I hope that the new administration will pass legislation to undo the harm caused to the First Amendment by the Bush Administration as well as purge the books of archaic obscenity laws that are grossly incompatible with the internet or even common sense.

Imagine if the FDA refused to publish guidelines on what “Misbranded or Adulterated” meant, and instead required criminal jeopardy for manufacturers to determine whether or not their products met such definitions, which also hinged on “community standards” (a.k.a, thousands of different standards for the entire country).

I work in a bookstore. I’ve been then for almost four years, and I read manga and watch anime. I’m the authority of manga in that store. And you know what, I can think of at least 5 manga series on the shelf right now that is being sold legally in the USA that would fit this prosecution as being ‘obscene’. Someone had to have approved it to be sold in the US and yet they are getting a guy for ordering in a series (that was probably still written in Japanese) so he could have it in his collection. This is just ridiculous that this is going on.

I hope that at least one jury member read manga or read comics as a kid at least once in their life. This is crazy! we sell things here in the US that you can get at your local stores that are more obscene than manga, and yet someone ordering in manga from Japan is being prosecuted over something that we will probably be getting in a year or two. I want to know what manga it was now! I want to flip through this book he got and see just what it is - but then i’d probably get even more angry about this guy being prosecuted over nothing (especially since it’ll probably say in the front cover how old the characters are). I’ll definitely be supporting Handley. He doesn’t deserve this. If this guy goes to jail, probably a quarter of America will be locked up over owning Manga and Anime if he gets a guilty on this case. That’s just not right. Manga and Anime are a hobby (even if you go to conventions and dress up, it’s just for fun! FUN. remember what that used to be America?) Just let the guy have his manga!

1. Showing of panties - If the “frame” in question is the showing of panties, then it cannot be deemed obscene lest every beach or swimming pool be banned. Do not women and girls wear panties that we call swim wear?

2. Virtual depiction of illegal acts - Here, if it really is in the PROTECT act, then free speech is affected. Every movie, book, artwork, poster, etc that depicts an illegal act (stealing, murder, rape, underage sex, prostitution, drug use, etc) then is guilty. See, the purposeful filming of illegal acts conducted for filming is not protected under free speech. However, you can simulate dangerous and illegal acts. This is done in Hollywood all the time. To say there are certain illegal acts you cannot simulate would be thrown out by the SCOTUS.

3. Import - ok, here is where the line can be drawn. There can be limits on what is imported in the US. However, this is not the issue in this case.

Really, this boils down to virtual creation of what MAY be a crime. And that is open to interpretation. Hell, all the defendant could do is show an old episode of Beverly Hills 90210 (all actors over 20 playing 17 year olds) where one girl happened to be in panties to show the court the idiocy of this law.

Let’s face it, there’s LOTS of stupid laws on the books. It’s that many of them are not really enforced. However, one moron thinks he has standing to be a jerk (the postal inspector), so now we have to deal with it. Reminds me of when the Secret Service raided Steve Jackson Games in Austin, Tx cause it produced a game called “Hacker”. The SS eventually lost in court and had to reimburse the company.

To all law makers THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FANTASY AND REALITY!!!!