Sponsor's Message

Get caught taking naughty pics of people without their knowledge and you could end up in the slammer for three years. Fair enough -- everyone deserves their privacy and I don't think any of us would like to find out that our nearest and dearest had unknowingly become the subject of some deviant's photographic interest.

But before we all go off jerking our knees to the tune of "perverts, perverts, lock em up" -- maybe we ought to consider the full effect of these proposed laws.

On NatRad this morning, an email from a listener was read out...

This email pointed out that the proposal to jail people caught in possession of voyeuristic images could face up to a year in jail was patently unfair and unreasonable.

Why?

Well, claimed the writer, voyeurism (unlike kiddy-porn, bestiality and all manner of other pornography), is a legitimate type of erotica -- and I have to admit that he has a point.

As the email pointed out, voyeurism has been a part of the erotic arts ever since the introduction of those "What the Butler Saw" machines that were so popular early last century.

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination.

One only has to look at the number of adults who fit out their houses and their bedrooms with webcams which (for a fee), interested voyeurs can log onto view, to realise that voyeurism is a large and quite legitimate part of the adult sex industry.

Hell, they even do an "uncensored" version of the Big Brother programme to cater for the obviously large number of people who enjoy such things -- and that's on mainstream TV!

Legally course there is a huge distinction between taking some covert snaps of the neighbour in the bath and logging onto an adult website. In the former instance, the pictures are taken without the knowledge of the subject, in the latter the subject is fully aware and consenting to the pictures.

Now that would seem clear and easy enough. If someone is caught with covertly taken voyeuristic pictures on their PC then throw them in jail for a year. If they've got voyeuristic pictures that were taken with the subject's consent then (providing no other indecency laws are broken) no problems.

But, and here's the *real* problem with this proposed legislation, how do you tell the difference between the two types of voyeurism?

If the police inspect someone's PC and find that it contains voyeuristic images, how are they going to know whether those images were taken with the permission of the subject or not?

Will they have the right to assume that *all* voyeuristic images are illegal unless the person in possession of them can prove otherwise? Is this yet another case where we're about to lose the right to be presumed innocent of a crime?

Could having a screen-cap from Big Brother Uncensored soon land you in jail unless you can prove it came from the broadcast footage?

ISPs will also need to be very careful if these new laws are passed because, after doing just a few minutes of sleuthing, I see that there are at least five newsgroups containing the word "voyeur" or some derivation thereof.

Yes, by all means introduce laws that punish those who would seek to invade the privacy of others, particularly if that invasion involved the taking of pictures which could effectively then be distributed to others (thus magnifying the invasion). But -- and this is *very* important -- do not further erode our justice system by introducing yet another law that presumes guilt rather than innocence if a *potentially* infringing image is discovered.

Remember, the presumption of innocence is the very core of a fair justice system and we've already seen that core badly eroded in recent times. If we allow it to be eroded further then we clearly don't deserve fairness or justice we are losing.

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!