Manga Translator Appeals Child Pornography Charges

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

*facedesk facedesk facedesk-*
If that's the case, then all media with killing or anything that isn't rainbows and sunshine is also evil and worthy of prosecution.
And all us gamers are murders and should be convicted.
And this guy was convicted for doing his job... and fired from said job because of that. Wow. Just fucking wow.

I fucking hate this world some times.

 

[Tanis]

I...um...huh.


Aren't Swedes suppose to NOT act like neo-con religious wackjobs?

 

[mattttherman3]

I am of the opinion that in 40 years, Gay marrige will be legal in NA and other western nations, as well as this crap not being illegal(my theory is logical people from my generation will be in office and no more baby boomers), I mean really? DRAWINGS?! Man I've watched anime and seen japanese people, yeah they look alike, as much as I look like a centaur.

Oh by the way, in Canada it is the same, you can also get charged for writing child porn. People are weird.
capcha: POOL BOY

LMAO

 

[UnderGlass]

Holy crap! All those people playing Tera Online's Elin up there in Sweden better get that shit uninstalled right now!

They have your IP address for Christ's sake!!

..shh, what's that? ... Do you hear jackboots?

 

[Charli]

Okay...I find Loli, super creepy, but even I know this doesn't fly...

Just because you find something distasteful... if no one has been harmed and you cannot PROVE anyone has been harmed then you have no case. That is it. End of, why does this case even ...have a leg to stand on.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

The prosecution's arguments aren't exactly well thought out, but let's not hide behind technicalities. If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck it's a duck.

This just then, Happy Tree Friends is facing legal trouble for their cruel treatment of animals. Oh wait. That would be really stupid. I'm not too thrilled at the prospect of hardcore lolicon, but lets not pretend that people who enjoy it are child predators.

 

[theultimateend]

Yeaaaaah. I'm of the opinion that 'pornography featuring fictional children cause people to become pedophiles/entice children into sexual acts' is about as accurate as 'Call of Duty is a war simulator that trains kids to shoot up their schools'.

Holy crap. The very first comment is actually 100% sensible and non sensationalist.

I...

I better get out of here before I read further and am highly disappointed.

 

[UnderGlass]

A few questions:

Would anyone care to link to these images? Would doing so be considered a breach of posting rules? Would the Escapist receiving unwelcome attention from the FBI for allowing these images to be accessed via this site?

If theses are explicitly sexual images it's porn, and if those depicted are depicted as children then it's child porn.

The prosecution's arguments aren't exactly well thought out, but let's not hide behind technicalities. If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck it's a duck.

Or a picture of a fictional duck.

I might be wrong but I doubt the actual images have been released publicly so we can only speculate. However I think we could all agree they're probably pretty creepy if not downright vile.

The thing to remember though is that since this is criminal law and people's livelihoods and reputations are on the line, legal technicalities become extremely important. Making sure they don't get exploited one way or another even more so. True child pornography is tangible proof of the sexual abuse a real living child. These hand-drawn fantasies simply can't hold a candle to the depravity inherent in that thought. Any crude attempt on the prosecutor's part to somehow line the two up as being remotely in the same sphere of awfulness is more an insult to the real victims.

Does this suggest some latent proclivity for pedophilia on Mr Lundström's part? Who knows? I'd imagine based on the huge number of images completely unrelated to this style of Manga on his computer he would have a pretty good argument that this was just part of the milieu. Either way though it would be up to the prosecutors to prove that he actually entertained fantasies of this nature. Instead they're choosing the simpler and only slightly less dubious route of trying to prove the images themselves to be criminal. Excuse me but that's just wrong.

Call me when Minority Report becomes a reality though, I have my suicide pill and my favorite film ready to go.

 

[Krion_Vark]

So, this person has apparently lost his job and is unable to get it back... by happening to possess images related TO his job.

Yes they were RELATED to his job because he is a manga translator. Seeing as how from the comments he translates One Piece I doubt the loli pictures he was in possession of were FOR his job.
Oh and who the fuck would bring the pictures with him TO THE AIRPORT. which is where he was apprehended for these anyway.

 

[lancar]

It's truly a depressing read. My tax money is being wasted on this absolute tripe, and there's nothing i can do to stop it.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Wait, wait, wait.
According to this, that man was guilty until proven otherwise, which goes totally against the law.

"And even a drawing could be of a real child," said prosecutor, Hedvig Trost. "A photo depicting a real child could have been used to make the drawing. It is hard from the outside to know whether there is an original photo or not."

They didn't have any proof that the drawing was based on a real child. It was on him to prove that it's not, instead of them proving that it is.

 

[ZeZZZZevy]

Why are resources being diverted from protecting real children to prosecuting someone who gets off on fictional children? I may disagree with his preferences, but he's not actually hurting anyone.

Would they rather he use real children?

 

[HobbesMkii]

"Loli," a portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita Complex,"

I apologize for going all Diction Nazi on you, but I'm pretty sure you meant "short for the phrase" or something like that. A portmanteau is a combination of parts of two words to keep the meaning of both. "Lolex" would be a portmanteau of "Lolita Complex," for instance.

 

[RaNDM G]

Although I have little respect for Loli fans, I gotta admit the prosecution has a terrible argument.

"And even a drawing could be of a real child," said prosecutor, Hedvig Trost. "A photo depicting a real child could have been used to make the drawing. It is hard from the outside to know whether there is an original photo or not."

Speculation is not admissible as evidence in court. As far as I can tell from the information in the article, the man just translated dialogue for the company he was working for. If doing his job truly was a crime, then the punishment should also befall the company as well.

In the meantime, a criminal inspector working for Sweden's National Bureau of Investigation's child pornography unit has written a piece for the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. In it, he argues that the images should not be considered pornography and added that he was "doubtful of how a conviction would benefit those children who are actually suffering from real abuse which is being documented."

Here is something that is admissible: an opinion from the federal government. Granted the inspector mentioned does not represent the opinions of the entire Bureau, but his view certainly carries more weight than Trost's theory.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

So if I have a drawing of an axe buried in somebody's head, I could have based that drawing on someone I killed with an axe, or a photo of someone I killed with an axe. So I should be brought up on murder charges.

Except that that makes no sense. AND NEITHER DOES THIS.

 

[mattttherman3]

*Edited out due to lack of delete buttion i preffer to stay out of conversations like this one*

Yes but that quote you sent me begs a response now doesn't it?

No, no law maker would do that, I meant that maybe some less uptight people would get put onto the supreme court. Maybe then, we can only hope. I'm tired of political bickering over nonsense like gay marrige when we have dead, crime ridled cities like Detroit(who's city council is CUTTING police jobs and is the most corrupt thing I have ever seen, high school graduation and literacy rates below 50%). Yes I am canadian, but I live in Windsor, I watch Detroit news and I see what a deplorable place that is.