KYOTO (Kyodo) The Kyoto Prefectural Government will launch a study with an eye to adopting an ordinance to step up regulations against child pornography, including banning the possession of pornographic images of children, local government officials said.
The local government will set up a panel of lawyers, education officials, Internet service providers and other experts to soon study the planned ordinance, with a view to adopting it during fiscal 2011, which starts next April, the officials said Friday.
It would be the country's first local regulation specifically concerning child pornography. While the existing law on child prostitution and child pornography bans the possession of pornographic images of children for sale and other purposes, the planned ordinance is aimed at banning outright possession.
The panel will also work out measures on cooperation with Internet service providers to prevent the spread of child pornography and on protection and care for child victims.