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I read a story on /r/hentai (yes, bear with me) who said that he was stopped at the Canadian border and they searched his laptop. In his browser image cache the

by ue_ 10y ago

I read a story on /r/hentai (yes, bear with me) who said that he was stopped at the Canadian border and they searched his laptop. In his browser image cache they found drawings of fictional characters who appeared to be under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts. They detained him for a day (or two, I can't remember) and confiscated his laptop permanently. Laws like this are silly, horrible, and have no place in a democracy. Even disgusting speech ought to be defended. Canada, the UK and NZ (edit: and Australia, where someone was, I believe, jailed for having "Simpsons porn" on his computer) are places that I know have laws like this. As a citizen of one of these places, it worries me greatly, even though I am not interested in such drawings. It actually enrages me, far more than any other problem in the Western world. Please be careful when crossing borders.

goatforce5 10y ago
An episode of Border Security had a furry trying to enter Canada, complete with the border guards trying to work out if furry porn counted as bestiality porn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y_5b1JsIs4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y_5b1JsIs4 It's probably best to not draw attention to yourself when crossing borders. i.e., don't wear a giant tail when talking to border guards.
wallace_f 10y ago
> Laws like this are silly, horrible, and have no place in a democracy. Even disgusting speech ought to be defended. I agree. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge I would guess these cases would not hold up to the scrutiny of the supreme court, if they were ever brought there. As a non legal expert, my reading has been that the Supreme Court usually has, at least in the past, set a very high bar in ruling against free expression, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoirs_v._Massachusetts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoirs_v._Massachusetts Maybe someone has a more educated opinion than I, though. I really don't want to see our Bill of Rights torn apart. As one user said here, they have a theory these policies serve a purpose to acclimate us to a new kind of authoritarian government. I have a lot of personal family pride in fighting for civil and human rights, and I am personally troubled by what seems to be an ever-steady march towards 1984, if we're not already there. > Canada, the UK and NZ (edit: and Australia, where someone was, I believe, jailed for having "Simpsons porn" on his computer) are places that I know have laws like this. By the way, NZ is particularly outrageous and ridiculous with these laws. What I find particularly bemusing is that while in NZ has they can ban a book for mainstream sexual content with little quarrel, Auckland has a visible prostitution market. I'm not necessarily saying one thing or another about prostitution, but I think it says something about the recklessness with free speech there. Their failed War on Drugs is also outrageous, arguably the highest per-capita WoD programs in the world, and is expanding.
- lancewiggs 10y ago
  To be clear: Auckland has a _legal_ prostitution industry, as does the rest of NZ. The censorship board can indeed ban certain media, but it's never really an issue here.
  - wallace_f 10y ago
    Yea, I know, I think it's crazy. > it's never really an issue here. Fair enough, but I think that's an opinion we just disagree on. Someone posted under this topic the idea that the point of these violations of civil liberties, even if "they aren't really an issue," is exactly that: to acclimate us to think, "it's not really an issue." Freedom of expression is something I believe we are very lucky to have, people have fought and died for much lesser freedoms. Banning books is a threatening move by government and something that should happen only in utterly extreme circumstances, if at all. In this case, Auckland has not just a legal, but a visible, obvious prostitution market. I think the age of consent there is even 16(?) yet that same teenager couldn't even buy this book on the topic of sex. It's very much just kind of ridiculous. The country also spends just about the most in the world on its War on Drugs (per capita), so maybe it's no wonder the police didn't have the time when one friendly traveller at a hostel got his orbital bone broken by some local thugs, or when at another hostel someone had their backpack stolen.
shostack 10y ago
What recourse does one have when a device is seized? These things aren't cheap and I'd feel a bit better knowing that my sole option wasn't "save up for a new one."
- Asooka 10y ago
  At this point? Save up for a new one, pay a hundred times its cost to a lawyer to maybe have it back, or start a revolution and overthrow the government.

by ue_ 10y ago

goatforce5 10y ago

An episode of Border Security had a furry trying to enter Canada, complete with the border guards trying to work out if furry porn counted as bestiality porn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y_5b1JsIs4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y_5b1JsIs4 It's probably best to not draw attention to yourself when crossing borders. i.e., don't wear a giant tail when talking to border guards.

wallace_f 10y ago

> Laws like this are silly, horrible, and have no place in a democracy. Even disgusting speech ought to be defended. I agree. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge I would guess these cases would not hold up to the scrutiny of the supreme court, if they were ever brought there. As a non legal expert, my reading has been that the Supreme Court usually has, at least in the past, set a very high bar in ruling against free expression, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoirs_v._Massachusetts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoirs_v._Massachusetts Maybe someone has a more educated opinion than I, though. I really don't want to see our Bill of Rights torn apart. As one user said here, they have a theory these policies serve a purpose to acclimate us to a new kind of authoritarian government. I have a lot of personal family pride in fighting for civil and human rights, and I am personally troubled by what seems to be an ever-steady march towards 1984, if we're not already there. > Canada, the UK and NZ (edit: and Australia, where someone was, I believe, jailed for having "Simpsons porn" on his computer) are places that I know have laws like this. By the way, NZ is particularly outrageous and ridiculous with these laws. What I find particularly bemusing is that while in NZ has they can ban a book for mainstream sexual content with little quarrel, Auckland has a visible prostitution market. I'm not necessarily saying one thing or another about prostitution, but I think it says something about the recklessness with free speech there. Their failed War on Drugs is also outrageous, arguably the highest per-capita WoD programs in the world, and is expanding.

lancewiggs 10y ago
To be clear: Auckland has a _legal_ prostitution industry, as does the rest of NZ. The censorship board can indeed ban certain media, but it's never really an issue here.
- wallace_f 10y ago
  Yea, I know, I think it's crazy. > it's never really an issue here. Fair enough, but I think that's an opinion we just disagree on. Someone posted under this topic the idea that the point of these violations of civil liberties, even if "they aren't really an issue," is exactly that: to acclimate us to think, "it's not really an issue." Freedom of expression is something I believe we are very lucky to have, people have fought and died for much lesser freedoms. Banning books is a threatening move by government and something that should happen only in utterly extreme circumstances, if at all. In this case, Auckland has not just a legal, but a visible, obvious prostitution market. I think the age of consent there is even 16(?) yet that same teenager couldn't even buy this book on the topic of sex. It's very much just kind of ridiculous. The country also spends just about the most in the world on its War on Drugs (per capita), so maybe it's no wonder the police didn't have the time when one friendly traveller at a hostel got his orbital bone broken by some local thugs, or when at another hostel someone had their backpack stolen.

shostack 10y ago

What recourse does one have when a device is seized? These things aren't cheap and I'd feel a bit better knowing that my sole option wasn't "save up for a new one."

Asooka 10y ago
At this point? Save up for a new one, pay a hundred times its cost to a lawyer to maybe have it back, or start a revolution and overthrow the government.