With technology racing ahead at unprecedented speed, the law is having trouble keeping up. How do we regulate new sexual imagery and behaviors, from pasties and upskirt cams to the Internet seduction of minors? In this episode, we examine the privacy, safety, and legal concerns swirling around the most controversial practices of the wired age.

The upskirt monologues
The latest technology often gets used to convey illicit material. For all you know, the guy sitting next you in the mall food court has a cellphone camera beaming a shot of your private parts to the Internet.

Disgusting, pathetic, and illegal, right? Not necessarily. Currently, only a handful of states -- California, Florida, Ohio, and Missouri -- consider 'upskirting' illegal. In many cases, the charges in other states have been dropped or deemed unconstitutional.

But as the concepts of upskirting, "down-blousing," and other voyeuristic practices progress further into the mainstream media and legal arenas, those who profit from the images have already begun thwarting the law.
Guests
Dragon King, adult website proprietor
Colin Sholes, adult filmmaker
Larry Walters, First Amendment lawyer


Online stalker
After an encounter with an online game partner went further than "Evelyn" intended or desired, her life became a nightmare.

Evelyn's online stalker began by sending her intimidating instant messages when she was gaming with someone else. After she changed her screen name and thought she was rid of him, he resurfaced. She leaned on all the counter-surveillance measures she could, but to no avail.

"It's very difficult to identify somebody online," lawyer Larry Walters says. "And in the parlance of law enforcement, it's difficult to put people behind the keyboard. You don't know who is behind the computer when any particular communication took place."

The man harassing Evelyn eventually posted hundreds of photos of her on his website and gave out her email address and phone number. The scores of men emailing and calling her for sex was annoying and worrisome, but the threats the online stalker made to her life were, needless to say, terrifying.
Guests
"Evelyn," cyberstalking victim
Parry Atfab, cyberlawyer


Inappropriate instant messaging
"Roger" is a convicted sex offender. He is a lonely man in his mid-30s whose life revolved around computers and surfing the Internet. Socially intimidated by women his own age, Roger began to frequent teenage chat rooms. He felt accepted in these rooms and developed a relationship with a 14-year-old girl. They eventually met and had sex. Roger was arrested in the act.

Having sexual relations with a minor is clearly unacceptable and illegal, but what about cybersexual relations? Numerous legislative parties have started to construct laws prohibiting erotically charged communication between adults and minors.
Guests
Al Cooper, sexual therapist
Randy Aden, FBI, Innocent Images taskforce
"Roger," convicted sexual predator

Porn patrol
Conflict has always existed when it comes to regulating people's rights to sexual expression. The present scenario revolves around the Internet's endless avenues of sexual content and making sure children can't access that content.

"The main ones are the Communications Decency Act and the Child Internet Protection Act," Larry Walters says. "You know, most of these laws have some catchy name that no legislator can vote against. But most of them are also highly unconstitutional. And the courts have found that. Very briefly, the CDA was passed in 1996 [and] signed by Bill Clinton. And it was one of the most unconstitutional pieces of legislation the world has ever seen."

One of the main problems with regulating adult material within a venue as large as the Internet is that so many countries and regions have differing views and laws about what is appropriate, decent, or obscene.

"Obviously, we prefer to stay with some of the things that are just grossly obscene," Randy Aden says. "Bestiality, defecation, violence, rape... those kinds of things really have no artistic value, so those are the kinds of things we will probably focus on most, as far as obscenity goes."

And yet another problem is that many youths have enough computer savvy to circumvent rudimentary filtering programs.

"I was about 12 or 13 when I learned how to make my way around computers, the operating systems, Windows," says high school student Harut Pashayan. "I never took a class in computers or anything. And it's pretty simple, hacking programs like Net Nanny. All you have to do is go on Google and search for how to hack Net Nanny or any program."
Guests
Harut Pashayan, high school student