egafd.com

Hi Folks

You might want to take a look at a thread on Punternet concerning new legislation about porn which is about to be rushed through. If you're interested, it's worth reading all the posts (its only a short thread) and definitely worth clicking on the links to the related news articles.

http://punternet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7301

As far as I can see the new law SHOULDN'T relate to the sort of mainstream hardcore most people on here make / view. Though the (deliberate?) vagueness of its wording (replacing the old "likely to deprave or corrupt") is rather worrying. However the sixth posting down with a link to a case that resulted in prosecution for hosting straightforward hardcore under the CURRENT legislation has serious implications for any website hosting free porn (the jist of it is that a credit card makes it impossible for a minor to watch hardcore, but free images mean that someone under 18 could be "depraved and corrupted" etc). The new legislation attempts to extend the criminality from the producer to the consumer.

Without wanting to spread doom and gloom these are worrying times for any British adult wanting to continue to have the right to view images of consensual sex between other adults. And most worryingly of all it seems to be being pushed through without any fanfare or any resistance at all. Maybe it's a storm in a teacup. Let's hope so. Have a look and see what you think. Air your views. The only mistake would be if we all stuck our heads in the sand.

eunichorn

Clickable link

http://punternet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7301

Reading down that post and the bit about free porn means this could be the end of the freebies, this will bring joy to some adult site owners who think there is to much free porn but how will they get people to subscribe if there are no previews.

Surely this will only apply to websites with servers located in the UK, so won't have much effect on the availablilty of free porn or porn in general?

Thanks to pornschoolblog for creating the clickable link.

To Elspeth Kiss: at the moment I think you're right - so long as the website and server are based outside the UK you won't be breaking the law. With the new legislation being angled towards criminalising the customers (for downloading) the waters are certainly becoming murkier.

Well good luck to Gordon Brown arresting everyone in the country who downloads porn he might want to start with a sweep of his MPs hard drives first

This judgement looks worrying... what are the implications, and possible solutions for UK based adult site owners?

Link: http://publicaffairs.linx.net/news/?p=621

"Free porn sites are illegal, says Minister

Most Internet pornography web sites are illegal, according to a legal interpretation Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker gave to Parliament last week. The Minister was commenting on the legal consequences of the judgment in the Court of Appeal in R v Perrin [2002].

The Minister declared that all R18 type material - that is, clear images of real sex between consenting adults - would be illegal to publish on the Internet unless ?behind a suitable payment barrier or other accepted means of age verification?. This includes both commercial pornography and ?non-commercial, user-generated material?.

In other words, free explicit pornography online is illegal.

Commercial pornography sites aren?t necessarily in the clear either. Those that provide a sample of their wares to prospective customers - which is probably to say, all of them - will now be considered to be breaking British law if they are deemed to operate within the UK jurisdiction. As to jurisdiction, Perrin, for example, was himself resident in Britain but publishing using an American web server.

Child protection campaigners are now expected to call for prosecutions against web site operators.

An explanation to the background of the Perrin case follows.

In Perrin, the defendant faced two separate charges of publishing obscenity contrary to the Obscene Publications Act 1959; one charge related to material he was selling access to through his web site, the other related to material on his web site that was available before/without having paid.

The Crown Prosecution Service website states that the Obscene Publications Act 1959 sets the legal definition of obscenity as:

?an article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect [?] is [?] to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it. ?

The judge instructed the jury that that in respect of material paid for by credit card the legal standard is whether the material would ?tend to deprave and corrupt? an adult, but in respect of freely available material the question is whether it would ?tend to deprave and corrupt? a child, a direction approved by the Court of Appeal (albeit not without criticising the judge?s lack of clarity). The jury then convicted Perrin for the free pornography, but acquitted him for that which was sold."

"this will bring joy to some adult site owners who think there is to much free porn"

Free porn devalues all porn.


"but how will they get people to subscribe if there are no previews."

Maybe this is part of NuLabour's evil plan to wreck the sex business? Maybe it's all part of their 'wimmin's ishoos' agenda? Thankfully, come Thursday, you will have an opportunity to tell them to fuck off and keep their snotty middleclass noses out of your business.




Officer Dibble

This suggests that location of server doesn't matter.

Location of business owner/producer does.

Hmmmmm.

What was the nature of the material for which he was prosecuted - "nice porn" or "jesus ughhh porn"?

We will never know the consequences of any new law until they bring a few test cases against adult website producers. Which I?m sure they will!

If child campaigners are so worried about the effects of porn on children then it would be better for them to spend their money on providing free NetNanny to all those parents who want it than bring cases against businessmen & women.

The real reason for the drive is that New Labour are obsessed about controlling everything a person says and does all in the name of good causes.