Look how old this is! I post at SearchCommander.com now, and this post was published 13 years 7 months 25 days ago. This industry changes FAST, so blindly following the advice here *may not* be a good idea! If you're at all unsure, feel free to hit me up on Twitter and ask.
Two weeks ago, House Bill 2463 passed the Oregon House unanimously – 60 to zero to legally require computer workers to report any discovered child porn. Failure to do so can include a penalty of $6,250, up to a year in jail, or both.
Wow. Well it’s about time they all agreed on something – everybody claims to hate child porn, right? But wait – look at this closely – what does the law actually mean?
Much like many laws passed here in Oregon, I think this is a piece of poorly researched feel-good vote getting activity. It’s not that I’m a fan of child porn, but it should be MY right to make moral decisions about what I do, and the government has no business legislating this particular issue.
Back in 1999. I had a retail computer store and one of my computer techs found a cache of child porn, pretty sick stuff. I wrestled briefly with the morality of the issue but quickly realized it was none of my business.
To the best of my recollection, after (I think @jalbrecht2000 originally found it, and told @ckstanley) I got a quick legal consultation to make sure that some stupid law didn’t exist that could put me in jail for not turning him in, and we returned the computer unfixed, and I talked to him personally. In no uncertain terms I told him why we weren’t fixing it and that he was lucky I didn’t him in, and to never come back because he’ll always be “that kiddy porn guy” and he’ll be tormented.
That was how I chose to run my business, and other professionals should be free to run their business without this sort of government intrusion.
This short video is slightly technical at the beginning, but halfway through, I think its simplified enough that even a politician can understand why this bill needs MANY further revisions before it gets thrust upon the citizenship of Oregon.
Now what can you do about the issue? PLEASE SHARE this video with someone that you know, so maybe it will draw the attention of the Oregon Senate before it’s too late.
Hi Scott,
I’ve enjoyed discovering the tools and content on your site. There is some truly great stuff!
Regarding the above blog post, I disagree.
Your argument summed up appears to be that you disagree with the state of Oregon (I’m don’t live there) foisting their moral viewpoint on you.
You wrote, “…it should be MY right to make moral decisions about what I do…” My question to you, Scott, is that your belief? And do you believe it strongly? So is that your moral belief?
You’re doing to the state of Oregon exactly what you criticize them of doing to you. That is, forcing your moral belief upon them.
It then becomes a subjective argument because both sides see their POV as the correct one. There is no way to determine who is correct.
It’s like arguing which flavor of ice cream is better. It’s all a matter of taste and depends on the individual. Therefore it is subjective.
Objective would be something like diabetics (those that require it of course) need their insulin or they will die. There is nothing subjective about it.
The real question is are there moral absolutes? The answer is yes. And those absolutes are objective by nature.
You and I both know child pornography is wrong. Because it is wrong (morally, ethically and legally), we have duty to report it to the proper authorities.
This could be a MUCH longer comment with far more detail, but it is late, I’m very tired and shouldn’t be running a keyboard right now. 😉
Thanks for your blog and I wish you all success!