Wow they totally removed the bath minigame? That's weak
Also Zeron that is a huge load of BS. morally harmful to others? How? And child porn? These are drawings. No actual child is depicted or harmed in any way.
This is censorship
Do I really need to explain why enabling, encouraging, and rewarding someone to get into the tub with a naked, under-aged individual, who has no family relationship to you, and touch them in any way, shape, or form is considered 'morally wrong' by most modern societies? (Which is what the mini-game does by virtue of being a virtual simulation that gives positive re-enforcement for doing that. And yes; if you'd bother to read my quotations is it porn 'by American law'.)
But since this is the internet...enjoy.
It mentions at least two cases where the 'cartoon images' of lewd acts were considered additional counts of CP along with the other 'real-life' material. With an additional instance at the bottom mentioning the single individual to be solely convicted for possessing 'cartoon' material.
This isn't even me injecting my own personal opinion on the matter and please; don't take my word for it. Free free to pull aside anyone you see on the street. Any race, any religion, any background and ask them. See if a majority agrees with that statement. The 'how' or 'why' doesn't matter; this is one of those things determined by society as a whole.
It's not encouraging you to do this in real life. Is GTA3 encouraging you to kill and steal from random people in real life? Get real. I'm aware of the legality of cartoon porn depicting minors. It hasn't been totally outlawed or anything so I wonder if you only paid attention to the parts you liked. It's legally questionable but not outright illegal.
For my personal belief, I say as long as no one is actually harmed you should be able to draw and sell whatever you want. Of course, they should still have warning labels and make it so that people who are too young to view such materials should not be able to get them. If you want to draw a manga about a fetus having a threesome with Ronald Mcdonald and a dinosaur I think you should be allowed to do that.
Somehow I get the feeling we're misjudging exactly where each other stands on the sides of this debate. XD
When I say 'encouraging' I do not mean that with any IRL connotations. I mean that the game, within the game, encourages the player to 'Roleplay' the act. That's why I differentiate between encourage and reward.
Encourage: Hey, jumping off that ledge is a good idea.
Reward: I'll give you $5 to jump off that ledge.
The mini-game is a tool utilized to replicate and act; even if this doesn't equate to real-life re-enactments the existence of such is both pointless and outside the bounds of 'artistic freedom' for reasons I'll get into here in a moment.
As for 'questionable legality' that isn't exactly a defensive point to fall back on. If something is illegal; it's illegal. The only reason people don't get auto-punished for it is because the legal system is run by humans; who make judgements that are, at heart, based on 'whim'.
In a comparable example; take speed limits. The law says you cannot go above X miles an hour in any zone marked as such. It's 'questionably legal' to speed because of the whole 'flow of traffic' mindset. Just like it's 'questionably legal' to have cartoon CP. However if an officer feels so inclined they can ticket you for going that 5 MPH over at anytime they so wish. Why? It's illegal. If an officer catches you with cartoon CP you can be convicted if they so feel like pressing charges. Why? It's illegal.
'Questionable legality' only means there's a percent chance human empathy (or dispassion) for circumstance will create false-negative results where people 'get away with it' only because the authorities did not think it worthwhile to pursue the matter.
In regards to the 'draw and sell' whatever you want; there is a fine line I believe exists that you are assuming I do not place in this debate.
To wit; let me make a list explaining:
-If you want to write a book where CP is somehow part of the plot; you are free to do so.
-If you want to make a movie where CP happens, but is not actually physically performed by the actors involved for the sake of 'realism'; you are free to do so.
-If you want to draw a picture of CP in a country where said imagery is legal (or to use imagery to represent said act in an abstract way that is not obviously apparent unless you analyze the hidden meanings behind the artistic representations), you are free to do so.
(Artistic Freedom Line)
-If you want to create an
interactive medium that allows people to perform interactive 'technical' (I have to say 'technical' because by law if it 'looks' underage; it's underage. Never you mind that it could be a goddess, elf, eternal sea-vortex mermaid from space with different age-to-appearance ratios or whatever. Laws are weird like that.) molestation in the CP department in order to achieve a 'positive result' that completely ignores all consequence and sense of reality related to said situation; you may not do this.
-If you want to actually perform an act of CP as a form of 'performance art'; you may not do this.
There is a vast difference between creating a scenario where the action is only passively read/viewed and one where the action is actively replicated and/or encouraged/rewarded. IRL consequences or no. Although personally I think there's no such thing as 'No IRL consequences' in this case. If absolutely nothing else you hurt 'yourself' by utilizing such a tool. After all; would you openly admit to doing such a thing in public? Saying 'Yeah, I had fun this weekend; totally sat in front of a screen bathing the digital representation of a naked kiddo with all sorts of soaps just for lawls.'
There's consequences.