Consenting Adult's space

Reposted notice


Please circulate this widely

ACTION NOTICE

CAAN's 2nd extreme porn advice seeking mission

12:00 in London

Friday 22nd August 2008.

Join in from home or meet us near Westminster Abbey public entrance, by the coffee stall outside. Deans Yard, Westminster, London, SW1P 3PA. Nearest tube St James Park or Westminster.

Bring a red rose so we can find each other.

Despite lack of evidence, the government claim banning violent porn will reduce sex crime. Study after study proves the beneficial influence of porn on society. On May 8th 2008, the government passed legislation criminalising the personal possession of 'extreme' and 'disgusting' pornography. Provisions 64 to 67 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 come into effect in January 2009. Convictions will carry up to 3 years jail sentence and inclusion on the Sex Offender Register, even if the pictures are of your partner. Just because the police think the pictures are extreme.

FIGHT THE EXTREME PORN BAN!

On 7th May protests were held in London at the British Library and Houses of Parliament. On 14th June we went to West Midlands police and asked them to look at our collection of extreme pornographic evidence people need advice about. They can't advise us so we're back on the trail and our collection is growing fast.

FIGHT UNJUST LAWS AND LIES!

To get our rights back and turn the tide of puritanical laws, which create harmless criminals and victimless crimes, we need to put our energies and skills together. CAAN is against all insidious and unjust laws which cause wider discrimination and criminalisation of adults who engage in informed consensual relationships with other adults.

What does extreme mean?

Despite concessions from the government concerning some images of legal activities in which the owner can be proved to feature, this law will still make criminal fantasy images involving consensual acts between adults – whether or not the act was staged: for example 'realistic' pictures that look like acts which threaten life such as strangulation or serious harm to breasts, anus or genitals. Lobby group www.backlash-uk.org.uk , an umbrella group of organisations, has been opposing this law since its inception. Now we also need to act on our own behalf.

We need advice.

Many of us need advice about whether books and images we own are illegal, or not, to stand a chance of not falling foul of this extreme law. We need to show how ridiculous and unfair this law is and try to interrupt its commencement.

Let's go and get it!

Send your images to us and we will put them in our collection and give them a unique evidence number so you can track their progress in our reports. If we go together to get advice about images we own there's safety in numbers and we can share the information we get with each other and the wider public. The Ministry of Justice says it will give us more guidance about what is illegal closer to the date but we need to ready ourselves now.

For more information and to join in with actions, either on the streets or from what's left of the privacy of your own home, please contact c-a-a-n@live.co.uk or visit our webpage at http://consentingadultactionnet.spaces.live.com/ .

For more information about the porn collection see further down this blog.



Consenting Adult Action Network

CAAN

For your freedom, and ours.

Regarding the Kinky porn ban commencing in January:
See the text of it here:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/en/08en04-g.htm

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, Part 5: Criminal Law,
Section 63: Possession of extreme pornographic images.



The reality of the new porn laws is going to be about risk. Mostly risk to individuals in the bdsm community. But rather than worrying endlessly about what the Law "means", perhaps it is time to start looking at risk in a slightly more level-headed way.

1. Is my porn likely to break the new Law?

This is the obvious question and, in many, many cases, is wholly unknowable until the Law starts to be applied. Solicitors and barristers can help. However, most of that help is likely to be about little more than analysing the text of the new Statute.

That is not necessarily how the courts will apply it. Government assurances are mostly worthless - because they are not strictly relevant in court. Far more relevant - and not yet published - will be CPS guidelines as to what will fall foul of the law and the various levels of offence that will need to be present for the police to bother taking action.

Much material may - or may not - be theoretically actionable. But it will depend on whether the DPP believes it is in the public interest to clutter the courts up with dozens of minor cases that will determine whether prosecution will follow.

2. Am I likely to be investigated?

Far more relevant - and before anything at all happens in the courts - individuals need to be identified and sucked into the judicial system. You are only likely to be sucked up by the Police where you come to their attention for other matters, or where you are a member of some community that is clearly borderline as regards the type of image at issue.

Of course, it will be denied that this law will be used to "punish" individuals who canot be prosecuted under other laws. But the suspicion will remain. If you are a political activist or a journalist, be extra careful. Be careful, too, if you are coming to the end of a relationship, and the split is not amicable. (False) accusations are a favourite way in for the Police.

It goes without saying that any allegations of sexual impropriety are also likely to lead the police to your door.

Don't go surfing for images at work - you are likely to be caught.

However, it is unlikely that a second Operation Ore will occur. For that to happen, individuals in this country would need to be caught visiting a site full of images that were illegal in the country that hosted those images. Because the UK Law is going to be so far out of kilter with the rest of the West (especially the US), chances are you won't ever have that honour.

All of the above will also reflect the answer to question (1). The Police are likely to want to pick the "low-hanging fruit". If the DPP sets stringent guidelines, they are much less likely to go after this material on the off chance of picking up a conviction.

3. How serious will the consequences be for me?

There are all manner of consequences that can follow from being picked up for this sort of offence, and individuals need to be aware of them, and be prepared. Over time, it is in this area that networks like CAAN and Backlash are likely to prove very helpful.

First, it is very likely that you will be outed. The Police have a habit of dropping hints to local journalists. Is that a social problem? Will your neighbours shun you? Will your parents never speak to you again? Do you care?

More seriously, how will it impact your job? Since the passing of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, there are something like 14 million jobs in the UK that could end up being barred to anyone with a conviction for possessing "extreme images". If you're a self-employed entrepreneur, this probably does not matter.

If you're a teacher, it may matter very much.

What is likely to hit the self-employed far harder is the loss of computer and work on hard drives as police impound same for periods of up to 18 months. If you have essential information on computer, be prepared to keep a copy in a safe place far from your home, possibly with a solicitor.

Don't expect to ever get your computer back in one piece. The record of so-called police experts is that they can be very clumsy when it comes to handling hard drives. Accidentally on purpose deleted? Of course not!

The other serious consequence to consider is the impact on family. In respect of other sexual allegations, it has been known for social services to have parents removed from the family home whilst a matter is being investigated.

Apart from the disruption, this can place enormous emotional strain on relationships and children. If you're single, don't need the computer for work, and don't work in a regulated profession, you're laughing. Otherwise, you should think about consequences in advance.

4. How can I protect myself?

Apart from not having any dodgy material - as the authorities would no doubt advise - there are a number of practical things you can do.

Don't store any images you absolutely don't need to store. And when you have deleted them, use a disk washer/disk scrubber package to ensure they are gone. Police forensics may be able to crack even the most sophisticated of such packages - but most would never bother applying the time and effort to do so.

Be prepared. Think about consequences: decide, in advance, how you would react to being raided. Have your business backed up. Talk to your partner: understand their reaction. One point already raised by lawyers is that within a household in which two or more parties regularly access the pc to go on to bdsm sites the possibility of a "cut-throat defence" may exist.

That is, each party may argue that it was the other that downloaded the images. This is not for the faint-hearted, and would require serious legal advice beforehand. However, it is worth considering.

Whatever else you do, don't plead to anything without having taken legal advice. Do not accept a caution at the Police station. This is the equivalent of a conviction - and enough to have you barred from all manner of jobs for life.

If the Police wish to charge you, make them: a fairly common finding by solicitors is that Police are keen to offer a caution where they know their case is shaky. Very often, refusal to accept a caution is the end of the matter. But take legal advice!

Stay in touch with the various networks. Now, more than ever, you need to have handy a phone number that will give you quick access to people who understand the law and who will kick up a fuss. Fair enough if you would rather go quietly: but if you intend to go down kicking and screaming, let others know - and you may find demonstrators prepared to attend your police station and trial to provide moral support.

The sooner the police realise that we are not cowed, but angry, the better.


From CAAN

Consenting Adult Action Network

http://consentingadultactionnet.spaces.live.com

If you want to take action against the kinky porn ban join us on Friday 22nd August in London, or join a future advice seeking mission, or join in from home. See action notice here:
http://consentingadultactionnet.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!C5CCF94F23E0484D!161.entry

OK people, got any more questions?




Questions about individual possession of individual images.


Come January when the CJIA extreme porn ban commences…

*   Will you arrest / prosecute someone for possessing only this image if they do not feature in it?

*   Will you arrest / prosecute someone for possessing only this image if they do feature in it?

*   Will you arrest / prosecute someone for this image if it is part of a series which includes illegal images?

*   Will you arrest / prosecute someone for owning this image in a collection of other various extreme images, like this one?

*   Will you arrest / prosecute someone for possessing this image if it is stored with mainstream pornography?

*   Will you arrest/ prosecute someone for the act taking place in this image if they featured in it?



Questions about CAAN's collection of evidence.

Come January when the CJIA Extreme porn ban commences…

*   Could it be considered lawful possession for an action group such as ourselves to possess these images, as we are trying to seek advice about them for members of the public in order to assist them to abide by this law?

*   Could it be considered lawful possession after this law takes effect if we as a client asked a solicitor to hold this collection for us for legal assessment?

We've been sent some great questions today about CAAN's evidence collection and thought they might be interesting to others, so am posting the info up on relevant threads. see more info about the evidence collection here on CAAN's profile: http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/weblogs/C_A_A_N/199332/




"Many thanks for all your efforts. A quick couple of questions regarding the set of images that you are collecting/have collected in order to seek advice regarding their possible status once the Act is fully enacted ... Do you already have in the collection images of the type to be seen on websites such as: viciousvixens.com (femdon including breath control/bondage/smothering) gwenmdedia (Ff bondage and breath control) insex.com (no explanation necessary I guess!) kink.com (and affiliated sites) etc etc?"


We have some from websites, most of them are probably from websites. Not these ones though - lots from ruemorgue for example. We are accepting images from all these places, due to there being no copyright issues as the evidence collection is private not for republishing and just consists of images people 'own' under this law in which we own by clicking on it. If you view (own) images from any of these above websites which you believe will break the law in January,. we'd be extremely pleased to take them into the evidence collection if you send them to c-a-a-n@live.co.uk - as many as you like. :)

The collection right now consists of lots of water bondage, rubber and plastic suffocation, faked hangings, SM activity such as cuttings and breast torture, and we are trying to grow as eclectic a collection as possible.


"Are you also asking "generic" questions (perhaps supported with example pictures) about image categories ... for example - "Do you think that an image showing a naked female in stringent bondage being "bagged" would be likely to be covered by the act?""

We are showing the images and asking them to answer the questions (slightly edited to be more relevant to the target) listed here - each question is to be considered for each image individually: http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/boards/activism...

For example - in the collection we have an image of a woman holding a piece of cling film over her face - you can tell she is not suffocating - and allsorts of images along this theme growing more and more severe such as people's heads encased in rubber looking like they are suffocating - some are more sexual than others. we don't know where the line is - we think the first image may be legal and the last illegal - but where along the line does it become an arrestable offense is what we are trying to find out. we're not sure there will even ever be a consistent answer to that.


"Apologies if the answers to these questions are already out there on the various threads."

No apologies necessary - do you mind if we repost your questions and our answers - anonymously if you prefer - just thinking other people might have similar questions?

"Good luck on the 22nd"

Thank you so much for your support :-D




Just to note, the collection going to the action on Friday numbers around two hundred images and more have been arriving since they were printed :)

Thank you to everyone who has joined in the action this way. Don't forget to keep you reference numbers for your piece/s of evidence so you recognise your images in any report. We'll update any information received on 22nd as soon as we have it.

Just as a side note - most of the images we have feature women, so we are particularly interested in more receiving more images featuring people who aren't women. missing from this collection currently is smoking porn, most kinds of knife play, and things involving potential damage to the gentials and anus.



De

Please forward this message to everyone and everywhere you think people need to know.


Regarding the Kinky porn ban commencing in January:
See the text of it here:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/en/08en04-g.htm

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, Part 5: Criminal Law,
Section 63: Possession of extreme pornographic images.



The reality of the new porn laws is going to be about risk. Mostly risk to individuals in the bdsm community. But rather than worrying endlessly about what the Law "means", perhaps it is time to start looking at risk in a slightly more level-headed way.

1. Is my porn likely to break the new Law?

This is the obvious question and, in many, many cases, is wholly unknowable until the Law starts to be applied. Solicitors and barristers can help. However, most of that help is likely to be about little more than analysing the text of the new Statute.

That is not necessarily how the courts will apply it. Government assurances are mostly worthless - because they are not strictly relevant in court. Far more relevant - and not yet published - will be CPS guidelines as to what will fall foul of the law and the various levels of offence that will need to be present for the police to bother taking action.

Much material may - or may not - be theoretically actionable. But it will depend on whether the DPP believes it is in the public interest to clutter the courts up with dozens of minor cases that will determine whether prosecution will follow.

2. Am I likely to be investigated?

Far more relevant - and before anything at all happens in the courts - individuals need to be identified and sucked into the judicial system. You are only likely to be sucked up by the Police where you come to their attention for other matters, or where you are a member of some community that is clearly borderline as regards the type of image at issue.

Of course, it will be denied that this law will be used to "punish" individuals who canot be prosecuted under other laws. But the suspicion will remain. If you are a political activist or a journalist, be extra careful. Be careful, too, if you are coming to the end of a relationship, and the split is not amicable. (False) accusations are a favourite way in for the Police.

It goes without saying that any allegations of sexual impropriety are also likely to lead the police to your door.

Don't go surfing for images at work - you are likely to be caught.

However, it is unlikely that a second Operation Ore will occur. For that to happen, individuals in this country would need to be caught visiting a site full of images that were illegal in the country that hosted those images. Because the UK Law is going to be so far out of kilter with the rest of the West (especially the US), chances are you won't ever have that honour.

All of the above will also reflect the answer to question (1). The Police are likely to want to pick the "low-hanging fruit". If the DPP sets stringent guidelines, they are much less likely to go after this material on the off chance of picking up a conviction.

3. How serious will the consequences be for me?

There are all manner of consequences that can follow from being picked up for this sort of offence, and individuals need to be aware of them, and be prepared. Over time, it is in this area that networks like CAAN and Backlash are likely to prove very helpful.

First, it is very likely that you will be outed. The Police have a habit of dropping hints to local journalists. Is that a social problem? Will your neighbours shun you? Will your parents never speak to you again? Do you care?

More seriously, how will it impact your job? Since the passing of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, there are something like 14 million jobs in the UK that could end up being barred to anyone with a conviction for possessing "extreme images". If you're a self-employed entrepreneur, this probably does not matter.

If you're a teacher, it may matter very much.

What is likely to hit the self-employed far harder is the loss of computer and work on hard drives as police impound same for periods of up to 18 months. If you have essential information on computer, be prepared to keep a copy in a safe place far from your home, possibly with a solicitor.

Don't expect to ever get your computer back in one piece. The record of so-called police experts is that they can be very clumsy when it comes to handling hard drives. Accidentally on purpose deleted? Of course not!

The other serious consequence to consider is the impact on family. In respect of other sexual allegations, it has been known for social services to have parents removed from the family home whilst a matter is being investigated.

Apart from the disruption, this can place enormous emotional strain on relationships and children. If you're single, don't need the computer for work, and don't work in a regulated profession, you're laughing. Otherwise, you should think about consequences in advance.

4. How can I protect myself?

Apart from not having any dodgy material - as the authorities would no doubt advise - there are a number of practical things you can do.

Don't store any images you absolutely don't need to store. And when you have deleted them, use a disk washer/disk scrubber package to ensure they are gone. Police forensics may be able to crack even the most sophisticated of such packages - but most would never bother applying the time and effort to do so.

Be prepared. Think about consequences: decide, in advance, how you would react to being raided. Have your business backed up. Talk to your partner: understand their reaction. One point already raised by lawyers is that within a household in which two or more parties regularly access the pc to go on to bdsm sites the possibility of a "cut-throat defence" may exist.

That is, each party may argue that it was the other that downloaded the images. This is not for the faint-hearted, and would require serious legal advice beforehand. However, it is worth considering.

Whatever else you do, don't plead to anything without having taken legal advice. Do not accept a caution at the Police station. This is the equivalent of a conviction - and enough to have you barred from all manner of jobs for life.

If the Police wish to charge you, make them: a fairly common finding by solicitors is that Police are keen to offer a caution where they know their case is shaky. Very often, refusal to accept a caution is the end of the matter. But take legal advice!

Stay in touch with the various networks. Now, more than ever, you need to have handy a phone number that will give you quick access to people who understand the law and who will kick up a fuss. Fair enough if you would rather go quietly: but if you intend to go down kicking and screaming, let others know - and you may find demonstrators prepared to attend your police station and trial to provide moral support.

The sooner the police realise that we are not cowed, but angry, the better.


From CAAN

Consenting Adult Action Network

http://consentingadultactionnet.spaces.live.com

If you want to take action against the kinky porn ban join us on Friday 22nd August in London, or join a future advice seeking mission, or join in from home. See action notice here:
http://consentingadultactionnet.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!C5CCF94F23E0484D!161.entry