Child Pornography Ban
A resolution to restrict civil freedoms in the interest of moral decency.
Category: Moral Decency | Strength: Significant | Proposed by: Wrapper

Description: BELIEVING that the children of the world need safeguarding from physical abuse and emotional cruelty;

RECALLING current national and international laws in place to protect children's rights and well-being;

HOWEVER CONSCIOUS of loopholes in existing international laws that permit the exploitation of children in the production and dissemination of child pornography;

The General Assembly HEREBY:

DEFINES "visual recording" as filming, photographing, videotaping, or producing any visual or audiovisual representation, including:

• purposeful recording via discrete means such as a hidden camera;
  
• realistic depiction, such as computer-generated animation, that is difficult to distinguish from the recording of a real person.

DEFINES "child" as someone who has not yet attained the age of consent in the nation in which he/she is present at the time of recording, regardless of citizenship or residency.

DEFINES "child pornography" as the visual recording of one or more children engaging in real or simulated sexual activities, including the visual recording of nude children primarily for sexual purposes.

BANS the production, possession, solicitation, sale and distribution of child pornography in all member nations.

BANS the exportation of pornography from member nations, when the youngest person depicted is below the age of consent in either the distributing or the receiving nation.

BANS the importation of pornography into member nations, when the youngest person depicted is below the age of consent in either the distributing or the receiving nation.

MANDATES that nations treat violations of this resolution as criminal offenses, and proceed accordingly.

CLARIFIES that this resolution does not cover the following:

1. The visual recording of persons who have attained the age of consent but have not reached the age of majority;
   
2. The act of visually recording nude images, provided it is not intended to be used for sexual purposes;
   
3. The act of visually recording oneself for private, personal use;
   
4. The act of transmitting a visual recording of oneself to another person or persons privately but not publicly, nor the receipt or possession of such recordings;
   
5. The use or transfer of recorded evidence to be used in criminal or civil cases;
   
6. Accidental recording of child pornography, such as via security camera footage, provided that such recording is not distributed, sold or copied, except to be provided to law enforcement as potential evidence in a criminal or civil case under subclause (5) above;
   
7. The unsolicited receipt, such as via electronic means or parcel delivery, and subsequent temporary possession of child pornography, provided that such materials are turned over to law enforcement authorities upon discovery;
   
8. Non-realistic, artistic representations, such as drawing, animation, painting or sculpture;
   
9. Other anatomical representations used for non-sexual purposes, including educational areas such as biology and pediatric medicine.

FURTHER CLARIFIES that member nations may place additional restrictions not covered under this resolution, provided that such restrictions do not violate international law.

Forum topic.

(This post was last modified: 07-24-2014, 05:22 AM by Vote Collector.)

Reply

We have a full queue again, so I'll be posting up the proposals.

Reply

We have a full queue again, so I'll be posting up the proposals.

Thanks!

I'll probably vote FOR, unless the a majority of the region clearly votes AGAINST.

Former Delegate of the South Pacific
Posts outside High Court venues should be taken as those of any other legislator.
I do not participate in the regional server, but I am happy to talk through instant messaging or on the forum.

Legal Resources:
THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive | Mavenu Diplomatic Archive | Rules of the High Court | Case Submission System | Online Rulings Consultation System

Reply

This proposal was extensively drafted on the forum and seems fairly watertight. FOR. However, I do not plan on engaging in the forum debate, based on past experience of the kinds of opinions that surface when this issue is discussed.

Reply

4. The act of transmitting a visual recording of oneself to another person or persons privately but not publicly, nor the receipt or possession of such recordings;

I'd appreciate it if someone could please offer some examples of both the "private" and "public" transmission of recordings. In this context, I'm not sure I know just what that means.

Thank you.

Clockwork Tinker
Community of Gimmal
A Citizen of The Coalition of The South Pacific
[Avatar artwork: Clockwork Eye by Lara Werner (merrbiedesigns)]

Reply

I asked on the forum; here's the response from the author:

Intended examples:

Private: you e-mail a picture or video of yourself to a family member, lover, classmate, etc. Or you videotape yourself and keep it in your living room, where a loved one can legally view it. One could even argue that viewing it in a hotel room, where there is an expectation of privacy, would also be private.

Public: you post a picture or video of yourself on the internet or some other network. Or you show a videotape in a public setting such as a theater or on a device in any public area (cell phone on subway car, AV club at school). One could even argue that passing around video of an ex-lover to all your buddies would make this public.

(This post was last modified: 07-17-2014, 07:14 AM by Vote Collector.)

Reply

Thank you for those collecting those examples, Vibrant Coconuts!

So, it's more the act of displaying or disseminating the material privately than any aspect of the actual transmission method itself that is intended to be excluded by this clause. I wish they'd have made that clearer.

It is not the act of transmitting, receiving, or possessing the visual recording that is public or private in nature, but the actual displaying of the material. And private display is not prohibited by this resolution.

I think I understand now. Thank you!

Clockwork Tinker
Community of Gimmal
A Citizen of The Coalition of The South Pacific
[Avatar artwork: Clockwork Eye by Lara Werner (merrbiedesigns)]

Reply

Yes, that was my confusion too about the clause; during the drafting discussion there was some debate about whether it applied to things like the public mail service. It probably could be written better, but as it's only a clarifying clause anyway, it doesn't really hinder the effectiveness of the proposal.

Reply