Oregon Supreme Court 01-06-11
by: Abassos • January 5, 2011 • no comments
Read the full article for details about the following new cases:
- Encouraging Child Sex Abuse - Possession of Computer Images
The Oregon Supreme Court today recalibrated the notion of possession and control in the context of computer images. No longer can one be considered in possession and control of an image which one accesses via an internet browser without downloading or otherwise manipulating it. The state had argued that because of one's ability to print it and e-mail it, the viewer was in control of the image. The Court today rejects that notion:
"We think, however, that that argument misses the point: The intangible nature of a web image is analogous to seeing something that a visitor has temporarily placed in one's own home. One may be aware of it, may even have asked the visitor to bring it for viewing, but one does not thereby possess the item.
The state argues, next, that a computer user 'controls' a digital image of child pornography by actively navigating to the web site where it resides, thereby bringing the image to his computer screen. We think, however, that this argument suffers from some of the same defects as the preceding one: Looking for something on the Internet is like walking into a museum to look at pictures - the pictures are where the person expected them to be, and he can look at them, but that does not in any sense give him possession of them."
More later as we process the cases. State v. Barger. State v. Ritchie.
