FAQ Revised July 2000

General information about ABPC

Decoding and viewing images

Help with Posting to ABPC

Scanning tips

Questions and Answers

WHAT THIS GROUP IS ABOUT...

• This is a family-oriented group for the POSTING of pictures of CHILDREN from babies up through the early adolescent years.
  
  
• This is a general interest group, and the content is intended to be suitable for viewing/reading by all ages.
  
  
• Appropiate pictures might show kids in everyday sorts of activities, such as playing, dancing, performing in various sports, or other similar things. Also, pictures of child fashions, famous children, and models are welcome! Family snapshots are a favorite of many readers and posters alike.
  
  
• This is a group for everyone who wants to share in the joy of childhood. We encourage the posting of many kinds of pictures: boys and girls; babies, toddlers, and school-age; black, white, brown and yellow. All children are special, regardless of age, size, gender, ethnicity.

WHAT THIS GROUP IS NOT ABOUT...

Not a Teen group:

• This is not a TEEN newsgroup. In ABPC we use the generally accepted social, not legal, definition of "child" and thus focus primarily on preteens. Posts of 13-14-year-olds are acceptable if included as a portion of larger sets of preteen images, but in general "teen-only" posters should move to one of the many teen newsgroups that exist. (Note: The determination of what constitutes "a portion" will be made by considering the entire posting history of the poster, not necessarily on a day-by-day basis. Generally this early-teen portion should not exceed a quarter of the person's total posts over time.)
  

Non-Erotic & Non-Nude:

• Pictures posted here should NOT contain any nudity or erotic content. Nude children other than babies, even if legal in your local jurisdiction, are considered inappropriate and are prohibited. There is a tremendous reluctance by many Internet providers to carry newsgroups containing child-nudity, even if that nudity is shown tastefully or casually. There are other groups that carry these kinds of pictures.
  
  
• Pornographic images are UNWELCOME. This IS NOT an adult erotica group. This is NOT a kiddie-porn group either. Many providers dropped erotica groups because of objections to their content. We don't want this group dropped for similar reasons.
  
  
• Topless girl pictures above preschool-age (over age 4), and "upskirt" or "panty" pictures of any age are also inappropriate for the group. Although neither pornographic nor illegal, the posting of many of these kinds of pictures are seen by large numbers of people as targeting the "prurient interests" of the audience**.
  
  
• Also prohibited are pictures or series that focus on "body parts." For instance, pictures that focus on the butt, legs, crotch, or other parts of the body are not allowed in this group (of course, portraits are the exception). In many jurisidictions, such "focus" pictures are viewed as sexual in nature, and thus posts such as these violate the intent and spirit of ABPC.
  
  
• A series of images that taken as a whole appear to cater to prurient interests is not allowed. A series does not have to be composed entirely of individually off-topic images to be considered inappropriate. In such cases, context and quantity may be used to evaluate the appropriateness of a series. Although context may protect a few borderline images, a few off-topic images can often taint an entire series. In addition, posts that are culls from nude or erotic series obtained elsewhere are not appropriate. This is because requests for fills often end up causing the off-topic portion to be filled-in by others. When in doubt, please contact the FAQ-keeper before posting a series that may be questionable.
  
  
  **Even in countries where public toplessness is commonplace, the posting of sets of such pictures to usenet groups are seen as catering to sexual interests. While it is understood that many (maybe even most) such pictures are in fact "innocent," "tasteful," or "artistic," it is impossible for everyone to agree on these designations. To avoid forcing subjective judgments on each post after-the-fact on a case-by-case basis, the only practical way to go is to simply say, "no panty pictures," and "no topless girls," rather than say that tasteful ones are okay. In an ideal world, we could allow all tasteful, non-sexual pictures of children in ABPC. However, once "tasteful" pictures of this type are allowed, then "non-tasteful" ones will soon follow, and it will be impossible to stop them. The posters of the truly inappropriate panty or topless pictures will point to the ones we "allowed," and argue that there is no difference. What do we say then? This is the unfortunate experience of other newsgroups who have tried this experiment. Even if this does not happen quite this way, the presence of panty pictures will undoubtedly contribute to additional ISPs dropping ABPC. It has happened before for lesser reasons. While it is recognized that this will exclude some cute, candid, and otherwise nice pictures, there really is no other way to approach this controversial subject.

 

 

Non-Commercial

• Advertising is considered inappropriate throughout usenet. This group is no exception. Please do not post advertising here, even if this advertising is "child-related" or usenet related.
  
  
• Posting text messages or other pointers to websites that are resources for pictures of children is acceptable provided the images on the site follows the ABPC FAQ content guidelines. This does NOT include websites whose only purpose is to sell a product of some kind, even if that product may be related to pictures of children. SPECIFICALLY prohibited are pointers to commercial websites for download services or picture archives, newsgroup services, and sites whose purpose is to sell CD collections of downloaded images. Exceptions are made for websites that are also large downloadable resources for images that would normally be considered on-topic for ABPC. Having just a few pictures of children on a site does not by itself qualify for this exception. This is due to abuse by a few sites who offered a few images of children for free as an enticement to sell a product.

Not a Chat Room:

• Since this is fundamentally a binary newsgroup, please limit text posts to topics that relate to the pictures and the posters of pictures in a positive or constructive way. These topics may include praise or helpful comments on pictures, production techniques, tools of production, scanning questions/tips, or similar messages. Posts directed toward regular posters of pictures are generally acceptable, but long threads of a personal nature should be taken to e-mail. Many other binary groups have been ruined by non-binaries, and we would like to keep this group from that fate.
  
  
• Requests for the posting of appropriate pictures are acceptable. Requests for pictures that do not fit the posting guidelines are prohibited. Requests for or inquiries about private trades are also prohibited.
  
  
• Trolling and other disruptive posts are not permitted. This includes but is not exclusive to posts made that insult others, contain profanity, forge other poster's headers, are intended to provoke anger, or are racist, bigoted, or hateful. Deliberate attempts to publicly embarrass, defame, vilify, or attack (flame) others are similarly prohibited, whether done spontaneously or as a response to others' posts. Note that even if a person posts off-topic request/pictures, flaming them does no good, and could lead to an unwanted thread. Of particular note, any post that overtly states or even implies that contributors are pedophiles or has such tendencies is not acceptable. It is impossible to prove such allegations in a forum such as usenet, and in a childrens pictures newsgroup such accusations are very damaging. Thus accusatory posts of this nature are not allowed.
  
  
• ABPC is not a forum for discussing social, ethical or legal issues. Although the title of this group includes the word, "children," this does not mean it is for any kind of discussion about children. Discussion about children's rights, parenting, child-erotica, pedophilia, and other philosophical and/or social topics belong in other groups such as alt.activism.children or alt.parenting. Such discussions are off-topic for this newsgroup. In addition, public disputes about moral, ethical or legal issues related to posts and posters are not appropriate for a binary newsgroup and thus not permitted. This includes arguments about the legality of scanning publications, legitimacy of posting candid photos of children taken in public places, or the ethics of making a profit on child-photography, to name a few examples.
  
  
• This is not a "personals" newspaper column for setting up meetings.
  
  

MISCELLANEOUS...

• All posters must use a valid e-mail return address when posting text or pictures. Posting without one forces all replies to be posted. Note that many ISPs insist on this in their terms of service for e-mail and posting to usenet.
  
  
• Cross-posting of text or pictures between ABPC and other newsgroups is generally discouraged. In particular, cross-posting with erotica groups will be grounds for complaints lodged against the poster's ISP for spamming. Exceptions will be made for cross-posting with the few other non-erotic, children-oriented newsgroups containing content similar to or overlapping with ABPC. An example might be alt.binaries.pictures.babies. Note that all cross-posted material must meet ABPC posting guidelines. If in doubt, please contact the FAQ-keeper for clarification.
  
  
• Pictures and text posts must be respectful of children. This newsgroup is set up to honor children, not denegrate them.
  
  
• ABPC is a pictures newsgroup, not a software group. Posting of executable files (programs/software) is prohibited, as is sharing of "cracks," serial numbers, etc. Besides being off-topic, posting executable files may contribute to the distribution of viruses or other malicious software. If requests are made for newsreading software, pointing to official distribution websites is acceptable. Discussion of software techniques used to process and improve images is also acceptable provided it is within the general context of working with pictures of children for posting to the group. For example, discussing Adobe Photoshop techniques for touching-up photos is acceptable; posting a copy of Photoshop or serial numbers is not.
  
  
• DO NOT REPOST OTHER PEOPLE'S PICTURES. In particular, do not take anyone else's posts made to ABPC and repost them into any other newsgroup or place on websites. Besides being very poor "netiquette," persistent reposting of images against the posters' wishes contributes to many of these posters leaving usenet, and everyone suffers. Some posters do not mind reposts by others, but most posters do not wish this to happen. When in doubt, it is best (and most likely correct) to assume that reposts are NOT wanted.
  

Philosophy statement

PLEASE, try to post images and/or text messages that keep with the spirit of the group. We do not advocate censorship - in fact, we are against censorship if it means the total suppression of expression. Instead, for practical reasons, we are simply asking that people direct their posts to an appropriate group for the images. In other words, we aren't telling you not to post your pictures, just put them in the right place for them.

Unfortunately, like it or not, we are subject to the arbitrary power that ISPs have to censor our group by deciding to drop it without warning from their servers. This has already happened at some sites in the U.S and Europe. We do not want this to happen with our group in other places. Thus, we ask that posters use common-sense in deciding what is appropriate for the group.

Keep in mind that the legality of the images is not the issue, since the internet is international and the laws are different in each country. It is the *perception* of the group by ISPs that matters. If the group is perceived to be a pedophile haven, it will be dropped by many ISPs without warning and without discussion. Unfortunately, requests for "nude little girls" or "little girls in panties" sound like sexually-motivated requests, and these add to a negative perception of the group. We recognize that there may be many beautiful, artistic images of nude children available, and that most people think "little girls in panties" are not inherently sexual, but we're afraid that since the ISPs cannot read our minds, they are likely to assume the worse and see these posts as sexual.

Right now, alt.binaries.pictures.children is one of the only newsgroups where general-interest images of children can be posted. On the other hand, there are over a dozen newsgroups for children's pictures whose titles suggest or state a sexual nature to the posts. It would be a great loss if ABPC were turned into just another pornography group. Then there would be no place for general-interest children's pictures anywhere on the internet.

Ideas for Using Downloaded Pictures

Persons requiring an image for a media show, school project, or other non-profit purpose, may find what they are looking for in this group. Many pictures posted here make interesting Windows wallpaper or screensaver backgrounds, or when printed, can be used in greeting cards, calendars, or wall posters.

However, please be aware that pictures posted to the group are not necessarily in the public domain, and to be honest, probably are not. In general, keep in mind that using pictures from this group may violate someone's copyright. I suspect that using the images for personal viewing isn't going to bother anyone, but using them for a commercial venture (including non-profit activities that raise money) is not legal (and isn't very nice). If you wish to use photos that you download from this group, you do so at your own risk.

Copyright Issues

Posting of copyrighted material by someone other than the copyright holder is done solely at the risk of the person posting such material. Some authors enjoy the exposure; it serves as advertisement. Others do not feel that way and will object. The laws of various countries are different, so it is up to you to be aware of the laws that govern your actions. The application of copyright laws is not well-defined for electronic media such as the Internet. In many cases, the laws have not yet been tested.

Please feel free to e-mail questions to:

FAQ Author and Keeper: Little Rascal rascal@anonmail.net

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