[This is what Yahoo gets for caving in to pressure earlier this year. Now anti-porn groups can come back every week (Patrick has sent me at least two very similar press releases recently), identify discussion groups that are purportedly offensive, and compel Yahoo to take action. Since discussion areas can be created without human intervention, it's an infinite loop. And even if Patrick is successful, he'll merely succeed in driving the participants back to Usenet. Finally, if child porn exists, that's one thing -- but fantasies that Patrick finds distasteful are still protected by the First Amendment and perhaps even Yahoo's terms of service. --Declan] ******* From: "ptrueman" <ptruemanat_private> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private> Subject: Yahoo porn Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 21:14:40 -0400 AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION ____________________________________ Washington, D.C. Office PRESS RELEASE Contact: Patrick Trueman (202) 544-0061 For Immediate Release July 10, 2001 YAHOO! STILL HAS RAPE, ORGY, CHILD PORN CLUBS OPEN TO ALL AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOC. SAYS "Yahoo!'s "Rape Stories Fantasy" Club should be shut down immediately," said Patrick Trueman of American Family Association. The club contains photos titled "Raped" and "Group Rape" showing scared-looking, naked women handcuffed, bound, held down and raped. The club is described on Yahoo! as "a great place to exchange rape stories and fantasies." Here is a portion of one story:" I stand in the bushes and watch you fumble with you keys… You should know better than to not have them ready when you go into the house" … I throw your lifeless body over my shoulder and carry you into the house. I tie your four limbs securely to the bed. I grab my knife… "Why do Yahoo! executives encourage such despicable material by providing resources to the perverted people who enjoy the thought of raping women, " asked Trueman. Yahoo! also has many orgy clubs including teen orgy clubs, complete with group sex photos, solicitations for new members and dates and locations of upcoming orgies. Child pornography can still be found on Yahoo! "It appears that Yahoo! is providing free space in its clubs and GeoCities sites for many for-profit child pornography web sites", said Trueman. Pictures of children in sexually explicit poses are provided in some and all have links to sites outside of Yahoo! that offer child pornography. "Yahoo! must choose whether it wants to be a family friendly business or not", Trueman said. "If it does, it should eliminate all pornographic clubs and GeoCities sites on its servers. Yahoo!'s current policy encourages users to post every variety of pornography, including photos of rape, orgy and child pornography, he added. "Yahoo! should not be allowed to profit from the sexual exploitation of children and women." Trueman said. "It is not only offensive but it is often illegal," he added. He is AFA's director of governmental affairs, and was chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, from 1988 to 1992. AFA has written to Attorney General Ashcroft to ask that Yahoo! be prosecuted for child pornography and obscenity violations. 227 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Suite 302, Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 544-0061, fax (202) 544-0504 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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