We just lost Australia....

[arrakur]

But I feel I have to add....I am a huge part of those artists´ problem.

Because I am living in a society that shuns upon these images, stories, fantasies, I haven´t got the courage to stand up for them. Admitting to having sadistic fantasies, admitting to being a collector of bdsm-porn may shatter my ties to my family and will most certainly cost me my job. that´s the "rub" of it.

Nuria, cagri, fernando, roberts, celestin and all the other countless bdsm-artists out there working for dofantasy or not....your fans and costumers are victims of this like you are....but we do not nearly risk...and possibly have lost...as much as you.

Thanks for doing this in spite of all.

[ernestgreene]

I've never been convinced that fantasy material provides a let-off valve for those inclined toward actual violence. There's no evidence that it does, as pornography is frequently found in the possession of individuals arrested for acts of sexual violence. I don't by the argument that the materials inspired the violence in any way whatsoever. Millions of people have the same stuff and do no harm to anyone. Saying that porn prevents violence is the flip side of the view that it causes violence and therefore the whole premise carries a certain risk of backfiring, especially in the absence of any scientific data one way or the other.

I believe violent people do violent things and don't rely on pictures for instruction. Likewise, I don't believe those violent people would stop doing violent things if they had enough material of the type they like to keep them home masturbating.

I see these as basically unrelated matters. Despite years of attempts to prove otherwise, there is no demonstrated link between exposure to pornography and social behavior of any kind.

This being the case, the law is that much more preposterous and a good example of the extent to which a small, noisy pressure group of porn haters has managed to get the ear of politicians in various parts of the world from Iceland to Australia. It would be nice if someone spoke up in opposition, but as has been noted here, people are afraid to do so because of the stigma attached to the material and anyone who sticks up for it.

It is strange indeed that Australia would do this. It's the only country I know of with an organized sex party running candidates for office and legal sex work in some parts of the country. Just a little confused down there from this distance.

[Abe48062]

I agree that losing Australia is only the beginning-governments all over the planet will try to regulate anything for the "good" of the people. These are sad days folks-for any freedoms we have-it is only a matter of time.

[Krimson-Rage]

Well, the Conservatives are in power here in the UK (sure it's a "coalition", but we all know who the big dogs are) and mightily unpopular they are too. I think some sort of "rightous moral campaign' would work wonders right about now to distract the population from the damage the blue blooded Tory vampires are doing to our country. I'm worried, I really am - This may well give the twats some ideas.

[ernestgreene]

I'm afraid the U.K. is already on that page. Last year's Extreme Porn law seems like an ominous hint of things to come.

Thankfully, England will always be the land of kink, no matter what laws they put on the books.

[ponygirlrider3]

Why do the good people of Australia take this crap

[Sandow]

"Why do the good people of Australia take this crap"

I get the feeling that the "good people of the U.S.A." take this crap because we're told there are much bigger things to worry about like terrorism, the economy, unemployment, etc. Then when the public is focused on those issues, crappy laws get passed under the table limiting freedom of expression, individual rights and other topics which normally would be safe from repression.

[ROBERTS]

The average American is now so completely unaware of what is going on it's setting new standards for ignorance. People are absolutely clueless.

[arrakur]

"Excuse me. Would you mind if I would ask you one question? What do you think is the worse state of mind in the public these days? The ignorance or the indifference?"

"Huh?! I don´t know, man. And I don´t really care one way or the other."

[Rubberstrap]

Ernest Greene's comment was excellent.

Can any one work of pornography, or even a thousand works of pornography, be more credibly linked to violence in the way that one could wonder how much Das Kapital influenced the states set up by Lenin and Mao? Under Stalin alone, 20 to 50 million people died of violence or purposeful starvation. Under Mao perhaps 40 million. Do people call to ban Das Kapital as an inspiration to violence?

r@ape was plentiful long before the availability of pornography on a mass scale, yet the Western civilizations that produce pornography become (on avergage) less and less violent. I don't claim porn is any kind of safety valve either, but it seems to me that pornography is far less dangerous than just one book on the struggle for political power was.