Posted by emark on Fri 13 Mar 09, 10:48 PM to emark's blog.
Tags: Edinburgh (EH)
Reply to my letter ( http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/posts/223375/ ).
| Thank you for your email of 21 January about the Scottish Government's proposals to create a criminal offence for the possession of extreme pornography. Your comments have been noted. The Scottish Government believes that material of this type should not be tolerated. You should note that it is proposed to criminalise the possession of material which is obscene, pornographic and extreme. I would emphasis that the controlling of any obscene material is not new as, under the provisions of section 51 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, the selling, distribution and importing of it is already illegal in Scotland. What the proposed new offence will do is criminalise the personal possession of such material. In relation to the points you have raised in your e mail it is the intention that only material which is pornographic and realistically depicts the extreme material that already breaches the current obscenity legislation which will be caught by the new offence. The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill will give more details of the material which it will be illegal to possess when it is published later this year. There will also be defence provisions, as it is not the intention to penalise people who accidently come across the material or have it sent to them without their consent. We are aware of the views of the BDSM community view. The proposed offence is not about individual sexual practices, it is about tackling the possession and circulation of extreme pornographic material which is a separate matter. The British Board of Film Classification already takes obscenity legislation into account when classifying films and there will be an exemption for films classified by this Board. Despite that where specific images are extracted from such films and held elsewhere then that image may lose that exemption. I hope that above is helpful. Thank you for taking the time to write to us about this issue. |
She plays the classic "it covers images not acts" card (as used by Martin Salter), which is a fallacy as it obviously criminalises "the act of taking or viewing a photograph". When I referred to consenting adults into BDSM, I was very careful to explain how a law on possession of images would still affect people who pose no threat to society. The defence for consensual acts in the resultant bill only applies to fictional images, so BDSMers who photograph their own consensual acts will still be criminalised. Even for staged acts, I gave the example of two people in a ménage à trois showing an image to the third partner, which would also not be allowed under this defence - is this really what they mean by "circulation of extreme pornographic material"?
I'm sure they are aware of the views of the "BDSM community" - and they have every intention of criminalising us, except if you conform to what the Government thinks is acceptable:
* Your acts don't include making images (which is fine for a lot of us, but not all of us) and you don't visit BDSM sites that might have images on them, unless you can be sure they are all below the threshold.
* Or if you do make an image of your own act, not only must it all be for pretend, but you mustn't show it to anyone at all who wasn't there. Not even someone that you're in a relationship with.
(Not to mention the wider issue of the stigma created about these acts - if the state says "material of this type should not be tolerated", it is clearly a negative statement of hate about the acts portrayed in these images, even if those carrying out the acts alone are not criminalised. Just as someone preaching about how gay sex material should not be tolerated, would rightfully be seen as being prejudiced against all homosexuality, not just people who view or make images.)
Anyhow, Scotland's bill is now published (and is broader than England's one). See http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/posts/229588/ for info.
Anyone else get a reply?
Edited Fri 13 Mar 09, 10:55 PM by emark
| 14 Mar 09, 6:51 AM cuffkey1 UK(EH), 8 yrs |
it seems we are all doomed, i can see they will need to build more prisons and shut down ann summers.
the fluffy handcuff girls are in this too if someone takes a picture and it deems to look like its realistic.
what next police raids on bdsm clubs .
this government has set human rights back a hundred years , i thin we should all move to holland where they are more tolerant of us people.
and if you like being locked up in handcuffs it seems it night not be from a fellow player but from our loving police who would gladly take us real criminals in like the motorists who are an easy catch.
the real criminals in our society are having a laugh at the rest of us i think.
just my opinion please dont have a go about it if you dont agree , ic is notorious for argueing about things.
it is time we all stuck together as mr vanilla wont tolerate our community. Edited 14 Mar 09, 6:23 PM by cuffkey1 | |
| 14 Mar 09, 10:20 AM Symanski UK, 4 yrs  |
Often wondered what it would be like at a BDSM club if there was a police raid with them putting people in handcuffs. It would be like a Sparticus Anonymous meeting! "Cuff me!" "No, cuff me!" etc etc. Or to be really nasty they could refuse to put anybody in cuffs.... | |
| 14 Mar 09, 6:22 PM cuffkey1 UK(EH), 8 yrs |
good reply, when v got a visit from the cops one of the subbies went up and complemented the wpc on her costume !!! i thought i was going to piss meself laughing. | |
| 14 Mar 09, 6:25 PM MasterWolfOne UK(ML), 6 yrs |
It would seem stupid but also funny to think that the police would have to take off our handcuffs ,,, just to put theirs on!!!! or would it be a case of "am no playin' unless you use mine. Edited 15 Mar 09, 3:59 PM by MasterWolfOne | |
| 15 Mar 09, 5:52 PM gorbyme 4 yrs  |
Juliet Bravo putting me in handcuffs and hauling me away. WOH.......where did that come from?.......lol
[/quote] Often wondered what it would be like at a BDSM club if there was a police raid with them putting people in handcuffs. It would be like a Sparticus Anonymous meeting! "Cuff me!" "No, cuff me!" etc etc. Or to be really nasty they could refuse to put anybody in cuffs.... [/quote]
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