Editorials
Monday, June 3, 1996
Child porn on Internet must be stamped out
THE issue of online pornography struck home in Hawaii with the arrest of an Army warrant officer on charges of sending sexually explicit images of minors to another state computer. This is apparently the first such case in the state involving transmission of child pornography via the Internet. Warrant Officer James Miller II, 36, stationed at a unit attached to Tripler Army Hospital, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted.
Computer technology can achieve wonders in the dissemination of useful information, but it is also subject to abuse. It is reassuring to find that federal authorities are enforcing the law. Child pornography is particularly loathsome. It should not be permitted to proliferate through this new medium.
This prosecution should not be confused with the provision of the new telecommunications law that bans the dissemination of "indecent material" on the Internet and online services.
Indecency is a very broad legal standard that includes profanity. While it has been applied to broadcasting in a limited way, it has not been used in recent years as a standard for written material. First Amendment groups have decried the provision as an assault on free speech.
The law provides a defense for online services and Internet access providers if they made a good-faith effort to block indecent material.
Nevertheless, this section of the law will probably face constitutional challenges, as it should. In its current form the section constitutes a troubling restriction on expression.
Other editorials in brief:
Corporate welfare
IN the effort to reduce the federal budget deficit, one area that deserves more attention is known as "corporate welfare," government programs and subsidies that benefit business at the taxpayers' expense. In an assessment of how much progress has been made since the Republicans won control of Congress two years ago, Dean Stansel, an analyst at the Cato Institution, a libertarian think tank, has concluded that corporate welfare is alive and well.
It is unacceptable to balance the federal budget by cutting social programs while leaving corporate welfare untouched.
Japan's recovery
UNEMPLOYMENT in Japan shot back up to record levels in April, but that hasn't discouraged analysts who see the nation's economic recovery continuing after a four-year slump. This is important for Hawaii, with its dependence on Japan for the visitor industry and investment capital.
With two of Hawaii's biggest markets for tourism, Japan and California, recovering from recession, Hawaii can expect to reap benefits for its own economy - but only if the visitor industry keeps on its toes.
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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor