Japan kiddie porn law comes into force
Hi all
A story on the introduction of the law in Japan regarding child
porn. The Register also has a page that has a round up of
stories from around the world dealing with child porn at
http://www.theregister.co.uk/990815-000002.html.
Cheers
David
Posted 03/11/99 4:18pm by Tim Richardson
Japan kiddie porn law comes into force
New laws outlawing child porn in Japan came into force in Japan
on Monday and could eventually lead to a net reduction in the
sexual exploitation of children on the Web.
Before Monday, the whole area of child porn was untouched by
legislation, effectively making Japan an offshore haven for the
global trafficking in paedophilia.
The new law, ratified earlier this year, bans the production,
distribution, sale, possession and trade of kiddie porn. If
convicted, offenders could face up to three years in gaol or be
slapped with a fine of more than £15,000.
According to official figures 80 per cent of the world's kiddie
porn on the Net originates from Japan.
David Kerr, head of the anti-porn Internet Watch Foundation
(IWF) in Britain welcomed Japan's move. He said that lobbying
from many governments and anti-porn groups -- including the
IWF-- helped contribute to Japan's decision.
"We witnessed increasing volumes of child pornography coming
from Japan but although we reported cases, we couldn't get them
[Web sites] removed," he said.
Now the practice has been outlawed, we should start to see a
reduction in the amount of kiddie porn available on the Net, he
said.
Although the news is to be welcomed, it shouldn't be assumed
that the trade in kiddie porn will simply dry up. It will take a
while for Japan's legislation to take effect and it's likely
that much of the "Lolita trade" will be forced further
underground.
However, since Japan accounts for such a massive slice of the
illegal trade it is likely to have a major impact on this sordid
industry. ®
=====
David Goldstein
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