You might not be familiar with the case of “Brandon X”, so here’s a quick review: he was stopped at the Canadian border, and the authorities went through his computer. They found some manga, decided it was child porn, and arrested him.
So was he a perv? We haven’t seen the art, but the law essentially says you only have to think it’s kiddie porn to arrest somebody. Seriously. It’s the same cheerfully broad law that let Canadian customs impound and possibly destroy lots of comics because they personally found them offensive.
The good news is that Brandon X will face no criminal charges, thanks to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The bad news is that he basically has to agree that he broke Canadian customs law, even though the Canadian authorities spent a year basically treating him like garbage and they essentially have no genuine case under any sort of sane standards: Brandon X just doesn’t want to risk going to jail.
In a decent world, how he was treated and the actions of these law enforcement officers would be subject to review and he would get a sincere, honest apology. But considering who’s currently running Canada, somehow we doubt that’s going to happen.
image via futureatlas on Flickr
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/569/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/cccc170513-10-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/ASTRO_Cv3-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/butcher-billy-post-punk-new-wave-super-friends-1-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/Screenshot-from-2013-05-17-071356-150x150.png)
This story has me split. On one hand, I believe deeply in freedom of speech and information. On the other hand, I also believe deeply in throwing everyone who likes Anime in prison.
I’m not a fan of Manga or Anime so i can see why someone would be thrown in jail. I mean my impression of that art form is a lot underage looking kids being raped by tentacles so i get where the customs people are coming from. But to treat him like garbage until receiving confirmation about his crime is a little un-Canadian.
Yeah, the big problem about this is, well, even in a nation that does have limits on free speech, yikes.
My home and native land, true patriot love and all thy sons command. Seriously, as much as I hate Anime this is a bit much. I really don’t want to live on this planet anymore.
Well, if you want to, like, hang here until Stephen Harper dissolves Parliament again in a hissy fit or something, I’ve got a root cellar.
Yeah, I’m sure Stephen Harper had his hands all over this one. He’s sitting in 24 Sussex right now rubbing his hands together plotting how he’ll throw all the anime lovers in jail. That’s his top concern. At least he wasn’t raped and assaulted like the three Ontario women crossing into detroit by your border guards.
But considering who’s running the US now I guess sexual assault is to be expected.
Actually, V Dub, a lot of what I’ve read about this policy, and it’s a longstanding policy, ties it directly to the Harper administration. Obviously there’s only so much control the executive branch can exert, but they do set the tone and there’s been a decided chilling effect.
Besides, I like making fun of Harper. He’s a douche.
So’s Obama so we’re about even
How does the fact that Obama runs the US make it expected that three women would be raped?
Why, because he’s black, of course.
Here is the actual news account; obviously President Obama is behind/ encouraged this:
[www.cbc.ca]
president obama raped canadian anime porn? does rick samtorum now about this?
I love where the comments ended up.