Forum - View topicNEWS: Iowa Collector Charged for Allegedly Obscene Manga
|
Goto page Previous Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dragynstorm
 Posts: 131 |
|
|||
Hahah, durrr, sorry for the stupidity on my part, I wasn't thinking properly. But along those lines, perhaps those who still support this (fanatically) have not been on the internet? In any case, perhaps this should fall into the long list of "rules and laws that should probably be updated." IMHO, of course. |
||||
|
||||
|
turboyoshi
Posts: 16 |
|
|||
"Taken as a whole" is the important phrase here. It's not enough that something takes artistic skill to draw and even so, it doesn't take a serious level of skill to draw a childlike portrait so it's not like that skill alone deserves extra protection. I'm a bit on the fence here. If someone possesses an extraordinary amount of "obscene" material, especially if it depicts practices that are inherently wrong such as rape, bestiality or child sex, then it reflects an unhealthy interest on the part of the collector which could signify that he/she is a danger to society. Free speech is not an absolute right. As a member of society, you still have to speak in a way that doesn't make you a danger to society. We still have laws against hateful or inciteful speech. As in all things, there must be a balance between an individual's rights and society's. I don't think we know enough of the facts to determine if this guy crossed that line, so I'll wait on judgement. |
||||
|
||||
Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
|
|||
|
Coore! 20 years? That's more than we give our convicted paedo freaks over here in Blighty. I bet they were doujinshi. Isn't the state of Iowa one of those ultra- right Christian strong holds what got Dubya re-elected?
|
||||
|
||||
hikaru004
 Posts: 2306 |
|
|||
|
I still want to know what titles got him in trouble.
Hopefully, he wasn't doing anything stupid on his home computer now that they are going over it with a fine-toothed comb as well as his internet activity. |
||||
|
||||
|
Patachu
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1325 Location: San Diego |
|
|||
Actually, that "stronghold" has voted Democratic every presidential election of the past 20 years except the W. re-election. (sauce) More on topic, why is everyone assuming it was underage porn? I believe in facts, and it seems that people are making them up. |
||||
|
||||
Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
|
|||
|
To be honest, I am glad he got 20 years in prison. These types of people are those who will eventually become exceptionally determental to society.
Bet twenty years will make him think twice about this obtrusity and crime unagainst humanity. |
||||
|
||||
sykoeent
 Posts: 160 |
|
|||
|
Sorry... what country are we in again? I thought this was the land of the free...
|
||||
|
||||
|
burzmali
Posts: 143 |
|
|||
|
I said it back when Dwight Whorley was jailed under the same section of law, the government has outlawed loli, it has chosen not to enforce it until now.
With those two sections found unconstitutional, he's got a fighting chance, but I'd still like to see who the defense manages to get on the stand to declare that loli has artistic merit. |
||||
|
||||
|
hikaru004
Posts: 2306 |
|
|||
|
Here's the pdf version and the html version of the charges. He's been fighting this since 2007 apparently.
Last edited by hikaru004 on Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
|
|||
Forgive my ignorance, but what other type of manga could you possibly you be sent to jail for? |
||||
|
||||
Emerje
 Posts: 7366 Location: Maine |
|
|||
|
Correct me if I'm wrong -and there's a good chance of it since I don't follow this stuff as closely as many of us probably should these days- but didn't that amendment come about because the previous law said "virtual" child porn was OK and people were getting off the hook? Seems to me like if this guy wins all they'll do is just make another amendment, I mean, what's stopping them if they can put in wording as subjective as "appears to be" and "serious" (in reference to value, which would indicate that being just artistic isn't enough, it has to be "seriously artistic")?
And here's the sad part, Takashi Murakami will never go to jail for making this statue (no pictures, ANN news post), or even go to court over it despite being displayed publicly and clearly failing amendment 1(A) and 1(b). Yet a person buying comic books for personal entertainment could face 20 years in prison. 
Emerje |
||||
|
||||
Cait
 Posts: 503 |
|
|||
Well, in the defense of the assumption that it is under-aged porn, the fact that actual ponography of consenting adults has been upheld as protected speech (considering Playboy, Hustler and the porno movie industry are still in business), and would obviously also apply to depictions of consenting adults engaging in sexual situations or otherwise obscene situations (graphic gore is seen in movies all the time). If this is what the law is trying to come down on this guy for, he's going to get off free. However, the law is very specific about child pornography and that it is not protected, even in "depictions," though hunting down some information I came across this: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/SCOTUS/wireStory?id=4884680 This apparently new law (defended by the Supreme Court earlier this year) is implied to not apply to "movie depictions" of "simulated" adolescent sexual acts, meaning that comic book depictions, which are even farther removed from "simulated" since there are no actual people involved in the acts, would also not apply. Even if this guy loses his court battle with the government, he may very well be able to petition the US Supreme Court based on this previous decision. EDIT: According to the CBLDF press release, it is indeed charges of "depictions minors engaging in sex acts." animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2008-10-09/cbldf-to-serve-as-special-consultant-in-protect-act-manga-case Last edited by Cait on Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
|
hikaru004
Posts: 2306 |
|
|||
Well it's more than possession that they hanged him on. Apparently interstate commerce charges are involved. So I guess you can't have it shipped across state lines. See the link to the Order in my above post. Last edited by hikaru004 on Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
The Xenos
 Posts: 1519 Location: Boston |
|
|||
|
God bless the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Whether or not you agree with lolicon or even explicit hentai, you should be afraid of this case. That the government is ruling comics / manga obscene and arresting people for it is scary. Today they come for lolicon. What's next? Some right wing movement declares yaoi or even merely shonnen ai obscene because it depicts homosexual relationshops? They declare Berserk obscene because of its sex and violence? They declare Bleach or Death Note obscene due to occult references? You simply cannot and should not ban fiction. (Anyone else read Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 or his short story Usher II?) |
||||
|
||||
|
turboyoshi
Posts: 16 |
|
|||
Ack, posted my response in the wrong thread. Hmm, Dwight's case may be a little different though. He's a known sex offender (prior convictions) and was downloading images of actual sex acts involving minors, not just loli manga. His actions therefore, make it seem likely that he still represents a threat to public safety and this is another option the state has of removing him from society. I don't disagree with how that case was handled at all. No matter how this turns out, I think you're overreacting if you think the state's going to go after everyone who possesses loli material. This is probably a case of targeting someone who has a more extreme collection than most and the state may have some other compelling reason to think he is a threat to society. I'll wait and see what other facts come out. |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group