FC: More on "Victims of Pornography" and Family Research Council

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Thu May 10 2001 - 21:17:26 PDT

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    Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 13:50:48 +0800
    From: John Tanner <tannerat_private>
    To: declanat_private
    Subject: Re: FC: Conservative groups celebrate "Victims of Pornography" month
    References: <20010504094949.A9157at_private>
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    Hi Declan,
    
    Regarding "Victims of Pornography" month -- apologies if you've already
    seen this, but pasted below is a press release from the Family Research
    Council regarding  VOP Month that Politech readers might find useful for
    background info. What really caught my eye was the claims that libraries
    are becoming cesspools of porn and "young boys are asking librarians to
    help them find pictures of naked women."
    
    Does anyone else besides me find this incredibly hard to believe? Now, I
    don't claim to be up on youth culture, but I can't imagine myself at age
    8, 12, or 15 (much less my current age at 36) asking an adult for help
    in finding porn. I also find it hard to believe that library computer
    terminals are packed with men downloading porn and "engag[ing] in lewd
    conduct" unless these libraries put each terminal in separate stalls
    with curtains so no one can look over yr shoulder to see what yr looking
    at (and if they are, then putting the terminals out in the open would
    probably be the most obvious solution rather than massively overreaching
    censorship drives -- call me wacky, but this is just how my mind works...).
    
    I can't say for a fact that the librarians the FRC found to tell their
    weird tales are out-and-out liars -- but I highly suspect they are
    grossly exaggerating the truth (maybe one smart-ass kid came up to them
    asking how to access porn sites and the librarians have blown it all out
    proportion in the interest of what they see as a greater good, who
    knows?).
    
    Granted, this is nothing new -- the FRC and other such groups have been
    collecting and spouting off such anecdotal tales for years trying to
    pass it off as the "truth" about porn to further their own agenda. But,
    as you mentioned in yr story, with the political balance shifted the way
    it has, these groups certainly believe they've got more leverage with
    the government now than ever before -- what worries me is that they just
    might be right.
    
    Okay, I feel better now...
    
    Regards,
    
    John C. Tanner
    Global Technology Editor
    Telecom Asia/Wireless Asia
    Advanstar Telecoms Group
    Tel: +852 2589 1328
    Fax: +852 2559 7002
    Email: tannerat_private
    URL: www.telecomasia.net
    
    ===============================
    
    Family Groups Raise Awareness About the Dangers of
    Pornography; * May is Victims of Pornography Month *
    
    
    May 3, 2001
    
    
    
    
    WASHINGTON, May 2 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -
    
    Family Research Council (FRC) joined with a coalition of pro-family
    groups, experts, lawmakers and pornography victims in Washington
    Wednesday to speak out about the dangers of pornography during
    Victims of Pornography Month. Speakers included Rep. Steve
    Largent (R-Okla.), Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.), FRC's Jan LaRue, Wendy
    Wright from Concerned Women for America and Bob Peters of
    Morality in Media. Testimony was given by victims of pornography,
    including a woman who appeared in pornographic publications as a
    child and was used as a child prostitute, and the therapist of a 9-year
    old boy who abused another child after viewing porn. FRC'S senior
    director of Legal Studies, Jan LaRue testified about librarians, the
    latest victims of pornography:
    
    "There are librarians across America, who work in libraries where
    hard- core porn is turning their workplace into a cesspool. Men,
    sexually aroused as a result of looking at porn, engage in lewd
    conduct. Ask Laura Morgan, a librarian at the Chicago Public Library,
    who won't take her own children to the library because, as Laura
    described it, her library has become a dirty peep show booth. Young
    boys are asking librarians to help them find pictures of naked women.
    Ask Heidi Borton, a former librarian in King County, Washington, who
    quit her job after ten years because her conscience would no longer
    permit her to help little boys find porn. To work in such a library is to
    work in a hostile environment. Ask Wendy Adamson and the librarians
    at the Minneapolis Library who've joined Wendy in filing a complaint
    with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of
    what the presence of porn has done to their workplace. All of the
    librarians across the county who identify with the problem need to
    take back their libraries. Librarians, don't be a victim of porn."
    
    Currently, there are two prominent pornography cases before the
    courts. The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires schools
    and libraries to install filters on all federally-funded computers or on
    Internet access available to children. The American Civil Liberties
    Union has filed a lawsuit to block the law from taking effect. In the
    case of Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, FRC has filed a
    friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the
    "virtual child porn" law. The Ninth Circuit Court has declared the
    statute unconstitutional as applied to computer generated images of
    child sex.
    
    FRC is urging the Justice Department to step up enforcement of
    obscenity laws, especially during May, Victims of Pornography
    Month.
    
    MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here
    
    http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X95762173
    
    SOURCE Family Research Council
    
    CONTACT: Kristin Hansen or For Radio: Kelly Green, 202-393-2100,
    both of the Family Research Council
    
    Web site: http://www.frc.org
    
    ==================
    
    Declan McCullagh wrote:
     >
     > http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,43519,00.html
     >
     >    May Days Should Be Porn-Free
     >    By Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
     >    2:00 a.m. May 4, 2001 PDT
     >
     >    WASHINGTON -- If you're a dot-com sex star, if you lurk on
     >    alt.sex.stories, or if your home page happens to be thehun.net, then
     >    you may be a "victim" of pornography.
     >
     >    No, don't laugh. An entirely serious coalition of antiporn groups is
     >    celebrating "Victims of Pornography" month in May, and they're hoping
     >    their efforts will climax with more prosecutions of smut sellers.
    
    
    
    
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