I love the kinda freedoms the US could offer but it seems to be degenerating into a state run by fascists, bible thumpers included.

We'll see what happens under Obama's leadership.

Authorities breaking into the privacy of your own home, just because you read MANGA...I tell you, this is preposterous.

nobody said porn itself is obcene, but it had to be in whatever way it was potrayed in whatever manga/comics this man bought; thus both charges were originally aimed at the same area of this manga, and i'm sure if its a "heavy, sick, disgusting shota/loli/rape manga." it WILL fail the test

Not true. Heavy, sick, disgusting shota/loli/rape stories may offend but such content does not automatically make it devoid of any literary or artistic value, a part of the third question in the Miller Test. Urotsukidoji, the grandfather of tentacle rape and guro stories, contained plenty of gruesome underaged rape and murder but, for better or worse, it has been an inspiration for entire genres.

As far as I understand it's not just "because you read manga". You also can't compare it to thriller, horror, mystery. I mean, even people who normally stick to lighter stuff sometimes watch a horror movie. It's suspenseful, it's gory, it's shocking. Hell, even I watch it sometimes even though I'm more the "comedy, romance" kind. But when someone likes to read anything that features kids being raped, what does that say about this person? Now don't say they're afraid of adults or something like this...
I'm totally against the invasion of privacy too, but I've got issues with people who jack off on kids porno, no matter in what form.

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~Give time when it's needed~

Isn't manga basically a form of novels in graphic sense - to tell stories?
Then if it so, why they don't banned and charge those novels?
If it is to protecting development of "minds", isn't it better just to cut all the movies/novels/etc2. . . If manga is censored, why novels don't? They all associated to what our minds would think of and how we would react on those situation ? If literature -which indulges sex scenes, violence, etc2 in form of words structure - is an art , why comic/manga are not ?
- cannot provide any examples right now, but it just as it is. . . how terrible

Once again, this case is no longer about kiddie porn. It is about a few panels in a few manga in his massive collection that possibly contains material deemed obscene under the law of Iowa. The panels in question could be about adult women having sex with pigs and playing with their excrement for all we know.

So long as it possesses any literary or artistic value, and it does not place anyone in immediate harm, then such material, while vile and appalling to most, is not illegal to produce, sell or own. If the work was marketed to kids, if it had hidden messages in it, if it was made using child sex slave as models, then it would be clearly illegal. Right now though, they are just distasteful and provocative panels in bodies of works that may or may not be judged obscene in Iowa depending on the results of the trial.

To answer your question about people who jack off to kiddie porn, yes they are sick fucks. So are a hell of a lot of other people. People watch/read/listen to media about killing, doping and raping but we don't arrest them for owning the entire collection of South Park. Punishing people who act out vile deeds is one thing but to punish them for reading total works of fiction involving those topics is another.

personally, I feel that all of this stems from an issue with homosexuality and sexual exploitation. People are so fearful that they are ignoring the fact that perfectly decent, normal citizens are allowed kinks. All i basically read is yaoi, is it only acceptable because I am female? Why is it that the post officer had any right to inspect a comic book? Technically in the state I live in it is illegal to purchase hardcore pornography, does this mean that the post office can now rifle through my legally bought porn collection? Why does it matter that he might have drawn material of a questionable nature? Now if his entire collection was shotacon or lolicon, sure I can see a certified member of the psychiatric post office being allowed to question his purchase or more so what his purchase might represent. But what right do they have to judge it acceptable or obscene? I watched a porn once with a girl going down on a guy who had a chocolate eclair over his junk, let me assure you that was obscene. I do not doubt that many males and females would have found it positively appetizing. Perhaps had it been a creme eclair and not chocolate I would not have thought twice, be that as it may I am not about to go sicking the cops on the directory for being dirty. Though may he burn in hell that image has been stuck in my head for over half a decade, thanks. Still, I live in a conservative location and no doubt if the cops ever break down my door I will be in a whole lot more trouble than my male counterpart. No offense to anyone but screw you if you think you have the right to tell me what I find erotic or worth reading. The problem is that if they attack drawn pictures what is to stop them from proceeding to books that have inappropriate depictions written down. And honestly there are a lot of rape scenes that are written for plot and you are not expected to masturbate to, the point is that there is no definitive line that can be determined by any group of persons. The hope that a consensus will be obtained is unlikely. I'm ranting and no one will read this far no doubt, but there it is my opinion is posted in cyberspace for all the word to see. God help the FBI agent that had to riffle through my collection of juicy manga, anime, porn whatever your preference. And good luck to the poor sucker they are attacking, no one deserves to be humiliated or persecuted for buying a book.

Hardcore porn is technically illegal in your state? I could have swore making/selling/owning your average hardcore porno has always been legal all over the U.S. Otherwise the porn industry wouldn't exist the way it is.

I do agree with the observation on how an attack on manga can potentially open the door on an attack on fiction in general. Movies, TV shows, and comics in general would face more pressure to censor content. The written word probably won't be attacked as vigorously because people simply don't read the printed word as much anymore. That and, ironically, the kind of people who would attack such things aren't the type to read such things anyway.

I agree..
Even if it was paedophilic I still don't think he should be prosecuted.. pictures and videos are mainly wrong because of the exploitation and abuse of the children...
DRAWING PERVERTED PICTURES DOES NOT AFFECT THE KIDS.
It affects them in no way, and he is not causing anybody any physical or psychological harm, so surely it is much better if he can indulge his perveted fantasies in the secrecy of his own bedroom, not causing any harm to anyone?
If perverts can be satisfied by drawings then I think this is an excellent solution to prevent them from purchasing real images or video that genuinly causes huge problems and is morally wrong.

totally agree! u made a good point there! they shouldn't be allowed search your mail like that. and it's drawn, not even THAT realistic....-____-

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Manga is my Life!

Are you from the US?

Well the the US is hilarious from the start. Prostitution is illegal, but if you tape it and sell it it's legal. xD

Jesus, why the hell do americans whine and bitch about muslims, their moral enforcement and double standards, when they are just as bad when it comes to their own morale and double standards. This obessive need to go through peoples stuff, calling things obscene and putting them in jail. What the fuck is obscene ? Massive uselss gore in hollywood movies, or "obscene" gay comics. Ohh noes ! Men having sex! OH SHII!! Christian moralfags all of them. Religious morals + political power = prosecution of normal people doing stuff the "rulers" dont like. Seriously, i like moderate christians, but move a bit into the future america. Gay is okey. moralfags. JESUS !

We all know that manga is beyond the standards, there are as many shota and loli going around as there's the common Shoujo and Shounen. Most of the guys who read Hentai don't go around the world looking for girls with knockers bigger than the rest of the girls body. Most of the Mayu Shinjo fans don't hook up with violent rapist good looking teachers...
And I may have liked "Dear Mine" by Shigeru Takao, but like hell I'm going to start dating a guy 7 years younger than me, I don't want to end up in jail for a brat.
The problem is that different countries have different laws on the matter, most people believe that reading manga is wrong, reading manga about loli and shota is even worse.
I don't agree with putting a guy in jail for buying shota unless they can prove that the guy is mentally capable of going around raping kids.