[for IP] We've made the Christian Coalition's Top Ten List

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Point #6 from the Christian Coalition's "Contract With The America Family":


* Limit access to pornography on cable television and the Internet.


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This is the big time, friends.  We've got to get serious, round up grass
roots support, and support Leahy.


......................................................................
Daniel J. Weitzner


> From the Contract with the American Family (pages 27 & 28)




Restricting Pornography


Protecting children from exposure to pornography on the Internet and cable
television, and from the sexual exploitation of child pornographers.


1. Enactment of legislation to protect children from being exposed to 
   pornography on the Internet


PORNOGRAPHY, BOTH SOFT CORE and hard core, is freely available on the
Internet to virtually anyone with a home computer. Several magazines post
pornographic images that can be viewed by anyone, including children, for
free. There are also numerous sites on the Internet where hard core
pornography depicting a variety of explicit acts, even rape scenes and
bestiality, are available free and can be accessed with a few clicks of a
computer button.


Christian Coalition urges Congress to enact legislation to protect children
from being exposed to pornography on the Internet. Criminal law should be
amended to prohibit distribution of, or making available, any pornography,,
soft core or hard, to children, and to prohibit distribution of obscene
hard core pornography to adults.


2. Enactment of legislation to require cable television companies to completely 
   block the video and audio on pornography channels to non-subscribers.


Many children throughout the country are exposed to pornography, often hard
core, on cable television because of incomplete scrambling of the signal on
pornography channels. Cable companies have asserted that it is the parents'
responsibility to guard their children. Christian Coalition believes that
the responsibility should be on the cable companies to help parents keep
pornography out of their homes. Cable companies should not be allowed to
transmit pornography to non-subscribers. We urge Congress to require cable
television companies to completely block the video and audio on pornography
channels to non-subscribers.


3. Amending the federal child pornography law to make illegal the possession of 
   any child pornography


Sexual exploitation of children though child pornography continues to be a
major problem in society. Possession of child pornography should be a
crime. President Reagan proposed such a law in 1988, hoping that those with
collections of child pornography would destroy them for fear of federal
prosecution.  In an 11th hour compromise on the bill, however, a conference
committee of House and Senate members changed the Reagan bill to
criminalize only the possession of "three or more" items of child
pornography, videos, magazines, etc. Thus, federal low sanctions the
possession of some child pornography -- less than three pieces. A person
with two hour-long videotapes depicting the rape of a child cannot be
charged with a federal crime, yet a person with three photos depicting a
child in a lascivious pose can. Christian Coalition urges that the federal
child pornography law should be amended to make illegal possession of any
child pornography.


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