********** 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> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-UIDL: 9dd35a2462372162fc3b308d78889c32 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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