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July 2,
2004
There are many ways
to abuse a child. And porn fits right in there with the biggies. It
is a sad day for parents when the supreme law of the land is unwilling
to protect our children from porn.
Thanks to five of
the nine Supreme Court justices, child abusers are free to practice
their “business”.
Why? If you take
out the mumbo-jumbo and use plain-speak, the answer is simple. The
law is too restrictive on the rights of pornographers.
Wow! I don’t know
about you, but I feel so much safer in America now that I know smut
peddlers are free to do business in “the least restrictive” manner.
Never mind child abuse.
We surely wouldn’t
want pornographers to use some of their billions of dollars in revenue
to pay for computer software that ensures children can’t access porn.
Heaven forbid. Those dastardly restrictions!!
If upheld, the COPA
law would impose criminal penalties of a $50,000 fine and six months
in prison for the knowing posting, for “commercial purposes,” of World
Wide Web content that is “harmful to minors.”
Under COPA,
websites pushing porn would have been required to verify the legal age
of their clients. Users would verify age using a credit card, adult
personal identification number or other similar technology.
The “Supremes” have
a better idea. Parents all over the country are advised to go out and
buy $40 filters for their computers…filters that will be outdated
within six months because smut peddlers can use all that money they
save in criminal fines to wiggle around them.
Wow! Imagine
that. Parents, who are already taxed to the limits, who scramble
daily to keep up with the ordinary job of being parents, will now have
to fit in one more teeny tiny chore to protect their kids.
Imagine this.
Parents will subscribe to Consumer Reports, analyze all
computer filter equipment known to man, pick out the absolute best
product available, go to the store, charge it on their credit card,
install it, learn it, monitor it…and just when they think they have it
down…technology will change…and they will be back where they started.
Consumer Reports, the store, the credit card…well, even if the
“Supremes” can’t get the picture…parents can.
Or…we could tell
smut peddlers to spend their own money on software that keeps porn out
of the hands of our children. But that’s too restrictive! That’s
right. Restrictive.
I thought that was
the point of laws…to restrict the ability of abusers to abuse.
Well, I must be
truthful. The “Supremes” were concerned with bigger issues. They
didn’t want adults to be embarrassed. That’s right. Embarrassed.
You see, we have
perfected porn on the internet. No more slinking around dirty
bookstores, ordering magazines in brown paper wrappers, or
embarrassment. Under the COPA law, entering our credit card number
on a computer screen…well…that’s embarrassing.
Really? Would that
we had a few embarrassed adults for the sake of protecting our
children from abuse!
Well, to be totally
and absolutely truthful, the “Supremes” are hoping our children will
be safe…eventually. Looking into their collective crystal ball, they
know that eventually, if we spend enough money, we might be able to
devise some incredible software that might perhaps protect our
children from abuse by porn. Eventually.
Wow! Imagine
that. A new governmental Department of Computer Technology, funded by
rebates on all the filtering software parents are buying to protect
their children.
Eventually, years
down the road, if all things go well, maybe, and hypothetically, our
children might be safe from abuse by porn. But today, immediately, in
the here and now, our children have been sent out to play on the
internet freeway with no guardrails in sight.
The Supremes should
be defrocked. And if they are, they won’t have to worry what they
wear under their robes. If it’s indecent, if they’re standing there
in their collective birthday suit, they have nothing to fear. It may
be porn. But it’s protected by law.
Alas, instead, we
must fear for our children who are still at risk, under assault and
abused by the freedoms of those who don’t care.
Copyright © 2004 Jane Jimenez
To read the actual Supreme Court
decision go to:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/29june20041115/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/03pdf/03-218.pdf
See Archives
for past editorials.
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