title: Pursuing the panderer: an analysis of United States v. Williams.
abstract: In May 2008, the Supreme Court addressed whether the government can regulate the ownership and distribution of virtual child pornography. U.S. v. Williams marked the first time the Court directly addressed the concept of pandering virtual child pornography. This article examines the Court's decision in U.S. v. Williams and the relative importance of its holding. In U.S. v. Williams, the Supreme Court upheld an act of Congress targeting the business people behind the child pornography market. Restricting the sale of both real and virtual child pornography is essential to combat the various problems surrounding its existence, which include policing its creation and distribution on the Internet as well as the connection between child pornography and subsequent sexual offenses against children.
authors.affiliation: DeSales University, Center Valley, Pennsylvania, USA. patrick.mcgrain@desales.edu
authors.forename: Patrick N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: McGrain
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D004882:Erotica / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D035521:Supreme Court Decisions; D014481:United States