Quote:
Originally posted by CDSmith
In Canada as well, when the leglality of the material in question is ambiguous, it is measured against the community standard of tolerance, and that standard of tolerance although <i>should</i> be country-wide, it is more often quite local.
But that's the exact point I was trying to make. I may have said it badly, but what I was trying to illustrate is that just because one or even a few people *thinK* something is obscene, doesn't make it so. It is the community standard of tolerance that is the basis for deciding legality, especially pertaining to the world-wide web. That tolerance is usually far above what many inidividuals would have if given the opportunity to play censorship god.
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In the US, whether something is obscene is not a factual matter, but one based on opinion. Unfortunately, once the local opinion is expressed as a verdict, the punishment is a fact even if the crime is a matter of opinion.