Still, in some countries, the situation is different. For example, in Russia there is no special legislation regarding child pornography. Production of child pornography is usually prosecuted as child abuse. Illegal distribution of pornography is prohibited, but there is no law defining governing distribution of pornography and child porn is not singled out. Downloading and possession of child pornography is legal.

Definitions of child pornography vary widely.

In most countries, "children" are defined to be persons below the age of 14 or 16, and "pornography" is defined to be depiction of actual sexual activity. In these countries nudist magazines with depictions of nude underage persons are widely available.

The United States of America uses a particularly broad definition, which applies to all people appearing to be below the age of 18 and covers all materials aimed at "prurient interests", even if no nudity is involved. In at least one case, nude pictures of small children in bath tubs have been declared to be child pornography.

Under United Kingdom law, a "Child Pornography" image is an "indecent photograph of a child" - there is no requirement for "sexual content". Nudity is sufficient for an image to be indecent. Similarly, "bikini" shots might be considered indecent. With the 2003 Act, the word "pornography" is used for the first time, defined as meaning that "indecent images are recorded". Indecent photographs are defined in the Protection of Children Act 1978.

The question has arisen whether materials which appear to, but in fact do not involve actual under-age persons (for instance because adult actors or computer animation were used) should also be treated as prohibited child pornography.

Proponents of such a prohibition argue that these materials might encourage child molesters, and that the availability of simulated child pornography would make the prosecution of true child pornography much harder. Opponents of the prohibition claim that simulated child pornography does not harm children and should therefore fall under the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press. They also argue that these materials may give pedophiless a sexual outlet, thereby lowering sexual frustration and the risk of criminal behaviour.

The United States Supreme Court decided in 2002 that the American prohibition of simulated child pornography is unconstitutional (Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition).

The Netherlands decided in July 2002 that creating apparently real child pornography is a criminal offence and raised the age limit of a "child" to 18 years.

UK law has dealt with simulated images since 1994, when the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act introduced the concept of pseudo-photographs. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 raised the age limit of a "child" to 18 years.

The majority of internationally available hardcore child pornography is produced in developing countries in former Soviet Union countries, South-East Asia and Central America. Germany was one of the main sources of naturist child erotica in the past. Japan was and still remains one of the leading producers of softcore pornography, which was outlawed there only in 1999, after much international pressure; enforcement remains somewhat sporadic. A lot of modern legitimate softcore pornography (so-called Lolita art) is also made in Russia and other ex-USSR countries.

Opponents of child porn usually argue that production of child porn necessarily involves child abuse and is harmful for children involved. However, only a minor share of child porn is made in developed countries, where producers have to resort to rape, kidnapping, coersion and sometimes even enslavement. The majority of child porn is produced in developing countries where poor economic conditions often cause children to turn to porn or child prostitution as a means of supporting themselves and their families. One can argue that most of the problems of these children are caused by social conditions and precede their involvement in child porn; it has even been argued that this alternative is considerably better than starvation that they and their families otherwise have to face. Opponents counter that children below the age of consent by definition cannot make an informed choice, and on the contrary are often forced or outright sold by their families.

The advent of the Internet has facilitated the exchange in child pornography considerably, and several groups engaged in the exchange of child pornography have been uncovered. Typically, participants in these groups do not buy or sell materials, but trade, or post out of a desire to spread them.

Some sources claim that the prevalence of child pornography is much lower than generally thought, and that much or most of the material found online is actually bait deployed by law enforcement agents. The NAMBLA newsletter once warned its readers that most of the solicitations for child pornography are actually sting operations.

In recent years child pornography has become highly organized, with pedophile networks allying themselves with organized crime groups or forming their own criminal enterprises. Many networks are also operating in more than one country, making it harder for any single law enforcment agency to shut them down. An international sting operation aimed at a child porn network called the Wonderland Club resulted in more then 100 arrests in 14 nations.

Lolita is a common codeword for child pornography, derived from Vladimir Nabokov's novel about a man's obsessive affair with a teenage girl.

It is interesting to note that there is a conflict between many countries' child porn laws and their age of sexual consent. For example, in the U.S. child porn defines anyone under 18, however, many states have ages of consent lower than 18. Therefore, it is legal to have sex with someone under 18 but not to take pictures of them in sexual situations. The young person is not even allowed to make such a picture of him- or herself for personal use.

See also: Age of consent, Criminal law, hentai, shota-con, loli-con, Operation Pin, honeypot, Internet child pornography.

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