Currently I'm cornered thinking about legal issues regarding an adult website I own. I'm the adult network there is a very active forum roleplay section. Let me elaborate a bit just in case you don't understand. People setup a role where they tell a story in the forum and act out their role on their made up characters. Obviously the popular role that people want is the eager teenager in highschool. Currently my rules state that if sex is involved in the roleplay then the made up characters must be 18yrs or older. Is it a legal problem if people are roleplaying with a younger age? I have the same question regarding stories as well.
Hire a lawyer. It depends on where you live for one thing. Also, if you are facilitating role-playing that is very different than a story or visual depiction. I would be much more concerned about an actual minor ending up on your site. The law in Canada is different than the US in this area. This section deals with visual things that are purely fictional and yet still criminal. More important is that you do not need to allow something just because it may be legal. You can use your own moral judgment about whether or not you want people discussing sex with children.
I think you didn't understand me. There is no children involved. This is an adult site. That law is excessively confusing. Did it just say that it is illegal to have forum roleplay sex using fake characters of underage people or did it just say something else?
I did understand you, you are asking about two adults discussing or role playing where their discussion or role-playing involves someone having sex with a child (a person under the age of 18). It is your site and thus your decision whether or not to allow adults to discuss having sex with children. The law is complicated, which is why I would hire a lawyer well versed in this area of the law since you do not want to run afoul of child porn laws. Unlike many laws which require some intent to commit a crime. Child porn laws often require no intent so even if you end up with (what is deemed) child porn by mistake or accident, you are still guilty and that is no excuse.
damn, I was hoping someone here would just understand the law and say "ya, fantasy or not minors minors having sex with other minors is a criminal offense. There's obviously a zillion story sites out there that do have that, but they are being foolish".
If I were you I would ask Attorney Jaffe, I believe you can Google him and find him. He discusses a variety of topics with online professionals for free. He is a very experienced guy and should be able to help you.
I also have adult sites.What you should do is set up a pop up where users have to confirm that they are adults when entering the site,also add a section about the roleplay being only fictional (see south park) this should cover your ass
This is the guy I was talking about, he knows internet law very well: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-jaffe/6/122/394
Yeah but what @LaceGirl is talking about - doesn't only apply to internet law. Bottom line, is it illegal for 2 consenting adults to act out a role-play scenario where they are both "pretending" to be under 18 years of age - knowingly. After doing some research on this after I first saw this thread, I do believe that it is - LEGAL - BUT in "gray area" and open for interpretation. Moral depiction is a whole other story but that COULD very well play on the LEGAL interpretation, depending on WHO is interpreting... No clear cut answer for you LaceyGirl... Sorry...
It's just a story and it's an adult zone, so no worries. People will understand that. If there's someone who think that adult is not suit for him/her then they should walk away But you must put a disclaimer there.
It is not "just a story". Read the question carefully. It is about role playing, where two people act out roles where one is playing a minor child. It is not black and white that an adult online can have a sexual chat with someone pretending to be a minor. I tend to think it is legal, but this is not the same thing as just reading a story. This is an interactive chat between two people where one is 'pretending' to be a minor child. I am not sure what notification is given to the other party that they are in fact chatting with an adult and not an actual minor. But, the point is that this is not just about reading a story. Further, the idea that this websites invites adults to participate in chats where one party is acting as a minor is troublesome and could well be illegal in some places.
No idea about the specifics of this, but I can recommend a lawyer in Canada who deals with Internet stuff, pm if needed.