Internet porn 'not obscene'

Computer files containing explicit pictures of underage girls were not obscene articles under the law, a court was told yesterday.

Defence barrister Clive Grossman QC said electronic files made up by decoded data could not be regarded as an article under the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance.

The legal definition of 'article' only encompassed books, magazines, films, videos and sound-recording materials and did not extend to electronic files, he told Tuen Mun Court. And materials sent on the Internet did not affect the public.

Senior Correctional Services Department officer Cheung Kam-keung, 32, denies a charge of publishing 19 obscene articles on the Internet.

Magistrate Pang Chung-ping will deliver a verdict on June 20.