On Wed, 2004-12-01 at 15:23 -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 02:08:59 -0600, Joe Wreschnig <piman@debian.org> said:
>
> > However, pornography causes significant legal problems in the US,
> > and probably moreso in many other countries. If I give a Debian CD
> > containing this software to a minor, am I distributing pornography?
>
> Hmm. I see pictures of nudes by Raphael in some of the
> national geographic magazines -- and there is nudity in the pictures
> of the sistine chapel. The old testament of the bible talks about
> various and sundry unsavoury things, and yet it is given to children
> even in churches.
>
> Let us not get hysterical here.
Ok, let's look at case law:
http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/o002.htm
http://www.moralityinmedia.org/index.htm?obscenityEnforcement/obscporn.htm
"That a reasonable person would find that the work, taken as a
whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political and scientific
value."
"Examples of 'hardcore sexual conduct' that an obscenity law
could include for regulation under the second prong of the
test are patently offensive representations or descriptions of:
- Ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated
- Masturbation, lewd exhibition of the genitals, excretory functions,
and sadomasochistic abuse."
Note the "lewd exhibition of the genitals".
Thus, neither the Raphaels nor the Sistine Chapel would be consid-
ered nudes by any jurisdiction in the country.
But the nudy cartoons would, especially in the hand of a minor.
--
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Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson, LA USA
PGP Key ID 8834C06B I prefer encrypted mail.
Don't think of it as a flame, think of it as an argument that
does 3d6 fire damage!
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