Bootcamp 2009 Porn, Predators, and the Pressure to Police Jennifer Stisa Granick, Civil Liberties Director

Obscenity Whoever knowingly uses an interactive computer service for the distribution of any obscene matter shall be fined or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. 18 U.S.C Also state laws

Obscenity and Children Whoever uses interstate commerce, including a computer, to knowingly transfer obscene materials to someone the person knows is under 16 years of age shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 18 U.S.C

Obscenity and Domain Names Whoever knowingly uses a misleading domain name on the Internet with the intent to deceive a person into viewing obscenity shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. 18 U.S.C. 2252B

Definition of Obscenity Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.

What is Obscene? Mere nudity is not obscene Pornography/sexual content is not necessarily obscene Obscenity laws are often used when prosecutors have trouble proving the elements for child pornography Obscenity is not necessarily limited to visual depictions

Duty to Report? Federal law: “Knowingly” California Penal Code 312.6: Obscenity/CP laws do not apply to mere access provider

Internet-specific Legal issues: Which community’s values apply when the work is distributed over the Internet? Does any jurisdiction have the right to pursue you if the work is distributed over the Internet? Do other countries with more restrictive standards have authority over you when work is distributed over the internet?

Child Pornography Federal law and every state has a child pornography law prohibiting possession, distribution, creation of child pornography.

Definition of Possession Knowingly possessed materials Knew the materials contained a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct Knew the visual depiction was of a minor Knew that production of the visual depiction involved use of a minor in sexually explicit conduct Interstate commerce

Duty to Report: NCMEC Whoever obtains knowledge of facts or circumstances from which a violation of child pornography laws is apparent, shall, as soon as reasonably possible, make a report of such facts or circumstances to the Cyber Tip Line at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Internet-Specific Legal issues Are the images “knowingly possessed” if you view them on the internet, but don’t act to store them on your computer? Is “virtual child porn” (images manufactured to look like minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct) illegal? One such statute struck down in 2002, law passed in 2003 prohibiting pandering virtual CP upheld by Supreme Court.

Potential Future Legislation Rules re: sexually explicit ads (Craigslist) Record retention requirements Required filtering of known images Requiring registration as part of sex offender registration Filtering against sex offender registries Restricting access to social-networking sites on school and library computers Labeling Web sites Prohibition on “facilitating” access to child porn

Questions?