When does kinky porn become illegal?

A bill outlawing the possession of "extreme pornography" is set to become law next week. But many fear it has been rushed through and will criminalise innocent people with a harmless taste for unconventional sex. Five years ago Jane Longhurst, a teacher from Brighton, was murdered. It later emerged her killer had been compulsively accessing websites such as Club Dead and Rape Action, which contained images of women being abused and violated. When Graham Coutts was jailed for life Jane Longhurst's mother, Liz, began a campaign to ban the possession of such images. Supported by her local MP, Martin Salter, she found a listening ear in then home secretary, David Blunkett, who agreed to introduce legislation to ban the possession of "violent and extreme pornography". [...]

Recently, the much-publicised rompings of Formula 1 boss Max Mosley have served as a reminder that kinky sex is found in all walks of society. And just as Mr Mosley is fighting the expose of his antics, calling it an invasion of private life, so Baroness Miller [Liberal Democrat] says the new law also threatens people's privacy. "The government is effectively walking into people's bedrooms and saying you can't do this. It's a form of thought police." She says there's a danger of "criminalising kinkiness" and fears the legislation has been rushed through Parliament without proper debate because it is a small part of a wider bill.

source: Article 'When does kinky porn become illegal?' by Chris Summers; news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7364475.stm; BBC NEWS; 29 April 2008