Internet porn laws: they won't work and they herald further controls

Controlling Internet Porn has to be a good idea, right? Not always. One of Britain’s leading experts on internet law has criticised the government’s latest attempt to control the availability of extreme Internet pornography through a new law known as Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which came into force last week. Andrew Murray, a Reader in Law here at the LSE, says the law, which aims to crack down on images that mix sex and violence or which portray necrophilia or bestiality will be impossible to enforce as intended. Instead, it will be used by police to prosecute consenting adults who indulge in fetishes such as bondage, dominance and sado-masochism (BDSM). The law was introduced after the killing of Jane Longhurst by Graham Coutts in 2003. Coutts was found to have been a regular visitor to websites dedicated to asphyxiation and necrophilia before committing murder.