The Proposed Legislation
For the Bill as it would appear if current amendments are passed on 30 April 2008 click here.
The relevant clauses of the Bill as at 29 April 2008 are
available online here
The latest version of this rapidly changing Bill should always be linked from the bottom half of this page on the
UK parliament website.
Also relevant are the original
Ministry of Justice explanatory notes.
For an appraisal by backlash of the latest Government version click here.
What's at stake
The central issue here is not whether violent and abusive behaviour is
defensible. It is not, as everyone agrees. Rather, the issue is whether this
proposal will criminalise non-abusive activities engaged in by consenting
adults.
The question that immediately follows is this: if the activities or material
in question are not abusive, should they be outlawed because some (even most)
people find them distasteful ? It is worth remembering that a majority once took
that view on homosexuality.
Shooting the Messenger
The internet is a convenient scapegoat for society's ills.
The UK government is to legislate how best to imprison potentially many people for viewing content on the internet.
How should governments regulate the details of our personal lives and control individual expression ?
Stop the Government's
Censorship
The Home Office has begun a process to make it illegal to possess extreme adult images.
These plans could lead to people being imprisoned for viewing images on the internet.
This is a step too far from a government determined to regulate every aspect of our lives and quash individual expression.