[Gllug] News: Two cautioned over WiFi theft

[Dylan]

On Wednesday 18 April 2007, Caroline Ford wrote:
> They don't just deal with kiddy porn - they also deal with race hate and
> "criminal obscenity". What counts as criminally obscene is interesting.
> Some BDSM? Even if consensual?

Well, it changes from country to country of course. In the UK, it is basically 
any activity which would constitute a common assault or worse. So even a 
single playful slap on the buttocks may be considered sexual assault and 
hence criminally obscene. In practice, however, prosecution would only occur 
if the 'assault' constituted GBH or ABH. The 'Spanner' trial established that 
consent cannot be used as a defence to GBH or ABH. That's why it is now 
necessary to sign a waiver for tattoos or piercings.

>
> Images of *under 18s* count as child porn - even though 16 year olds can
> get married and 17 year olds join the army. Looking at such images is
> also classed as *making* the image. You don't need to have taken the
> image yourself - although that's what the public will think.

A currently proposed ammendment to the Sexual Offences Act aims to define an 
obscene image as one depicting an activity which "deviates from accepted 
norms" - whatever that may be interpreted to mean.

Dylan
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