1. Pornography & Censorship

2. 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.

3. History of Pornography & Censorship79
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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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