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[FYI] (Fwd) FC: Antiporn activists demand end to sex sites, more COP




------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Wed, 24 May 2000 07:22:26 -0400
To:             	politech@vorlon.mit.edu
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:        	FC: Antiporn activists demand end to sex sites, more COPPA problems
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com


http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36525,00.html

    Antiporn Activists Lobby for Laws
    by Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)

    3:00 a.m. May. 24, 2000 PDT
    WASHINGTON -- These are trying times for anti-porn activists.

    A federal judge has barred the Justice Department from prosecuting
    most sex sites, the Communications Decency Act has been
    overturned, and this week the Supreme Court struck down a cable TV
    sex-scrambling law.

    But that didn't stop anti-porn advocates from descending on
    Capitol Hill on Tuesday, lurid printouts in hand, to demand that
    something be done about raunch and ribaldry on the Internet.

    "I'm here to make an appeal for you to do anything and everything
    that is possible to hinder this horrible industry," said Joseph
    Burgin, a self-proclaimed ex-porn addict who said smut was to
    blame for his divorce and $100,000 in legal fees. Burgin said that
    sex sites had made his "addiction" even more terrible.

    To the Republicans who control the House Commerce
    telecommunications subcommittee, Burgin's tale of woe provided
    ample evidence that prurience had run amok -- and the Clinton
    administration was to blame.

    "Frankly, I think the Justice Department's record on prosecuting
    obscenity and indecency on the Internet is appalling," said Rep.
    Billy Tauzin (R-Louisiana), the subcommittee chairman.

    [...]

    Janet LaRue, senior director of legal studies at the Family
    Research Council, claimed that perverts can view porn in public
    libraries, and more obscenity prosecutions would solve that
    problem.

    "What we're asking is that the existing obscenity laws be
    enforced," LaRue said. "If this is the case, then we believe the
    other problems will take care of themselves."

    LaRue tried to introduce as evidence a series of JPEGs she
    downloaded to show panel members how explicit some of the sites
    were.

    Tauzin, the subcommittee chair, hesitated and said he didn't know
    whether it was appropriate to accept as evidence material that
    might be deemed obscene by the very laws that they were there to
    debate. After conferring with the subcommittee's attorney, Tauzin
    said he could accept the material but not let anyone else make
    copies.

    [...]


http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1810683.html

ICQ shuts out adults posing as children
By Patricia Jacobus
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 4, 2000, 4:00 a.m. PT

It may be acceptable to lie about your age at a cocktail party, but
don't try it with America Online's popular ICQ instant messaging
service. In response to a tough new online child privacy law that went
into effect two weeks ago, ICQ is forcing members under the age of 13
to forfeit their accounts. That's not just tough luck for real kids;
the policy also is causing headaches for some adults who, for whatever
reason, registered with fake birth dates. Those who tried to pass
themselves off as younger than 13 have been shut out of ICQ and some
other Web services until they can prove they're old enough to play
without mom's or dad's permission.

[...]

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