[107981] in Cypherpunks
Great victory as 1st Circuit reverses pro-child porn ruling
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Sat Jan 30 20:50:41 1999
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 20:24:42 -0500
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Reply-To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
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Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 13:18:50 -0800
Reply-To: Law & Policy of Computer Communications
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Sender: Law & Policy of Computer Communications
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From: Filtering Facts <burt@NORTHWEST.COM>
Subject: Great victory as 1st Circuit reverses pro-child porn ruling
Comments: To: fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu
Comments: cc: alaoif@ala1.ala.org
To: CYBERIA-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/biztech/articles/30maine-porn.html
Maine Court Upholds Child Porn Law
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Maine -- A federal appeals court upheld a federal
law that makes it illegal to possess computer images that
look like
children engaged in sex.
The ruling, made Thursday by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in
Boston,
stems from a case in Maine.
The law targets computer technology that can be
used to alter an innocent image of a child into a
picture of a child engaged in a sexually explicit
act. Under the law, it is illegal to possess images
regardless of whether they show a real child or
an altered image.
U.S. District Judge Gene Carter ruled in April
that the law was unconstitutionally vague in the
case against a Norway, Maine, man. He said the
statute could impact lawful adult pornography.
Reversing Carter's decision, the appeals court
said the law is not so vague that a consumer
could not understand what type of pornography
is illegal under the law.
``A jury must decide, based on the totality of the
circumstances, whether a reasonable unsuspecting viewer would
consider
the depiction to be of an actual individual less than 18 engaged
in sexual
activity,'' Judge Hugh Brownes wrote for the appeals panel.
It's the first time a federal appeals court has ruled on the Child
Pornography Protection Act of 1996, U.S. Attorney Jay McCloskey said
Friday.
``We term it a landmark decision that brings our federal child
pornography laws into the computer age,'' said Mark Terison, a
federal
prosecutor. ``That's what Congress was trying to do, and this opinion
finds it constitutional.''
Because of Thursday's ruling, McCloskey said his office would pursue
charges against David Hilton, 48, of Norway, who was charged with
possession of child pornography.
Hilton characterized himself as an anti-pornography crusader and met
with FBI and Customs officials on a number of occasions to discuss
material that was sent to him via the Internet.
But federal officials eventually began to suspect Hilton's motives
were less
pure. He continued to collect the material despite warnings that
it was
illegal to do so, prosecutors said.
Hilton said he was not aware of the ruling and would have to talk
to his
lawyer.
``I'm still going to fight it,'' he said in a telephone interview.
``There's a lot
to this that hasn't been made public. The fact of the matter is
I'm not guilty
of what they're saying.''
Hilton's lawyer did not return a message left at his office Friday
evening.
The federal law was also the subject of an appeal in California
after a
judge ruled the law is constitutional. The defendant appealed to
the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals, which has not yet ruled.
*****************************************************************************
David Burt President, Filtering Facts
Website: http://www.filteringfacts.org
E-Mail: David_Burt@filteringfacts.org
Phone/Fax: 503 635-7048
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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
