18 USC 2257
Let me preface this with the disclaimer that I am not a lawyer by any means, and this post should not be construed as legal advice. This is my layman's interpretation of the situation.
This is the statute due to which WifeUps voluntarily removed its image galleries. In short, it requires websites (among other things) distributing content of a pornographic nature to have documentation that all models on the site are over the age of 18. For a site like WifeUps, that's virtually impossible - people upload pictures of women in diapers from all over the world, and those pictures don't have proof of age attached. So WifeUps decided of their own volition to take down the image galleries, lest they be prosecuted under this statute.
But let's go back a step, and actually read the statute. 18 USC 2257 states in part,
(a) Whoever produces any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, or other matter which-
(1) contains one or more visual depictions made after November 1, 1990 of actual sexually explicit conduct; and
(2) is produced in whole or in part with materials which have been mailed or shipped in interstate or foreign commerce, or is shipped or transported or is intended for shipment or transportation in interstate or foreign commerce;
shall create and maintain individually identifiable records pertaining to every performer portrayed in such a visual depiction.
Note the word commerce here. To my untutored ear, commerce means money, or at least the exchange of valuable properties. WifeUps is not engaged in commerce. They are providing a place to host these pictures for free - they're not even soliciting donations to cover the cost of bandwidth.
This is bad law, period, and I hope that it's struck down somehow. I can't honestly see a Constitutional challenge to this, though...
This is the statute due to which WifeUps voluntarily removed its image galleries. In short, it requires websites (among other things) distributing content of a pornographic nature to have documentation that all models on the site are over the age of 18. For a site like WifeUps, that's virtually impossible - people upload pictures of women in diapers from all over the world, and those pictures don't have proof of age attached. So WifeUps decided of their own volition to take down the image galleries, lest they be prosecuted under this statute.
But let's go back a step, and actually read the statute. 18 USC 2257 states in part,
(a) Whoever produces any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, or other matter which-
(1) contains one or more visual depictions made after November 1, 1990 of actual sexually explicit conduct; and
(2) is produced in whole or in part with materials which have been mailed or shipped in interstate or foreign commerce, or is shipped or transported or is intended for shipment or transportation in interstate or foreign commerce;
shall create and maintain individually identifiable records pertaining to every performer portrayed in such a visual depiction.
Note the word commerce here. To my untutored ear, commerce means money, or at least the exchange of valuable properties. WifeUps is not engaged in commerce. They are providing a place to host these pictures for free - they're not even soliciting donations to cover the cost of bandwidth.
This is bad law, period, and I hope that it's struck down somehow. I can't honestly see a Constitutional challenge to this, though...