20 Years in Prison for Buying a Manga

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editorial/2008-12-11/christopher-handley/carl-horn

Seriously?

WTF U.S.A.? Are we REALLY going to send a man to 20 years in federal ASS POUNDING prison because he bought a COMIC BOOK from Japan?

I'm not into all that loli bullshit, but does a drawing of a girl having sex really hurt anyone in REAL life? I can draw a 10 year old stick figure boy that's fucking a dog with a pogo stick... is that hurting any more 10-year-olds out there?

Good god, they might as well throw Stan Lee in jail for all the dead people he drew!

GODDAMMIT!

Sintendo wrote:http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editorial/2008-12-11/christopher-handley/carl-horn

Seriously?

WTF U.S.A.? Are we REALLY going to send a man to 20 years in federal ASS POUNDING prison because he bought a COMIC BOOK from Japan?

I'm not into all that loli bullshit, but does a drawing of a girl having sex really hurt anyone in REAL life? I can draw a 10 year old stick figure boy that's fucking a dog with a pogo stick... is that hurting any more 10-year-olds out there?

Good god, they might as well throw Stan Lee in jail for all the dead people he drew!

GODDAMMIT!

Holy fucking shit.

Welll... that is one reason why a lot of Dutch people look upon America as if it is just one big mental institution without a fence around it.

aaaand our legal system finds a new low to explore.

Our tax dollars at work?

Give me a break! This is why I wanted Ron Paul for president!!

That's just fucking RETARDED!!

I lol'd.

...wow.

I don't know whether I should lol or I should pity the guy...



loli content, possibly...?

Wait a minute...if I go to the US for college...how am I supposed to...oh wait, online manga. Better whip my English a little...

That's rather dumb...

I'm glad there aren't any laws against that sort of thing in the UK.

Aren´t there tons of H-Mangas to buy in the internet or wherever? They shouldn´t sell it if it is against the law...........

Ah, laws change according to the country. Japan don't care, the UK are a bit lax, and I think the same applies to most of Europe, but Australia and the US don't allow any loli. At all, last time I checked.

Most people get away with it by bypassing customs, or downloading it from a server in a country that allows it...

Besides, this isn't about H-Mangas! It's only lolicon that they care about (for now)...

Tommygunner70 wrote:

Sintendo wrote:I'm not into all that loli bullshit, but does a drawing of a girl having sex really hurt anyone in REAL life?

Well... that is one reason why a lot of Dutch people look upon America as if it is just one big mental institution without a fence around it.

As I understand it, while the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 470 declares "virtual child pornography" to be illegal, it does not consider "lollicon" to be such material so it is not subject to the Act/Decree.

TTIO wrote:That's rather dumb...

I'm glad there aren't any laws against that sort of thing in the UK.

Well the mother country might still have a clue (though one could conceivably run afoul of the Obscene Publications Act), but as for the colonies...

Canada, Australia, New Zealand (along with Ireland, South Africa, Norway and Sweden) all consider some or all visual arts that show children engaged in sexual conduct or situations to be child pornography and that possession of such material can be grounds for criminal indictment.

So America is actually not only not alone, but in some cases we're more lenient then other countries. Australia and Canada, for example, have much tougher statutes and have tried, convicted and jailed people for having these types of material in their possession.

In response to that, see my previous post

I know,it's just I was only talking about the UK at that point

I think it's notable that in this case the charges are for possessing 'obscene' material. That is unfortunately something that is rather vague in definition.

our judicial system loves being vague.

... have you ever noticed that you can't say the words 'judicial system' without sounding drunk?
[/Dana Carvey]

Well, yet another reason why I'd rather go to Japan than the US. I'm just going to say some stuff we all know and think, but it has to be said (yet again). It's not like he used real life models to draw the pictures, it's not like the man who had them did that kind of stuff to anyone. And he certainly didn't hurt anyone by having it. If a legal system serves, instead of to protect people from harm, to inflict harm upon people, there's something very wrong with it.

Just an idle thought, though. Who told the police about it? Or, if nobody did, then doesn't the police have better things to do? (like, i.e. imprison rapists, or molesters, to keep with the obscene theme)

Bloedzuiger wrote:If a legal system serves, instead of to protect people from harm, to inflict harm upon people, there's something very wrong with it.

A-men, hallelujah and peanut butter. [/Dutch]

I've always been an advocate of the law only protecting people from other people. Ours acts too much like a stereotypical British nanny for my tastes.

Bloedzuiger wrote:
Just an idle thought, though. Who told the police about it? Or, if nobody did, then doesn't the police have better things to do? (like, i.e. imprison rapists, or molesters, to keep with the obscene theme)

As far as I know, the list of manga he bought was read by a postal worker, postal worker got all uppity about it and got a hold of a USPS search warrant, police came to his house, dude thought he did nothing wrong so he let them search, uppity police found manga and thought it was obscene and took him in.

Honestly, it's illegal and fucking insane to look at child pornography, but if it's drawn/animated/put together with clay models... whatever, is it really hurting anyone? That's what I want to know.

I really don't understand this fucking law. If it's fake... IT'S FAKE.

Dude, he's not even being charged under child porn laws... he's being charged under an obscenity law. You know, the one which is vaguely defined, but which essentially has "offensive to a large segment of mainstream society" as a major determining factor as to whether or not something qualifies as "obscene"?

"Hot Fuzz 2: Take Spank from Yanks"



All joking aside, what a crazy case. Obscenity is highly subjective and in my opinion, nearly impossible to regulate. I know people who think bikinis are the devil's work, and others who think that monkeys humping and throwing poo at each other is hilarity.

obscenely appropriate:

Spoiler: