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Over in one.

// Ctrl-C
// saved
// I'm already sitting over there, thanks

I hate to say it, but not such a bad idea. Just because kids are stupid and are becoming sluts at younger ages than ever before doesn't mean they should have to register as a sex offender or whatnot for the rest of their lives.

nice!

You have got to be f*cking kidding me!
Tax revenue is at an all time low, people are losing what few jobs there are in this state and THIS is what they're wasting our resources on?

Makes me miss the Dean years.

Well, the best of the pics & vids all end up online anyway.

That's not going to change one way or another.

Hooray for parents who think buying their 14 year old daughters cameraphones and web cams is a good idea!!!

What are the feds going to do, ultimately?

Make owning a camera illegal if you're under 18?

nailPuppy: I hate to say it, but not such a bad idea. Just because kids are stupid and are becoming sluts at younger ages than ever before doesn't mean they should have to register as a sex offender or whatnot for the rest of their lives.

Agreed. I remember the days of Polaroids?? probably have some still buried somewhere... umm nevermind. Parents should just get the crotch-fruit a camera-less phone...

GIS for sexting results in some lulz

That's sexty.

violent apathy: ......................._,,-~'¯¯¯'~-,,
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looks like pedobear needs to upgrade

turbokat: You have got to be f*cking kidding me! Tax revenue is at an all time low, people are losing what few jobs there are in this state and THIS is what they're wasting our resources on?

Well, that and the same sex marriage thing.

Makes me miss the Dean years.

I did anyway.

nailPuppy: I hate to say it, but not such a bad idea. Just because kids are stupid and are becoming sluts at younger ages than ever before doesn't mean they should have to register as a sex offender or whatnot for the rest of their lives.

Yeah, this. Trying to fix problems doesn't excuse stupidity.

Pardon the tangent, but if fighting for a cause required anonymity, I think we'd see a SHARP decline in activism. Altruism doesn't seem to be the motivation so much as self promotion: being "seen by men."I seriously think the last fifteen years or so have been a renaissance for busybodies. All these excuses: "It's for the children!" "It's for America! Why do you hate America!" etc. are just rationalizations.

People have been using others' shortcomings as an excuse to unleash their inner control freak for way too long. Maybe it's just selective headlines, but it does seem the tide is turning a bit.

Am I missing the point, or is this primarily aimed at reducing the often poorly applied 'sex-offender' bit?

/is drinking...odds are in favor of missing the point

But hey, even if I am wrong, do stand by for a whole ton of whaaaaaagarb from people claiming to think of the children.

Cognitive dissonance. It's awesome.

Why, instead of legalizing it, dont the prosecutors just use their discrecion? Like theyre supposed to.

meh.
/lives in VT.

Legalizing sexting is the wrong approach.

The better approach would be to toss prosecutors in jail for being total farktwits and abusing people under color of authority.

Should underaged kids passing around nudie pictures of each other be charged as pedos and be forced to register as sex offenders? Probably not. Should the practice be allowed and condoned? Probably not this either. Yeah kids will be kids blah blah blah, but this really won't do much but allow the real scumbag perverts easier access to this material. Phones can be easily hacked remotely, kids lose their phones, etc. Allowing this to remain pervasive is only going to increase the amount of material out there to be had, and make it easier to access. The kids doing this stuff shouldn't have their lives ruined by prison time and the sex offender registry, but there needs to be some repercussions for this behavior. Why does it not surprise me that these nutty laws are coming out of Vermont? They make California look like Alabama.

this law makes too much sense, won't pass

Disgaraced former congressman, Mark Foley, unavailable for comment, attempts to reach his cell phone revealed he was currently "out of pocket" in Vermont.

spman: 0/10

What sexting may look like.

RoyBatty: Legalizing sexting is the wrong approach.

Well, folks... we've got the first gay response to this. Any others?

turbokat: You have got to be f*cking kidding me!
Tax revenue is at an all time low, people are losing what few jobs there are in this state and THIS is what they're wasting our resources on?

Makes me miss the Dean years.

Sooo.... you'd rather they waste your state's tax revenue prosecuting this stuff?

spman:

And we have another!

So why are you carrying your son's phone around?

Methinks a lawmaker was recently threatened by a 16 year old with sexting spam.

Only reason they'd do something that makes sense is to cover their ass.

spman: Should underaged kids passing around nudie pictures of each other be charged as pedos and be forced to register as sex offenders? Probably not. Should the practice be allowed and condoned? Probably not this either. Yeah kids will be kids blah blah blah, but this really won't do much but allow the real scumbag perverts easier access to this material. Phones can be easily hacked remotely, kids lose their phones, etc. Allowing this to remain pervasive is only going to increase the amount of material out there to be had, and make it easier to access. The kids doing this stuff shouldn't have their lives ruined by prison time and the sex offender registry, but there needs to be some repercussions for this behavior. Why does it not surprise me that these nutty laws are coming out of Vermont? They make California look like Alabama.

You do of course realize that for every highly-publicised case of sexting resulting in a prosecution there are hundreds if not thousands that go unnoticed by law enforcement, right?

Just as the "war on drugs" has been nothing more than an abject failure ans demand will ALWAYS be greater than the govt's ability to interdict shipments so to is the demand for nude 15 year old girls making out with their best friend on webcam.

Prosecuting this does nothing to stop the "problem" and just unnecessarily ruins lives.

The notion that the teens involved in these incidents are allowed to have sex with one another but prohibited from filming it is prima facie absurd.

Furthermore, if/when one of these "minors" were to drive drunk and cause a fatality or rob a bank and shoot someone they instantly and magically become "adults" in the eyes of the law.

That they're still considered "minors" when it comes to matters sex says what, exactly?

That sex is worse than murder?

When sexting is outlawed, only outlaws will...err, sext.

ddiction: turbokat: You have got to be f*cking kidding me!
Tax revenue is at an all time low, people are losing what few jobs there are in this state and THIS is what they're wasting our resources on?

Makes me miss the Dean years.

Sooo.... you'd rather they waste your state's tax revenue prosecuting this stuff?

Nope, but counseling is in order if you're 14 and need to take naked pics of yourself. AND send them to other people. These are the same kids that post their underage/drug/alcohol parties on you tube and wonder why they get caught.

Good. The people who participate in this, regardless of what you think about it, are absolutely not anywhere close to the same level as rapists and molesters and pedophiles. It's still a dumb idea, but the punishment is wrong for the crime as is. Let teenagers be dumb and horny, it's a normal part of life even if it makes people feel awkward to condone.

voyvf: RoyBatty: Legalizing sexting is the wrong approach.

Well, folks... we've got the first gay response to this. Any others?

What's your problem, do you have some inability to read and comprehend? (And do you spout your homophobic remarks in the real world?)

Out of curiosity for those in VT familiar with the legislation, does it include mandatory elementary/secondary school education on wtf will inevitably go wrong when you put these photos on a phone?

zerth: Methinks a lawmaker was recently threatened by a 16 year old with sexting spam.

Only reason they'd do something that makes sense is to cover their ass.

I like the way you think.

/I'm gonna be watching you.
//Of course teenagers who send eachother pics, regardless of content, should NOT be prosecuted as "child pornographers". That's asinine and dumbass and FAIL.

It isn't really a bad idea at all - we should do away with all this age based crap and, you know, judge based on merit but that would be logical - but this has absolutely no chance of passing. Ever.

Aldo the Wonder Dog: Out of curiosity for those in VT familiar with the legislation, does it include mandatory elementary/secondary school education on wtf will inevitably go wrong when you put these photos on a phone?

I'm not really familiar with the legislation but here's a much more in depth article that does mention education but nothing specific.

The answer to EVERYTHING is for us Americans to get the prudish, puritan ideals out of our laws, and for our culture to stop being so collectively idiotic about nudity in any form.

I mean, if you think about it, we've effectively made it illegal to view someone in their natural state until they reach an arbitrarily-chosen age that has no bearing on whether or not they are capable of giving consent.

We're not talking about sex here. We're talking about people being sent to prison and put on sex offender lists for posting and viewing nudity. JUST THE NAKED HUMAN BODY.

Meanwhile, you can turn on any of the CIS shows and see graphic, raw depictions of dismembered bodies, gore-filled scenes of the result of violence, and detailed autopsies of murder victims... And that's allowed. It's perfectly legal to view a person's intestines, stomach, heart, ovaries, or other guts, but as soon as you zoom out and reach the epidermis, you can't look because it would be an outrage to see a female nipple, a vulva, a penis, or testicles.

We're so terrified of nudity in this country that we're willing to destroy teenagers' lives over a nipple or even a bare butt. We're willing to destroy a family and someone's future over them exposing their vulva to someone they feel emotionally or physically attracted to.

We're so oppressive about the naked human body that we are willing to call any display of it "pornography" if it appeases the most uptight, sexually-repressed, prudish members of our society.

Frankly, I think we should be embarrassed-- as a nation-- that we get so upset over a few particular sections of someone's epidermal layer. It's pathetic.

Of course, it's not the nudity itself that upsets us, is it? It's the reaction of other people, ourselves included, that upsets us. We don't want people showing off their bodies because the rest of us (or particular persons, anyway) are afraid we'll look, drool, and maybe even masturbate to it in the privacy of our own homes. Oh sure, there might be some creeps out there who would take it further, but they're inclined to do so whether or not they see their prey naked.

We've become a nation of people who are so ashamed of our own bodies and our reaction to other peoples' bodies that we're willing to allow the most prudish members of society dictate our laws for us.

Meanwhile, most of South America and much of Europe have no problems with tasteful nudity, topless or nude beaches, and other naked forms of entertainment, and yet their society hasn't broken down, they've suffered about the same amount of sexual assaults as we do without nudity, and there's no pregnancy or STD epidemic.

How about we fix it like this: If a person wants to photograph themselves naked, that should be their right from the time they're allowed to consent to having sex (depending on the individual state's laws). If the recipient of that photograph did not encourage, coerce, or manipulate the subject into sending the photograph (or taking it), then they should likewise be left alone by law enforcement.

We'll work on the rest later... For now, however, let's just stop threatening teenage girls with prison, status as a felon, and the sex offender's list for simply choosing to display their naked body to another human being. The point of the law is to protect them from victimization, not to punish them because they "victimized" themselves. If they're of sound mind, they should have the final say in whether or not they're a victim.

Let's just amend the laws this way: In order for there to be a charge of making and distributing child pornography, there must be two actual, physical, sovereign parties involved; One to be "the accused", and one to be the "victim." If they are both the same individual, then there should be no arrest, punishment, or action taken.

Likewise for the recipient of the images. If they were not involved in the production, and did not solicit the images (i.e they were sent to them without proof of a request on their part), then there should be no legal action taken.

Nudity is not pornography, and people should have the right to determine whether or not they're ready to take a picture of themselves in their natural form.

Stop victimizing teens, Law Enforcement, and go after the REAL bad guys: The kiddie diddlers, the Priests who rape choirboys, the teachers who are banging their students, and the guys luring kids into a van. Punish the predators, not the prey.

turbokat: ddiction: turbokat: You have got to be f*cking kidding me!
Tax revenue is at an all time low, people are losing what few jobs there are in this state and THIS is what they're wasting our resources on?

Makes me miss the Dean years.

Sooo.... you'd rather they waste your state's tax revenue prosecuting this stuff?

Nope, but counseling is in order if you're 14 and need to take naked pics of yourself. AND send them to other people. These are the same kids that post their underage/drug/alcohol parties on you tube and wonder why they get caught.

What makes you think they won't be counseled? The school and the parents should be perfectly capable of addressing this on their own without involving the court system. This about making sure the kids don't end up labeled as sex offenders for the rest of their lives because of stupid crap they did when they were idiot teenagers. If it's legal for underage kids to have consensual sex with each other--which, presumably, they do in the nude--why should they be sex offenders for consensually sending nude pictures of themselves to each other?

ZeroCorpse: The answer to EVERYTHING is for us Americans to get the prudish, puritan ideals out of our laws... etc. ...

Stop trying to rationalize your pedophilia. Please seek help.

johnrhyse: ZeroCorpse: Punish the predators, not the prey

This is precisely what this law is attempting to do. By the way, nice manifesto ... is this you?

I've seen that guy somewhere...

Brainmask: ZeroCorpse: The answer to EVERYTHING is for us Americans to get the prudish, puritan ideals out of our laws... etc. ...

Stop trying to rationalize your pedophilia. Please seek help.

Hey, if wanting hot 17 year olds to send you naughty cell phone pics is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Hmm someone's at my door.

ZeroCorpse: Let's just amend the laws this way: In order for there to be a charge of making and distributing child pornography, there must be two actual, physical, sovereign parties involved; One to be "the accused", and one to be the "victim." If they are both the same individual, then there should be no arrest, punishment, or action taken.

Well said. Also, I don't think people realize just how easy it is for teenagers to find porn these days, and how numb they must be to it. Nudity is everywhere online, even when you're not looking for it. Even this site, which is pretty tame by Internet standards, has a NSFW image in practically every thread. We're long past the era where a girl could make her boyfriend blush by raising the hem of her skirt just high enough to show some ankle. I'm sure at least some of the girls doing this feel like more drastic measures are necessary to keep their boyfriends interested without having to actually have sex with them... or if they already are, maybe they think it's a way to keep the boyfriends from getting bored and looking elsewhere. Either way, for the pictures to be illegal when the sex isn't is ludicrous.

Shrinkwrap: Brainmask: ZeroCorpse: The answer to EVERYTHING is for us Americans to get the prudish, puritan ideals out of our laws... etc. ...

Stop trying to rationalize your pedophilia. Please seek help.

Hey, if wanting hot 17 year olds to send you naughty cell phone pics is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Hmm someone's at my door.

Vgjina

You're sick! You people can't get a woman to like you so you prey on poor inocent little 17 year old children! Then you try to justify it by saying this little child is "Only 1 month shy" of their 18 birthday..Perv

Shrinkwrap: Brainmask: ZeroCorpse: The answer to EVERYTHING is for us Americans to get the prudish, puritan ideals out of our laws... etc. ...

Stop trying to rationalize your pedophilia. Please seek help.

Hey, if wanting hot 17 year olds to send you naughty cell phone pics is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Hmm someone's at my door.

You misunderstand. I don't have a problem with pedophilia, I just hate sophistry.

Has anyone considered that teenagers themselves can be predators, or are we supposed to assume that they're all fine upstanding people who'd never try to take advantage of anyone?

The dumbass legislators ARE condoning this. If they didn't want to then they'd just propose lesser penalties. Something needs to be done to discourage it because stuff sent between "teenagers" WILL get out. Sorry, but it will. When 1,000 high school students have a pic of some naked girl then one of them will send it to someone else who isn't a high school student.

While I like that someone has brains to see this is stupid. I done like the idea of just legalizing it. There needs to be some penalty, like a good swift kick in the a$$. and one for the perants for not teaching there snowFLAKE better.

disestablishmenator: Has anyone considered that teenagers themselves can be predators, or are we supposed to assume that they're all fine upstanding people who'd never try to take advantage of anyone?

The dumbass legislators ARE condoning this. If they didn't want to then they'd just propose lesser penalties. Something needs to be done to discourage it because stuff sent between "teenagers" WILL get out. Sorry, but it will. When 1,000 high school students have a pic of some naked girl then one of them will send it to someone else who isn't a high school student.

I would assume laws governing sending unsolicited lewd images would still be in play. All this is doing is outlawing charging minors with the very laws that were meant to protect them.

If you think a 16 year old girl taking pictures of herself is in any way "manufacturing child pornography," than you are an idiot.

It's about time this happened. While I'm not sure full out legalization is the correct approach, I don't think it really matters. It's not like they're not going to do it anyway, regardless of the laws.
At least this way they won't end up branded for life for something teens have been doing since polaroids came out.

/the tech may have changed
//but teens never will
///I feel old.

neonfish07: this law makes too much sense, won't pass

I swear, this is exactly what I thought when I RTA

OddObject: At least this way they won't end up branded for life for something teens have been doing since polaroids came out.

Teens taking naked polaroids? My wife and I weren't teens when we...

/never mind