Posted on 06/26/2002 12:11:29 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Internet surfers who are tired of unintentionally coming upon obscene websites or receiving unwanted e-mails from purveyors or pornography now have a "simple" way to fight back.
Morality in Media Inc., a nonprofit organization that works to curb illegal porn traffic, launched a new website called ObscenityCrimes.org where Net users can file a report against possible obscenity-law violators.
"It's illegal to distribute obscene material in any medium, including via the Internet," said Patrick McGrath, director of media relations for MIM.
McGrath insists that the porn sites that distribute hard-core pornography over the Net are breaking federal law and should be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office. Through ObscenityCrimes.org, citizens can fill out a report by typing or pasting in the URL, or Web address, of a porn distributor. MIM will review the report then send it on to one of 93 U.S. Attorney's offices.
MIM's new site, says McGrath, gives people who are wondering what they can do about porn distribution a tool with which to retaliate. The number of obscene messages and e-mails dispensed over the Web numbers in the "billions," he said.
The porn industry is "migrating to the Internet and it's becoming more and more difficult to avoid Internet pornography," said McGrath.
He adds, "The distribution of illegal hard-core pornography has seemed to be the one area of the Web that's shown a consistent profit over the years."
MIM wishes to bring a wider audience to their new site so that those who are profiting from Net pornography and sending out "porn spam" will be turned in by the public and prosecuted by the Justice Department.
"We think that every U.S. Attorney's office ought to be doing obscenity prosecutions," McGrath told WorldNetDaily.
He explains that during the Clinton administration the prosecution of obscene materials by the Justice Department dropped "precipitously." In an article he wrote about the online obscenity problem, McGrath noted that although the Internet porn industry was booming in 1998, for the whole fiscal year, "the U.S. Attorneys could only manage to prosecute eight cases where obscenity was a lead charge."
He says U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft gave a speech earlier this month claiming that the current Justice Department will be committed to prosecuting obscenity laws.
"We're extremely encouraged by this and we hope that certainly this [MIM] site will aid in that process," McGrath said.
According to a national opinion poll conducted for MIM by the Wirthlin Worldwide market research firm, 81 percent of Americans said they supported enforcement of federal laws against Internet porn.
"With growing public concern about Internet pornography and an administration in Washington that supports obscenity law enforcement, the launch of the ObscenityCrimes.org website is timely," Robert Peters, president of MIM said in a statement. "Every citizen concerned about the explosion of obscenity on the Internet should bookmark ObscenityCrimes.org on their Web browsers."
Visitors to MIM's new site can also find a mail-in form to report any possible off-line obscenity violators like adult book or video stores. Links are provided on the site to report child pornography to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and a petition is available to sign for those who want to express their support for obscenity law enforcement. ObscenityCrimes.org also explains why "there is no First Amendment protection for obscene materials."
"Now," stated Peters, "citizens have a simple way to bring reports of possible violations of Internet obscenity laws to their U.S. Attorneys and to the Justice Department in Washington – ObscenityCrimes.org."
Unless they're reporting CHILD porn sites, they're living in a fantasy world if they think the government is going to waste their time filing lawsuits they'll almost certainly lose when there's a war going on.
How about this: We keep abortion legal, but outlaw all information about it, medical, psychological and social on the basis that it is 'obscene'. Have I got the hang of it now?
porn is migrating to the internet????For the longest time, the porn industry was the only one making money on the internet.
Your alleged "witness to reality" can encompass the most vicious and degrading of acts. Rape, molestation, conspiracy, and murder are realities, too. According to your criteria, they should all be legal.
Thanks for stating what everone else already knows, McGrath.
Depictions of these acts are legal, which you can easily see by watching almost any movie or reading any novel.
You have just described the 'news'. You have also described the plots of most movies and works of fiction. If the depiction of ILLEGAL ACTS are legal, why should the depiction of 'hard-core sex' (a legal activity) be ILLEGAL? I think you misunderstood my post.
A banner or a link to another related website is o.k. though.
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