A professor accused of offenses against morality for creating a link from her university department's Web site to a site promoting bestiality showed up with her students for an investigative hearing yesterday.
English professor Josephine Ho (
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
Surfers discovered the link on April 10 and, after receiving calls about it, Ho removed it the same day.
The site, which features pictures and a manual, has sparked discussion about the fine line between pornography and academic research.
Taipei District Prosecutor Yu Hsiu-duan (
As well as her students, Ho's defense counsel, Jennifer Wang (
Before entering the interrogation room, Ho said she was quite disappointed that she was being sued over the link.
"This is disgraceful and improper," Ho said. "The link to the `Beast Love' Web site was merely an issue of academic research. In the West, people began to study the intercourse relationship between humans and animals in the 19th century. However, in Taiwan, it is still considered pornography even today."
Ho, vowing to fight the case to the end, said that what she really cares about is whether people can study, discuss and research whatever topics or issues they like.
Asked about whether she intended to make access to the Web site easier by linking to it, Ho said: "In fact, it was not easy to find at all. `Beast Love' has existed for four years but these so-called women's groups, had they found it before? No."
Ho said she has been endorsed by professors from more than 35 countries and they are waiting to see how Taiwan's judicial system will deal with the case.
If prosecutors decide there is a case, Ho will be charged with violating Article 235 of the Criminal Code, which says, "A person who distributes, sells, publicly displays, or by other means shows to another person indecent writing, drawing, or other [such work] shall be punished with imprisonment of not more than 12 months; in addition thereto, a fine of not more than NT$3,000 may be imposed."
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
RSS