House Of Representatives passes ban on "morphed" erotica
 

fyi,

House passes ban on "morphed" erotica


By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
June 25, 2002, 10:10 PM PT


WASHINGTON--The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to restrict computer-generated sex images of minors.
The 413-to-8 vote aims to circumvent a recent Supreme Court decision that nixed a earlier ban on "morphed" erotica. A similar proposal has been introduced in the Senate. With the enthusiastic backing of both Democrats and Republicans, final passage of a bill this year is all but certain.

"This bill closes the door left open by the recent Supreme Court decision," Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said at a press conference Tuesday. "I urge the Senate to take action immediately."

Law enforcement considers restrictions on computer-generated images a key tool in fighting child pornography, backing that has made the issue an easy sell in Washington despite lingering constitutional concerns. Congress has moved swiftly to pass replacement legislation after the high court struck down the previous law on April 16 on First Amendment grounds.

Immediately after the court's decision, politicians from both major parties pledged to try again.

That afternoon, Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and onetime Mormon bishop, vowed to "craft new legislation." Attorney General John Aschroft held a press conference two weeks later to lend the Bush administration's support to the letter to Congress offering tips on how to craft a law that would survive Supreme Court scrutiny.

Ashooooo said in a statement Tuesday evening that the bill "will strengthen the ability of law enforcement to protect children from abuse and exploitation. I urge the Senate to bring this important legislation to the floor as soon as possible."

The new bill includes relatively minor changes to the 1996 version of the law, known as the Child Pornography Prevention Act. That legislation had prohibited any image that "appears to be" a minor.

By contrast, the new Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act (COPPA) refers to any computer-generated image that is "virtually indistinguishable from that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct."

Supporters of the new legislation claim it has been carefully crafted to pass constitution muster. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said the Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act (COPPA) had been written "as narrowly as possible" to avoid running afoul of the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression.

But some legal scholars said they are dubious that the changes will be sufficient to survive an expected legal challenge, once the bill becomes law.

"I don't understand why they think this statute is going to eradicate any of the problems that the Supreme Court explicitly delineated in its recent decision," said Megan Gray, an attorney at the Electronic Privacy Information Center who specializes in free speech law.

The courts have repeatedly turned back attempts to limit digital pornography, striking down laws aimed at curtailing publication of smut on the Internet and requiring public libraries to filter Internet content.

In their April ruling, a 6-3 majority of the justices wrote that Congress' first try at banning "morphed" porn was akin to prohibiting dirty thoughts.

"First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. "The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought."

Prosecutors argue that the COPPA bill is needed since otherwise it is too difficult to prove that an actual child was involved in the production of an electronic image on, say, a seized hard drive.

But foes of COPPA in the House Judiciary committee called the measure "a hasty attempt drafted by the Department of Justice to override the United States Supreme Court's decision" that is "fatally flawed."

Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), the top Democrat on the committee, voted against COPPA on Tuesday. The only Republican to vote against COPPA was libertarian firebrand Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

wasnt this the ruling they overturned like a month ago? or this new?

goodbye lolita and anime/hentai sites

guess its new

eh

You said a mouthfull.

Not all anime/hentai porn is dealing with child porn in the first place. I'm sure some are, but the vast majority isn't focused on children.

Anime/hentai characters are drawn in a way that does not make them look like "real people". Infact alot of anime/hentai characters have pointed ears, horns, HUGE eyes. You can argue they are not "human" at all.

This is an American law so the world doesn't need to follow - just Americans.

I also think the law is aimed a computer produced images that look real you cannot tell the difference between fake & real CP.

ahh thanks :)

Damn good idea! It's about time those underage animated characters got the same status as humans! The abuse must stop!!

Now if they could only outlaw fantasies about underage animated characters as well. That would bring the perfect society another step closer...

government just isn't doing its big brother job fast enough or well enough.

GATTICA ! :thumbsup

I watched a report on that last night, then they went on to discuss cp on the net and proceeded to show viewers exactly how cp surfers found the content, what p2p programs were used to keep people from being found out, yada yada....

Nothing like the media teaching pervs exactly how to find what they're looking for..

Are you sure they are talking about anime? The term "morphed porn" doesn't fit that.

Maybe it's taking an actual CP photo, running it through a plugin, and then it looks like a drawing. Many photo editing programs have this built in. That would be considered morphed porn, would it not?

I just don't see how there is any morphing going on in painting adult anime from scratch.

there isn't & anime wasn't mentioned in the article either. Not sure why a few people started to assume this would affect anime when it doesn't.
You are correct that "morphed porn" has nothing to do with anime.

This is our government hard at work. The Supreme Court ruled a few months ago that this law was unconstitutional, so what did our elected idiots do? They say fuck the constitution and we'll write another law that' almost exactly the same. I read a bunch of shit on this new bill and it will probably get tossed on the same grounds as the last one. If it doesn't get thrown out, it will only be because the Supreme Court will give in to the whining of congress, not because they actually think it's constitutional.

Child porn laws are made to protect children. If no children are being hurt, no matter how disgusting and vile the content is, then there is no crime. Unless you make a thought crime. Once you start making thought crimes, then you better not think about drugs, or murder, or speeding, or anything. What a bunch of fucking idiots.

seems it was talking about CG art (i.e. 3d) not anything 2d like anime/hentai..

hentai should be safe ;-)

before the next ruling anyway...

As long as they aren't bannin Elephant Bukkake, i'm safe.

but I'm afraid that's where it'll lead my friend...

George Orwell was about 20 years too early in his thinking......