Study: child porn isn't illegal in most countries

A review of child pornography laws in 184 countries shows that more than half have no laws that address child pornography. At a press conference in Washington, D.C., the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and other participants, including Microsoft, presented a study on Thursday revealing the woeful inadequacy of child pornography laws around the world.

ICMEC's global policy review of child pornography laws in 184 Interpol-member countries showed that more than half have no laws that specifically address child pornography, and in many others the existing laws are insufficient. "It's hard to arrest and prosecute if you don't have the legal foundation on which to build," said Ernie Allen, ICMEC president and CEO. The ICMEC study found that possession of child pornography isn't a crime in 138 countries. In 122 countries, there's no law dealing with the use of computers and the Internet as a means of child porn distribution.

source: Article 'Study: Child Porn Isn't Illegal In Most Countries' by Thomas Claburn; www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=184429489; InformationWeek; 6 April 2006