Nude & Natural Magazine Naturism is the Way. |
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Nude & Natural Magazine Naturism is the Way. |
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In the tangled world of Web litigation,
defining child porn may be the most tangled web of all
While law enforcement has done a great deal in recent years to clamp down on sexually explicit child porn, trade in images of nude or scantily clad children and teens still is prevalent on the Web. And naturists are getting caught in a quagmire-fighting for our right to document our family life, but at the same time fearful of inadvertently offering aid to those who profit from flesh peddling.
A First Amendment Right
So what constitutes child pornography? Courts have ruled that in most cases child pornography must be 1) sexually explicit, 2) an obvious attempt by the photographer to convey a sexual message, or 3) focused on the genitalia, buttocks, or in the case of females, the breasts. For example, an image of a child posed provocatively in lingerie on a bed, though clothed, might constitute child pornography because a sexual message is being conveyed. On the other hand, an image of a child who is merely nude, such as while playing at typical child-like activities at a beach, is not child porn. Courts have upheld this distinction.
Two important appellate court cases have taken place fairly recently. The first, The United States v. Alan Lee Amirault (1997), involved possession of sexually explicit images found on a New Hampshire man's computer. One image, downloaded from the Internet, was of a nude child at the beach. Based on this single image, prosecutors decided to press federal charges for trafficking in child porn by Internet. While the lower courts ruled against the defendant and sentenced him to prison, a federal appeals court found differently.
In its ruling the appeals court said, "To begin with, we do not believe that the photograph is significantly focused upon the genitalia. Š Nor is the photograph's setting sexually suggestive. The beach setting is a natural landscape that, unlike a bedroom or boudoir, does not evoke associations of sexual activity. The government's assertion that 'many honeymoons are planned around beach locations' fails to persuade us otherwise. Further-more, the child is not depicted in an unnatural pose. She is merely standing, face forward and with legs more together than apart, in a large hole in the sand... "
In short, this describes a typical image that any parent might take at a local nude beach or naturist park.
The court also found that "the statute [under which Amirault was charged] requires more than mere nudity, because the phrase 'exhibition of the genitals or pubic area' ... is qualified by the word 'lascivious.' We therefore hold that the district court improperly applied the [child pornography] trafficking [by Internet] cross-reference at Amirault's sentencing."
While the defendant was imprisoned for possession of explicit images on state charges, the appeals court ruling vacated the federal charges, concluding and upholding that the image of a merely nude child does not constitute child pornography.
In a second case which took place in October 2000 in New York before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, United States of America v. Various Schedules of Merchandise, Schedule 287, Alessandra's Smile, Inc., publications from abroad that feature nudity were a target, specifically the French publication Jeunes et Naturels ("Young and Natural") and a German magazine, Jung und Frei ("Young and Free").
The defendant, Alessandra's Smile, is a New York mail order company and Web site devoted to the sale of images and publications mostly of nude children, which raised the eyebrows of many an Internet surfer, including many naturists who happened upon the site.
The court made a similar ruling in this case: "We are of the firm conviction that the District Court clearly erred in finding that these magazines appeal to the prurient interest because they contain photographs of nudist children around the world engaged in activities typical of children."
The court referred in several instances to Naturally, a naturist magazine published by Internaturally, Inc. of Newfoundland, N.J., noting that the lower court did not find any of its content obscene.
Most importantly, the court said: "These magazines qualify for First Amendment protection because of their political value. It is true that the political value of these magazines [i.e., the European imports] is not as immediately evident as the political value of Naturally, which contains articles about the legal status of public nudity around the world and actively advocates for unregulated nudism. This is so particularly since the text of the seized magazines is not before us. Š However, publications dedicated to presenting a visual depiction of an alternative lifestyle, a depiction with a decidedly utopian flavor, have political value similar to the political value of articles criticizing government regulation of that and other lifestyles."
Despite these rulings, problems persist. Last year, a man who took photographs of children at a New York nudist park during a convention, with permission of the children's mother, was arrested on child pornography charges. The Naturist Action Committee got involved in the case, and the matter eventually was allowed to die a natural death. In Massachusetts, in a case not related to naturism, a journalism student was convicted by a lower court of illegally photographing a teenager in a state of semi-nudity. His conviction was later overturned by the state Supreme Court.
Detours on the Road to Utopia
It is disturbing that an increasing number of sites specialize in nude images of children and teens. In most of the areas that I trudged through on the Internet to research this article, there was an unmistakable mix of questionable material, simple nudity, and even child models posing in swimsuits, undergarments, and beachwear-all presented for the prurient interest of the observer who sees children in a sexual light. The majority of this material is considered legal or sometimes borderline, due to the various and complex laws of dozens of countries.
I found many images that were obviously taken at nude beaches, naturist clubs, naturist conventions, and naturist vacation spots from around the world, and other images that clearly had been scanned illegally from various publications. "Video captures," or still images copied from naturist videos, can also be found.
The ability to create a false Internet identity and the use of anonymous e-mailers prevents many of these purveyors and copyright violators from being caught. In 1999 it took the efforts of an international law enforcement task force to crack one child porn ring calling itself "Wonderland." According to press reports, the ring was found to be using encryption technology stolen from the KGB.
Most curious is the way in which such imagery is exchanged across the Internet. Using newsgroups and point-to-point communications, images are traded much like baseball cards or Pokémon cards. It's not unusual for a "collector" to post a message to others that he is missing certain images; another responds by posting the missing images so that the collection can be completed. In this way, images may circulate for years.
After a while it becomes easier to see why the moralists and legislators want to take a stance against such material on the Internet. The images naturists produce become guilty by association. While we may not be misusing them, others might be. So come the knee-jerk efforts that seek to eradicate any production of images of nude children. While the federal courts have ruled repeatedly that simple nudity is not porn, many states continue to test the waters by arresting people for the most frivolous of allegations.
A utopian naturist society is far from a reality and one that we will all have to work at. And as we work diligently to protect our rights, there will always be those who try to leech onto our successes for their own profit.
Nudist Volleyball
http://www.nudistvolleyball.com
I WAS asked to stop in and review nudistvolleyball.com, and I found a very colorful site that naked volleyball players can be proud of. Everyone knows that naturists can be serious volleyball players and the tournaments that take place can be as competitive as the pro circuit at times. The site lists major events in naturist volleyball around the U.S., and it makes it very clear on the opening page that its intentions are honorable.
One thing I did not care for is that the site is mostly graphics; that is, all of the information is laid out in small graphic blocks. This makes it impossible to copy and paste text to save. People with text-only browsers or low-memory browsers that have graphics shut off won't be able to capture any of its presentation. I also noticed the background images extend off the page, so people with small display screens will have to do quite a bit of horizontal scrolling in order to view the information. Maybe with the next major revision the webmaster can consider using tables instead of graphic blocks.
In any event, if it's a major naturist volleyball event, it's likely to be listed here. Clubs and individuals are welcome to submit their own tournaments for inclusion on the Web site as well.
Internaturally, Inc.
http://www.internaturally.com
THE INTERNATURALLY Web site is dear to my heart; I was the site's webmaster for its first five years and was responsible for bringing the organization to the Internet. Now under other capable hands, the site has grown to reflect the tone of Naturally magazine and its ever-expanding mission, which recently extended into the travel arena. Internaturally is now the world's largest supplier of naturist books, videos, and select novelty items.
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