Online Kid Porn a Tricky Problem
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The recent arrests of The Who's Pete Townshend and Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) on child pornography charges spotlight complex issues in which the Internet is increasingly a major player.
The overwhelmingly vast majority of us consider child porn utterly disgusting. But as uncomfortable as it may make us, it's wise for us in an Internet world to consider carefully whether everyone who has contact with such materials should be painted with the same broad brush.
Producers and distributors of child pornography, and other child abusers, should be subject to the harshest of penalties. That's an easy call.
The situation is much cloudier when it comes to punishing people who are only in possession of (or have simply viewed) child porn as defined under current law, especially in the case of first-time offenders.
Before the advent of the Internet, only people seriously driven to obtain these disreputable materials were likely to do so. They typically had to meet with shady characters in back alleys or participate in secretive, underground photo-mailing clubs.
The Internet changed everything. It's been a dream come true for the distributors of such garbage and for predators who could target children through chat rooms and similar venues.
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