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***image1***Issue:
I was at the Book Mark on Vogelweh, and a military member was looking at a particular magazine in which the women were scantily dressed. I felt very uncomfortable because he was obviously enjoying himself because of the noise he was making. I also noticed that the magazines containing pornography and nudity are high above the shelves and covered in plastic. However, if pornography isn’t accessible via a government computer, why are on-base bookstores allowed to sell pornographic material?
Response:
Thank you for your comments and concern. Let me address your comments about government computers first. As you correctly state, government computers are for official use only and therefore, individuals are never authorized to use them to do personal business or access unauthorized (pornographic in this case) Web sites. However, the sale of adult magazines by Army and Air Force Exchange Service is a separate issue. The Military Honor and Decency Act of 1996 (Section 2489a, Title 10, United States Code) prohibits the sale or rental of sexually explicit materials on property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense. At the direction of the Secretary of Defense, a Resale Activities Board of Review was established to review publications and other materials that might be viewed as sexually explicit. As a result of that review, a list of publications and other materials that may not be sold was published Sept. 21, 1998. All AAFES facilities were ordered to remove materials deemed sexually explicit. This same board also published a list of publications that may be sold on government property under DOD authority. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify this matter.
