FBI has more to do than just watch porn

Pornography has been around since the creation of man. The emergence of the Internet has taken… Pornography has been around since the creation of man. The emergence of the Internet has taken the material to an entirely different level. Some call it the human expression of sexuality while others call it sin. We continue to question its role and harmful effects on society – it sure does not help young men’s perception of women.

I don’t have the intention of telling anyone pornography is acceptable; it is not a matter of national security, however. That, I am sure of.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, on the other hand, does not agree with me. The bureau dedicated an entire task force to investigating pornography. They have good intentions, and I understand their concern, but their thinking is simply misguided.

The anti-porn squad – officially named the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force – will be comprised of eight agents, a supervisor and a support staff. This force will focus on Internet “crimes” and peer-to-peer distribution of pornography. Each agent’s job description will probably read something like: Agent will search the World Wide Web for pornography on Web sites he or she judges to be obscene and collect information on its owners.

Yes, we are paying employees of our federal government to search Web sites and file-sharing networks for porn.

It may be funny, but it is not amusing. There are a countless number of pressing issues that deserve funding from tax payers. The mission of this squad does not warrant one penny from the pockets of taxpayers, let alone the salaries these agents and administrators are being paid.

The purpose of this force will be to take the creators of obscene material to court and try them on criminal charges. This has been done before with little success, as material must fail a three-pronged test for obscenity.

In the past, federal prosecutors have been largely unable to convict targets like the infamous Larry Flynt, creator of Hustler. Prosecutors could not get him for obscenity 27 years ago, so it seems unlikely they’d be able to get anyone convicted today.

Obscenity, after all, is a vague and loose term. The word itself is subject to interpretation that makes it nearly impossible to prosecute. The three-pronged test says the average person applying community standards must find the material obscene, the material must show offensive sexual conduct as well as lack any serious literary, political, artistic or scientific value. There was a time when a female showing her skin above the knee was considered obscene.

The FBI’s rationale is that viewing obscene porn gives people false fantasies that they will desire to act out. It can also be said that violence in movies is also a fantasy that some individuals fantasize about acting out. This creates a troubling double standard.

If this reasoning is sufficient to bring the creators of these vulgar films to court, then along that line of thinking, Quentin Tarantino should go find a better hole than the one Saddam Hussein was hiding in for the violence presented in his films.

Now, if this department was designed solely to find illegal pornography posted on the Internet showing forced crimes against women or involving anyone under the age of 18, it would deserve applause. Sadly, the FBI is creating the department to look into pornography that is viewed and created by consenting adults.

The FBI does do an exhausting amount of good work in protecting us from crime, coordinating our national intelligence and keeping our nation safe from terrorism. President Bush’s announcement that there have been 10 terrorist plans thwarted by our intelligence community is a tribute to the hard work many in this and other intelligence organizations continue to put in.

It is disappointing, however, for them to embarrass themselves with this kind of assignment. Eight FBI agents will sit at their desks looking at material and attempting to judge its obscenity based on their own definition. Regardless of your personal opinion on the matter of pornography, this should not be the role of an FBI agent.

It remains to be seen whether this task force will become a ploy to appease high officials in the Justice Department or lead to actual prosecutions. Either way, it is a shame to be wasting valuable agents, time and money on this task force.

Apparently the FBI doesn’t need to dedicate more agents to fight terrorism. Have any menial jobs for these men and women? Let Scott know at sdn2@pitt.edu.