American Faces Minimum 1 Year in Prison for Bringing Manga to Canada On His Laptop

• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-06-25 00:59

  The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund today announces that it is forming a coalition to support the legal defense of an American citizen who is facing criminal charges in Canada that could result in a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison for comics brought into the country on his laptop. This incident is the most serious in a trend the CBLDF has been tracking involving the search and seizure of the print and electronic comic books carried by travelers crossing borders.
  CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein says, “Although the CBLDF can’t protect comic fans everywhere in every situation, we want to join this effort to protect an American comic fan being prosecuted literally as he stood on the border of our country for behavior the First Amendment protects here, and its analogues in Canadian law should protect there.”
  The CBLDF has agreed to assist in the case by contributing funds towards the defense, which has been estimated to cost $150,000 CDN. The CBLDF will also provide access to experts and assistance on legal strategy. The CBLDF’s efforts are joined by the recently re-formed Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund, a Canadian organization that will contribute to the fundraising effort. Please contribute to this endeavor by making a tax deductible contribution here.
  The facts of the case involve an American citizen, computer programmer, and comic book enthusiast in his mid-twenties who was flying from his home in the United States to Canada to visit a friend. Upon arrival at Canadian Customs a customs officer conducted a search of the American and his personal belongings, including his laptop, iPad, and iPhone. The customs officer discovered manga on the laptop and considered it to be child pornography. The client’s name is being withheld on the request of counsel for reasons relating to legal strategy.
  The images at issue are all comics in the manga style. No photographic evidence of criminal behavior is at issue. Nevertheless, a warrant was issued and the laptop was turned over to police. Consequently, the American has been charged with both the possession of child pornography as well as its importation into Canada. As a result, if convicted at trial, the American faces a minimum of one year in prison. This case could have far reaching implications for comic books and manga in North America.
  The CBLDF’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to aid the case by raising funds to contribute to the defense and to help the defense with strategy and expert resources.
  Brownstein says, “This is an important case that impacts the rights of everyone who reads, publishes, and makes comics and manga in North America. It underscores the dangers facing everyone traveling with comics, and it can establish important precedents regarding travelers rights. It also relates to the increasingly urgent issue of authorities prosecuting art as child pornography. While this case won’t set a US precedent, it can inform whatever precedent is eventually set. This case is also important with respect to artistic merit in the Canadian courts, and a good decision could bring Canadian law closer to US law in that respect. With the help of our supporters, we hope to raise the funds to wage a fight that yields good decisions and to create tools to help prevent these sorts of cases from continuing to spread.”
  Find out more on the case here. To help support the case, you can make a monetary contribution here.
  About CBLDF
  The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. They have defended dozens of Free Expression cases in courts across the United States, and led important education initiatives promoting comics literacy and free expression. For additional information, donations, and other inquiries call 800-99-CBLDF or visit them online at www.cbldf.org.
  About CLLDF
  The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1987 to raise money for the defense of a Calgary, Alberta comic shop whose owners were charged with selling obscene materials. The CLLDF has since been maintained on an ad hoc basis to provide financial relief for Canadian comics retailers, publishers, professionals, or readers whose right to free speech has been infringed by civil authorities. Largely dormant since the early 1990s, the CLLDF is reforming to provide support for this case, and reorganizing to ensure that help will be readily available for future cases involving Canadian citizens or authorities. To help the CLLDF in this mission, please go to www.clldf.ca.

  
  
  http://cbldf.org/homepage/cbldf-forms-coalition-to-defend-american-comics-reader-facing-criminal-charges-in-canada/
  
  TL;DR summary
  the guy has a manga in his laptop
  Canadian customs considered it child pornagraphy
  
  no photographic evidence has been released
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-06-25 02:00
  Biased text is biased. I like how they hid
  

  The customs officer discovered manga on the laptop and considered it to be child pornography.

  
  in the middle of their wall-o-text.
  
  

  Brownstein says, “This is an important case that impacts the rights of everyone who reads, publishes, and makes comics and manga in North America.

  
  Yeah sure, what a load of BS.
  Don't download loli-hentai and you'll be fine.
• paladin wrote on 2011-06-25 02:03
  Depends thou
  They did not say what kind of image it was
  If it was like normal in american then tis weird
  If its loli then gl with that
• rzetlin wrote on 2011-06-25 02:04
  Just to be clear the guy had loli hentai on his laptop not "mainstream" manga.
  
  I live in Canada and we have large bookstores (Chapters and Indigo) that sells manga.
  
  You can even go to the library and lend out manga.
  
  So Canada isn't exactly a manga wasteland.
• Jarvan IV wrote on 2011-06-25 02:05
  oh yea he totally had a copy of rosario vampire and it involved that one episode where the small witch was all lieks, CHECK IT HERE TSKUNE
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-06-25 02:09

  Quote from Yoorah;488789:

  Biased text is biased. I like how they hid
  
  in the middle of their wall-o-text.
  
  Yeah sure, what a load of BS.
  Don't download loli-hentai and you'll be fine.

  
  
  but lots of manga have lolis without clothes
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-06-25 02:15
  Dunno, but I doubt the border officer had enough time to study the whole manga to hunt for a page with a panty shot or something. If they caught him at the border, it's more likely that it was blatant loli hentai, which is considered child porn. I know people will have debates as to whether it should be treated similarly, but really.. people should realize that bringing that stuff across a border is not a good idea.
• Chiyuri wrote on 2011-06-25 02:45
  Yea.. over here in Canada, people are a little on the edge about japanese materials.. I remember TV show that is serious(usualy) that brough to light "hentai" as a topic. The thing was horribly biased, seeing child pornography left and right. Even one of the example, they called it "child pornography" but when I looked at it, I could easily tell "that character is around 18-20 years.. how do they see a child in there?"
  In the end, they got heavily flamed by a bunch of otaku to the point they were forced to take back their statements.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2011-06-25 05:46
  This is actually based on the eye of the beholder really.
  
  First of all, I read in another article that this man was indeed not carrying hentai, but rather a fanservice series instead. Any good example would be Strike Witches or Negima where underage girls are shown in perverse situations. Not much would be thought of that. As a matter of fact, this concerns me since I have a large library of animes and manga.
  
  The border's definition of child pornography was the depiction of underage persons being involved in any sexual activity which would be considered illegal in real life. Unfortunately by those standards half my animes already make me a target.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2011-06-25 08:03
  Generally lots of things pass as "child pornography" these days.
  
  As for Canada:
  

  Definition of “child pornography”
  
  163.1 (1) In this section, “child pornography” means
  
  (a) a photographic, film, video or other visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means,
  
  (i) that shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or
  
  (ii) the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years;
  
  (b) any written material, visual representation or audio recording that advocates or counsels sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act;
  
  (c) any written material whose dominant characteristic is the description, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act; or
  
  (d) any audio recording that has as its dominant characteristic the description, presentation or representation, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act.

  
  I'm sure pretty much everyone here who reads manga has consumed some CP according to these paragraphs.
  
  [SIZE="1"]Yes, this means every ecchi manga that shows a coy high school student's butt in one scene is, strictly speaking, CP.[/SIZE]
• Cucurbita wrote on 2011-06-25 08:07

  Quote from Sumpfkraut;489337:

  Generally lots of things pass as "child pornography" these days.
  
  As for Canada:

  
  
  Dead or alive 3ds banned in europe and australia for being child pornography.
  
  Given an E rating in japan and T in america.
  
  All subjective and objective. Best to call it safe. But again there have been men arrested for asking a young girl where the closest mcdonalds is.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2011-06-25 08:13
  Tja.
• Osayidan wrote on 2011-06-25 18:45
  Everything is CP, cross the border with your wallet and nothing else if you want to be safe.
• Okitaru wrote on 2011-06-25 18:47
  Canada and the U.K. had some issues with Rapelay or something, and it had outlawing on such things, if I remember right.
• TA wrote on 2011-06-25 19:08
  They should not be able to search our laptops. That is a severe invasion of privacy.