Dear
Friends,
If the Holly Jones case wasn't proof enough of the horrific relationship between child prngraphy and child abuse, a recently released study found that "at least one out of three people caught with child prngraphy have been involved in the physical abuse of infants," according to The Herald. "John Carr, internet consultant for NCH Action for Children, said it was vital that when someone was caught with child prn, exhaustive checks were carried out to see if they were also physical abusers. He told a child protection conference in Aberdeen... that the US Postal Inspection Service had investigated all 3000 people it had arrested since 1997 on suspicion of possessing child prn. More than one third were found to be guilty of abuse." (NOTE: prngraphy is intentionally misspelled to avoid filters.)
WAR ON PRNGRAPHY GOAL: $10,000 BY SEPTEMBER 30
We have a great deal of work ahead of us.
A very sincere thank you to each of you who have sent support to us over the past year. To date we have raised $4,020 for our War on Prngraphy. Unfortunately, we are still far short of our goal of $10,000.
For those of you who have expressed an interest in becoming a $10/month supporter, I would invite you to send a donation of $30.03 for the first quarter through our secure server at http://www.unitedmothers.ca/donate_once.htm
We will flag all $30.03 donations as monthly supporters and process a donation for that amount on your credit card every three months. (Donations are processed on a quarterly basis to save banking charges. If you are ever dissatisfied with our services, you may stop payments at any time simply by emailing us with your request.)
Thank you for your support!
TIP
OF THE WEEK
As part of our service to you in our War on Prngraphy, we will be providing a
series of tips over the coming weeks to help you protect your home from the
destructive influences of prngraphy. Feel free to share these tips
with your friends, colleagues, church congregations, and neighbours by
forwarding this newsletter, or printing it off.
TIP #1 Crash & Tell.
Yes, I know you have been taught to carefully shut down your computer. When it comes to prngraphy on the Internet, however, it is important to teach your children what an inappropriate image is and what to do if one pops up on the screen - immediately crash the computer by shutting off the computer's power button and then tell your parents. Why crash? Prngraphy sites on the Internet interconnect with one another. (It is good for their business.) Thus, when you accidentally stumble across one site, if you merely click on the "x" in an attempt to close the screen, another prngraphy site will immediately "pop up." On average you have to close 6 boxes before you free yourselves from their web! The consequences to your child are catastrophic. They will have been exposed to at least 6 possibly hard-core prngraphic images that will forever be imprinted on their brains. Many prngraphy addicts' problems bega! n by accidentally stumbling across a site. Don't let it happen to your family. Teach them how to crash and tell!
WAR ON PRNGRAPHY UPDATE
Here are some interesting developments internationally in the War on Prngraphy.
THUMBS UP
CHINA: PRN MERCHANTS THREATENED WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT
(While there is a lot about China's government that is frightening, this country certainly knows how to tackle prngraphy.)
1) In July China launched a nationwide effort to weed out Internet and mobile phone prngraphy. The Register reported that the government "gave websites a September deadline to rid themselves of indecent content."
Why is the Chinese government so committed to fighting Internet prngraphy? According to the Register, "Officials said the 'rampant' increase in online prngraphy damaged the moral fabric of the nation - and young people, in particular. One state official said prngraphy 'severely damaged social style, polluted the social environment, and harmed the physical and psychological health of the young people.'"
Since their launch, the government has blocked 988 overseas prngraphic websites, shut down 700 local prngraphic websites, and made over 300 arrests.
Not bad for two months work. (We're still trying to get rid of the "artistic merit" defense for child prngraphy here in Canada!)
China's Supreme People's Court and the office of the country's top prosecutor laid out tough new penalties for violations. How tough?
"Depending on the seriousness of the cases, the sentences range from living under compulsory surveillance, detainment, taking into custody by the police, to various terms of imprisonment and life imprisonment," Xinhua News Agency reported. For example, a prngraphic Web site that had been clicked on more than 250,000 times would be considered a "very severe" case that could warrant a life sentence for its producers, Xinhua said.
(Compare that to the judicial treatment of a Toronto dentist with the largest child prngraphy collection seized in Canadian history who was given an 18-month conditional sentence - of which the first 9 months involves house arrest in his $700,000 mansion.)
THUMBS UP
BRAZIL: CYBERNETIC CRIME CONFERENCE
2) Brazil has brought together some 500 specialists from 20 countries as it hosts an international conference this month in its fight against cybernetic crime (including online prngraphy.)
THUMBS DOWN
BRAZIL: ORIGINATOR OF 2/3 OF INTERNET'S PDOPHILIA PAGES
3) The Brazilian Federal Police reported that approximately two-thirds of all pdophilia pages on the Internet originate in Brazil.
THUMBS DOWN
USA: SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST COPA
4) In a disastrous turn of events, on June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling against the Child Online Protection Act in the Ashcroft vs. American Civil Liberties Union's case. (Yes, the same ACLU that last year argued against a law requiring filters in schools and libraries, which would have served to protect children from harmful material on the Internet.)
The act, passed in 1998, required commercial prngraphy operators to take reasonable steps to restrict access to their sites by minors. It also would have brought in fines of up to $50,000 for putting material 'harmful to minors' in easy reach of children surfing the Internet. Adult customers simply had to use a password or registration system (credit card) to prove that they were adults before accessing prngraphy sites. Thus, a child or adult would never be subjected to obscenity, as often happens, by accidentally stumbling onto a site. In addition, it would make it harder for children and youth to access the sites.
The Supreme Court's 5 - 4 decision stated that COPA was probably a violation of the right to free speech. In addition, they felt it placed too heavy a burden on the commercial prngraphy providers and that filters should be adequate to address the issue.
(According to that rationale, it is acceptable to place a burden on the purveyors of tobacco, alcohol and R rated movies, but for some reason those in the business of selling internet prngraphy should not be similarly burdened.)
THUMBS DOWN
USA: LAW REQUIRING ISP'S TO BLOCK WEBSITES RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL
5) In another disastrous ruling, on Friday September 10, a "federal judge threw out... a Pennsylvania law requiring Internet service providers to block Web sites containing child prngraphy, saying the law was unconstitutional and cannot be enforced," the Associated Press reported.
"Enacted in 2002, the law gave Pennsylvania's attorney general the power to require that companies like America Online Inc. block customers from viewing Web sites that had been identified by the state as containing illegal content." (Someone needs to send this judge a copy of the research presented in Aberdeen.)
THUMBS UP
CANADA: ISP LAWS IN CANADA PRESSING FORWARD
6) Mark Beaven continues to press forward for the passage of his ISP Child Prngraphy blocking bylaw in the municipality of Huron East. He is hopeful that it will be passed this month.
Our warmest thanks and our loudest cheers to all our volunteers who are fighting to raise the ISP Child Prngraphy issue across Canada and enshrine similar bylaws in their communities. Go team go!!! The children of Canada are counting on you! With the clear link between child prngraphy and child abuse, it is critical that this bylaw spread right across Canada and raise awareness on the issue.
If anyone else would like a toolkit on how to go about this, please write to info@unitedmothers.ca with "Toolkit" in the subject line.
IN
CLOSING
There you have it, the good news and the bad.
While it is easy to look at some of these cases and lament about all the rotten apples, I prefer to look at the world, especially our corner of it, and envision how one seed - one amazing seed - with time and care, can bring forth a mighty forest.
The fact that you are receiving this newsletter, tells me that you are one of those amazing seeds - the seeds of goodness, the seeds of change, and the seeds of light in an increasingly dark world.
We need you! We need an army of people like you. The strength of United Mothers, Fathers, & Friends is in its members. We already have 45,000 of you who are using 1-Click to let their voices be heard.
Thank you for speaking out!
VOLUNTEER
For those of you who are keen, ready and able to do more, we invite you to write us at info@unitedmothers.ca and volunteer. Let us know your name, phone number, special skills, interests, time commitment, and how you would like to be involved.
Simply put volunteer in the subject heading.
We need leaders willing to head ad hoc committees on specific issues, researchers, writers, communicators, liaisons to other organizations, website designers, cottage meeting hosts (let others know about how easy it is to make a difference through United Mothers/Citizens Voice and 1-Click), email communicators, legal experts, volunteer coordinators, rally organizers, and those with secretarial skills to name a few of the areas that you can help out with. Whether you can volunteer a few hours, or more, you are needed and will make a difference!
For those who can't commit to giving more of your time right now, we understand and appreciate all the good that you do! Please forward this newsletter along to 5 others and help spread the word.
"Here's a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't." - Richard Bach
Kind regards,
Michele Dow
United Mothers, Fathers, & Friends
Citizen's Voice
"Now You're Being Heard"
LINKS FOR YOUR INFORMATION
1/3 of Child Prngraphy Users are Also Abusers
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/24215-print.shtml
China's Crackdown on Internet Prngraphy:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/02/china_porn_crackdown/
Brazil Conference http://brazzil.com/mag/content/view/177/2/
ISP Child Prngraphy Pennsylvania Decision
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBIOWVHYYD.html
COPA Decision
Last year the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] argued against a law requiring filters in schools and libraries, which would have served to protect children from harmful material on the Internet.
This
year the ACLU is having success in tying up in court the Child Online Protection
Act. The Act was instituted in 1998 to help prevent unsolicited prngraphy from
reaching children. COPA recognized that while parents need to be
responsible and take steps to prevent the misuse of their home computers, the
act recognized that filters in and of themselves were not enough. Industry
needed to be involved and made accountable as well.
The act was signed into law by President Clinton in 1998 but never came
into effect because a lower court judge ruled it likely violated the U.S.
Constitution. Sadly, it has been tied up in the courts ever since. While parents need to remain the first line of defense in
protecting their children, some parents are not responsible enough, filters
aren't fool proof, schools and libraries and palm pilots don't filter, and savvy
kids can get around filters. Industry must be held accountable and COPA
would have done that. (Also see:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/phyllisschlafly/ps20040712.shtml)