[HPFGU-Feedback] RE: ADMIN: Possible Threat to HPfGU lists

[IggyMcSnurd]

> Linnea:
>  
> If the group is in danger of being summarily deleted for references to
> the seduction of a minor by an adult, then we need to pause and think
> again about our need to read and write about it.


Iggy here:

This comment made something click in my mind...  And this is also
directed at those who say that the HPfGU has some great legal minds that
have looked over the terms of use, in addition to being mainly aimed at
those who comment that 16 is the UK age of consent.

It doesn't matter if 16 is the age of consent in the UK.

Yahoo is based in the US, and is bound by the laws of the US with regard
to issues relating to sex with minors.  

To give an example:  If a group of people who are 16 make a series of
adult movies and sell them in the UK... well, that's ok there, since
they're of the age of consent.  If someone from the US goes to the UK,
buys copies of those tapes and takes them back to the US, they are in
violation of laws regarding child pornography and can be charges with
possession of such within the US.

The best rule for any group on a service such as Yahoo is not to go by
the laws of their own country, but by the laws of the country the server
is housed at.  Those laws will be the ones that take precedence.

Which is the main reason for concern about the topics and nature of some
of the discussion... and also renders the argument that "Harry Potter is
16, and in the UK that's the age of consent.  It's written in the UK,
and he can do whatever he wants there..." invalid.  (I will also point
out that the minute JKR ever decides to put in any scene of overt
sexuality and/or depiction of an actual intimate intercourse, not only
will the readership drop drastically for school kids and the complaints
from outraged parents rise, but if the characters are under 18, then it
risks not being picked up in the US at all.)


Just my two centaurs worth...

Iggy McSnurd