Date: Wed, 18 Dec 91 11:47:09 CST
From:
[email protected](Chris Johnson)
Subject: File 4--Re: FBI vs. Kiddie Porn (CuD 3.44)
Brief comments on: "FBI Investigates Computerized Child Pornography"
In the referenced article, the following statement was made:
"The FBI said computer bulletin boards are often used by child
porno-graphers, but for communication purposes only, not for the
actual transmission of the illegal material."
My feeling is that child pornography is probably one of the biggest
straw men in this day and age. It's bigger than communists in the
closet, so to speak. Why do I say this? We all probably read enough
media to see references to child pornography at least several times a
month. There's certainly a lot of hysteria and what sounds like a lot
of law enforcement activity in the area.
Yet I've never seen any, nor do I know anyone who has seen any. Not
that I'm a collector of pornography by any means. I guess I sort of
always believed that it must be a Real Big Problem or I wouldn't be
hearing about it so much. Then I report an investigative article.
The writers actually looked into the reality. Guess what? They
couldn't find any either. In fact, the only so-called purveyors they
could find were law enforcement sting operations!
The upshot was this: more child pornography is advertised and
distributed by law enforcement people trying to catch other
pornographers and child molesters than by anyone else, by several
orders of magnitude it appears.
A lot of this seems to be a left over from the Meese commission and it
seems the real idea is to censor through intimidation and out-right
harassment of anything outside Meese's and others puritanical,
up-tight, right wing beliefs. The spectre of "child pornographers" by
the thousands is a plenty good smoke screen to hide censorship
activities, and* garner lots of public support form concerned parents
at the same time. And even your politicians can jump on the platform
of "doing something good for the American family" by supporting it.
On the whole, I can't prove there isn't child pornographers using
BBS's, but I rather doubt it's a pressing problem. I'd rather the FBI
find a real problem to pursue, like, bribery among government
officials.
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