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LEGALITY

  • Is it legal to access ABIA-F?
    The answer depends on what you mean by "access", and also on where you live. In most countries (with exceptions like China, Iraq etc.), it is legal to acquire the means to follow ABIA-F (access to a news server that carries this group). To read and post text messages will be legal in most countries and in most cases. Exceptions may include pornographic stories featuring children, or communication relating to criminal activities (such as offers to buy or sell kiddy porn videos). Pornographic pictures featuring children are illegal to possess (download) as well as to distribute (post) in virtually every country in the world. That means:

    !!! You will offend national law by doing this. You will be regarded !!!
    !!! As a criminal if law enforcement agencies trace and apprehend you. !!!

    The definition of what is "pornographic" varies quite a bit between different countries. In some (the USA, for example), practically all forms of nudity are illegal. In others, nudist pictures or art pictures with nude kids may be legal. Some countries make a distinction between photographs and paintings or drawings, some do not. It is your responsibility to know your country's laws. We cannot possibly list all such details in the FAQ.

  • If most of the postings are illegal, why is this group still up?
    The Internet is not subject to any national jurisdiction. Participating (i.e.. posting and downloading) *IS*.

    If you want to learn more, read "The Regulation of Pornography and Child Pornography on the Internet" by Yaman Akdeniz, published in February 1997 and available at: www.leeds.ac.uk/law/pgs/yaman/child.htm This is by far the most relevant and revealing essay on this matter (covers bibliography and further links).

    You may also read the opinion of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in American Civil Liberties Union et al vs. Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States.

    And American Library Association, Inc., et al. vs. United States Department of Justice on the notorious Congressional Decency Act (CDA), to be found at:www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest/cda/cdadec1 This is really a huge one (about 250 kB pure text).

  • Sometimes I see messages like "This newsgroup will be closed". Is this going to happen?
    In practical life, you can't "close" a newsgroup on a worldwide basis. The only way would be to delete it, individually, on every news server in the world. Even if this were to happen, we'd just create a new group or take over an existing one. If you want more information about how newsgroups may be created and deleted, go to:www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~barr/alt-creation-guide.html

    Copyright 1998 ABIA-F & AFOS Communications

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    Email: alphonso@postmaster.co.uk