posted on 7:47 AM | permalink

by Justin Hart

I like to start these posts with some positive news:

MySpace

MySpace has agreed with the 50-some-odd Attorney Generals who were knocking at their door: time to get serious about online predators.

You might recall last year a news story where over 10,000 sexual predators were found to have a profile on MySpace. This is not a pretty site.

Fortunately, MySpace has agreed to basic identity checks and age verification to avoid ugly incidents. Other points of the agreement include:


The results of addiction

If you haven't noticed already we've redesigned the HerStoryLives.com website. The stories told there are both eye-opening and inspiring. The site is a place to share the tragedies and successes that women have experienced in their lives around pornography addiction. The site allows women to anonymously share these stories.

Here's one story you must read: a stark confession of a teenage addict and his road to recovery.


Porn Taxes

A state senator from Pennsylvania is proposing a tax on the production and distribution of pornography. We applaud her efforts.


China cracks down

China has begun to clean up its image before the Olympics opens its doors:

China's authorities shut down 44,000 domestic websites and homepages and arrested 868 people while investigating 524 criminal cases in a campaign against Internet pornography last year, a national teleconference has heard.

Another 1,911 people involved in 1,609 Internet pornography activities were penalized, while the authorities canceled more than 440,000 pornographic messages online.

I'm worried about what happens to those arrested but I applaud their efforts. Note: North Korea is still the largest producer of pornography from what I understand.


The Family Friendly Airwaves

There's a battle afoot to determine what happens with the next band of wireless communications. One group, the Family Research Council, wants to use this spectrum for family friendly communications.

Other Good Reads

• J. Matt Barber takes the DOJ to task to failing to enforce obscenity laws.
• Brent Bozell takes on a new and popular podcast.
  
• ABCNews investigates the world of amateur pornography. We've noted in the past that the big names in the porn industry are suffering financially because of the massive free pornography efforts afoot. It turns out the money is just shifting.
• The Oscars of the porn world happened last week. Quick note from the event: Jenna Jameson is starting her own fragrance and line of clothes.
  
• The porn industry is always ahead of the game when it comes to technology.
• The military struggles with the implications of pornography.
  
• Coming to a vending machine near you.
  

Labels: addiction, china, facebook, myspace, news, taxes

posted on 7:33 AM | permalink

by Justin Hart

One of the things we frequently discuss at the Lighted Candle Society is how pervasive the problem of pornography is. Every profession and every walk of life seems to be represented. My job in gathering this information is pretty darn easy. Here's a quick sampling of news items just in the last week.

• A Pizzeria owner from Sydney, NY was sentenced to 25 years in prison for raping a 10 year old girl and recording the episode.
• Three Virginia High School students are in trouble for sending pornography around the school via cell phones
• A Wyoming soldier on leave from military duty was found to have 800 child pornography images in his posession.
• A Binghampton, NY bus driver admitted to owning child pornography.
• A Toronto after school volunteer, who apparently posed as a clergy, is accused of trading in child pornography.
• An ESPN radio broadcaster was found to have 40 hard core videos of child pornography in his home.
• An Alabama EMT was sentenced to two life terms after being found guilty of sodomizing a 12 year old and, of course, filming his exploits.
• An online internet sting caught a dozen or more people including a former Scout master.

To reiterate, these are instances caught just within the last week or so.

Labels: crime, proffesions