Is possession of CP legal in Japan?

[buttobi]

So...my question is....if the material can ber proven to be legally made when it was produced...how can another country call it illegal cp..WHEN NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED IN ORDER TO PRODUCE IT AT THE TIME????

We call it illegal simply because it is illegal now. The meanings of words change as the time goes. The act that was not a crime can be a crime now. Laws change and so does the meaning of "illegal" or "crime" correspondingly.

CP has always been illegal in Japan. In the pre-1999 era CP had a different meaning.

 

[japonaliya]

We call it illegal simply because it is illegal now. The meanings of words change as the time goes. The act that was not a crime can be a crime now. Laws change and so does the meaning of "illegal" or "crime" correspondingly.

CP has always been illegal in Japan. In the pre-1999 era CP had a different meaning.

I beg to differ...even now it is legal in most districts to possess cp as long as you don't share, or sell it.

Of course, I think you may mean actuall intercourse with a minor, which I am not sure about.
However, even if not actually legal, you must admit that up until 1999, cp was rarely prosecuted except for the actual makers of it assuming that it was without parental/child consent, and only if the cp was produced IN Japan, and not elsewhere....

Though I can't say I am positive about all the above..from what I remember, I am pretty close...

 

[buttobi]

cp was rarely prosecuted except for the actual makers of it assuming that it was without parental/child consent, and only if the cp was produced IN Japan, and not elsewhere....

The fact is a lot of those who were involved in the production, the distribution and the sales of CP were prosecuted in the pre-1999 era regardless of where they were actually produced....as a matter of fact, except for the "private" CP, which was mostly the record of incest, most of pre-1999 CP was produced in SE asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines.... SE Asian CP was harder to prosecute since, needless to say, it was harder to identify the victims.

 

[japonaliya]

Ok..but lets agree that the laws may be there, but the Japanese authorities are very lax on arresting/prostituting cp violations unless it gets serious media attention.

In other words..the ave. guy with cp mags, or stuff on his personal computer has little to worry about if he keeps to himself, and does not try any overt actions...I mean to say, no one in Japan is hacking into your computer like the FBI and local stings in the US or maybe GB etc.

 

[guy]

Japanese authorities have been known to monitor P2P networks, including Share. Most of the attention is focused on copyright infringement (eg: TV shows, movies, music; just like in the West), but two users were caught uploading CP earlier this year:

http://internet.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/2009/02/13/22430.html

Whether they were doing it intentionally or were unaware that Share was distributing their files doesn't really make that much of a difference post-fact.

I realize that we can argue about the technical aspect of a person who has CP but is able to prevent any of it from leaving his/her computer, but the fact of the matter is that the material is extremely volatile, and in the broad scope of things, "posession" is an extremely narrow definition (whereas "distribution" is conversely open to wide interpretation).

 

[buttobi]

Ok..but lets agree that the laws may be there, but the Japanese authorities are very lax on arresting/prostituting cp violations unless it gets serious media attention.

In other words..the ave. guy with cp mags, or stuff on his personal computer has little to worry about if he keeps to himself, and does not try any overt actions...I mean to say, no one in Japan is hacking into your computer like the FBI and local stings in the US or maybe GB etc[.

Possesseion of any kind of CP isn't illegal in Japan, so the Cyber Police of Japan won't waste their time hacking into personal computers for nothing.

The police of Japan is by no means lax but it's true the Cyber Police, which is taking care of crimes on the internet, hasn't been proved competent so far.

 

[japonaliya]

When I turned 18...I won't give my age now, but lets say a few yeas ago....I was curious, so I walked (for the first time) into an adult bookstore in NYC.

While up front, they had the usual adult stuff, but toward the back they had magazines of nude boys and girls. Boys and teens with erections on the covers, girls with legs partially spread, and a host of what we would now call European nudist mags, but only of young girls with titles like "Little Moppets"
Now all of such material would be illegal except maybe the nude children in context of family naturalism, but I am sure that the naturalist mags that focused on preteen gilrs only would somehow fall under the auspices of cp.

If I HAD bought some of these mags back then...(and I still kick myself now for being too chicken-shit) would I now have to worry abut having illegal cp, even though I could show (hypothetically) that I bought the mags from a legit bookstore at the time?
..and..if legal for me to still possess it, then if I sell it to you, would THAT be a crime?

For an example...I have a copy of the infamous sex ed. book SHOW ME? published in the early 70's by famous photog. Will McBride. I actually bought my copy from a bookstore window display right across from Grand Central Station in NYC. Copies of this book can still be found on eBay and OOP dealers.

YET..it shows very graphic photos of preteen boys and girls totally nude, and engaging in sexual activities inc. masturbation, mutual masturbation, intercourse and oral sex plus more....
By all criteria, these images meet every single aspect of what the courts now deem cp, except, that it is for educational purposes....

Hmmm...can I find an educational purpose for Cat Model Project???

Comments....

 

[aikia101]

If I HAD bought some of these mags back then...(and I still kick myself now for being too chicken-shit) would I now have to worry abut having illegal cp, even though I could show (hypothetically) that I bought the mags from a legit bookstore at the time?
..and..if legal for me to still possess it, then if I sell it to you, would THAT be a crime?

In the law, this is referred to as "post-ex facto." It pretty much means "after the fact." For example, if it were once legal to dispose of certain hazardous waste by incineration (fire) and then it is outlawed, those who previously burned their trash would not be prosecuted. Likewise, if you used narcotics back in the day when they were legal, you would not be a candidate for prosecution, but if you still possessed those narcotics that you obtained legally, you could still be charged with possession.

Mostly ex-post facto is with criminal law, not civil law. For the magazine example, we would interpret that you COULD NO LONGER possess them and could be charged for having them hypothetically. You couldn't however be charged for purchasing them, in the event that that has also been recorded, because when you purchased them it was legal to do so.
The fact that you obtained it legally wouldn't matter.

 

[japonaliya]

So...if I had those legally obtained magazines..what would i be obligated to do now??? (and JFYI..I don't!!)

Would I have to burn them to a crisp...turn them in to my local police with the org. receipt slip showing when I purchased them so I wouldn't be prosecuted?

What if I just had them stashed away in an old box in my garage, completely forgotten for 20 years, and while moving, the movers dropped the box and everything spilled out inc. some mags, and the movers notified the authorities?

I know this is all hypothetical, but I hope you know that I am trying to show how insane some laws are..and how anyone can be put away for just about anything...even if it goes against common sense, and the spirit of justice!

 

[jaystak]

If it's illegal now, you are open to prosecution.

 

[japonaliya]

If it's illegal now, you are open to prosecution.

Sad but true I guess.....

I wonder how many people have some of this formally illegal stuff, and don't know what to do with it, as getting even rid of it is risky?