FC: More on "Victims of Pornography" and Family Research Council

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

**********

Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 13:50:48 +0800
From: John Tanner <tanner () telecomasia net>
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Conservative groups celebrate "Victims of Pornography" month
References: <20010504094949.A9157 () cluebot com>
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Hi Declan,

Regarding "Victims of Pornography" month -- apologies if you've already
seen this, but pasted below is a press release from the Family Research
Council regarding  VOP Month that Politech readers might find useful for
background info. What really caught my eye was the claims that libraries
are becoming cesspools of porn and "young boys are asking librarians to
help them find pictures of naked women."

Does anyone else besides me find this incredibly hard to believe? Now, I
don't claim to be up on youth culture, but I can't imagine myself at age
8, 12, or 15 (much less my current age at 36) asking an adult for help
in finding porn. I also find it hard to believe that library computer
terminals are packed with men downloading porn and "engag[ing] in lewd
conduct" unless these libraries put each terminal in separate stalls
with curtains so no one can look over yr shoulder to see what yr looking
at (and if they are, then putting the terminals out in the open would
probably be the most obvious solution rather than massively overreaching
censorship drives -- call me wacky, but this is just how my mind works...).

I can't say for a fact that the librarians the FRC found to tell their
weird tales are out-and-out liars -- but I highly suspect they are
grossly exaggerating the truth (maybe one smart-ass kid came up to them
asking how to access porn sites and the librarians have blown it all out
proportion in the interest of what they see as a greater good, who
knows?).

Granted, this is nothing new -- the FRC and other such groups have been
collecting and spouting off such anecdotal tales for years trying to
pass it off as the "truth" about porn to further their own agenda. But,
as you mentioned in yr story, with the political balance shifted the way
it has, these groups certainly believe they've got more leverage with
the government now than ever before -- what worries me is that they just
might be right.

Okay, I feel better now...

Regards,

John C. Tanner
Global Technology Editor
Telecom Asia/Wireless Asia
Advanstar Telecoms Group
Tel: +852 2589 1328
Fax: +852 2559 7002
Email: tanner () telecomasia net
URL: www.telecomasia.net

===============================

Family Groups Raise Awareness About the Dangers of
Pornography; * May is Victims of Pornography Month *


May 3, 2001




WASHINGTON, May 2 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -

Family Research Council (FRC) joined with a coalition of pro-family
groups, experts, lawmakers and pornography victims in Washington
Wednesday to speak out about the dangers of pornography during
Victims of Pornography Month. Speakers included Rep. Steve
Largent (R-Okla.), Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.), FRC's Jan LaRue, Wendy
Wright from Concerned Women for America and Bob Peters of
Morality in Media. Testimony was given by victims of pornography,
including a woman who appeared in pornographic publications as a
child and was used as a child prostitute, and the therapist of a 9-year
old boy who abused another child after viewing porn. FRC'S senior
director of Legal Studies, Jan LaRue testified about librarians, the
latest victims of pornography:

"There are librarians across America, who work in libraries where
hard- core porn is turning their workplace into a cesspool. Men,
sexually aroused as a result of looking at porn, engage in lewd
conduct. Ask Laura Morgan, a librarian at the Chicago Public Library,
who won't take her own children to the library because, as Laura
described it, her library has become a dirty peep show booth. Young
boys are asking librarians to help them find pictures of naked women.
Ask Heidi Borton, a former librarian in King County, Washington, who
quit her job after ten years because her conscience would no longer
permit her to help little boys find porn. To work in such a library is to
work in a hostile environment. Ask Wendy Adamson and the librarians
at the Minneapolis Library who've joined Wendy in filing a complaint
with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of
what the presence of porn has done to their workplace. All of the
librarians across the county who identify with the problem need to
take back their libraries. Librarians, don't be a victim of porn."

Currently, there are two prominent pornography cases before the
courts. The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires schools
and libraries to install filters on all federally-funded computers or on
Internet access available to children. The American Civil Liberties
Union has filed a lawsuit to block the law from taking effect. In the
case of Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, FRC has filed a
friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the
"virtual child porn" law. The Ninth Circuit Court has declared the
statute unconstitutional as applied to computer generated images of
child sex.

FRC is urging the Justice Department to step up enforcement of
obscenity laws, especially during May, Victims of Pornography
Month.

MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here

http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X95762173

SOURCE Family Research Council

CONTACT: Kristin Hansen or For Radio: Kelly Green, 202-393-2100,
both of the Family Research Council

Web site: http://www.frc.org

==================

Declan McCullagh wrote:
>
> http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,43519,00.html
>
>    May Days Should Be Porn-Free
>    By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
>    2:00 a.m. May 4, 2001 PDT
>
>    WASHINGTON -- If you're a dot-com sex star, if you lurk on
>    alt.sex.stories, or if your home page happens to be thehun.net, then
>    you may be a "victim" of pornography.
>
>    No, don't laugh. An entirely serious coalition of antiporn groups is
>    celebrating "Victims of Pornography" month in May, and they're hoping
>    their efforts will climax with more prosecutions of smut sellers.




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