So, even though this has been beaten to death with a very big stick, it has gotten me thinking.

The continual tug-of-war between Public and Private, how to protect kids, how to protect people's views, the average person.

America is a great place, and I mean that very seriously, we have the freedom to challenge the government, we have the freedom to disagree. Yes, we have our limits, and yes, we all disagree with the limits occasionally. When is the government allowed to invade our private lives? When are they allowed to control our public?

Comics aren't necessarily new, in fact, they could be eons old if you're counting the drawings on cave walls, eon perhaps being an over exaggeration in this case. But when Motion Pictures were new, they were denied free speech, subject to a censor board and everything (this was in 1915), because they might be used for evil. Now, to give some credit to the folks of that time, motion pictures have made us generally apathetic toward all of the violence and sex that we see in movies, but that means that our Community Standards have changed as a whole. That court case was a few years ago now, and it's almost the year 2009, so is it right that comics, which as fans of anime and manga, we consider a form of art, a statement, our speech, should they be censored?

Now yaoi isn't allowed? I have only read a few series, the first of which is Loveprize in Viewfinder. Which is sold in the USA, and can be bought at Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles, and I know cause I've seen it being sold there online. So that's illegal? While its still being sold? Cause I think we all agree that the first chapter in Viewfinder is pretty dang graphic. Well, I just wanted to point this out. I could on this topic for a while....

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"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." -John Steinbeck

i read a LOT of the opinions here, and its not that they should be dismissed; but the dude obviously didn't have the regular ecchi manga or something that could be taken as a joke if they choose to arrest him for it. sorry but i'm going to go ahead and take sides with the law on this one, IF the guy indeed had some heavy shota/loli or some crazy rape manga than in all due respect he should go to jail for a bit, NOT 20 years though lmao; thats a little excessive, maybe a month and simply have him burn the stuff

So, you are saying that a person should go to jail for having a manga that has shota/loli or even rape in it, then how about the people that have watched on tv or at the theaters, movies or even tv shows that have this same material for public viewing (not just private, like in one's home)? Or anyone that reads any book, fictional or otherwise that has to do with anything concerning these subjects? Sorry, but that would mean millions of people deserve to go to jail then.

This is completely retarded. Whatever happened to the Bill of Rights? People should have the choice to read whatever the hell they want. Whatever we want to read we should have the right to do it. I have no words to describe the stupidity of being arrested for reading porn. What he wants to read for his personal entertainment is no ones business but his. Individual rights seem to be dwindling by the second.

Do you have any idea what you're talking about? Do you even realize how much money it would cost to have the ownership of fictional material suddenly become a crime? Money that can be spent on REAL criminals? As much as I don't like the loli/shouta stuff someone who is into that stuff does NOT equate to sexual predator. If that was the case then even more interactive media such as violent video games would see a correlating rise in violent crimes but yet the opposite has happened.

And you also show total ignorance of what being convicted of a sexual act or crime of any nature represents. Even if this guy gets only one month in prison it's very likely he will be on the sexual predator list for the rest of his life. City decides to built a school close to your house? You're going to have to move, too bad. That is not reasonable AT ALL.

I agree. This case is about a person's individual rights, not just as a certain citizen of a country but also as a human being.

so true! I like yaoi/shounen-ai actually, I am a female but even if I was male it should be MY choice wether I read yaoi or not. I think this case is a waste of time and should be thrown out at court.

I don't know what pedophiles like do or don't like, but in this particular case it would less be like a guy hitting on your cuz you look 12 and more like, you look twelve but a classmate of yours who really likes you and knows that you are 21 hits on you despite you looking 12. More time than not, if the person is buying tank yaoi, they may very well be buying it because they know it's 18+ characters that just look a little young.

Now this seems like scare tactics for the CBLDF. This is a real case and I take this seriously but the point your trying to make is being detracted from buy the blatant pug for a hand out.

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Always remember what Jesus said "Once you've worn chilled boxers you never go back..."
Saint Oniisan

Gotta commend you for being brave enough to to post that opinion. The number of people here itching to flame you is probably sky high despite the fact you're part of a sizable minority.

Personally, while I can understand the disdain some people may feel for the material he may be carrying, honestly, he bought it legitimately from an overseas retailer. It isn't as if he went to a back alley to buy a gun and some crack. It's like he went to a Barnes and Noble, bought a trashy book and got arrested for it. That's what people here are railing against.

haha, i'm not really concering with the idiots on here who flame someone for stating their opinion, it just singles out who to ignore... as for him buying it legitimately, that may be the case over there; but he should really have checked our laws on that material first, i'm just saying that the arrst itself is actually quite valid... nevertheless they could be trying to figure out the murder down the street instead of being concerned about what a person reads

i believe you all have known that U.S. is a god damned nation devoted to FREEDOM - that means the freedom to take away your freedom...

it is meaningless to argue anymore, it is just how the nation are...

if it wasn't, how would there be all those banned books?...

now now, to those who live in U.S. or love U.S. or think its awesome or etc... LONG LIVE FREEDOM!!!!!

*nods* I read the story as it started to come out more on manga related sites and at first I was as worried as anyone else about their manga (not that I have much to be scared about anyway - Viz edited Midori Days) - but as I thought about it more the domino theory doesn't work in this case. As long as we can show a manga uses nudity, sex, etc for the story, then we'll be okay.
Don't forget that there are some american comics with just as much "obscene" material.
We have pretty lax standards for material and if the facts we are being given, such as that he only had a few volumes of questionable material out of thousands, are true then the charges will be dropped and the manga returned.
I have faith in my justice system.

well
since i love these stuff
i think, it's better to move to japan
^_^