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On Mon, 3 Apr 1995, Richard Mateosian wrote:

> >But he went on to say that child porn types were preying on kids
> >on the internet and something had to be done.

There have been attempts to "protect children" from the alt.sex groups
of the internet/usenet since the Meese Commission fieasco back in 1984.

There are certain materials which involve taping the commission of an 
actual felony (Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Child Molesting...) which had
been unregulated.  Today, the tape/video/film can be used to prosecute
the perpetrators, the existing inventory can be confiscated, and the
advertizing, sale, and distribution for interstate commerce is federally 
regulated.  The biggest barrier to enforcement is when marketeers use 
encrypted (PGP, RSA, or DES) mail to negotiate the details.

> >Ah, I am probably off in the weeds, but if a kid has the sophistication
> >to get on the internet then he/she probably needs to be put in a faraday
> >cage to have any real protection.

The average boy becomes sexually curious by 8 or 9.  I was extremely well 
"protected" and found my "inspiration" in the lingerie section of the 
Sears Catalogue.  Others discover the National Geographic, Photographic
Art magazines, swimsuit magazines, or even Cosmo.  From the time the
boy is able to masturbate, he will find some form of "Inspiration".

> Maybe I'm off in the weeds, but I thought the issue in kiddie porn was the
> victimization of those portrayed in it, not those who view it. The internet
> expands the market, thus encouraging the purveyors to make more of the stuff.
The internet expands the market for all sorts of content.  Suprisingly 
enough, Kiddie Porn isn't a big sell as far as public newsgroups are 
concerned.

> Parents have legitimate concerns about what their kids might see on the
> Internet, but that's a different issue. Kiddie porn is illegal--on or off
> the net.
Believe it or not, the FBI sponsors several news-groups and mailing lists 
to catch distributors and consumers of kiddie porn on the internet.

> The much more troubling issue revolves about attempts to apply a
> lower level of legal protection on the net to material that would be
> undeniably legal in print. ...RM

There are two sticky issues here.  There are several sophisticated alt.sex
groups on usenet, including groups that cover homosexuality, bondage,
and role-play.  When the dialogue is between consenting adults, it can be 
entertaining and educational.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult to 
know that the person receiving your posts or e-mail is, in fact, a 
consenting adult and not some 13 year old wanna-be punker/biker who 
thinks it's cool to get kinky stories by pretending to be a 26 year old 
secretary or college student.

Many local adult boards use features such as ANI, and require photocopies 
or faxes of driver's licenses.  There isn't a registry of "proven adults".
There are some boards using authentication techniques such as soft-key
or DES passwords.  Again, the teenager can use "daddy's" login.

Cyber-sex is sort of the ultimate fantasy game.  On the net, you can be 
whatever you describe.  I remember interacting with a woman who said she
was 26, blonde, 5'9" and weight 120 pounds.  She turned out to be 5'2,
brunette, and weighed over 200 pounds, she was also 40ish.

> Richard Mateosian    Technical Writer in Berkeley CA     srm@c2.org

	Rex Ballard


From rballard@cnj.digex.net Thu Apr  6 11:00:51 1995
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