Attorney General John Ashcroft and friendly congresscritters held a press conference today where they swore to find a way to ban "morphed" child porn and circumvent those pesky Supreme Court justices. The anti-pornsters outlined a new bill called the "Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002." (A terrible name, since its COPPA abbreviation will inevitably be confused with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. Talk about a lack of imagination.)
I've placed the bill here: http://www.politechbot.com/docs/doj.childporn.bill.050102.html http://www.politechbot.com/docs/doj.childporn.bill.050102.doc http://www.politechbot.com/docs/doj.childporn.bill.050102.wpd One section applies to anyone who "provides any obscene matter or child pornography, or any visual depiction that is, or is virtually indistinguishable from, that of a pre-pubescent child engaging in sexually explicit conduct..." This comes after the Supreme Court struck down Congress' previous effort, the "Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996," as unconstitutional: http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=morphed Rhetoric was high at today's press conference: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52230,00.html >"I hope this legislation meets the standard set by the Supreme Court," >said Rep. Mark Foley (R-Florida). "Pedophiles do not have a First >Amendment right to gawk over exploited children, real or virtual." Foley (best known, perhaps, for judging the Congressional Art Competition and opening up FBI databases so volunteer groups can check names against them) has placed his statement here: http://www.gop.gov/item-news.asp?N=20020501102427 More background on the bill, as supplied by the Justice Department: http://www.politechbot.com/docs/doj.childporn.factsheet.050102.doc http://www.politechbot.com/docs/doj.childporn.factsheet.050102.wpd http://www.politechbot.com/docs/doj.childporn.summary.050102.doc http://www.politechbot.com/docs/doj.childporn.summary.050102.wpd Of course we knew this was coming. See what I sent to Politech last night: "Sen. Orrin Hatch vows a second try at 'morphed' kiddie porn law" http://www.politechbot.com/p-03467.html -Declan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign this pro-therapeutic cloning petition: http://www.franklinsociety.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------
