livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
Law professor warns: Congress must act on growing sexbot industry
As the sale and use of lifelike sex robots that allow people to simulate rape continues to gain steam, one famed law professor is sounding the alarm.
John Banzhaf, a well-known activist professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School, says experts disagree on the consequences of allowing people to engage in mock acts of rape with humanoid dolls, and lawmakers should vet this issue as soon as possible.
Saying there’s evidence rape sexbots may significantly increase the chance of rape to real women, the law should “no longer stand by and blindly ignore a major potential problem by doing nothing,” he said in an email to The College Fix.
Sexbots, especially those which can be programmed to act as if they are being raped, and those which act and appear to be young children, are already here and in use, Banzhaf said.
“The obvious first step would be to have hearings and do studies to determine just how serious the threat is, whether there are any real benefits to having sexbots programmed to simulate being raped, and then what if any new laws, regulations, etc. might be appropriate,” he said.
Banzhaf is no stranger to successfully pushing for government regulation. He “helped drive cigarette commercials off the air” and was one of the masterminds behind lawsuits against the tobacco industry, his faculty bio states. More recently he used similar techniques to target the obesity epidemic. His legal activism course is also known as “Sue the Bastards,” according to one report.
Now he’s turned his critical legal eye to sexbots.
He said in a recent news release that the consequences of permitting the sale, distribution and use of sexbots to “perverts” and convicted or potential rapists should be reviewed.
“So, as science fiction of the type depicted in HBO’s Westworld is rapidly becoming reality, these are just some of the legal concerns regarding the brave new world of robot sex, where the law may well have to play catch up, just as it did with artificial insemination, host mothers, drones, and other developments,” he wrote.
Law professor warns: Congress must act on growing sexbot industry - The College Fix
As the sale and use of lifelike sex robots that allow people to simulate rape continues to gain steam, one famed law professor is sounding the alarm.
John Banzhaf, a well-known activist professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School, says experts disagree on the consequences of allowing people to engage in mock acts of rape with humanoid dolls, and lawmakers should vet this issue as soon as possible.
Saying there’s evidence rape sexbots may significantly increase the chance of rape to real women, the law should “no longer stand by and blindly ignore a major potential problem by doing nothing,” he said in an email to The College Fix.
Sexbots, especially those which can be programmed to act as if they are being raped, and those which act and appear to be young children, are already here and in use, Banzhaf said.
“The obvious first step would be to have hearings and do studies to determine just how serious the threat is, whether there are any real benefits to having sexbots programmed to simulate being raped, and then what if any new laws, regulations, etc. might be appropriate,” he said.
Banzhaf is no stranger to successfully pushing for government regulation. He “helped drive cigarette commercials off the air” and was one of the masterminds behind lawsuits against the tobacco industry, his faculty bio states. More recently he used similar techniques to target the obesity epidemic. His legal activism course is also known as “Sue the Bastards,” according to one report.
Now he’s turned his critical legal eye to sexbots.
He said in a recent news release that the consequences of permitting the sale, distribution and use of sexbots to “perverts” and convicted or potential rapists should be reviewed.
“So, as science fiction of the type depicted in HBO’s Westworld is rapidly becoming reality, these are just some of the legal concerns regarding the brave new world of robot sex, where the law may well have to play catch up, just as it did with artificial insemination, host mothers, drones, and other developments,” he wrote.
Law professor warns: Congress must act on growing sexbot industry - The College Fix
