Virtual child pornography: The eroticization of inequality

The United States Supreme Court hasrecently ruled that virtual child pornographyis protected free speech, partly on the groundsthat virtual pornography does not harm actualchildren. I review the evidence for thecontention that virtual pornography might harmchildren, and find that it is, at best,inconclusive. Saying that virtual childpornography does not harm actual children isnot to say that it is completely harmless,however. Child pornography, actual or virtual,necessarily eroticizes inequality; in a sexistsociety it therefore contributes to thesubordination of women.     

中国法律对色情淫秽内容的规范

色情淫秽内容的传播是现代社会所面临的一个重要问题。怎样有效地规范色情淫秽内容的制作、传播，特别是在未成年人之间的传播，为他们创造一个良好的成长环境的同时又有效地保护人们享有的表达和文艺创作自由等宪法性权利，是各国致力于实现的一个目标。本文结合西方国家的立法和司法经验，重点讨论了中国法律关于色情淫秽物品（作品）的标准，提出了认定淫秽色情物品应当遵循的原则以及对相关物品、人员和涉案单位的处理方法。     

Internet Filters

ABSTRACT

As technology continues to influence the way we do business, change has been and will continue to be inevitable. All around us, we see the Internet playing a major role in our lives from the way we pay bills and do banking to the way we buy stock, shop as consumers, and obtain an education. You can't escape it, and librarians long ago realized this truth. To wit library services have evolved to accommodate the informational needs demanded by this ever-expanding industry. This evolution of library services can be seen, for example, in the way we promote and provide reference, circulation, and reserves services with inroads even into technical or resource services. With distance education libraries are positioning themselves to be major players in this phenomenon at all levels: local, national, and international. One library service that is beginning to proceed into the distance-learning arena is interlibrary loan/document delivery. Interlibrary Loan, a traditional library service for local users, whether provided by an academic, public, or special library is finding itself in the distance education movement. To explore this, the focus of this article is to examine the ways in which interlibrary loan impacts and supports distance education through technology and services.     

Conference agenda

ABSTRACT

The Indian state, when it announced the opening of its borders – physical and imaginary – to globalisation, also embraced new digital technologies of telecommunication and transportation in its attempt to reconfigure itself as a global player in the world market. The neo‐liberal economic policies and the restructuring of the State had immediate and far reaching impact on the question of citizenship. The technologised State posited the need for a technosocial subject – a subject that was not only a consumer/user of technology but also subject to the different technological networks instituted towards a new‐modernism. The fetishisation of such a technosocial subject entails a new regime of discipline and containment that produces certain glorified non‐legal subject positions which challenge the efforts of the State to create a homogeneous sanitised cyberscape. This paper is an attempt to examine the production of illegalities with reference to cyberspace, to make a symptomatic reading of new conditions within which citizenships are enacted, in the specific context of contemporary India. Looking at one incident each, of cyber‐pornography and cyber‐terrorism, the paper sets out to look at the State’s imagination of the digital domain, the positing of the ‘good’ cyber citizen, and the production of new relationships between the state and the subject. This essay explores the ambiguities, the dilemmas and the questions that arise when Citizens become Subjects, not only to the State but also to the technologies of the State.     

Online pornography – Should schools be teaching young people about the risks? An exploration of the views of young people and teaching professionals

The Internet has made sexually explicit media more accessible to young people. Online pornography is diverse, can be very graphic, and a large amount is available free of charge with restrictions varying by country. Many young people are accessing online pornography, intentionally or unintentionally, and there are fears that this could impact on their sexual development and future relationships. Current research into the effects of viewing pornography on attitudes and behaviours of young people is patchy and often contradictory. Via an anonymous survey of 218 young people and focus group discussions with 23 teaching professionals in outer London schools, this study examines whether young people and teaching professionals consider pornography use to have harmful effects, and if they feel schools should be incorporating teaching about online pornography in their educational programmes. Findings reveal that young people and teachers perceive there to be many negative effects of viewing pornography, particularly at a young age. Young people and teachers agree that schools should teach about the risks associated with online pornography viewing. Recommendations for schools about how to facilitate discussion of issues surrounding pornography use as part of the wider sex education programme are made, including the involvement of parents.     

Forbidden fruit: the politics of researching young people’s use of online sexually explicit materials in South African schools

This paper explores some of the difficulties of doing research concerning young people’s use of online sexually explicit materials in three high schools in South Africa. Against the backdrop of young people’s sexual agency, we elaborate on the ways in which getting permission to conduct the research unsettled gatekeepers, as research on young people’s use of such materials remains taboo. Anxieties related to conducting school-based sexuality research, particularly with pornographic elements, stem from understandings that sex is a forbidden topic. During the course of seeking participants for our study, we found that the majority of boys in one school refused to participate. We argue that this was because online network sites were regulated and censored by the school, specifically those related to sexually explicit material, with punitive consequences for their use. Sexuality researchers operate in conditions of increased surveillance and we give attention to the difficulties of the researcher in school-based research. The need to conduct research into young people’s use of sexually explicit online materials is acute but needs to be supported by policy frameworks that foreground the specific conditions and challenges that researchers may face in a country such as South Africa.     

追踪蹑祖索书影扬帆泛海鉴真知——评王汝梅教授《金瓶梅与艳情小说研究》

王汝梅先生是《金瓶梅》研究专家,他的《金瓶梅与艳情小说研究》是在扎实研究的基础上又推出的一部新作。该书呈现四个特点:以深入实际、仔细考察的方法补充现有研究资料的不足;以平和的心态、科学历史的观点把"艳情"放在当代历史条件下给予客观公正的评价,把文学研究拓展到文化研究;通过对域外汉文小说的研究,与国内研究形成优势互补;研究方法的综合运用也是其成功的原因之一。     

网络色情及其防治研究

网络的诸多特性为色情提供了快速发展与蔓延的便利条件,使得网络色情呈现出多种表现形式并大有泛滥之势。有鉴于此,各国均对网络色情的泛滥采取了积极应对措施,根据预防与控制网络色情的三个基本思路,构建网络色情的防治机制需要从网络法律规范、社会预防、政府部门的管制与侦查三个方面入手。     

色情传媒心理影响的研究与思考

色情传媒是最备受争议、也是研究大众传媒必然要正视的领域之一.目前学术界对色情传媒还没有一个统一、明确的定义.本文将大众传播媒体中涉及性某些的内容统称为色情传媒,将之作为一个中性内容,首先考察了其渊源,然后从立法和实验研究两个方面分析了色情传媒的争议.最后,作者从加强立法、家长的中介作用和强化正面性教育等角度,探讨了限制色情传媒负面影响的有效途径.     

Criminological differences between child pornography offenders arrested in Spain

BackgroundLack of studies on CP offenders from non-English speaking countries motivated the analysis of the profile of adult men arrested in Spain for such crimes (N = 347).ObjectiveThe current study examined differences between groups of CP users according to their criminal history (i.e., CP-only offenders, CP offenders with other nonviolent or non-sexually violent crimes, and dual offenders).MethodsAnalyses of case investigation files were performed across seven key areas: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) criminological data, (3) characteristics of index CP offending, (4) characteristics of CP collections, (5) access to children, (6) indication of pedophilic or hebephilic interests, and (7) recidivism outcomes.ResultsCP-only offenders presented with fewer prior criminal records and lower general (6.7%) and violent (1.1%) recidivism rates. They were also less likely to be arrested for CP production, although they had greater access to children living in their residence. CP offenders with other nonviolent or non-sexually violent crimes exhibited characteristics on a continuum between the other two groups. Dual offenders were more likely to have prior criminal records for sexual offenses and higher sexual recidivism rates (16.7%). 55.6% had produced their own CP material, and they were more likely to have content depicting boys. They were also more likely to admit or be diagnosed with pedophilic/hebephilic interests, and they also had the largest proportion of legal child-related content (72.2%).ConclusionsAuthors conclude there are significant differences between dual and CP-only offenders which suggests a need for specialized treatment and risk assessment tools.