I took an easy-A class on computer crime at school. I discovered that applying the fundamental principals of law unilaterally, even when it applies to child porn, is a quick way to get people to label you a pedophile.. but here goes anyway:

> Does criminalizing the possesion of child porn reduce the chance of those original crimes from happening? I think it does, and I think that's a good reason to ban it.

"I think it does" is not a sufficient motivation for a federal law. Generally, evidence should be required to drive policy, but I'd settle for successful deployment to a small number of jurisdictions before scaled deployments.

> It's also a good way to discourage people who like child porn, to tell them that there is something wrong with them, and that they should not do it.

Oh yeah, because a good scolding works so well for addicts.