 14 year old has sex and their still a child? If there is anything as a society that needs to happen, it is to be consistent. But Pandora’s box has been opened and we are seeing the affects ie sextexting and bullying by pretending to be a pedophile.
More Information
http://cfcamerica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=672:sex-texting-making-headlines-more-sex-offenders-to-come-and-more-families-torn&catid=3:news&Itemid=96
http://themomblog.freedomblogging.com/2009/03/16/cellphone-sexting-is-terrifying-for-the-parents/15137/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7770781.stm
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24767204-5006022,00.html
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42106
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-03-11/japan-planned-child-porn-law-exempts-manga-anime
http://www.littlespeck.com/region/CForeign-Jp-080226.htm
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20090601a1.html
Well all that money and inbreeding will do that to you….I mean really…the genreal populace is bad enough……*drool*
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Hentai owners in the US: consider yourselves fucked if you ever showed your collection to anyone who now hates you.
Well PCisim is highly contradicting 😛
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Thats becuse people are intolerant you have to make them relise how silly they are otherwise you will have no rights by the end of the day.
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Which is ironic considering PC moral fascism probably has a problem with tentacle hentai.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
I´m not saying that it´s wrong. I´m saying is more hard to defend because people (and politicians) is more biased about sex and porn, even more than violence. Just remember that South Park episode.
The person who decide to defend porn as a right in front of media and politics have to be very brave and smart. At least that the way I see it.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Wormdundee
And to think tis been around for almost a decade, welcome to the world of PC moralist fascism!
Think of it as a hybrid of left/right extreams that fcks you in EVERY orifface at once instead of 1 or 2 at a time…..
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Rodrigo Ybáñez García
So you are saying violence is safe, fine and dandy but porn is ‘wrong’?
Thats ridiculous, both are fictional either both are safe or neither of them can be.
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
I´m not saying that porn is wrong, but it´s too risky to defend because many people, even if they are consuming porn in secret, they won´t admit it. Instead they are gonna to attack you for being a pervert.
Sex and porn are still taboo subjects for many people in every country. It´s a delicate subject.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Try as I might, I can only draw the one conclusion: this country is run by idiots.
My thoughts exactly.
"I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write." – Voltaire
-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away….what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-
That means that you could go to Jail for beating up Sakura on Street Fighter IV……. Yup sounds like it.
This is true but the article also mentions another case where the person was convicted, and in that case the person didn’t possess actual child pornography.
In case you don’t feel like scrolling back up to click the link in the article: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/manga-porn/
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I’m not under the affluence of incohol as some thinkle peep I am. I’m not half as thunk as you might drink. I fool so feelish I don’t know who is me, and the drunker I stand here, the longer I get.
Yes.
Then again, I also would be willing to do so for adult material in general (or bdsm, or poly, or gay rights).
After all, it took more then gays fighting for themselves to push even the rights it had. It also takes outsiders saying ‘this does not effect me, but I feel that other people’s rights are important enough to fight for’.
Holy damn, I had no idea that something like this actually existed!
it is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor depicted actually exist.
This blows my fucking mind. This means that they are saying that it doesn’t matter if it’s a drawing, as long as it WOULD be illegal if it wasn’t a drawing. I don’t see how they can prosecute something like this, and then not prosecute someone carrying around a drawing of a gun in public (because that would break weapon laws right, since it’s not concealed). Yet we all know what a shitstorm there would be if they said that a drawing of a gun is illegal.
I mean seriously, I could do some shitty ass drawing of a person having sex with a horse and if it’s determined that the person could be a minor (it would be pretty difficult to say either way because of my lack of drawing skills) I could be prosecuted under this act.
This turns thoughts into crime simply because they move from your mind to a piece of paper.
I think getting your jollies from RapeLay is kind of weird, but I wouldn’t outcast anyone for liking it.
*nods* never said it would be easy. In fact it would likly be quite hard. But in the long run, I think it would be better for gamers.
It’s the truth so I don’t see why not.
if not, then PROTEST TIME!!
岩「…Where do masochists go when they die?」
Are you willing to go and stand before the congress to say "porn is not bad"?
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
So if owing a raping game is illegal is rape movies also illegal?
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
http://www.killatia.com/All this does is make me want to get Rapelay….just to stick it to the man….and not in that sense.
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I once had a dream about God. In it, he was looking down upon the planet and the havoc we recked and he said unto us, "Damn Kids get off my lawn!"
We must defend it. Not because it is a game, but because we would be hypocrites and cowards to not defend it. Disgusting or not is irrelevent; this game infringes on nobody’s rights, and to let this be punished simply to save face would be a disservice to our honor. Not only that, if we let this go, it’ll be a slippery slope until violent games are banned too.
-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away….what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-
You’ll be outcasted as a perv either way, myself porn/hentai is equatable to violence, thought and the small freedoms that we are suppose to have.
Take one away the rest will follow, so you have to draw a line in the sand and take a side either you are for reasonable limits that stop short of fascism or you are for fascism.
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
It’s not just Rapelay, owning any hardcore porn in any form is legally risky under the subjective standards of the Miller test and the Protect Act. Of course the Supreme Court has already touched on the issues of fictional depictions of minors engaged in sex, when it struck down the relevant portions of the Communications Decency Act.
I don’t see how that’s worth pointing out, he should not have been charged anything for possessing mere drawings or computer generated images.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
Not to mention that many still view video games as for children and only for children, thus, if you defend pornographic video games, at all, no matter the reason, you somehow advocate giving porn to minors.
Iffy laws are what make polticains, polticains. Without them they would get no where…..
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
I would say defend them, because I honestly wouldn’t trust anyone to stop there. I’d expect them to begi ntheir best to chip away little by little unti lthey find ways to remove what offends them.
I think that will be very difficult for any group to protect games despicting virtual child porn, or even plain porn with despicting adults. For the majority, porn is a sin/crime and should be banned in every way possible.
I can jump over to try to defende violent videogames, but I think I couldn´t defend hentai games without being outcasted as a pervert.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Oh, it should also be noted, Dwight Whorley was ALSO convicted on counts of writing sexually explicit emails to an (adult) friend. So even text stories with no pictures involved can earn you years in prision under this law.
Yet you can still buy Lolita at any bookstore.
There is no question here.
RapeLay is indeed covered by the 2003 PROTECT act.
While it is unlikly to be prosecuted, it is just a role of the dice (since the manga case was a random search of an international shipment). All it takes is one customs offical opening up an package from japan to land someone in federal prision.
Now, what the video game community has to decide… if such a case comes up are we gonig to stand with other media groups to deal with this law, or throw such games to the wolves in the hope that they will not come after ‘our’ games next?
True, which also makes the need for using these laws even more baffling.
What has been done here is setting a legal precident. Once one person has been convicted, prosecuters can point to that case and say ‘see, a judge agreed that this is illegal’ and thus it is illegal unless overturned by a higher court.
The took a case with a real pedophile and, since such cases are always pretty politically charged, tacked on the iffy laws in order to strenghten them.
There is already a second case working it’s way through the system where they guy ended up pleading guilty to possessing lolicon manga and NOTHING ELSE.
All it takes is one test case to turn these laws from theory into practice. And once practiced, the barrier to using them more drops significantly.
Stupid morality police.
—You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
It’s worth pointing out that the guy convicted in this case also possessed actual child pornography. This guy would not go free even if those aspects of the case dealing with virtual pornography were overturned.
The law is outdated(even if recent) and was put in place as a feel good measure that sucks reason out of the equation.
If fake child porn or fake anything really can be illegal then thinking might as well be because its far more dangerous.
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
I think that’s also part of the PROTECT Act
One of my favorite episodes of Law & Order SVU is from the 8th season called "Clock"
http://www.tv.com/Law+%26+Order%3A+Special+Victims+Unit/Clock/episode/870986/recap.html
It’s an episode of many issues, but one is that a young woman with Turner’s Syndrome which makes her look a lot younger than which she actually is. While the boyfriend in the show has some serious issues, you have to wonder how many people would actually like to pass legislation preventing such women who have Turner’s Syndrome from having relationships because they "look" younger, and therefore, the boyfriends LOOK like they are pedophiles, even if they really aren’t. And who knows what is going on in the boyfriend’s minds. And should it matter to anyone but the of-age young woman? And I wonder if even owning pictures of such couples could be considered illegal, even if both in the picture are adults and consenting.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000
Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl
I don’t read from the above any mention of a design to pander to an interest in child pornography. Not even between the lines. That the potential viewer has a keen interest or absolutely no interest in consuming child pornography is wholly irrelevant either way. What’s relevant is the intent of the producer — not the consumer.
Moreover, all legitimately distributed pornography containing actors must, under federal law, bear a visible disclaimer that the actors contained therein are all of adult age and that the producer has obtained proof of age from all actors therein and copies thereof are available for inspection with the production company’s records custodian. It’s kinda hard to satisfy this requirement and be said to have an intent to dupe viewers into believing that the actors are under-aged.
It is called the ‘Pandering Provision", 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(3)
"
advertises, promotes, presents, distributes, or solicits through the mails, or in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, any material or purported material in a manner that reflects the belief, or that is intended to cause another to believe, that the material or purported material is, or contains (i) an obscene visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or (ii) a visual depiction of an actual minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
"
Which has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
So all you have to do is convince a jury (and juries in pedophillia cases are notoriously easy to persuade) that the author intended people to believe the adult actor was a minor.
puritans, amking others give up more and more freedosm so they themselves can feel better since, ever
I was referring to state jurisdictions. It’s unclear and, indeed, unlikely that the federal law would emcompass adult actors posing as minors. The federal law says nothing about "designed to pander." It says "depicts an image that is, or appears to be" of a minor.
Jurisdictions?
What you describe is, if someone wanted to prosecute it, a federal crime in the US. The law applies to anything that might be mistaken for a child or designed to pander to such interests.
We are screwed. Damn puritans…
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Unfortunately, yes. The law doesn’t require that it be a believable depiction.
So wait the 40 year old with the cesarean scar who was playing as a cheerleader in High School is considered child Pornography?
I don’t think it’s that he’s beating his drum, I think it’s that he’s trying to distance the video game community at large from RapeLay in the eyes of those who peruse this site.
Whoever added non-photographic art to the terms of the law needs to read some more Orwell.
No, Luke, I AM the Walrus
Fair enough. But beyond dispute, the larger context is clearly that he’s no fan of RapeLay. Which is fine. That’s his opinion and he’s certainly entitled to it. But, having made that opinion abundantly clear, it’s hard to fault those like DarkSaber who smell a whiff of bias underlying the seemingly neutral. And I say this while being on record as questioning the fairness of DarkSaber’s response.
Yah, in this article Dennis doesn’t even mention his opinion of RapeLay: it’s as neutral an article as anyone could want.
True, the law hasn’t been applied to video games yet but I’m happy GP decided not to wait until then because I didn’t know about this absurd law before now and was most interested to learn about it.
I also don’t see anything in the article suggesting that GP’s motivation for writing it was to communicate his personal opinion on the game’s content. Especially considering he says nothing along the lines of "Rapelay is disgusting" anywhere in the story.
Andrew Eisen
While I have been unhappy with GP’s ‘Rapelay is filt!’ mantra, I agree with AE here.
This is a law that has been seeing slowly broadening use and as it is being used could easily be applied to a video game. Thought TBH, standard obsenity laws already cover the case since things like rape play videos have already been prosecuted as obsene material.
But the law hasn’t been applied to video games yet. He’s just picked out the most tenuous of tenuous connections to bang his ‘Rapelay is disgusting’ drum again.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
That’s not how I see it.
To me, using Rapelay as an example is just a way make a very interesting story relevant to this site’s subject matter. It’s true that the court cases by themselves go outside the scope of this site’s reporting but the law would appear to include video games.
Andrew Eisen
If it’s one thing Rupert Murdoch teaches us, it is that there’s a thin line between controlling news media content and banging your own drum. But it’s not a new trick. Murdoch stole it from William Randolph Hearst.
Yeah, I thought it was a bit harsh too, looks like I snipped that word a split-second before your reply.
It’s amusing that Rapelay is NOTHING to do with these court cases, but he uses it as an excuse to bang his tired old drum anyway.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
"Hate campaign" may be a little harsh and undeserved, but I am sometimes surprised that some of the RapeLay articles aren’t tagged with one of those "Editorial" thingys.
It almost sounds like he’s trying to broaden his campaign to include manga now.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
You can’t. Not anymore, anyway. They’ve stopped selling it. Rough translation: "Hey guys about that "Rapelay" shit. We’ve accepted the EOCS’s decision and given the trouble this situation is giving Japan’s proud rape game industry, we’ve decided to no longer offer it for sale or provide information on it. Sorry if this has deprived you of fapping material."
Maybe I’ll buy it for, uh, the sake of studying it.
Cue the thought police!!
I am a criminal because I purchase media,I am a criminal because I use media, I am a criminal because I chose to own media..We shall remain criminals until Corporate stay’s outside our bedrooms..
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Murder is illegal, obscene and disgusting. All television shows, video games, books, and movies may no longer contain life-threatening action. Existing shows, video games, books and movies may replace such scenes, including any references to characters that died during the show, with scenes of magical sugar plum fairies dancing with cute fuzzy bunnies in the Gumdrop Forest.
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I’m not under the affluence of incohol as some thinkle peep I am. I’m not half as thunk as you might drink. I fool so feelish I don’t know who is me, and the drunker I stand here, the longer I get.
Agreed. We seem dangerously close to writing a bill of rights for fictional people.
"It has not been proven that owning these types of drawings will make someone more likely to commit pedophilic acts, nor has it been proven that it will lead our culture to debauchery."
The part I find sad and stupid about laws like this is that there’s a strong case to be made that the OPPOSITE is true. Let’s take a hypothetical person who finds that he’s attracted to really young girls. Really attracted. Like, driven insane by it.
Now give him harmless outlets where he can satisfy his urges to some degree without hurting anyone. Loli manga and ero games, and so forth.
Now, let’s rip those outlets out of his hands.
Which situation seems more likely to lead that person to resort to child abuse?
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I’m not under the affluence of incohol as some thinkle peep I am. I’m not half as thunk as you might drink. I fool so feelish I don’t know who is me, and the drunker I stand here, the longer I get.
Yeah, but passing laws against stuff related to pedophilia is politically very safe (and wins you votes) while pointing out how horrible such laws are is political suicide.
And of course the people in support of these bills never think that such laws could ever be used against something they care about.
It has not been proven that owning these types of drawings will make someone more likely to commit pedophilic acts, nor has it been proven that it will lead our culture to debauchery.
So the only argument they really have left is that it’s disgusting and degrading.
That alone should NEVER be enough reason to censor anything.
These are drawings we’re talking about here. If I were to take pen to paper and draw a kiddie being screwed I’d suddenly be breaking the law and yet if I were to draw the kiddie being squashed by an anvil I’d be perfectly fine.
As George Carlin put it, "it’s all bullshit and it’s bad for you".
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
Ah, thanks. I keep thinking this is GamePolitics.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)
That Berzerk.
Are any of the bunnies underage? Do you first multiply the age by seven like with dogs?
Nah, that stuff is all bunny on bunny (on bunny on bunny on bunny…) so it’s all good.
Andrew Eisen
The fact that the goverment is trying to protect something that simply doesn’t exist is an abomination to the legal system.
I think if they are going to start to protect virtual children (drawings and CGI animations), things are gonna be very messy and confusing at best.
Who will decide what´s obscene? Anything can be it under the sight of the wrong people.
Next step is gonna be to ban every game-manga-comic-animation despicting children in a violent plot. Good bye Naruto, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, etc.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Did you know that in some jurisdictions it is illegal to manufacture, distribute, or possess pornograhpy which depicts minors in sexual acts even thought the depicted minors are not in fact minors but, rather, are adult actors merely posing as minors? Despite the fact that there’s not a child in sight, it’s still considered "child pornography."
I agree along the same lines as AE.
There are two issues here:
The use of actual beings, even as models, for the creation of the product being considered.
The total fabrication through imagination without the use of any actual models to create the product being considered.
Using actual individuals means the potential to violate the Rights of the individual model, depending on the legal considerations of consent and how it applies to actual individuals.
When no actual individual is used in the creation of the product, no individual’s Rights are violated.
And the arguments raised that owning, let alone exposing one’s self, to material that used no actual models in its creation will make the person exposed want to actually mimic the contents of that material is no more factual than saying that someone exposed to violent fictional video games will make them want or even desire to commit real violent acts. Indeed, it’s no more realistic than saying that someone who plays a non-violent video game like Harvest Moon will make them want to do non-violent acts such as plant carrots.
Everyone is not expected to like every genre of media, from the type of media down to individual content of a specific product. We’re not clones. So the argument that "it’s horrid and obscene!" is irrelevant to whether someone else should have the Right to have an interest in it.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000
Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl
So is there anywhere we can send complaints to possibly get this reversed or something.
Really how far away is this from banning art depicting graphic fictional violence?
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it’s over they have the same positions they started in.
Berzerk as in "STOP-THE-HUMANOID"? What the fuzuck…?
Oh no… this could be insanely bad for Berserk fans.
Scares me how much you’re right on that.
Big Brother is just watching out for you!
Thoughtcrime.
A federal offence.
Nevertheless, just to be on the safe side, you may want to stash your copy of Bunny Porn in a hard to reach location. It could well be construed under federal law as a depiction of beastiality. Better safe than sorry.
I own stuff that explicitily depicts underage sex. Kite for example. And I will fight for the right to own such material. Being illegal to own a drawing is absurd. What’s next? A federal crime to have dreams with specific content? Thoughts? Jokes?
Of course, I don’t find drawings obscene so to me, that portion of the Protect Act would never be applicable.
Andrew Eisen
I think it fair to say that GP has a hard-on for this particular game. *rimshot*
"Rapelay is filth." WE GET IT ALREADY. Please stop beating this dead horse.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.