Amercian arrested for Child Porn by Canadian customs who found manga on his computer.

[ph0b0s123]

From here: http://cbldf.org/homepage/cbldf-forms-coalition-to-defend-american-comics-reader-facing-criminal-charges-in-canada/

Comic book legal defence fund says it will help with the defence of an American programmer who Canadian customs believed had child porn on his various devices. He had no photo's only manga. He has been charged with possession and intent to import child porn to Canada.

The problem is I don't know any country now that will not punish you if they believe you are in possession of 'certain' drawings of minors. Even the US with their free speech laws will convict for possession of this material, so I don't know how successful they will be. Or even if that many people would want them to be successful....

 

[ph0b0s123]

Wow, no-one has anything to add..... Well since I rushed posting this, I had one thought. I just hope they are not pursuing some innocuous manga title and actually have found something of the loli variety.

 

[Richard Po]

I think this just brings the question of "what is porn"?

 

[A-D.]

So what constitutes Child Porn in a Manga then? I mean, just being "underage" doesnt really count, and as far as im concerned, Manga do not contain Porn. Well Ecchi perhaps (accidental boobgrab, pantyshots etc) but thats about it and even those dont really contain children

I'd wish People would start seeing the difference between Hentai (Drawn Porn) and Manga (Drawn but not Porn) already. Else you just mention you read Manga to anyone and they think you are into some sick perversion or whatever.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

How did they find the stuff on his laptop, that means that the customs guy had to take it, turn it on and hunt through all his files, and he did this just on a whim? I never really fly internationally but doesn't that seem a bit excessive?

 

[DEAD34345]

This is actually a really difficult thing for me to form a solid opinion on.

On the one hand actual child porn is clearly wrong, and people who posses it should be jailed for a long time. Of course the drawn kind of child porn does not directly harm any children, and I'm not sure it would indirectly cause harm to children either. If people with these kinds of sexual tendencies are satisfying that with drawings, isn't that better than if they satisfy it with actual child porn, or actual children? Do we have the right to punish people for viewing these things, when they do not actually harm anyone else? More importantly should we punish these people?

I guess it all depends on whether drawn child porn will lead people to actual child porn, or if it will divert people away from actual child porn. It's a difficult decision, and I seriously doubt there's been any kind of research into this type of thing. Hm...

 

[Motiv_]

30 minutes without a reply isn't really anything to get upset about.

On the topic at hand, yeah, it seems dumb to me, but I can't off the top of my head remember what manga looks like. I'd have to see the actual manga to make my mind up.

There really isn't much room for error, and if it looks pornographic, the customs agent can't just say "Well, this looks like child porn, but it's probably just some whacky Japanese comic so you go right ahead!"

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

This has the same angle as the "porn is bad" argument. Porn is good, when internet porn became more popular, sex related crime rates went down in a lot of areas. Only in the case of drawn porn, there is no downside... just none!

The "age" of managa characters, even if acknowledged in the story is irrelevant as the character has never and will never exist. There is nobody being harmed, or effected in any physical way, so why is this a problem?

The people in charge of creating laws really need to think harder about their decisions...

 

[electric_warrior]

Edit: I did write something but can't be bothered with all the responses so I'll just say, for the purpose of simplicity, that I honestly don't care if he goes to prison. In fact, I kinda hope he does.

 

[bob1052]

Do we really want to defend someone with drawings like that

Freedom of speech is important, but is it really that important? Not all expression is worthy of protection, this is an example of that.

In what way is Freedom of speech related in any way to this?

 

[Sandernista]

Wait so a guy was arrested for having CP, but all he had was some manga?

 

[Rhojin]

First off, since when does customs have the right to go through your laptop? I have never traveled out of the country but this is the first time I have heard of an agent doing this.

Second,Do they know what manga the customs agent found on the guys laptop? For all we know if could have been one of those disturbing lolicon hentai comics.

 

[CD-R]

Do we really want to defend someone with drawings like that

Freedom of speech is important, but is it really that important? Not all expression is worthy of protection, this is an example of that.

Yes it is. From the people who draw offensive rule 34 images on the various chans, to the asshole's who protest soldiers funerals for no reason, to the guys who made Duke Nukem Forever, to the people who think Hitler had some good ideas. Either it's all ok or none of it is. If you really want free speech then you have to be willing to pay the price of letting people act like complete and utter twats if they so choose. Trust me, it's a very small price to pay. I may not agree with your views but I would gladly stand shoulder to shoulder with you to defend your right to be a massive tool.

 

[Norendithas]

Do we really want to defend someone with drawings like that

Freedom of speech is important, but is it really that important? Not all expression is worthy of protection, this is an example of that.

While Freedom of Speech isn't exactly related to this, I have to say with that attitude, you get nowhere. If you offer something like that, you better goddamn have it for everything. There's no such thing as 'Freedom of Speech for things we like, but not for things we don't like!'. That's not it at all.

 

[electric_warrior]

Do we really want to defend someone with drawings like that

Freedom of speech is important, but is it really that important? Not all expression is worthy of protection, this is an example of that.

In what way is Freedom of speech related in any way to this?

Read the OP

It's freedom of expression, i.e. the right of him to own that artwork/the right of whoever drew it to draw it

You know, censorship of "art" and all that

 

[t3h br0th3r]

I think this just brings the question of "what is porn"?

I also have to ask: What did he get caught with and how old those the person(s) look in whatever manga he had?

If he got stopped for Ranma 1/2 or High School of the Dead then I call bull, but if he got caught with something that depicts what are clearly under-aged looking characters (aka no reasonable human being could say they look anything close 18 or older) then I have no sympothy for him.

If you visit Ms. Rosy Palmer while watching kids you need to be kept in jail where you wouldn't ruin anyone's lives.