Thanks a lot Canada, fuck you.

[Mort Divine]

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/12/07/canada-bans-talking-to-children-online/

A new legal ruling makes talking to children online a possible criminal offence, with the crime of Internet luring no longer requiring any sexually explicit communication or even any intention of meeting the child for prosecution to proceed.

According to a judge with the Supreme Court of Canada, the law against “Internet luring” now “makes it a crime to communicate by computer with underage children or adolescents for the purpose of facilitating the commission of the offences,” an expansion of the previous interpretation which required some intent to actually meet the child.

“Facilitating” is interpreted as including any act which might in some way increase the chances of a child somewhere being exploited.

Anything which exploits a child’s “curiosity, immaturity or precocious sexuality” is also criminalised under the new law, and the judge emphasised that such criminal contact need not be sexual in nature.

The judge maintains that the decision will stop the plague of Internet child molesters dead:

“Those who use their computers to lure children for sexual purposes often groom them online by first gaining their trust through conversations about their home life, their personal interests or other innocuous topics.

This is in keeping with Parliament’s objective to close the cyberspace door before the predator gets in to prey.”

The new ruling was prompted by an earlier case of “Internet luring” in which the perpetrator engaged in sexually explicit chats with a 12-year-old girl, but managed to convince the courts that he had no intention of actually meeting the girl for sex, exploiting an apparent loophole and resulting in his acquittal.

The updated ruling overturns this acquittal on the grounds that the judge’s interpretation of the law was too narrow.

Campaigners for tougher laws “protecting” children are delighted at the prospect of finally being able to lock people up for having the temerity to talk to a child:

“There’s been a very clear message that in fact this is something that is an offence, and as a result, I would think that there will now be more arrests and prosecutions of adults committing these kind of crimes.

If you’re an adult and if you’re having conversations with a child on the Internet, be warned because even if your conversations aren’t sexual and even if your conversations are not for the purpose of meeting a child and committing an offence against a child, what you’re doing is potentially a crime.”

 

[Doomguy]

In before pedophile jokes.

I think that's ridiculous, however.

 

[waif]

Juries aren't going to convict people unless there's a clear actual sexual motive, in which case they deserve it, so while I think this goes too far, it's really not the end of the world.

 

[SweptbackFlame]

As ridiculous as it is, it's probably for the better.

 

[False Joe]

As ridiculous as it is, it's probably for the better.

.

 

[King Richard]

How is this ridiculous?

 

[Krow]

Mort made the thread....

 

[Belligerent]

How is this ridiculous?

right?! Why did it take them this long.

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

How do they enforce this law if the adult is an American who lives half a mile from the Canadian border?

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

The way these child "protection" laws are developing, pretty soon I'll have to register as a sex offender for hugging and kissing my children.

 

[vermicide]

When I was like 19 or 20 I guess, I was pretty into making doll icons haha, and the site I submitted them to had a forum that was mostly girls at least several years younger than me. I really liked giving them advice since I'd been through most of the shit they were asking about, and a lot of them really sucked at helping each other because they had no life experience. So, I guess this might have worried me a little had it come out when that site was really active, because I liked helping kids and some of them probably lived in Canada.

I don't get why parents can't just get somewhat involved with their kids' lives and actually monitor how much their kids are online. When I was in middle school, I wasn't allowed to be online all day and night.

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

When I was like 19 or 20 I guess, I was pretty into making doll icons haha, and the site I submitted them to had a forum that was mostly girls at least several years younger than me. I really liked giving them advice since I'd been through most of the shit they were asking about, and a lot of them really sucked at helping each other because they had no life experience. So, I guess this might have worried me a little had it come out when that site was really active, because I liked helping kids and some of them probably lived in Canada.

I don't get why parents can't just get somewhat involved with their kids' lives and actually monitor how much their kids are online. When I was in middle school, I wasn't allowed to be online all day and night.

Good thing a 19 or 20 year old was there to compensate for others' lack of experience

I don't think this law applies to talking on a message board that anyone can join though, I think it's more specific to people who have private conversations, such as through email and messenger programs and such.

 

[vermicide]

Good thing a 19 or 20 year old was there to compensate for others' lack of experience

I don't think this law applies to talking on a message board that anyone can join though, I think it's more specific to people who have private conversations, such as through email and messenger programs and such.

lol, because you're not the exact same age as me or anything.

I have experience in "omg i like this boy in my class n he wants to have sex shuld i do it?" and "my parents r sooo annoying plz halp!" And that was pretty much the extent of the questions there, it wasn't like serious life dilemmas or something.

That's what I was wondering actually, how strict they planned on getting with the law. Because you have to figure this is going to be pretty difficult to enforce with all the different kinds of social networking-type sites out there, most of which have private messaging/IM features on them.

 

[metal_wrath]

No parent wants their underage kids talking to or interacting with adults offline or online, unless they are a qualified teacher/caretaker in a public setting.

Noone wants their kid going online and having secret conversations with grown men/women. Regardless of what the topic is.

 

[CF87]

Kids need to be banned from the internet. bring down the ban hammer

 

[Mort Divine]

Do I think that adults should be interacting with children online? Not really.

Do I think it is the governments place to stop them? No fucking way.

Parents, step up and do your job.

 

[metal_wrath]

I have experience in "omg i like this boy in my class n he wants to have sex shuld i do it?" and "my parents r sooo annoying plz halp!" And that was pretty much the extent of the questions there, it wasn't like serious life dilemmas or something.

How are those not serious life dilemmas? Those are basically the whole of life issues for teenagers.

Noone wants some anonymous adult telling their kids if they should have sex, or anything else for that matter.

 

[vermicide]

Kids need to be banned from the internet. bring down the ban hammer

They really do fuck it up for everybody else. Just go outside and jump on your trampoline or something, computers are for grown-ups. TV too.

 

[Mort Divine]

How are those not serious life dilemmas? Those are basically the whole of life issues for teenagers.

Noone wants some anonymous adult telling their kids if they should have sex, or anything else for that matter.

Maybe so, but why would the government be the one telling people they can't? Just have the parents do their job, and this isn't an issue.

 

[vermicide]

How are those not serious life dilemmas? Those are basically the whole of life issues for teenagers.

Noone wants some anonymous adult telling their kids if they should have sex, or anything else for that matter.

Yeah, I get what you're saying, but then they shouldn't be letting their kids sit in front of the computer for all hours. Most social networking sites and stuff don't allow children anyway, they're only there because they lied about their age. If MySpace was popular when I was like 12, for example, I wouldn't have been allowed to have one. Period.

Obviously things could still happen, parents can't control everything their kids do, etc. But I think you have to take at least some responsibility for how your kids are occupying their free time.