Contact: Robert Peters, Morality in Media, 212-870-3210

MEDIA ADVISORY, Jan. 21, 2011 /Standard Newswire/ -- The following open letter to President Barack Obama is submitted by Morality in Media:

January 19, 2011

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

A very harmful pandemic is occurring throughout our country, which is the horrific proliferation of obscene materials on the Internet. This online pandemic is having destructive, devastating effects on men and women, families, children, workplaces, and our military.

Families are torn apart. Children act out with other children what they view in hardcore adult pornography. Men get addicted to hardcore adult pornography and progress to viewing child pornography. Women are victims of sexual assaults, sexual trafficking and sexual harassment. Employees waste countless hours viewing hardcore adult pornography instead of doing their jobs. Our nation's military is adversely affected (see, "Addicted to online porn," www.MarineCorpsTimes.com, 3/31/10), and our reputation as the "Porn Capital of the World" makes the war against religiously-based terrorism more difficult (see, e.g., "Iraq and the West: How Wide is the Morality Gap," GALLUP, 11/25/03, published at
www.gallup.com/poll/9763/Iraq-West-How-Wide-Morality-Gap.aspx).

To address this pandemic, the nonprofit organization Morality in Media (MIM) launched the www.obscenitycrimes.org tipline in 2002 to enable persons nationwide (and more recently internationally) to make complaints about possible violations of Federal Internet Obscenity Laws. To date, more than 77,000 complaints have been submitted. MIM forwards these complaints to the Justice Department in Washington and to local U.S. Attorney Offices.

In 2002, MIM also retained our services to follow up on select complaints and to provide detailed investigative reports about websites believed to be in violation of federal obscenity laws. These reports are sent to the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney Offices and local FBI Field Offices.

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (10/15/03), John Malcolm, then Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, said this about MIM's tipline: "By formal arrangement," the Justice Department "receives tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children...Morality in Media...and the Federal Trade Commission...involving child pornography and obscenity offenses. The Department appreciates the efforts of these organizations..."

Tragically, however, it appears that no new obscenity cases involving online commercial distribution of adult hardcore pornography are being investigated or prosecuted by the Justice Department.

We appeal to you, as we believe countless other adult Americans would, to address the Internet obscenity pandemic in your 2011 State of the Union Address and to follow up by mandating investigation by the FBI and prosecution by the Justice Department of Internet obscenity. We stand ready to assist in this long overdue effort with intelligence information, consulting and training.

We also think the American people will support a President who is willing to take on commercial distributors of hardcore pornography. In April 2008, MIM commissioned Harris Interactive to ask this question in a national survey: "Were the next president to do all in his...constitutional power to ensure that federal obscenity laws are enforced vigorously against commercial distributors of hardcore pornography, would you support or oppose the President in this matter?' An astounding 75% said they support the President; only 19% said they wouldn't.

In closing, we would add that www.obscenitycrimes.org was created primarily for citizens who have been exposed unwillingly to pornography or porn spam or whose children have been exposed to this sordid material. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that, "one in every four children who are regular Internet users are exposed to unsolicited sexual material online. This is a problem that touches millions of children." And where children are concerned, the problem isn't limited to unsolicited sexual material. Tragically, millions more seek out hardcore adult pornography, often becoming addicted to it with dire consequences.

Mr. President, our nation's devastating obscenity pandemic needs your attention. As you stated, 'We should do all we can to make sure our country lives up to our children's expectations."

God Bless America.

Sincerely,

Lt. Thomas R. Rodgers, Retired
Indianapolis Police Department
tomrodgersindy@aol.com

Special Agent Roger T. Young, Retired
Federal Bureau of Investigation
rtyconsulting@aol.com