Pornography & Censorship

Introduction Definition of the terms defines debate Definition of pornography Sexually explicit materials that are designed to provoke sexual arousal which are obscene, offensive in nature and inherently bad in some ways. Definition of censorship Control of information and ideas circulated within society Moral censorship that restrict pornography.

History of Pornography & Censorship 79 Roman pornographic frescos in Pompeii 1559 Index Librorum Prohibitorum 1857 Obscene Publications Act 1440 Invention of the Printing Press 1748 Fanny Hill (Banned till 1970) 1838 Erotic photography 1789 Pornographic Pamphlets of Marie Antoinette used as propaganda 1722 Tokugawa Shogunate banned pornographic books 1835 Invention of photography 1857 Entered lexicon of English words from French 1444 Tale of Two Lovers By Pope Pius II 5200 B.C.E Pornographic Figurines discovered

History of Pornography & Censorship 1969 Supreme Court legalized Private possession 1865 Postal Obscenity Act 1895 First public demonstration Of film projectors 1953 Playboy 1975 Invention of commercial VCR 1873 Comstock Act 1896 First pornographic Film (French) 1969 Legalised in Denmark. 1987 Supreme Court Legalized Hardcore pornography

Current State of Pornography & Censorship A declining business worth $2.6 billion to $3.9 billion(2001) More widespread than at any other point in its history Amateur pornography Mediums Videos in all formats - Photos/Pictures Novels/Magazines - Games Sources of Pornography The Internet 35.8% of all bitTorrent traffic Physical sources 70% of internet traffic bitTorrent traffic

Current State of Pornography & Censorship Censorship Technology MPAA rates films and set age limits Government work with ISP to implement DNS and IP address web filters ISP throttle bandwidth against bitTorrent traffic In Singapore MDA blocked several pornographic sites In China Intercept incoming data to compare against banned keywords or websites

Future State of Pornography and Censorship Increased Digitization of Pornography BluRay: Maximum 50GB HDD: >3TB Cloud: near unlimited Use of Modern Image Capturing Technology New and more intrusive ways of censorship UK blocking PirateBay(torrent website) CISPA, ACTA and other laws

Impact of Pornography & Censorship Sexual Crimes(Mainly rape) Japan : great availability of pornography Singapore : banned pornography Decrease of rape in Japan and increase in Singapore Literature Censorship of pornography have adverse effects Restriction on pornography Opposite effect of the intended aim

Impact of Pornography & Censorship Pornography Addiction Unable to resist the addiction Similar to drug addiction Victor B. Cline’s experiment Harm to Women Undermine female dignity and morality

Ethical Issues of Pornography Social Contract Theory(Rights vs. Rights) Conservative and Liberal Standpoints Moral Legalism and Legal Paternalism Government(s) enforcing morals and protecting citizens from self harm. Right to privacy and freedom of speech Limits to free speech: Child pornography Use of education instead of the blunt instrument of the Law

Ethical Issues of Pornography Feminist and Liberal Standpoints Some believe pornography oppresses women Discourage speech, makes speech easy to ridicule, create circumstances where speech is misunderstood Freedom of speech requires comprehension Rights vs. Rights Counter-arguments by Liberals Is pornography an external agent inhibiting comprehension or the decision to comprehend? No one forced to consume pornography Gay pornography

Conclusion Lack of Empirical evidence to justify complete ban of pornography Ethical to restrict certain forms of pornography Public display of pornography Pornography from minors Futile to ban completely Prohibition