Child pornography is illegal in most countries, but there is substantial variation in definitions, categories, penalties, and interpretations of laws.
These are considered international obligations to pass specific laws against child pornography which should be "punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature".
An optional protocol was also added that requires signatories to outlaw the "producing, distributing, disseminating, importing, exporting, offering, selling or possessing for the above purposes" of child pornography.
[4] In 1999, in the case of R. v. Sharpe, British Columbia's highest court struck down a law against possessing child pornography as unconstitutional.
[14] The requirement that people convicted of possessing child pornography pay restitution has been criticized by some judges and law professors.
[15] But in 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that restitution directly to depicted minors was an appropriate penalty for possession of child pornography.
[16] During the nomination process at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention, anarcho-capitalist and U.S. presidential candidate Mary Ruwart came under fire for her comment in her 1998 book, Short Answers to the Tough Questions, in which she stated her opposition not only to laws against possession of child pornography but even against its production, based on her belief that such laws actually encourage such behavior by increasing prices.
While privacy rights should always be respected in the pursuit of child pornographers, more needs to be done to track down and prosecute the twisted individuals who exploit innocent children."
Cory resigned after the party refused to vote on a resolution asking states to strongly enforce existing child porn laws.